Brat Fest!

So who knew that the world's largest Brat Fest is held on Memorial Day in Madison? After trying to catch a few hours of sleep at the hotel after an all night drive, we started a two day adventure with my sister, her husband, and their two cute kids, one of whom I hadn't met yet (since he was born two months ago). First stop: Brat Fest! You wouldn't believe the amount of people that come out to chow down on the world's best Brats. They were actually pretty good. We had a great time!

Our Road Trip Begins

So here goes the summary of our cross-country drive. All in all it was a great adventure and we had a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, we still spent four very long days in the car and there was definitely some whining and complaining from all of us, but overall it was a great experience. I'm glad we did it.

Here's Andrew trying desperately to drown out the sounds of kid songs. Don't worry, he only had this in one ear, so he could still hear any sirens approaching. Although it was ME who got pulled over the one night I tried to let Andrew sleep--because we had a headlight that went out. At least I got off with a warning. That reminds me, we still need to get that headlight fixed!
I was actually quite impressed that we fit as much as we did into the car without totally crowding everyone. We could even see out the back window and everyone had some leg room. The car top carrier we bought helped a lot.
Our first day was the longest. We headed out on a Sunday. It was the day after Andrew and I had spent all day and night at Kings Dominion (remember how I mentioned we sort of tried to forget we were moving the next day?!), so we had A LOT to do before we could go and didn't get off until after 12 pm. This was our longest day of driving, we had to make it to Wisconsin, which was about 14 hours of driving time, so we basically drove all night long. I knew we were in trouble when at 8 pm that night, EVERYONE had had it, and we were only halfway there. So, that was definitely our hardest day, but luckily we had a two day break in Madison, WI, visiting my sister and her family, so that made it totally worth it!

PS For those of you using internet explorer, please forgive the horrid red color. I am having some technical difficulties, and will fix it asap!

We're Here! ...and an attempt to tell you about our journey

Well, I have been avoiding trying to blog anything about the last few weeks because I can't really imagine how I can begin to summarize everything that's happened...and because we have been insanely busy. But, I've got to put something up here, so I'll try and begin somewhere near the beginning!

The last week we spent in Maryland was scheduled from morning until night and full of fun last outings with family and friends, Tyler's birthday celebrations, a fabulous date (and early birthday celebration for Becca) at Kings Dominion, Tyler learning to ride a bike, packing up and preparing for a cross-country trip, and sad goodbyes. Here are some pictures of that one week, the rest of the journey will just have to wait!

fun with family

Here are the kids hanging out with my brothers and sister a few days before we left.

Two-wheeling!

Tyler worked really hard for several days to learn to ride a two-wheeler. He was thrilled when he got it.

Tyler's Birthday!!

Three days before we left for Utah was Tyler's 7th birthday. Our day was a little less traditional and consisted of several outings instead of a normal party since we weren't really in our own home and living farther away from his friends. I didn't mean to pack quite so much in, but it just sort of happened that way. It was a really fun day. We started out with german pancakes for breakfast (hi Karin!:) ) and then took my brothers and sisters with us to a place called 'Pump It Up', which is a huge indoor area filled with all sorts of moon bounces. (thanks for the recommendation Laura!!) It really was quite the place. The best part was, adults can totally run around on things with their kids, and I had quite a bit of fun, although I was exhausted after about 15 minutes. The kids had a blast, and it was a lot of fun to watch them when my energy ran out.

Tyler's Bday part 2

Thankfully Grandma made Tyler this birthday brownie cupcake creation, because we weren't even home at all that day to do a traditional birthday cake. This was a lot of fun, and as you can see, the kids really enjoyed it. I couldn't get Annie to hold less than two at a time.


It was really fun to spend the afternoon with, first Grandma Hazel, and then Grandma Noelle. It would be the last time we would spend with them before heading to Utah.

Tyler's Birthday Part 3

After having a fun time with Grandma in the afternoon, we went to pick up two of Tyler's best friends for some more birthday fun. We went to 'Color Me Mine' where the kids all picked a piece of pottery that they got to glaze. Then we had dinner at Fudruckers and ice cream from Coldstone (all three places were right next to each other, so that was easy!). Aunt Vanessa came along too, and we saw Joel, Kristine and baby Joe later to say goodbye. The kids were quite exhausted by the end of the day, and so were we! I didn't quite realize how much we were trying to pack into one day when I planned everything, but it was fun.

Kings Dominion

Back in high school, Andrew and I spent many Memorial Day weekends taking advantage of something called "Mormon Days" at a nearby amusement park. Members of the church could get a half price ticket into the park on Memorial Day weekend, and we would go with many friends from church. Since my birthday often falls near Memorial Day, going there was usually part of the celebration. We've wanted to make it back there (without kids-taking the kids equals a fun, but completely different experience!) for several years, but it just hasn't worked out. Well, this year, our amazing sister Vanessa saved us yet again. She took the kids ALL DAY and gave us one of the greatest gifts I've ever been given...an entire day to spend just with Andrew riding rollercoasters! :) We had a blast. We realized it had been 12 years since we'd been there together. And even though we had to leave the next morning for a 14+ hour drive, we decided to forget all our worries and just have fun together. Since we knew we'd be on the road for my birthday, it was really fun to celebrate early.

Last outings with great friends and family

One of my dearest friends from high school, it was so fun to go out to dinner with her and to meet her boyfriend. Andrew and I had a great time with them.

We love you Bennions. Thanks for an amazing, fun dinner with more good food than we could eat, and lots of laughter as always.

The kids with Grandma Hazel. It's been so great to live closer to Andrew's grandmother and we sure will miss seeing her often.

Beach Week!

Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since we've made a new post. If we keep this up, no one will come check our blog anymore! Sorry...it has just been harder to update things when we still don't have our own computer to upload pictures onto. We'll try and do better in a few weeks when phase two of our move is complete.

We just got back from a great family reunion with Andrew's family at Virginia Beach. This was the first time we've chosen VA Beach over the Outer Banks, and we were all very happy with the choice. The beaches are very similar, and we cut a couple of hours off the drive.

We had a great time. The kids loved visiting with cousins they don't get to see very often , and the adults had tons of fun hanging out together at night after the kids all went to bed. The house we stayed in was located directly on the beach, with nothing but sand between us and the ocean. I don't think we'll ever be able to go back to anything else after that!

A few highlights of the trip were: *My niece was baptized in the small pool we had there in the house. Tyler even gave a talk on baptism. It was a beautiful experience for everyone. *We saw dolphins quite a few times. I'm infatuated with them, and was thrilled when I saw one while I was running along the beach. The dolphin was swimming in the same direction I was running, coming above the surface often, and I felt like we were running together. :) *My sister in law Rachel works in a salon in California, and while we were at the beach she was nice enough to give me a haircut that I've been considering for a while. *While we were there, Andrew and I celebrated (by hanging out at the beach with the kids, of course) the day we met each other (which was 15 years ago!).

Here are a few pictures.

Catching Up Part 2

Read Andrew's catch-up post below if you haven't already. He's pretty much covered everything, I'll just add one other story that happened on Annie's birthday:

Ever since becoming a doula, there is a very big fear I've had: Needing to miss an important family occasion (esp. birthdays or Christmas) in order to attend a birth. I knew it would happen sooner or later, and I'm actually surprised it's been this long (although I have tried really hard to be careful about when I accept clients).

Well, the day before Annie's birthday, my client called to tell me that she had been having early labor contractions for a while. We kept in touch all day, and I just knew that I had to have EVERYTHING ready to go for Annie's birthday the next day. So I rushed around finishing preparations and trying to plan ahead in case I had to leave. I kept praying really, really hard that I wouldn't have to miss any of Annie's birthday, but I knew I had to be prepared regardless. Luckily, Andrew had already planned to take off work and spend the day with us for Annie's birthday. When things slowed down for my client later that evening, I thought maybe it would be a day or two. I even started to relax a tiny bit. But just before 7 am on Annie's bday, the phone rang and I knew I would have to leave. I'm sure you mothers can understand how my heart ached as I said goodbye to my little two year old on her "happy-day" (as she calls it), not knowing when I'd be back. I was so worried about missing this day with her.

When people have asked how I manage to be a doula with young kids, one thing I've always said is that if I am prayerful regarding the clients I accept, the timing of the births has always worked out really well. I had felt good about taking this client, even knowing she was due close to two of my kids birthdays. So when I got this call on Annie's birthday, I think it was just a real test of my faith.

I was at the hospital a little after 8 am. My client arrived a few minutes later. Then something none of us expected happened. Her water broke just minutes after arriving, and the baby was born just after 8:30 am. Wow. By 10 am she and her baby were resting comfortably and ready for me to go. So I called Andrew up to see where he was. Umm...he was just minutes away from where I was, on his way with all the kids to a children's museum in Baltimore. I asked him to swing by and pick me up, and then we spent a lovely day together. The only thing I had missed was breakfast. Miracles happen every day, sometimes in really ordinary ways.