Nomad UT/LV Trip, Days 13-16: Wedding, Hike, Home

September 29-October 2, 2018

Saturday was my sister Lisa's wedding. Once I got past my wardrobe malfunctions at the house, things went pretty well! Hahahaha! Five was so excited to finally go see his best buddy, Mat, though.

{Lisa and Mat}

Three and Two (?) hugging Lisa

Four with her "Momma Lisa" and "Momma Lori."

One and new Uncle Mat

Five loves this picture of him and "Grammie!" And that's my grandpa in the foreground.

{One, Shad, me, Five}

Our family grouping

{Back row: Ellie, Katie, Suzanne, Tyler, Gramps, Angie, Michael}

{Next row: Jacob, Aimie, Hannah, me, Five, Shad}

{Left front: Seth, Four, Lori, Drew, Camden, Emmie, Two}

{Front center: Mom, Lisa, Mat}

{Right front: Zaki, Becky, Brandon, Three, One}

Immediate family.....

{Lori, Mom, Lisa, Mat, me, Becky}

After the sealing, all of my kids went off in different directions: One, Two, and Three went with Suzanne so they could play with cousins more; Four went with my sister Lori (her bff) to go shopping, and Five stayed with me and Shad to go meet up with my friend Stu at a park. I don't know the last time I saw Stu, but it was so good to catch up in person. He and I were good friends during high school. Loads of church dances followed by teepeeing :D

After some down time at Suzanne's house, where, once again, all our kids were gone but Five, Shad and I picked up some boba and headed off to Lisa and Mat's reception. That was a fun reunion of friends and family. My kids got to see more cousins from the reunion in June (Five was over-the-moon getting to see his Grace and Eleanor again). I got to chat with Angie & Chad Dean, Leanne & Ashleigh Dudley, my cousins Sarah & Christina, cousin Jonathan who recently returned from his two-year mission in France, and Hawk & Cheryl Harper. Those last two I was going to visit again at their store, Runner's Corner, in Orem, but then I was sick. Their son created and owns Altra Running shoes.

{Four and Lisa}

Feasting on cupcakes

{Two, Emmie, Four}

{Camden and One}

Four just acting like she knows and belongs with these people. I've never seen them in my life.

{Five, Grace, Three}

{Two kids I don't know, Emmie, Two, two more kids I don't know, One, Five, Grace, Eleanor}

{Emmie, Two, One, Five, Eleanor, Grace}

{Five, Katie aka Strawberry, Grace, Hannah, Aimie, Three, Ellie, Zaki}

Momma Shark

{Emmie & Two}

{Two, Lisa, Lori, Hannah, Emmie, Strawberry (Katie)}

Oh, hey! There's me talking to Sarah and Nate!

Five asked me to dance. 

{Two, Zaki, Four}

And at the end of the night, this is where I found Four...who kept telling Lori she wasn't tired.

Remember that time that Tyler told all the kids to go play downstairs after church so adults could nap on the main level and I thought Suzanne was napping in her room and I vigilantly kept those kids quiet and down on their level? What's funny is that I totally missed the fact that she had gone out to choir. But man, did I defend her napping rights and kept the peace!

Quiet dress-up fashion show

Twirling Cousins

Monday, we went on a hike with Suzanne and Emmie (who ditched school for us). I had a head cold and should've stayed in bed, but it was one of those things where I thought it'd just clear up when I got up and moving. It didn't and I was miserable every step.

This was before I got up for the hike. Five came in to cuddle me, but was being a jerk and flailing around, smashed his head into the wall, and ended up being comforted on my lap! Hahahaha!

We took the Battle Creek Falls trail and it was full of fall colors, low wispy clouds, and the trickling creek and waterfall.

We reached the falls and I asked Four to smile for a picture.

"I can't!"

"My smile power is gone!"

{Emmie, Two, Three, Four, Five}

{One}

Tree tunnel! If these trees had white blossoms in the spring, this would absolutely be called The White Way of Delight.

So funny how kids pass out after protesting their tiredness.

Some people hate gray, rainy weather. I love it! It was so fun to drive home and watch the water droplets crawl across the windows and up the windshield.

And the low clouds obscuring the mountains from view while listening to the tires whisk across the wet interstate while reading Catching Fire aloud. Mmmmm, I love roadtrips!

Nomad UT/LV Trip, Day 12: The Great Salt Lake

September 28, 2018

I told the kids that we needed to dress in swimsuits for the day, and then just left them wondering what we were doing. We drove to the Salt Lake airport to pick up Shad and the van erupted with shrieks of delight and surprise when they recognized him on the curb. Took a while, too, with his shaved head! He was hungry for lunch and pizza sounded amazing to him, so we picked up a Little Caesar's pizza and found a park to eat and play in. 

We went to the Great Salt Lake so we could float in the water. I had forgotten to tell Shad to bring his swim shorts just in case, since I had been on the fence about whether or not to go in the cooler temperatures. I forgot to mention in my previous two posts that my body was really feeling the shock of going from 100 degrees in Vegas to the night walking outside for two hours talking to Rick and the temperature dropped to 40 degrees. 

The water temperature was very comfortable, though!

{Two, Four, One, Three, me, Five}

Black sand!

Floating in the lake...what an amazing experience! I walked out a ways, then sat down and relaxed. I could sit back like I was on an inflatable pool chair and paddle myself with my arms. I paddled out to a buoy and put my legs down to make sure I couldn't touch. I just bobbed in the water, not treading, not moving my arms or legs at all. Just suspended! And then my legs would tip backward and I'd be floating on my belly and have to move my legs back down. Then they'd swing forward and I'd be knocked on my back. I just loved the floating feeling. I tried to teach the kids and was only successful with One. Three dropped like a rock when I let go of her.

Notice the bubble trail behind Five. One thing I noticed here is that the water bubbles don't pop on their own. They last until someone or something bursts them.

Can you tell this kid is comfortable in front of the camera?

Loves attention!

He cracks me up!

So epic!

Flat horizons punctuated by mountains

Two building a tunnel

{Four and Two}

{Two, Three, Four, One}

And then all the salt residue!

It really did get itchy, so it's a good thing we brought water with us to rinse, as advised by a lady we met at the park.

And black sand.

We returned to Suzanne's house where these two napped together while I finished bathing the other kids and showering myself. All the noise of cousins playing didn't disturb them.