Sunday, June 16
Judi and I watched the clock all day just waiting for 5:30pm to come so we could head to the airport to pick up the kids. I texted them a couple of times to make sure everything was still looking good on their end and it was. In fact, according to the Southwest website, their plane was scheduled to arrive 13 minutes early so Judi and I hopped in the car and headed to the Las Vegas Airport. Judi was tracking their flight on the Planes Live App and we actually saw them in the air as they were about to land. Because Shelby is 18 we weren't allowed to meet the kids as they got off the plane so we headed to the baggage claim and waited for them. We saw them just after they came off the escalator and Judi excitedly ran up and gave them high fives and hugs. We then waited for their bags which took over 30 minutes to be retrieved and headed home. Shelby sat in the front and she, Lizi, and I talked about their FSY trip last week while Judi watched Trey play games. When we got home, Shelby went immediately to Nana and Lizi and Trey took their things inside and then came back out to pet the cats who then followed us inside. I made some macaroni and cheese really fast (we got home at 10:45pm) and then we all headed to bed.
Monday, June 17
The kids slept until about 9:30 and then we all ate breakfast and headed to play some pickleball with the Reimers. We had so much fun! Trey played with Olivia and Shelby played with Carson, Judi loved playing with Anna. We played for a little over an hour and then walked to the snow cone place and each got a snow cone. We came home and did the Easter egg hunt (since the kids aren't here for Easter I buy a bunch of candy on the after Easter sales and then we have a hunt when they come out in the summer). We had a bunch of candy this year - the fruity candy seemed to be the most coveted. After the Easter egg hunt we had some lunch and then Trey and Judi played the Legend of Zelda on the switch - it was so fun watching how much fun Judi was having, having Trey give her his full attention. Shelby did some school work and Lizi and I set up Lego Disneyland. Trey and I also worked on pins - putting some of our pins from our small books away on our pin boards and Lizi and Judi went outside and shot Judi's bow and arrow. I then went and got some Pizza for dinner and while we ate we watched Lego Masters (where we left off from last summer). Shelby and I then went out to throw the football around, Lizi and Judi played Stranded Family, and Trey sat outside and pet Nana and Wendy. I came in and got ready for my pickleball league. When I got back home, Trey was playing this new Disney racing game that Judi wants him to play so she can play with him online when he's back in Texas and Judi was playing Zelda. Shelby as in her room doing school work and Lizi was in there with her on her phone. We did a quick Family Home evening lesson looking at this little tree that started growing on a rock. Lizi and Shelby then went to bed and Trey and I played some Mario Kart while Judi played some Zelda. We then read scriptures and went to bed.
Tuesday, June 18
Trey got up first and we played some Mario Kart until Judi woke up. She played a few games with us too and we played until Lizi got up and then we all ate breakfast. Lizi and I then drove into St George to go to JoAnne's to buy our Disney shirts so Lizi could start working on them. While we were gone, Trey and Judi played Zelda. When we got home, Shelby was still sleeping. Everyone started deciding what characters they wanted on their shirts: Judi - Simba; Lizi - Anna; Trey - Stormtrooper; Shelby - Maleficent; and me - the Splash Mountain logo. I printed off the different Silhouettes and Lizi got busy with the monotonous task of cutting them out. We then realized that we were a little later than expected in getting over to the Reimers house to swim so we gobbled down a couple of pieces of turkey and headed over to their house. We had so much fun playing volleyball with them and then talking afterwards. I was afraid that when we were talking afterwards that the kids would be bored to death but Trey said he really enjoyed talking with them as did Shelby. When we got back from swimming, Shelby headed back to the kitchen table to do some school work, Lizi headed to the same table to keep working on the shirts, I started making tuna and noodles for dinner, Trey sat on the couch on his phone, and Judi played Zelda. When dinner was ready, we watched 2 episodes of Lego Masters while we ate. After dinner, Lizi and Judi played with the Disney Lego world they set up, Shelby did more school and Trey and I went outside and he pitched to me. We worked a little on throwing a curve ball tonight and Trey did pretty good with it. Judi's mom then came over to pick Judi up and Shelby, Lizi, Trey, and I watched season 4, episode 2 of The Chosen. We then decided it was time for bed - except Shelby who is still up working on school.
Wednesday, June 19
Trey woke up before me and waited on the couch for someone to wake up. I came out to the living room and found him awake so we played some Mario Kart, ate breakfast and watched a couple episodes of Modern Family. It was after noon when the girls woke up. They ate some breakfast (for lunch) and then we headed to the movie theater to watch Inside Out 2 which was a cute movie. When we got home from the movie, I went to look at a Disney collection here in Hurricane and then went and got some food for the Disneyland trip. While I was gone, Judi and Trey played Zelda, Shelby did school, and Lizi worked on the Disney shirts. When I got home, I started ramen for dinner which is one of the kids' favorites. We watched Peter Pan while we ate and then Trey and I went outside to throw the football and frisbee, Judi and Lizi jumped on the trampoline, did cartwheels across the lawn, and practiced racing for the 4th of July races, and Shelby took a Spanish test. Lizi and Judi came in and started painting, Shelby played a little on the Ukulele (she has written 3 really good songs!) and Trey and I watched Modern Family. We then read scriptures and went to bed - but as I type this, Lizi is still painting and Shelby is doing school.
Thursday, June 20
I was the first one up so I started going through the kids old airlines tickets which I had been keeping in a drawer and organized them into their memory boxes. Every now and then I'd check the couch in the living room to see if Trey was up yet because that's usually where he goes when he wakes up. This morning, though, he was in the kitchen and saw me walking to look at the couch and then back to the laundry room. I hadn't noticed him so when I turned around in the laundry room and he was standing two feet behind me with a smile on his face, he nearly made my heart stop! I was scared half to death! It was pretty funny now that I look back on it! After eating breakfast, we decided to go out and play some pickleball. We worked on back handed net play, serving the ball and hitting a drop shot with the 3rd shot, and finally on drives. I showed Trey a quick thing with his serve - to keep the ball closer to his body rather than out to the side and it made a huge difference in his serving! He really hit some great serves! I LOVED playing pickleball with him! We also ran to St George to grab Judi's Disneyland shirt because her first one didn't turn out very good, and then we stopped by Lins to grab some canned meals that we're going to eat at Disneyland and Rock Creek. When we got home, Lizi and Judi were up and wondering where we were because Lizi was ready to work on Judi's shirt. Lizi started on the shirt and Judi played some Zelda. Shelby did some school. Trey started making a couple of hot dogs to eat while I was helping Lizi find everything for the shirt. I then made hot dogs for everyone else and after eating, Judi and Lizi wanted to jump on the trampoline with water balloons so Trey helped Lizi and Judi move the Trampoline onto the grass while I went to the store to buy some water balloons. It was so fun to watch them play out there. Lizi even did some front flips and landed on her feet! After they were done jumping on the tramp, they came in and we did our pin draft for Disneyland and Lizi and I organized our pins on our pin boards as well. I then finished up dinner which had been cooking in the crock pot all day and we watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 while we ate. After she finished eating, Judi went outside to jump on the trampoline and then came in and played minecraft while we finished the movie. After the movie, Judi and Trey had a "lightsaber" fight with old Christmas wrapping paper centers. Lizi came outside too to hang out and Shelby signed up for her college courses for the next semester. Judi's Mom then came to pick her up and the rest of us watched Captain America: Civil War and then went to bed.
Friday, June 21
I woke up and ran a few errands because everyone was still asleep. When I got back home, Trey had just woken up and was playing Zelda on the Switch. We ate breakfast and then headed out to play some pickleball. We worked on the same things we worked on the day before and also worked on speed-ups back and forth. His reflexes got faster and faster the more we did it. Because it was so hot so fast, we didn't play for long. When we got home, Lizi was up and she and Judi were playing minecraft on the switch. I took a nap while they were playing and Trey was on his phone on the couch. After my nap, Trey and I watched a few episodes of Modern Family, Shelby woke up and started working on school, and Lizi and Judi went outside to jump on the trampoline with the hose on. Judi brought over her leopard gecko and he was in a tiny container so Shelby put it in a larger container and brought it outside and found leaves and things to put in its enclosure for it. Trey, Judi, and I then came in and played a game of Villainous while Shelby worked on school and Lizi built the Haunted Mansion out of Lego. Trey ended up winning our game with Jafar (Trey and I randomly selected our characters, which is fun). After our game, I made Wok Chicken and we watched Ratatouille while we ate. We then went outside and Shelby and I played Volleyball, Judi jumped on the trampoline and Trey and Lizi sat on the bench swing. Shelby and I then switched to throwing the football - sometimes to Judi in the trampoline and sometimes randomly to Trey and Lizi too. At one point Lizi jammed her finger with the football and I could tell it really hurt her. She iced it for a while and used my splint to keep it straight. Trey and Shelby jumped on the trampoline with Judi for a little bit, and Shelby and I ate some cherries and apricots off the trees too. I also sat with Lizi for a while since she was really sad about her finger being hurt. Judi's mom came over and gave Trey a haircut and then took Judi home with her. The rest of us watched 2 episodes of The Chosen and then went to bed - except Shelby who is still working on school as I'm typing this.
Saturday, June 22
I woke up early and cleaned the rock shop with Judi. I then went to Costco to buy last minute snacks and food for the trip. When I got home about 11:00, Trey was playing Zelda and Lizi was watching him. Judi was sleeping on the recliner and Shelby was still sleeping in her room. Lizi and Judi then started playing Minecraft while Trey helped me with last minute things that needed to be done before we left like filling up the dogs water, and other things. I was so thankful for his help! Trey also made hot dogs for everyone without being asked. We ate lunch and after lunch and helping me, Trey played on his phone on the couch. Throughout the day, I packed and made meals for us to bring with us on the trip. All the kids packed here and there as well. Trey, Lizi, and Judi all moved the trampoline back to its spot on the side of the house also. Shelby took a psychology midterm which she didn't do as well as she wanted to on and then she started putting pins away in her pin book. I made crock pot pot roast for dinner and we watched Zootopia while we ate. Lizi and Judi played stuffed animals for a short time and then got back on the switch to play minecraft. Shelby went outside to pet Nana a little bit. Judi went to her mom's house and the rest of us went over the plans for the trip. I'm so excited to go but it is also so nerve-wracking trying to remember to bring everything!
Sunday, June 23
I woke up a couple of hours before church so I could start packing some things in the car. I got the bottom level packed and then waited for the kids to get up to eat breakfast and then head to church. We only stayed for 1 hour (Shelby and Lizi were especially happy because they don't like going to their classes with the other kids). When we got home from church we started packing the Santa Fe and got on the road about 2:00. The drive down was fun and in the week before we left both Lizi and Trey mentioned that they actually enjoyed the car ride there. We arrived at the Del Sol Anaheim Inn around 7:00pm and I warmed up some Spanish Rice for dinner. After we ate, we headed to Downtown Disney to trade pins and to see if Disney would give us physical tickets instead of just electronic tickets but they wouldn't. At about 9:30 we came back to the hotel and went to bed.
Monday, June 24
Disneyland
We woke up early, ate our muffins for breakfast, and headed to Disneyland. We like to get there early to get in line so we can be close to the front for the rope drop so it's easier to get to the attraction we want to go on. We lined up around 7:25 and were let into the park around 7:45. The Dollins family was planning on meeting us at Disneyland but Jack got sick so Jenn stayed with him and so Eric and Olivia were the only 2 that came. He texted me that he would be there around 9:00 so we had a full hour to go on whatever rides we wanted. As we were waiting for the rope drop, Judi decided that she wanted to try going on the Matterhorn so we went back and forth on weather we should do that ride first or not. Because the Matterhorn sometimes doesn't open with the park, we decided to do Peter Pan first which is kind of our traditional first ride anyway. After Peter Pan we went to Matterhorn. I was nervous for Judi but we got the right track (as opposed to the left track) which I think is smoother and not as fast so I was happy that she got that side first. She ended up loving the ride! We then headed to Indiana Jones, another of the kids' favorites and then to Pirates before meeting up with Eric and Olivia. We did Pirates again and a few other rides before we headed back to the hotel for lunch. I warmed up some Beef Stew for lunch and after eating I was ready to head back to the park, knowing that Eric and Olivia were waiting for us but the kids had all laid down and were tired. We normally take naps when we go back to the hotel for lunch because we stay until midnight and then wake up early for rope drop the next morning. So I decided to head back over by myself and the kids (minus Shelby who had to do some school work and joined us a little later) came back after a couple hour nap. We saw filming of the Golden Bachelor while we were there which was cool as well. We did a few more rides including waiting way too long for Small World and Eric ended up leaving at 7:00pm because he had to wake up early the next morning for a trip for Cleveland. We watched Fantasmic! at night and Lizi and Shelby loved the Peter Pan portion of it. We went on a few more rides and then headed back to the hotel to have some Cup of Noodles and chicken skewers before heading to bed about 1:00am.
Tuesday, June 25
California Adventure
We woke up early to make it in for the Rope Drop and lined up in Hollywood Studios since Shelby, Trey, and Lizi wanted to do Guardians of the Galaxy first and Judi and I decided to check out the pin trading at the Guardians store by the exit. After Guardians, the older kids went to Incredicoaster, the Swinging Gondolas on the Pixar Pal Around, and Goofy's Sky School and Judi and I did Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, and Midway Mania a couple of times. We met back up and did Soarin' Around the World and Grizzly River Run which surprisingly wasn't that busy for a hot day. I brought a poncho to keep my bad dry. Lizi and Judi wanted to go on Grizzly over and over again so they went on it using the Single Rider system and Shelby, Trey, and I went on Little Mermaid and Philharmagic and then checked out my favorite store - Off the Page - in Hollywood land. We met back up with Lizi and Judi and checked out what times and what characters were being drawn in Anamation Academy before heading back to the hotel for lunch and naps. I warmed up some Chicken Alfredo for lunch and we slept for about 2.5 hours before heading back. We went to the Paradise Gardens Park area to save seats for the Better Together Pixar Parade which was pretty good. Trey, Judi, and I then were the first ones on the Golden Zephyr after they reopened it. We also checked out the new SanfranSokio Big Hero area and went on Jumpin' Jellyfish. Then we went to the bridge going to Pixar Pier to save seats for the World of Color Show which was great! We then went back to the hotel and ate some ramen and chicken skewers before heading to bed.
Wednesday, June 26
Disneyland
Everyone was becoming a bit zombie-like after two days of 10 mile plus walking in the heat at the theme parks so we slept in an extra 30 minutes and got to the front gate about 7:40 or so - in time to make it in for the rope drop. We started off the day going on Alice in Wonderland and then went to Matterhorn. Lizi, Trey, and I tried to go on Rise of the Resistance but it broke down so we ended up going on Smugglers Run. Shelby and Judi went on the Adventureland Treehouse and Pirates of the Caribbean and then we all met up in Fantasyland to go on Storybookland Canal Boats. We made a reservation for Trey to build a lightsaber at Savi's Workshop and he could bring 2 people so he brought Shelby and me. It was really cool to watch him build his lightsaber! The instructor went so fast I was getting nervous because I couldn't keep up and I wasn't even the one building it! But Trey kept up and built a really cool one! He ended up getting a green kyber crystal and afterwards bought a white one at one of the stores. Trey, Shelby, and I then went on Rise of the Resistance using the passes that we got when the ride broke down earlier. I think that is my favorite ride for now. Lizi and Judi went on the Matterhorn. We then all went back to the hotel for some much needed naps and lunch. I made some ravioli for lunch and we slept for about 3 hours. We watched the Magic Happens Parade on Main Street and went pin trading before going to the Golden Horseshoe and getting our traditional Mickey cookie ice cream sundae. It is my favorite thing to eat in all of Disneyland! Lizi and I then went to Rise of the Resistance, using the Rider Switch Pass we were given because Judi didn't want to go on it. We then all went to Jungle Cruise and then Trey, Judi, and I went to the Tiki Room and Runaway Railway. Judi and Trey then wanted to go on Thunder Mountain so I headed to Fantasyland and went on Pinocchio, Snow White and Mr Toad before heading back to the hotel for Ramen and sleep.
Thursday, June 27th
California Adventure
We slept in again as long as we could but still made it to the front gate at about 7:50 after they had already stated letting people in to the park. Shelby, Trey, and Lizi like to use the mornings at California Adventure to go on the big rides like Guardians of the Galaxy and Incredicoaster so that's where they headed. Judi and I did Midway Mania twice, then Emotional Whirlwind and Soarin'. We then met up with everyone and went on Monsters Inc and had our picture taken with Minnie and Pluto because of my Disney Visa Credit Card. We then all went to Animation Academy and drew Luca and then went to Turtle Talk with Crush and Lizi got to talk with Crush! It was so fun to see that! Crush asked her if she liked to swim fast or slow and she said she "totally ripped those biscuits." We then went back to the hotel and had ramen for lunch and took 3 hour naps. We then all went on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Soarin' Around the World, and Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters before heading to Boardwalk Pasta and Pizza for dinner. I like that place because the food is pretty good and cheaper than anywhere else I've seen. Shelby, Lizi, and I then went to Little Mermaid and Radiator Springs Racers and Trey and Judi went to the Sorcerer's Workshop and drew some fun cartoons with movement. We then all headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.
Friday, June 28th
Disneyland
Once again we slept in as long as we could while still managing to make it to the Rope Drop. We all decided to head to Thunder Mountain first. Now that Judi is starting to enjoy the less intense roller coasters, we are able to do them all together. After Thunder, we went to Jungle Cruise, one of my favorites. Lizi, Trey, and I then went to Rise of the Resistance while Shelby and Judi went on Matterhorn. Shelby and I then went on Rise of the Resistance with the Rider Switch Pass and Trey, Lizi, and Judi went on Smugglers Run. We all met back up and did the Canoes twice. It was a lot of fun! The first time around, we had the front of the boat and there weren't that many people on our canoe so I think the guides were pretty nervous about making it around without having to do some pretty strenuous work. When we got off the canoe, the guide said something to me in passing like, "you guys were awesome" because, since we were in the front, it was easy to synchronize our rowing pattern and it felt like we made it around much faster than normal. After we had put our oars away, some one in the queue for the next canoe ride half jokingly said, "come do it again" because there were only 4 of them and you need 10 people to be able to go. One of the guides echoed the same thing, again half jokingly but when I asked all the kids if they wanted to do it again, they gave a pretty unanimous, "sure!" I think that surprised both the people in line and the guides and the people in line were very thankful that we went again. One other funny memory of our first trip was that there was a mentally challenged guy on with us that was asking everyone about sharks and oceans, etc. It was funny/annoying but even more funny when we ran into him later that day going from Fantasyland to Frontierland! We then headed to Pirates and Judi got a pretzel with some snack coupons that my friends Vern and Linda gave us. We then went back to the hotel for lunch and naps. I made some chilli and chips for lunch and we ended up sleeping for about 3 hours. We went back to the parks and Lizi really wanted to watch the Magic Happens Parade again so we found a spot on Main Street across from Great Moments with Mr Lincoln and Lizi and Shelby got churros. While we waited the Dapper Dans sang and it was fun to watch and listen to them. We then took the Disneyland Railroad all the way around and since the New Orleans Square station was closed took it around again to the Toon Town Station and then headed to the Tiki Room where we got our Dole Whips (except Judi who doesn't like them). But Judi did get a feather that fell from on of the white birds. We then headed to Galaxy's edge for pictures for Shelby and Lizi who wanted to get some with their Polaroid cameras. Lizi and Shelby wanted to get some more pictures so they did and then went on Smugglers Run again Then Shelby, Judi, and I went to Pirates of the Caribbean and Trey and Lizi did Smugglers Run. Judi and I then went back to Galaxy's edge and got pictures in front of the Millennium Falcon and then a couple of us went on Rise of the Resistance and Runaway Railway and we all me up and did Mr Toad and Alice in Wonderland. Trey and Judi then went to Matterhorn and Shelby, Lizi and I went on Snow White. Judi and I then went on Peter Pan to end the night and took pictures around the mostly empty park while everyone else went on Space Mountain and then back to the hotel for Ramen and sleep.
Saturday, June 29th
We finally slept in a little - we woke up around 9:15 - and went to Downtown Disney to trade pins. We then came back and packed up the car and got on the road just after 11:00am. There really wasn't too much traffic and we ended up getting to Rock Creek about 4:30pm. We quickly unloaded the car and Shelby helped put the kitchen stuff away. We opened up the pins we got at Disneyland and then I made some Chicken Alfredo for dinner. After dinner Judi, Shelby, and I went fishing. Shelby caught a fish that was a little too small to keep and we each got a couple of bites. But we headed back to the cabin empty handed. Trey and Lizi stayed behind, being still a little tired from our busy 5 days at Disneyland. We played a couple of games and then went to bed.
Sunday, June 30th
Judi and I woke up early to go fishing (the best times to go fishing are early in the morning and late at night, but I think mornings are slightly better). We got to the lake about 6:45am and stayed until about 9:30. Judi caught the first fish which was a small rainbow trout and I caught a small German Brown. Those were the only two that were big enough to keep but Judi caught 2 other small ones that we had to throw back and I caught 1 other small one. When we got back, the girls were still sleeping and Trey was up. When everyone woke up we had oatmeal for breakfast (Judi tried to have cereal but the milk was expired). We then all took the trail down to the store to get some more milk, fishing supplies, and to look at some of the souvenirs in the store. It's a fun little walk. We went over to the little creek in the forest by our cabin. It is always fun to see how much it has changed every year - if there is more water or less water. This year there was less snow than last year's record snow so it was a little bit smaller. We cooked up the 2 trout for lunch and Shelby made some pancakes to go with them. Trey mentioned that he actually liked the trout this year (he's not much of a fish person). After lunch, Lizi and Judi did some drawing and Trey and I went to Mosquito Flats and scouted out the trail we would be hiking the next day and then when a person who was fishing in our normal spot left, we threw in a couple of lines. We each got some bites but we didn't catch anything. We headed back and found Shelby playing the ukulele and Judi and Lizi still drawing. Trey and Judi talked Lizi into playing Golf Mania so we all played a couple of games before I made some spaghetti for dinner. Trey, Judi, and I then went back out to the lake to do some fishing. We had a couple of bites but didn't have any luck so we came back to the cabin and opened up a package of Chips-a-hoy cookies and played some Sabacc before heading to bed.
Monday, July 1st
Trey wanted to sleep in a little and isn't a huge fan of fishing so the girls and I went down to the lake and started fishing about 7:00am. We went to our rock and Judi caught a fish just after a few minutes of being there. Judi ended up catching 5 fish and we kept 1 of them, I caught 4 and we kept 2 of them and Shelby caught 1 that we had to throw back. Lizi got some bites but wasn't able to bring any in. After about 3 hours, we came back to the cabin. Trey and I planned on hiking to Morgan Pass (from the Mosquito Flats Trail Head and the girls went with us to take some pictures. We all started up the trail had but split off so Trey and I could go at a faster pace. There was almost no snow which was crazy since last year we couldn't get past Long Lake because of the snow. We past Long Lake which was so pretty to look down into from the trail that past but just a few feet above it. The water was so clear and we saw a few fish swimming around in it. We got to the fork in the trail with one way going to Chicken Foot Lake and the other toward the Gem Lakes. We thought we needed to go to Chicken Foot Lake because we saw that we passed it on the maps but once we got to it, there didn't seem to be a trail that went to the cut in the mountain range which I figured was Morgan Pass. Fortunately as we did a little exploring, we saw a hiker a hundred yards slightly below us so we headed toward where he had been and found the trail that he was on and took it toward the cut in the mountain. (It turned out that it was the Gem Lakes trail). We encountered a patch of snow and used it to cool us off as we headed the rest of the way to the pass. We took some pictures and videos at the pass and looked at some possible future hikes to Gem lakes and beyond. The girls made it up past the Morgan and Mono split and got some good pictures there. They then headed back and Shelby moved the car from the lower parking lot to the main parking area. (When we got there, there were no parking spots available in the main area). We got back to the cabin and had some chili for a late lunch. We took it easy the rest of the day, playing games and taking pictures around the cabin. One of the things that Trey and Judi loved doing was Trey would hide Judi's stuffed animal and Judi would try to find it. It was actually really fun to see the creative and crazy places that Trey would hide it like he unzipped a couch cushion and stuffed it in there and put it inside his hat that he had hanging up on one of the hooks. After playing some games, we headed to bed.
Tuesday, July 2
We woke up around 7:30am to get everything loaded into the Santa Fe and get an early start so we could get home somewhat early. Lizi was in charge of sweeping, Trey and Judi did the trash, Shelby cleaned and put away the dishes and wiped down the counters and I packed the car. We got on our way about 9:00am and took some pictures by the main store when we turned the keys in. Shelby played her playlist on the way and Trey played on his phone most of the way, Lizi watched a movie, and Judi played on the switch. Toward the beginning of the trip the road we take is very windy with lots of ups and downs as it makes its way through two mountain ranges. The movement in the past has made Judi and Shelby car sick but now they laugh at it and try to psych themselves into thinking that its fun. On this trip, Lizi actually got a little car sick because she was typing a letter to her theater coach on her phone when we were on that windy road. We stopped in Beatty, NV for Subway and gas. Subway was out of white bread, chicken, shredded cheese, and probably a couple of other things I'm forgetting but Lizi got the meatball sandwich and Shelby and Trey both got a pickleball sandwich. We stopped for about half an hour and then got on our way again, making it home just a couple of minutes after 5:00pm. Judi's mom came by to pick her up and then the rest of us did pins and then had Pizza for dinner while watching Pitch Perfect. We then all headed to bed.
Wednesday, July 3
I woke up and went to the store before everyone got up. Trey was the first one up just after 10:00 and we ate breakfast, played a little Mario Kart and watched a couple episodes of Modern Family. Lizi then woke up just after 1:00 (we were all catching up on lost sleep from our vacation) and had some cereal. Shelby also got up shortly after that. Judi came back over and we measured everyone - Judi grew the most! I couldn't believe how much in just a year! Then Judi and Lizi played Minecraft for 4 hours! They found a village and made a house. While they played, I took Shelby to the bank to get some money for college. When we got home, we had a really good talk. I really love being able to talk with each of my kids one on one but I also feel guilty that I'm leaving the others out since I get so little time with them. Trey and I then went to play pickleball with Jake, Benson, and Olivia, Trey went undefeated and is getting better and better. I offered to get him a snow cone but he said, "I don't come to play for the snow cone - I just like to play." It was cool to hear that he likes to play so much. When we got home, I fixed chicken rice casserole for dinner which Lizi said was "Mid." :-) While we ate dinner we watched live action Cinderella which Shelby really wanted to watch. After dinner and the movie, we went outside and Lizi and Judi played with Trey's drone, Trey and I threw the football around, and Shelby stayed inside to work on Psychology. We came inside and Lizi and I filmed a youtube video on pin trading at Aulani and then Lizi played with Lego Disneyland, Trey played on his phone, and Shelby continued working on school. Then we went to bed.
Thursday, July 4
We woke up early and ate breakfast and then headed to the Community Center for the 4th of July races. The races started at 9:45 and we got there about 9:20 so we watched a bit of the parade first and then headed over to the races. Judi's friend, Shylah, found her and they both did the 10 year old race together. Lizi did her race and finished 4th, Trey's hat flew off when he was racing and he slowed down after it came off. Shelby was leading her race until the very end when her legs gave out just short of the finish line and she finished 3rd and won a 50 cent piece. In the sack race, Lizi finished 2nd and won a silver dollar. After the races, Lizi, Judi, and Shylah did the rope bridge. While they waited, Trey and Shelby threw the ball we got during the parade, back and forth. It was really fun to see them playing catch. We went to get snow cones afterward and then came home and did the Disney draft where everyone ranks their favorite Disney things we have in the house. After the draft we had lunch. Lizi and Judi filled up water balloons and jumped on the tramp with them, Trey and I watched Modern Family, and Shelby worked on school and had a nap. Lizi, Judi, Trey, and I then all played Sabaac with poker chips for the first time and it was a lot of fun. I made Pasta Roni and Ramen for dinner and cookies for dessert and we watched Star Wars VII. Judi's mom came to pick her up and we all went outside and Shelby and I threw the football around and Trey came out to join us too. Judi relaxed in the hammock and was worried she was going to get hit with the football. We then all lit sparklers and Trey got his lightsaber that he made at Disneyland and lit it up in the dark. It was cool! Then Shelby got Trey's old Mickey Mouse lightsaber and they had pretend fights - it was so funny! The girls came in to pack since they leave in the morning and we went to bed.
Friday, July 5
I heard Shelby wake up to run her clothes in the dryer again since it was a large load and didn't quite get dry in the night. She, Lizi, and I woke up early because we had to leave at 7:30 to get them to the airport for their flight back to Texas. Both Shelby and Lizi slept most of the way to the airport which is very unusual because they normally have trouble sleeping in the car. When we made it to Las Vegas, there were notifications on the electronic boards that I15 was closed at Lake Mead Blvd but I was hoping that maybe it was just a quick thing and that it would reopen soon. I turned on my navigation and it recommended that I take Lake Mead Blvd off the freeway and use an alternate route to get to the airport. The problem now was that we were about .8 of a mile from Lake Mead Blvd and no cars were moving in any lane. We were basically parked for about 35 minutes on the freeway. We began to think that when it comes to traveling on a plane, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong! Fortunately, I had planned an extra hour or so into our drive just for random acts of bad luck (since they seem to be attracted to me) so we still made it to the airport about an hour and 20 minutes before take off. Shelby and Lizi hurried to the kiosk to print their boarding passes and bad tags while I ran to the bathroom. They had just finished printing everything when I met up with them. So we checked the bags and I walked them to the security line where I had to wave goodbye to them. I can't walk them to the gate anymore since Shelby is an adult now. I waved until they started taking off their shoes and putting their bags through security and then I got on my way back home. On the way, I actually stopped at a gas station to put air in my tire because I got a notification in my car that air pressure was low in one of my tires. (It's actually pretty amazing that I stopped because if you know me, I like to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible). When I got home I noticed a screw in that tire and the tire pressure was low again. Trey had emptied the dishwasher like I had asked him to and Judi was playing on the switch. We had some lunch and then decided to go play some pickleball in the 105 degree heat. Both Trey and Judi did so well and it's fun to see how much better they are getting! When we got home, we each had an otter pop and then we went back outside to play football and with the dogs. We then came back inside and Trey and I played Mario Kart while Judi watched and played a little on her switch. Her Mom then came to pick her up and Trey and I had Spaghetti for dinner and watched a couple of episodes of Race to Survive: New Zealand. We then went back outside and threw the frisbee around and Loki, the neighbors cat, came over for a little bit. We came back in and watched some Modern Family and Smokey came and jumped up on Trey's lap. It was really cute. We then got ready for bed.
Saturday, July 6
I woke up about 7:20am to take the car in to fix a screw that was in the tire but the tire had gone completely flat so I had to call Gus Arscott to bring an air compressor over to pump it up so I could drive it. After bringing the car in, I came home and mowed the lawn and ate breakfast. Trey was awake but decided to go back to bed for a little bit before we went to play pickleball with the Reimers family. we headed over to the courts about 9:45 and warmed up. When the Reimers got there, we played a bunch of matches with them and also with 6 people that were down from Provo. It was fun to play with them because they were pretty good. It was fun for me to play with Trey against them and also to have Trey see me play my hardest with Jake against them. Trey played good - I can see him getting better and better every time we play. Today he hit some really good backhand winners with pace on them when his opponent hit them a little too high. We played until about 11:30 and then walked to get a snow cone near by. When we got home, we relaxed inside out of the heat for a little bit (it was over 100 degrees for about the 10th straight day), ate some lunch, and watched some Modern Family. Judi came over and played with some slime that the neighbor brought over for her. She then played a little Minecraft. We went outside to play with the pets and throw the frisbee around and Judi's mom came to pick her up. Trey and I came back inside and had dinner and watched Race to Survive: New Zealand and then I had to go clean the rock shop and Trey went to bed.
Sunday, July 7
We slept in as long as we could knowing we needed to be to church at 10:00 for choir. Judi met us there and Trey saved our seats in the 5th row while Judi and I attended choir practice. Trey said his class was pretty good and that Wyatt sat on one side of him and Buggy sat on the other side. Buggy asked him about his tie clip that is a sword. We came home from church and had lunch and did a little research on the hikes we want to do before Trey has to back to Texas. There are so many good ones that it's hard to choose. Judi, Trey and I played Sabaac with poker chips and Judi's mom came and played with us too after a while. It was fun! When Judi left, Trey and I watched a couple of episodes of Modern Family and then had dinner and watched Race to Survive: New Zealand. We then went outside and played catch with the football and played with Nana and Splash. It was 111 degrees today and 105 degrees at 8:00 when we were playing catch but it didn't feel too bad in the shaded back yard. We came in and watched a couple more episodes of Modern Family and then went to bed a little early.
Monday, July 8
We woke up early to play pickleball with the Monday-Wednesday-Friday group. They start at 6:30am and we got there about 6:40 or so. It was a lot of fun playing with Trey - we played the first game together and a few others after that. Trey got better and better as the morning went on. Trey mentioned that he liked playing with the Reimers better (and I love that too) but I think he had a good time. We played until about 9:15 and when we got home, we pulled some weeds and then Trey came in and ate some breakfast (I ate before we left). We then sat down and planned our hiking schedule - a Bryce Canyon Hike and a Zion Canyon hike. I then worked on Shelby and Lizi's letters and dropped them off at the post office and when I got home, Trey quickly came out of his room. I could tell he had been laying down so I told him it was ok if he wanted to take a nap and so he went back in and slept for a couple of hours. When he got up, we watched a couple of episodes of Modern Family and then went outside to shoot some hoops. When we came back in, I made dinner (I asked Trey what he wanted to eat and he said Ramen) and while we ate we watched a couple episodes of Andor until Disney+ quit working so we watched a couple more Modern Family episodes. We then went outside to play catch with the baseball. I love having Trey pitch to me because it reminds me of when I used to pitch to my grandpa. My legs were still a little sore from pickleball and it was still extremely hot outside so I was the party pooper and called it quits on baseball after 20 minutes or so. We came in and watched another couple of Modern Family episodes until the new episode of Race to Survive: New Zealand came out and then we watched it and went to bed.
Tuesday, July 9th
Trey and I woke up and ate some breakfast and then we played a couple of rounds (6 races each round) of Mario Kart and watched a couple of episodes of Andor. We went outside and shot some baskets outside but because it was so hot, we didn't stay out for too long. Judi came over and we played Eye Found It board game and rode our bikes to check the mail. We had to put some slime in my tire because it was totally flat. I made wok chicken for dinner and Judi went back to her moms. Trey and I watched a couple more episodes of Andor with dinner and then went to bed early so we could wake up early the next morning for the drive. Actually, I should note that Shelby video called Trey and they ended up staying up until 12:00 midnight talking!
Wednesday, July 10th
Judi, Trey, and I woke up early - I woke up at 3:40 and I woke them up at 4:15 so we could get on the road at 4:30am. Our first stop was Temecula to pick up some auction Items that I won. We got there at 9:40am. Judi slept for the first couple of hours and also played on the switch. Trey slept for a few minutes and then looked at his phone most of the way. We had to wait until 10:00am for them to let us in the storage facility and even after we got in, I didn't get my stuff until about 10:40 or so. There was a nice lady named Barbara who was ahead of me who lived in New Harmony for a little while and asked if I was Mormon after talking with me for a little while because I was "so nice." We left Temecula and headed to Downtown Disney were Judi, Trey, and I all found some pins. We also checked out the Star Wars Trading Post for Trey since that's his favorite shop. After an hour we left and headed to Peter the Framer's house where we picked up two pieces of pirate gold from Pirates of the Caribbean, the throttle from Jungle Cruise, and two framed Marc Davis concept art drawings. From there we went to Heritage Auctions and Cory, who normally takes my items, was sick so we talked with Mark who took the items Cory had approved but nothing else. We left the Auction House at 3:20pm and headed home although the navigation which has been very wierd lately, took us on a way that I had never been before - hwy14 all the way to 58 and over instead of Pearblossom hwy. We stopped at the Subway in Barstow and got gas at the Pilot and headed on our way, making it home at 11:40PM. Trey and Judi have so much fun joking with each other it is fun to see. We had fun trying to guess Mario Kart tracks from the music for a lot of the way home.
Thursday, July 11th
Both Trey and I slept in for a while to make up for the little sleep we got the night before. When I woke up, I went out to pull some weeds to fill up the garbage cans since the garbage runs on Thursdays. When I came back in, Trey was up and so we ate breakfast and got ready to go to Zion National Park to go on a smaller hike. We left around 11:30am so we knew it would be a hot hike since the high was forecasted to be about 112 degrees in Hurricane. We decided on the Emerald Pools trail since just about every other trail in Zion National Park is closed right now - and even the main trail at Zion Lodge to get to Emerald Pools is closed so we had to start at the Grotto trailhead. We were fortunate to find a parking spot and we had our passports stamped at the Visitors Center and then headed on our way. The trail wasn't too steep and it wasn't a very long hike - only about 3 miles round trip - but it was extremely hot! We got to the upper pool and there was only one other family there so we took some pictures and quickly started back toward the bus stop. It was extremely crowded at the stop so we both had to stand pretty much shoulder to shoulder with everyone around us. After stopping at Walmart on the way home, we made it back to the house around 4:15. Since we didn't have lunch because we had a late breakfast, I started making spaghetti for dinner. We watched all the remaining episodes of Andor while we ate and then went outside to throw the football around. We came back in and had some ice cream and watched Rogue One before heading to bed.
Friday, July 12th
Trey and I woke up early and played pickleball with the Monday, Wednesday, Friday group. We got there just after 6:30am and stayed until a little after 9:00am. It was a lot of fun but I could tell that Trey wasn't excited to get up so early to play. We didn't get to play together today but it was a lot of fun when I was able to watch him play in between shots and games. He has a lot of talent for someone who hasn't played a whole lot! When we got home we played some Mario Kart and ate breakfast. After breakfast, Trey went back to his room to take a nap. While he was sleeping, Judi woke up and we worked on our pins together. Trey got up and he and I watched a couple of episodes of Modern Family while Judi played Mine Craft. We then all played Sabaac together which is one of my favorite things to do. We then all played Mario Kart. Judi won the first game and then Trey might have won all the rest. I then made some cheesy noodles for dinner and we watched the Lion King while we ate. We then went outside and just sat around and played with the pets for a while. We came back in and Trey and I watched some more Modern Family while Judi played Mine Craft and then we went to bed.
Saturday, July 13th
Judi came in to my room early in the morning with a stomach ache but fortunately it went away after just a few minutes. She went back to sleep and Judi and Trey both slept in until a little after 10:00am. We ate breakfast and then got ready to head down to the Virgin River to swim and play in the river. There was a slight cloud cover which helped keep the temperature in the low 100's instead of the 110's. We had fun floating the river and Judi loved trying to swim away from Trey who loved to antagonize her as good brothers do. We stayed for about 2 hours and came home and got cleaned up. Judi played a little Mine Craft and then we all played Mario Kart together with Trey winning most of the races. We then played Sabaac for about 1.5 hours until we learned of the assassination attempt on President Trump so we watched the news for about an hour to learn all we could about what happened. We then all went to play pickleball and had such a fun time. Both Judi and Trey did so good! We had some really good rally's and Trey beat me one game in singles. We came home and Judi went to her mom's house and Trey and I made pasta roni for dinner and watched a few episodes of Modern Family as we ate. We also watched the news afterward for a little while again to see any new updates on the assassination attempt before we went to bed.
Sunday, July 14th
We woke up and got ready for church. Trey wore the Mickey Mouse tie I gave him and I wore one of my new Mickey Mouse ties too. When we got home from church, Trey had a webchat with his mom and I had one with Shelby and Lizi. Shelby told me how she had listed the songs she has written that she wants to put on an album. I hope she sticks with that because she has so much talent. Lizi told me all about her theater rehearsals and how Mrs B singled out her, Bailey, and Shelby for really knowing their stuff and recommending that anyone who was struggling could ask them for help. After Trey was done with his webchat, he played a little Zelda as he waited for me to be done and then we played some Sabaac. We tried a new way with having 3 community cards and being dealt 3 cards to our hand. We then had dinner and watched Modern Family. After watching a bunch of episodes, we played some Mario Kart which Trey won about every race of, and then watched one more episode of Modern Family - my favorite (Leap Day) and then went to bed.
Monday, July 15th
I woke up early to go clean the rock shop. When I got home, Judi and I played Mario Kart before I took her to piano lessons. When we got home, Trey was awake and we went outside to do a water balloon toss that I think we all assumed would end up being a water balloon fight. Trey and Judi started throwing them back and forth and then I threw some with Judi and Trey. Judi turned into the expert balloon filler! She filled just about all of the balloons with water and was able to do it really quickly! It was a lot of fun and felt good to get wet when the balloons popped since it was a hot day. Judi's mom came by and made some Navajo Tacos and we watched some Disney shorts while we ate. Judi then went with her mom and Trey played a little Zelda while I watched a little bit of the Republican National Convention. We then finalized the plans for our trip to Bryce National Park in the morning and then played some Sabacc with new rules which was pretty fun. After Sabacc we watched a little more of the Convention on TV and then a couple of episodes of Modern Family. We were still somewhat full from the big lunch so we just had a light dinner of Macaroni and Cheese and watched a couple more episodes of Modern Family before heading to bed.
Tuesday, July 16th
Trey and I woke up early this morning so we could get on the road at 7:00am to head to Bryce Canyon to do some hiking. Our plan was to do the Fairlyland Loop Trail first which was 8 miles and then see how we felt and maybe do the figure 8 combination or Navajo Loop. We got to the trailhead at 9:15 and got on the trail at 9:19am. It was a nice morning for hiking - about 70 degrees or so and we could see clouds forming in the distance. We got quite a few great pictures and passed a lot of people on the trail - most of whom were headed in a counter-clockwise direction, opposite of the way we decided to hike it. We made the 8 mile hike in just under 3 hours and Trey was feeling a little nauseous so we headed to the visitors center to stamp our passports and use the bathroom. We also decided to watch the film on the various ways through erosion that Bryce Canyon was made. Trey's stomach was still feeling a little queasy so we drove to the Sunset Point parking area and got out to look at the views. The Navajo Loop trail is there which is a really scenic and short trail but Trey wasn't quite feeling up for it so we took in the awesome views and decided to head back home. We ordered a Pizza and picked it up on the way home. When we got home, we ate and watched Race to Survive: New Zealand and then played a little Mario Kart. We then went outside to just hang out for a few minutes and came back in and played Sabacc. We then had ice cream and watched some Modern Family and went to bed.
Wednesday, July 17th
What a fun day! Trey slept in until a little after 10:00. We ate breakfast and then played some Mario Kart. After Mario Kart we worked on the YouTube video that Lizi and I recorded about pin trading at Aulani and then went to play some pickleball. It was over 100 degrees but it was so cool to see how Trey wanted to play. When I mentioned maybe we'd do a couple more rally's and leave, Trey shook his head "no" so we stayed quite a while longer. After pickleball, we came home and watched a little Modern Family and then I took Trey out to eat at Olive Garden. It was Trey's first time eating there and he got Chicken Alfredo (what I usually get) and I decided to try something new and got the chicken parmesan. It was fun to have lunch with Trey. After lunch, we came home and watched a little more Modern Family and played Sabacc. We then met Jake and Olivia at the pickleball courts and played a little with them before we played in a parent/teen tournament. The Tournament was so much fun! Trey played so good! We ended up 8-0 and winning the whole thing! Our closest game was our first game against Jake and Olivia which we won 11-7. We won our other games 11-5, 11-4, 11-2, 11-5, 11-1, 11-2, and 11-1. It was one of the highlights of the summer for me. I LOVE the opportunity to compete with Trey! It was so much fun! We came home, had some ice cream while watching a little Modern Family and went to bed.
Thursday, July 18th
This morning both Judi and Trey slept in for a little bit and woke up at the same time around 10:15. We ate breakfast and played some Mario Kart. After that we went outside and Judi filled up water balloons. Trey didn't feel like getting wet today so Judi and I threw them back and forth and then I also threw some up in the air and let them break on my head. We came in and Judi and Trey played Rocket League and then I played with Judi as well. We also had the British Open on in the background so we could watch a little here and there. Judi then played a little Mine Craft and Trey and I played Sabacc. I then make some steak and Mac and Cheese for dinner and we watched Monsters University while we ate. We then played pickleball with Olivia and Carson Reimers which was so much fun! It is so cool to see Judi and Trey getting better and better! I was so impressed with them today! We played until about 9:30pm and when we got home, Judi wanted Trey to help her with Zelda so I watched Trump's speech at the Republican Convention while they did that. Trey and I then had ice cream and watched some more Modern Family while Judi played more Zelda. Then we went to bed.
Friday, July 19th
We had planned to wake up around 9:00am to get to the river before it got too hot. Judi came walking out of her room just a few minutes after 9:00 and I went in to wake up Trey around 9:15. We had breakfast and the took Nana down to the river. It was our first time taking her to the deeper, slower moving section and Nana seemed to enjoy it more. Trey decided not to get wet so he took pictures and watched. After the river we came home and Trey started packing while Judi played Zelda. We then had some hot dogs for lunch and played Settlers of Catan and Monopoly. Trey won Settlers but we had to cut our Monopoly game short because we were playing pickleball with the Reimers at 4:00. We had a lot of fun and played until about 5:30 or so. From there we all headed over to the Reimers' house to go swimming. We played volleyball in the pool and it was fun watching Trey and Olivia have some intense back and forths! Judi just enjoyed swimming around with fins that Jake let her borrow. We stayed there until about 7:15 and then headed home and had chicken rice casserole for dinner and watched Robinhood while we ate. We then got ready for bed.
Saturday, July 20th
Trey and I woke up super early so we could leave the house by 3:30am. We talked pretty much the whole way to the airport which was so cool. I love talking with Trey - he's just such a great son/person. We made it to the airport at 4:40am or so and had a mini adventure getting Trey's lightsaber blade through security. We waited for a long time in one line and then the TSA worker told me that I needed to go to the checkpoint at the end because only they could handle the size of bag the lightsaber was in. So Trey went through security in the line we were in and I went and waited in an even slower line. In fact, 4 people left my line to go through other lines and made in through when I had only moved maybe 4 feet. They had to run it through the scanner twice for some reason and we finally made it to our gate with about 45 minutes to spare. When it was time to board, I gave Trey a hug and told him what an awesome person he is and I could tell that he really loves me too by the way he looked at me when he said bye. As a funny side note, on the way to the airport, we talked about how it really never rained much when he was out here and how we wished it had (and we reminisced about how he used to fill up sand buckets with rain water coming out of the rain gutters from the roof and fill up the lady bug with them). And then I told him how it had poured last year the evening after I had dropped him off at the airport. Well, the same thing happened this year - we had a large thunderstorm that dumped rain on us this afternoon!
