3135

3135
18
3

3135--That is the total number of miles that I (JAIDI) drove, by myself in a car for the most part with 3 kids in it! You read that correctly. It was a long trip. The kids were remarkable near perfect. Or at least as perfect as I could ask for while on a 2 1/2 week trip!

18--That is the total number of days away from home!

3--The number of kids in the car with me 75% of the trip. (one of the girls joined Justin in his car for the drive to Vegas).

In the past 2 1/2 weeks, I have spent on evening (Thank you Michelle) away from my sweet angels. And while, I could use another girls night out, I am happy to say that my sanity still remains pretty much intact! :) Of course, that line in itself, may qualify me from insanity...So you can take it anyway you want.

Our trip was wonderful. We got to see and spend time with so many people.

Las Vegas was the first leg of our trip. After starting our drive at 6:00am (after getting the kids up and out the door, stopping for gas and breakfast, we left an hour later than planned) we arrived in Las Vegas at 7:30 their time. For a total of 15 1/2 hours, the drive was successful. Aside from the extra 2 rock chips we got on the way, it was even uneventful! We were blessed to be able to spend some wonderful time with some members of both the Pierce's and the Clayton's. We missed the family members that we weren't able to see. Hopefully we will see you all soon! We were able to see Brisa's Baptism, meet a couple of Pierce Girlfriends...(loved them both), eat some amazing food, and enjoy each others company. We even got a chance to take a family picture before Justin ran off to Utah.

From Family Pics 8/2/09

Utah was the next leg of our trip! The kids and I loaded up the car and drove out of Vegas at about 7am. We arrived at the Lindorf home at about 2:00pm. We enjoyed some wonderful visits while we were in Utah, but are sad that there were so many people that we missed. Nate and Kristen were such wodnerful hosts, and it was great to be able to spend time with both them and Justin for a little while. We also had some wonderful visits with Mauni, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, former BYU co-workers, Scotty Mac, and probably more people that I am forgetting to list (Sorry). Regardless, we had a wonderful visit with so many great people. Here are some pictures from those visits...but not nearly enough!

We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone! It was so much fun!

The last leg of our trip was the vacation from my vacation. It was my visit to my sister's house. Michelle and her family were such wonderful hosts! :) Kaylee and Tiffany gave up their rooms for us. The reason I classify it as my vacation from my vacation, is because throughout the first 2 legs of the trip I felt like I was constantly going. I always had the kids with, and I never had much down time. When I got to Michelle's, while the kids were still with me, I wasn't chasing them, I didn't have to keep as close an eye on them, and they could play. Michelle's Kids took over for me. They chased kids up the stairs, they took them to play in the park across the street, they jumped on the trampoline with them. In all, they did everything with them, so i could sit and not do much! My visit with Michelle was wonderful. We actually did do a lot, but it felt so relaxing, because there was less stress! We were able to take a bunch of pictures of the kids too!
As I said, the visit with Michelle was great. She even gave me a much needed Girl's night out. The Time Travelers Wife was a really good movie, in case anyone was wondering!

Yesterday, through tearful goodbyes, we left Loveland and Michelle's house at about 7:45. After filling up with gas we were on the road! I was expecting the 10 1/2 hour drive to take 11 or 12 hours. I mean 3 kids...usually you stop! But we made it home in 9 1/2 hours. I am still not sure how I managed that and stopped for food for a half hour! We got home last night at about 6:00, unpacked the car, cleaned/vacuumed the inside of the car, went through the 2 weeks worth of mail, and rearranged the girls bedroom... and still got everyone to bed before 9:00, except me! I rolled into bed about 10:30.

With all the driving, I was also able to listen to a couple of books! They were re-reads, but still, I "read" Eclipse and Breaking Dawn again, and enjoyed them just as much as the last times i had read them! Still an excellent read!

Well that is my vacation recap! Thank you to everyone who took time to visit with us. It meant the world to us to be able to see so many friends and family!