Wyoming Vacation Day 3 & 4 - On The Road & Visiting Great Grandpa Giest!

We had a LONG day ahead of us the next day. I wanted to drive from Spokane, Washington all the way to my Aunt & Uncles house in Cody, Wyoming. That's over 600 miles in one day! According to Mapquest it was going to take us over 8 hours, but that didn't include the hour that we would lose because of going from Pacific Standard Time to Mountain Time. 

I told the kids we were leaving at 7am. I got up at 6am and for some reason I couldn't get the water to work in the trailers shower. Thank goodness I brought dry shampoo!!! I was actually really glad it didn't work because there would have been no way we'd have been out of there by 7am! Just saying...I guess I'm high maintenance! Ella and Logan did SO great when it was time to go. I had told Ella that when we left this time she didn't need to be sad because we'd be staying at Logan's house again on our return journey. After the second time we stay at Logan's house then she could be sad! She loved repeating that to people. 

 

Ed & Penny had told me about this cool rest area in Wallace ID. It is dedicated to the miners and has all sorts of things to look at and explore. I thought it would be a nice place to stop since it was about an hour and a half away from Spokane. Of course the kids did not think it was all that fun and they were whining and I really started to get angry. That's when I stopped myself and was reminded of a sermon our Pastor had just preached about getting hurt. We are all going to get hurt in life and the number one thing we need to do is left ourselves feel hurt and recognize that we are hurting. I was not wanting to admit that they were hurting my feeling by basically hating something that I thought would be fun. Instead I was protecting myself per se and getting angry. Once I realized that I stopped myself and told the kids that they were hurting my feelings. I was trying to give them an opportunity to run around and stretch their legs and have fun, but instead all they could do was complain and it hurt my feelings. They of course all apologized and were so sorry. It really was such a wonderful moment! We got back in the van and I started another movie and we were off again. 

We stopped in Missoula at a gas station to go potty, get snacks and gas up. The next stop was in Bozeman at Wal-Mart to go potty and get MCD's. The final stop before Cody was in Laurel at a gas station to go potty.

Prior to the trip I downloaded an app that could keep track of where I was at all times. It's called Life 360. I also had Michael and my Mom download it as well. It made is so Michael would always be able to see where I was. I just felt better knowing that. I was also texting Michael and my parents every single time we stopped for any reason at all. My mom was watching my progress so she knew when I was in Cody and almost there. I had told my Aunt that we were going to get to her house around 7pm and we ended up walking in the door at 7:07pm!!! 11 hours of driving! Honestly though I love it....the driving was actually amazing. My kids travel so well. We had lots of movies to watch. I told them I would only start a new movie when we stopped to go potty or get gas. I was not going to be pulling over on the side of I-90 so they could have something to watch. They did have books to read and things to color so that helped. I also from the suggestion of my best friend Kim got some audio books. They were awesome! We got 3 Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and then one Hardy Boys book. I was amazed at how much the kids loved them. I also bought to Elevation Worship CD's for myself just in case I needed a little Jesus on the trip! :)

The day after we got to my Aunt & Uncles we went down to the senior apartment where my grandpa lives. He moved to Cody last fall to be closer to my Aunt Linda & Uncle Lee. The place where he lives is wonderful!!! 

He has a studio apartment with a bathroom. It's all he really needs. They staff take care of everything...they fix all grandpa's meals and he can have a snack whenever he wants. They have events like movie nights or game nights, they do his laundry and they even have a place where Aunt Linda can come in and cut Grandpa's hair for him. 

We all piled in his room for a visit! 

My cousin Melody and her 3 kiddos ended up coming up from their home in Rock Springs to spend some of the week with us. It was such a great surprise that they came! Alli and Ella had fun playing together. They had their moments for sure...they are 6 & 7 going on 13 you know! It really was so nice getting to see them!!! 

Of course the kids raided Grandpa's snacks so we ended up having to replenish them later in the week! 

Also when you have 3 boys stuck in a room for too long wrestling will ensue!!! 

I ended up coming and visiting Grandpa a total of 3 times during the trip. It was so nice to see him!

Wyoming Vacation Day 2 - Handprintn Wall & Ed & Penny's House!

 The next morning after breakfast and talking for a bit we did a fun craft project. Jen and Richard have had this idea of having everyone that spends the night at their house put their hand print on their entryway wall. I thought that was so cool!

 After we put our hand print we signed our name under it. I opted to write my kids names for them. 

 

My hand print is the aqua colored one and all 4 kids are around mine. This was just from one weekend. I bet by next year the wall will be covered! 

Jen's parents...Ed & Penny live about an hour north of Spokane. They bought 40 acres years ago and built this amazing house right smack dab in the middle of the 40 acres. Later on they ended up buying 40 more!!! 

Last summer their pool house burnt down because of an electrical fire...it actually scorched the siding on the house, but thankfully that's all it did to the house. This year they had a new outdoor pool put it. Even though it wasn't that warm....maybe 70 degrees...Ed had turned the pool up to 86 degrees so the kids loved it!!!  

 

They also have ATV's you can ride around the property on. Malissa's son Dre had learned to ride the ATV and I wanted to give it a try, but I didn't want to go by myself. Dre was my instructor and we had so much fun! 

This is the view from the top of the property...those mountains out there are actually Idaho! 

Later on Jackson wanted a turn on the ATV. Since Dre was so great and super responsible...I honestly couldn't believe he was only 13...talk about an awesome young man...I let Jack go out with him. 

Of course they had a great time! 

We ended up staying at Ed & Penny's until after 9pm. At first the plan was to spend the night at their house, but they didn't have enough beds for everyone so we just headed back down to Richard and Jen's. I was actually fine with that since it would have added another hour to our travel plans for the next day. Day 2 was so much fun! Thank you Ed & Penny for everything!!!

Wyoming Vacation Day 1 - Logan's Baptism!

Hello...long time no blog!!! Summer was nuts that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Any who...what have we been up to? 

We'll a few months back I was talking with my mom and Aunt about how miserable it was going to be being separated from my mom for over 7 weeks!!! My parents were going on a 7 week road trip starting in July. Last summer they were gone for 3 weeks and it about did me in. Anyways I'm not exactly sure who suggested it, but somehow we got on the subject of how the kids and I could drive out to my Aunt & Uncles house in Cody Wy and meet up with my parents at their house since my parents were spending over a week with them. I say the kids and I because Michael would be on-call at work during that time so he wouldn't be able to come with us. At first my mom wanted nothing to do with it. She did not like the idea of me driving that far without Michael. After a few days of research and getting things into place she started to come around.

Here we are the morning of Saturday August 12th.....all ready to head out! 

Saying goodbye to my man....12 days is the longest we've ever been apart!!! 

I planned everything about our trip...down to where we would stop and play and where we would get gas! 

The second place we stopped....we had to have a potty break at a rest stop...was a fun little park in Moses Lake. 

At first Mapquest took me to some building so I plugged in the address on Google maps and it came right up. 

It was a nice place to get out and stretch our legs a bit. 

It's a fairly new park and we were the only ones playing the whole time we were there. 

They had all these workout machines the kids enjoyed getting to go on. The only downside was there were no bathrooms....except that yellow port-o-potty in the background. 

While we were there Jack came across this painted rock. It had a label on the back saying it was part of the Moses Lake Rocks FB page. He could keep it or hide it again. Jackson chose to keep it. I tried to go on the FB page and post this picture, but I would have had to join the group and I didn't want to. 

The final stop of the day was pulling into Logan's house!!!!! 

These girls were SO happy to see each other!!!! 

The last time we had seen Logan was at Ella's Birthday Tea Party back in February! Way too long!!! 

This was our first time being at their new house in Spokane. After last years debacle with the water park in Ritzville we had contemplated meeting them at the water park in Moses Lake this summer. That was before we ended up scoring the amazing deal at Great Wolf Lodge. Once I started planning this trip it seemed only fitting to stay with Richard and Jen and let the girls play!!! 

A couple months after first talking about the trip I called Jen to chat and she mentioned that they were going to have Logan baptised in the Catholic church and they wanted me to be her Christian witness. I was standing in Wal-Mart with tears in my eyes. When I was watching Logan for those 3 1/2 years it was hard....all those kids under 5 years old and me dealing with depression....it was hard! But I would do it all over again if it meant that this little girl would love Jesus!!! I'm so happy that I was able to take her to MOPS, Bible study and a Christian preschool. I know it wasn't only because of me...Mom and Dad had a role too, but I do feel like I did have a small part in her walk toward Jesus. 

We hung out at the house, had lunch and chatted for a bit. Then it was time to head to the church. Logan looked so pretty in her white dress and tiara. She let Ella wear one of her other crowns so they could match. Leila is Jen's friend Malissa's daughter. She was so cute and just loved having these older girls to play with.

Best friends forever! Honestly I truly hope that's is what they will be! 

Side note: Good grief look at how much talking Logan is than Ella....she's 8 months younger!!!! 

Look at that beautiful family!!! 

Love this girl!!! 

After Mass we met with the Father in the foyer of the church. That's where the big pool area was with the Holy Water. Which my boys may or may not have touched!!!

He read from his book about what baptism was and what it meant. 

We repeated some phrases and said the Lord's Prayer. 

The Father took a handful of water and put it on the front of Logan's head 3 times...once for the Father, once for the Son and once for the Holy Spirit! 

Then Malissa being the Godmother got to light the candle and give it to Logan. 

I feel so blessed that I got to be there to witness this sweet girls baptism! 

She even got a very special gift....her own rosary beads. If I remember right they were either her Papa's mom's beads or Papa's grandma's beads. 

Logan's baptism certificate! 

After the baptism we headed back to the house to have ice cream and visit some more. That night Ella slept with Logan and the boys and I slept out in Jen's parents 5th wheel out in the driveway. Day 1 was a success!

To All A Goodnight!

Albert Krush also known as Santa Al sadly lost his fight with cancer on July 1st. Al had been struggling with cancer for over 4 years! In reality that was way longer than what the Dr's originally told him he would live. During these last few years Al had been able to do so many things and I'm so glad he got that "extra" time per se. 

His memorial was held on the same day at Michael's mom's memorial. We actually had to leave Carol's memorial at 1:45 in order to get the kids home and then leave for Al's. Our friends Brandon and Elaine were kind enough to watch the kids. We really wanted them to be at their Grandma's memorial, but we thought it would be pushing it to have them attend two memorials in one day. 

The memorial was held at Greenwood in Renton. We were actually late because of all this construction on I-5. Thankfully we didn't miss everything. This wonderful picture that my Dad had made for Al was right up in front. It's probably my favorite picture of Santa Al....The Man In Red! 

Out in the foyer Ellen had one of his Santa suits hanging up. 

On the mantle and all around the foyer were photos of Santa Al and even this beautiful article that Ellen scrapbooked about Al. 

For the reception it was only fitting that we had cookies and milk! 

Jim and Norean flew in from Minnesota to be there to honor Al. Also Dianne and Jim came over from the peninsula to pay their respects. It was a truly wonderful time honoring an amazing man of God. Al touched so many people during his life. So many hurting and sick children were blessed because of his work as Santa. He was so special in so many ways and he will be missed. As you can imagine it was an emotionally exhausting day with two memorials for two amazing people. It was worth it though to celebrate and honor both of them!!! 

NW Trek With Friends!

 Our friends Brandon and Elaine had never been to NW Trek before and since we have annual passes for it we thought it would be fun to have them come along with us. Why pay full price when you can get in way cheaper with a pass holder!!! 

Michael took the day off so he could come with us. That morning I told all the kids to pack their lunches in their backpacks or a lunchbox and then to get a light coat on. Of course Zeke didn't listen to me so he came with no coat and short sleeves. Silly kid!!!

First stop was the bathroom. 

Trying to get a normal picture out of this kids right now is almost impossible! 

Jackson recently saw the orthodontist for the second time and he had his bands changed out and got blue this time. His sweet face is already changing so much! 

Ella Grace was not so happy about Zeke being in this picture, but I did get her to smile nice! 

Then I took an 'all by herself' picture! 

We found the snail!!! I've heard that it moves around the park and can sometimes be hidden and hard to find. Every time we've come it's been really easy to find. It would be fun to have to actually hunt for it though! 

We got tickets for the first tram of the day. It was a bit breezy out, but still nice. The view from the top of the hill was breathtaking!!! We saw lots of animals....almost all the moose. The only ones we didn't find were the herd of female bison.

After the tram we went to the picnic tables and ate lunch and then headed over to the Trek Kids play area. This is the where our kids want to spend all their time. 

After a while Brandon and Elaine headed out to check out more animals and we stayed and hung out with Christina and her kiddos. They came just to play in the play area. We stayed at the play area for 2 hours before we decided to call it a day. It was such a gorgeous day made even better by being with good friends!