Is It Naptime Yet

This year the girls and I went to a family reunion for my mother’s side all by ourselves. I planned on going, then I planned on not going, then decided in the end to go. Jon was unable to get time off of work, which was one reason I did not want to go, I get sleepy on long trips and did not want to make it alone.

The first day, Thursday, we were driving about 6 hours to Lehi. My parents were staying there and visiting with my Aunt and Uncle, so the drive wasn’t too bad. I did have to stop after driving the gorge and then once more in Ceder City to take some short naps. I think the caffeine in the excedrine kicked in after that and I made it just fine the rest of the way to my Aunt’s house and then to the hotel later that night.

On Friday we headed up to Brigham Cit,y Utah, where the reunion would be taking place. Before we went too far North we stopped in Salt Lake and visited Temple Square and the Conference Center. It was a humid day, so it was a little uncomfortable, but not unbearable. We had fun walking around and the girls loved the fountains. We took the tour for the Conference Center so we could see the roof. Lilah saw people on the roof and had to go up there. They both really enjoyed themselves.

After the Conference Center tour we got back on the road and drove through some of the houses and past the capitol building in Salt Lake. This was really because I wasn’t sure how to get back to I-15. We eventually found the interstate, and got on the road to Brigham City, with a short stop north in Logan to visit Jon’s niece Shauntae and her family. We got there much later than anticipated, since my stop in Salt Lake was spontaneous. Shauntae let me take a short nap while she took something to her husband at work, then later we went to a little Zoo/ animal sanctuary with just her and my girls. The girls had lots of fun and we loved talking and spending time together. We then ate at IHOP, shopped at Down East Basics and lastly visited Utah State University, where she is currently attending, to see a part of the campus. It was lots of fun and the girls and I got back to the hotel a little late, but well worth it.

Friday was the day of the family reunion. I saw some cousins I hadn’t seen in 12 or so years, and spent time chatting with different family members. The girls painted bird houses and I let Lilah be in charge of taking pictures. We had a family raffle where some family members donated items to be raffled off. Then you had to buy tickets to win items. My cousin Ruth, who was in charge this year, and is just a few years younger than my mom, brought a few odd items for the raffle. She had looked in her food storage and decided to bring men’s deodorant. Some she put in bags with a couple candy bars and others were just on the table to be taken later. It was rather silly. My Uncle Bill and my dad both won a lot, but they also bought a lot of tickets. The girls each got some tickets from my dad and won and choose some bags with toys and candy.

After the reunion I took the girls back to the hotel to swim in the pool. They had been dying to go swimming in one of the hotel pools, so we spent some time there. It was only 3 feet deep in the shallow end, so they both were able to walk around and enjoy themselves. We then headed over to my cousin Ruth’s house to join my parents and them for dinner. My cousin Sherrilyn was there with her daughter Emerylyn, who is 20 months, so the girls had fun playing with her. When Sherrilyn later left to visit her in-laws the girls had fun playing upstairs while I hung out with other cousins.

Sunday we brought Sherrilyn and Emerylyn home with us. They had gone up as a family before the Fourth of July, but Chad had to come home early for class, since I had space without Jon, I volunteered to take Sherrilyn and Emery home. I also thought it would be nice to have someone to drive with for the 8 hours it would take to get home. I see them each month at FHE,but it was nice to chat more my Sherrilyn and let the girls play with Emery.

We got home by 6 pm on Sunday, and it was so nice to be back in Vegas, especially since the girls had swimming lessons on Monday, something that is wonderful in this hot Las Vegas heat.