Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Things we learned on our trip:

Random insights into our trip...a list compiled by both myself and James.


☼ A small car means we're all up close and personal, all up in each other's business.
And so the pictures should be, too. The girls did really well, considering they were locked in a car for 14 hours. With each of these long trips we take, we get better and better....better planning, better activities to keep kiddos busy, better snacks, and better music.


Sahuarita is pronounced: SAAAAHHHHRAH-rita. Sorry Josh....

☼ Sometimes hot dad's get off with a warning for speeding, too.
There is a stretch of west Texas where the speed limit jumps to 80mph. Thank goodness, too, b/c it's THE MOST BORING part of the United States I have ever driven in....even Nebraska is more interesting. Anyways...James was pushing it and driving at 86, so we saw the cop coming the opposite direction and he flipped his lights on. He was suprisingly THE NICEST cop I have ever come across, with a "Just wanted to let ya'll know ya'll were speedin' just a bit there, and if ya'll could just slow down, we'd very much appreciate it." Nice. ☼Three's a crowd...don't look at Aubree, she'll cry.
Bella and Rylee got along smashingly. Aube, on the other hand, didn't quite mesh well. She didn't quite take to Rylee's loud personality. Rylee loved to give our Aube kisses and squeeze her cheeks, all of which Aube could not stand and threw her into fits of tears. ☼ Clay pidgeons don't bleed like real pidgeons when you shoot them.

I got to shoot a gun for the first time. Not as scary as I thought it to be, now I want James and I to go on a date to a shooting range. It's odd to think when holding a small .22 pistol, so light and easy to shoot, how devastating an effect it can have! The shotgun was a different story...BAM...and a bruised shoulder. Even Mommalove was brave enough to try!
☼ Baby fever is NOT contagious.
Seriously...its not. Even with a wonderful, quiet, sleepy baby like Hyrum Michael!☼ There is no such thing as "silent bidding."
The game of the weekend was PIT. A very LOUD and VOCAL game, very fun for those playing...not so much for sleeping toddlers. But we live and learn...and play when kids are awake! I will be posting a video of the mayhem if I can ever get THIS post done! ☼ Grammy loves her babies. It's like her heart is walking around outside of her body.
☼ There needs to be a place called Minnetexarizonevatahois.
A place where card games are loud, large vats of onion dip are consumed and hated, dinners are made and enjoyed together, and laughter is never in short supply.

☼ The name Hyrum is from a Hebrew background, meaning "MY BROTHER IS EXALTED."
This name is an inspired name. Josh, the baby's father, received it as personal revelation. Lisa was set on naming him Payson, but Josh insisted that they name the baby Hyrum. In the baby's blessing, Josh said "You will be as the Prophets brother, and it will be said unto you to have the mildness of the Lamb, the integrity of Job and the mind and heart of Christ with solemnity in nature." I truly enjoy baby blessings, especially when the Spirit is so present!
☼ Mice can't swim.
The girls got to cool off while the grown-ups were a-shootin' guns. They loved the little pool! And so did the desert critters...the water was left in the pool, and the next morning a mouse was found floating...poor thirsty mouse!

☼ Crackheads aren't that dependable.
Because Lisa and Josh live out in the middle of the desert (seriously, dirt roads and border-jumping-Mexican's-middle-of-nowhere) they have a tank for their water. And every two weeks they have it filled. Since there would be 14 people staying the weekend in the triple-wide trailer (yes, you read that correctly) they wanted to have an extra 1,000 gallons delivered on Thursday night. Well, they pay the guy (known crackhead), who takes the money and doesn't come back. Well...there is 500 gallons of water left after showers on Saturday morning....of which it will take 300 for showers on Sunday morning...not including dishes, flushing the toilet, etc. On Saturday night we were informed that we could only flush the toilet if we went #2, therefore conserving water. Yeah...not happening.
We made it thru to Sunday, then found out that after the guy had left Lisa's with the money, he got pulled over and his truck w/ cellphone inside was impounded! What luck, right? We finally got water Sunday thru the crackheads more dependable dad.

☼ The correct comment when your sister gets a new hair cut is " That looks nice."
This was the first time in years that we have all been together as a complete family. We had some awesome family pictures taken Saturday morning, but I couldn't help but snap a ton more and more pictures of this lovely family. There is such a strong bond running thru these 5. I get to see it from the outside in and I am truly amazed at what love and devotion each of them has. I have been lucky enough to become a sister and daughter, not just an "In-Law."

☼ If you have clean dirt, the guy from Sahuarita will buy it.
You know when you pass a sign that just cracks you up, and you just can't forget it! This was one "<-----WILL BUY CLEAN DIRT" is it REALLY that bad??

☼ Blessing a sweet baby boy is a marvelous occasion.
There is no better feeling than watching a child be surrounded by worthy Priesthood holders and be given a name and a blessing. Or seeing 4 generations of family gathered in the same room.

☼ Our car now belongs to Buddy the Dog, who marked his territory on both rear tires.

☼Aubree DOES love her grammy.
The cranky little girl found solace in her grammy's arms more than a few times this weekend....solidifying her role as "the favorite."

☼ If you see an animal on the side of the road, chances are it's not sleeping.

☼ Bella likes to share her markers with Aube.
Awww...isn't that sweet? And a marker in the hand of Aube is just asking for trouble!

Long, boring, tiresome trips are such a hassle. Next time we are going take a Levitating Train.
But worth it in the end with precious time spent with people you love.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I won that game of PIT, by the way, along with the game of Phase 10 that we played later on. We should have a game night at our house sometime. The kids can keep themselves busy while we play games.

Jenny said...

A levitating train? Sign me up!

I had the best time reading this post...I just laughed my butt off and sighed "Aww" at just about every insight. But yes, I DO love the sign about "Clean Dirt". Sounds like you guys had a blast.

Julie said...

We miss those Game nights w/ you guys James... But go ahead invite friends over to take our place...Ü J/K!

PIT sounds familar, I must of played it at one point in my life, but I can't remember it!

Glad you had a nice trip, how fun for James to see all of his family! And I love the combination of states. I fully agree! But add us in Illinois and call it Minnetexarizonevatahois. Ü

Krista said...

What a sweet post!! That looks like an awesome time. We'll have to go shooting sometime now that you have shot a gun. Everything kicks too hard for me except the .22. And you will definitely have to give up your secrets to a sane road trip;)

Shannon said...

I had so much fun reading this! Sarah you really do ahve such a way with words, you make me laugh and cry and i just love when you write! AND you guys are in luck b/c me and Keith know how to play us some Phase 10! lol, that was our game of choice when we were dating, so we will totally invite ourselves to your first game night!

Julie{isCocoandCocoa} said...

Beautiful pictures! It sounds like you had a great trip, full of fun adventures. (Poor mouse...) And how wonderful to have such a great extended family!
Game night and shooting both sound like fun activities to me!

Kelli said...

I'm glad ya'll had such a good trip, and love that you have such a wonderful family. Those babies are seriously cute, too.

elisa said...

HI Sarah! I used to live in Sauhaurita! I loved it. Something about the desert. We lived about a block from the church. Good stuff. We were there for just under a year. Always an adventure!

Ashley said...

Looks like yall had a ton of fun! Great pictures! We are mulling over the idea of driving to New Mexico and Utah the week after the fourth of July. Are we nuts?

Hannah said...

Wow! What a great trip! I loved all the "things you learned"... how fun! So many fun memories and GREAT pictures!! Sarah... I LOVE your hair cut!! And the girls... oh, SO CUTE!!! They are growing up so much! I love you all very much!