We Are Family: I Got All My Sisters (and Brothers) With Me

I am back in Provo now. -sigh- Nah, being back is a good thing. And the first day back at work really didn’t drag as long as I was afraid it would. Woohoo! But my vacation up to Oregon was fantastic! However, it wasn’t until I was on my way back to Utah that I realized all the pictures I took were of the kids! Not that having pictures of my adorable (and crazy) nieces and nephews is bad, but you can’t even tell I was in Oregon! And of course I forgot my camera when I saw my friends and went places. Oh, well.

It was really great, though, to be with the family. It was a crazy Saturday and Sunday when we were first there, because the house was intensely crowded with people, but so cool, nonetheless, that we have such an awesome family. We took up quite a few seats in Tom and Lisa’s ward when little Lucy was blessed. Good times. She’s very cute and adorable. Jack is amazingly insane, but he, Andrew, and Jake had a really good time running around like maniacs. It was really entertaining when Andrew needed to apologize to Jack for pushing him, but Jack was having none of Andrew’s attempts to hug him (not because he was mad, just because he didn’t want to be hugged). Andrew was quite indignant, actually, but that didn’t last too long. I really wonder how many times these kids watched Shrek, because I think it was on most every morning during our stay. I got to have some nice alone time with Mom and Dad, too, which was great. I’ve got a wonderful family.

I got to see some friends and catch up with them while I was there, too. So fun to see the fun plans my old friends are making in their lives. Lunch with Kate was great, hanging with Robert was fun, and going around the Fruit Loop above Hood River and visiting Alpacas with Melissa was awesome. I’m pretty awful at keeping in touch with people across long distances, so I was really glad I got to see some of my old Oregon friends. The weather was really great while we there, too. It only rained on Thursday, which was really a surprise. It was also about ten degrees warmer than any of us thought it was going to be, but no complaints about that, really.

As predicted, the twelve-hour drives there and back weren’t excessively fun, but that was to be expected. Listening to the “Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party” eight times before we got into Clinton Friday night was especially hilarious (“Play it again!” “Do it again!”), because I’m pretty sure Kelly doesn’t want her kids memorizing the lyrics to “Baby Got Back”.

After getting to Clinton, I immediately made the switch to my car and drove to Stansbury Park, where I spent General Conference with Esther and her parents. What an awesome weekend. I loved listening to the prophet and the apostles. Elder Wirthlin’s story about his daughter made me laugh about the hardest I ever have during conference, and the primary choir was just amazing to watch, especially during the closing song and you could tell they were so ready to get out of those seats after over two hours of sitting there (kids shoving each other on camera . . . priceless). Of course, entertainment is not the point of General Conference, but those were pretty sweet moments.

So now I’m back and living the normal life. Good times. It was a really nice vacation, though, and I feel mostly rejuvenated. Yay!

"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything." -Charles Kuralt

-Me