Utah part 3

After the reunion, we headed down south. St. George was our destination. We made a stop in Cedar City to see Amy. I wanted to see Cassie but I had lost all of my phone numbers and I didn't see her in Smith's. What is a girl to do? So on to Dixie, no not the real Dixie, just Utah's Dixie. We swam, played and enjoyed family. I hadn't seen my Grandma in so long! She hasn't aged a day. It was so nice to see her. I also had never been to the splash park in St. George. That was fun. We played with Robert and his kids and went to Kolob.

Here are some pictures of beautiful Kolob. They would have been better if not for all the smoke in the air.

We went up with Robert and his family. Boston took all the kids for four wheeler rides, we went searching for frogs in the pond, went and saw the spot for Cole and Kim's cabin, went to look at Dad's grave, visited with Aunt Tanya and just enjoyed the beautiful mountain. It was so fun to spend some time with Robert and his kids. They are all so fun. A week later, it was back up to SLC for the Maribah Winsor reunion. All of Utah was on fire! Here are a few pictures of the back of Oak City mountain from the freeway.

We stopped in Provo to see Serena, Chris and Lauren. Serena had a little bbq and I got to meet the rest of Chris' family along with Cameron, Serena's cute little boy. Sage was walking backwards and fell down the window sill. That was kind of funny but kind of sad. I could hear her screaming bloody murder but I couldn't find her. Then I did and she is sitting at the bottom of the window sill. When I pulled her out, her leg was kind of scraped up and she insisted that I get her a band aid. Of course I didn't have one big enough for her whole thigh so we just wrapped a diaper around her thigh and she was happy with that. It looked hilarious but as long as she was happy then I was happy.

Now to the Winsor reunion. That was surprisingly fun. I didn't expect to know more than 4 people there (other than my siblings and Mom) but I was pleasantly surprised at how many people I did remember! I recognized at least half of them and remembered names and the connection of at least a forth of them. It may not sound like much but that is because we hardly ever saw any of them. I was excited to go even though I knew I wouldn't really know anyone because my Dad's family is so nice. They make you feel so welcomed and special. I really love that trait they all seem to have and I try really hard to carry it on for my nieces and nephews especially because I don't get to see them all that often but I want them to know how loved they are. Did I mention how fun they are? They play with the kids and the grown ups were right in with the water fights and everything. It makes me proud to be a Winsor. With the water fight, the kids were getting everyone. If you were near the water spigot, you were going to get wet. But Cole was so mad when the kids would gang up on me. I was getting them too but he would start yelling at them to leave me a lone and everything. It is kind of funny. He is so protective of me and always has been but this was a new high for him. There were at least 8 kids and all but 2 were older than him and he was not backing down. I am glad he has my back.

Well, that is the last of my month long vacation. My kids were ready to get home but I think I could have easily spent another couple of weeks. I had so much fun and it makes me want to move back home. Life is good, my family is good and I am glad to be done blogging about this adventure. Peace out!

Reunion week

The family reunion wasn't suppose to start until Tues. but since most people got there during the weekend, we kind of started Sunday afternoon. Let me back up, on Sat. I picked up Will from the airport and we went to see Lauren and her family. We spent the night there and I totally rocked that dance game on the wii (if Lauren tells you differently, she is lying). He little girls are so cute. It was fun to hang out with them for a while.

Cole, as always, loved hanging out with Uncle Nick. They played the Wii and watched some awesome movie. He can't wait to see him again. Well, none of us can wait to see them again. They are tons of fun. Sun. we headed back to Marc's house and began the family reunion. On Mon. we went on a hike. Getting there was kind of a pain but when we finally started, it was fun. Will, who wasn't originally planning on hiking, decided to come (peer pressure always works whether said or just felt). I was mixed on that because I wanted to do the whole hike and I knew the kids would only do part of it. So I had my mind set on just hiking to the resavoir and then bringing the kids back. When we got there, Cole was going on (I told him to stick with Uncle Robert) and Sage wanted to keep going. Will had decided he was going and McKelle just wanted to be with her Daddy. I was a little nervous about this. I knew I was going to be carrying Sage most of the way (I had already been switching between McKelle and Sage) and I wasn't sure how much water I had left. We all got separated and I ended up with Victoria, Dempsey, James, and Sage. About 45 minutes or so later, (Sage on and off of my shoulders) some people were coming down and they said that we were not even half way up to the waterfalls. I was sick of carrying Sage and we were out of water. I decided that I would take the girls back down the mountain so that Victoria and James could go on up. about 20 yards back, Victoria calls us back and shows us a creek and we let the kids play there for awhile. At that time, Will, McKelle and Bill meet up with us. Will, the kids (except James) and I say we will take the kids down and Bill and Victoria are going to go finish the hike. As we are heading back down, I am kind of nervous because I know I am dehydrated and I am just worried about Cole. We in no way planned this hike with all the kids very well. Mostly in terms of water. About halfway down, York calls Will to tell him where we are and learns that York and Dawn have already taken all the 5 year olds back down the mtn. they were at Bec's house. I didn't even know that Cole left the hike, I thought he was up with Bob. I was very relieved and the rest of the hike was very pleasant.

The end of the hike was beautiful I heard and Ammon saw a couple get engaged up there. That is pretty sweet. I was bummed I didn't get to finish but I am also glad I went back when I did. Tues. was a tennis tournament and softball game. Yes I think the teams were very evenly distributed. It was perfect that Mckell (Bill's daughter) and I were on a team and it was evenly matched with Will who had Dyson on his team. No, in all seriousness, the teams were as fair as you could make them and it was a ton of fun. Grayson and Robert won the tournament with an impressive game. The softball game was also fun and I am glad that I never struck out and I always made it on base. That is always a concern for me. I think my team won but I am not exactly sure. I was proud of Sage for playing and she even got to make it to home plate. Wed. we went up Provo canyon for a day camp. The plan was for everyone who wanted to, to float down the river. I had to take Will back to the airport so I missed that trip. I was kind of bummed because that would have been so much fun. Then when Dawn, myself (and kids), Darien, Jamie and her son went up to the waterfall to play around I was really glad I missed the floating trip, the water was FREEZING! Then when everyone got back, I was sad I missed it because they all had so much fun. Except for Alex who told me that he hated it and he almost died. Alex is so funny to me. I love to talk to him. He really did have some problems on the river though so although a bit dramatic, also a bit justified.

A lot of people left on Thurs. morning so we ended the reunion a day early. I guess it all works out because we started early. Over all, it was a huge success. We all got up really early, stayed up really late, played really hard and were exhausted by the end. I guess when you only get one time a year (if that for some of us) to see everyone, you have to cram in as much as you can. It wears you out but you have a year to recover. As Will says, "hanging out with the Winsor's is like running a marathon." I am just glad we all get a long so well so that it is an enjoyable marathon.

I love this picture. Skyler is so tired that he crashed right on the bench. Here are a few misc. pictures of the reunion.

Week One

3:00 a.m. Monday morning, Michelle, takes the kids and I to the Denver airport. It it HUGE. We left in plenty of time because we knew it was a large airport. I was informed that there were 80 seats open so it was not even a concern. I was very relieved and glad to be in SLC by 7:30. The check in was fast and the security was much more efficient than the Nashville airport. We go in and we have to take a train to our terminal and then walk forever to our gate. We were the last stop on the train so that was really fun for the kids. I go and check in at the service counter at my gate (I was an hour and some early) and she says, "Mam, I am sorry to tell you but the plane is having some mechanical problems and I have no idea when or if it is going to be taking off. So you can either wait and see if this flight will take off or there is a plane that is about to leave to Phoenix and they are boarding. There are some seats open for you in Phoenix to SLC." I just look at her and then the kids and I am trying to decide whether to wait or not. She interrupts my thought process and says, "This plane is not going to take off you you had better run to the other gate." Okay, this other gate is the clear across the airport and back on the train at the first stop. So I get the kids, "hurry get your bags, we have to run back to the train and get on another flight." The kids do great and we run as fast as we can to get to the train. It seems to take forever to get off but then I rush them off and we take off to our gate. Sage decides that she is sick of running and she stops, sits down, and starts to cry. I am telling her she has to hurry or we won't make the plane. Some lady is watching us and she comes to my rescue. She takes my bags and Sage's and so I can carry Sage and Scott and we run to the next plane. The staff had already moved everyone so that we could sit together and we make the hour and a half flight to Phoenix. Not too bad after the rush and I guess in hind sight, it is nice that we didn't have to sit and wait at the airport. When we get to Phoenix, I check in there and it turns out, They didn't give me my tickets and the flight they had booked me for was full. They were very helpful though and they printed me some new tickets. They then rebooked me on another flight and told me that they were just about to board so we would have to hurry to get on. Turns out, the gate was not too far so we had about 5 minutes before we had to board. It also put us in SLC earlier than the original flight had so that is a plus. We got there early and Ammon picked us up at the airport. This experience was so stressful for me that I swore I would never do standby again! I was going to buy tickets for our return trip and think if it as a learning experience that I never wanted to go through again. It is amazing what a little time away from a situation will do for your attitude. Now, I would do standby again in a heart beat and I even rode home standby (without any problems). We stayed at Ammon's for the first week. It was so great. Cole was buddied up with Orion and Sage and McKelle were all about Adam. Of course Henry and Atlas were amazing also. It was nice to spend some time with families before everyone came. That way when there was a crowd, my kids already knew some of their cousins and they wouldn't be so overwhelmed. My plan worked out perfectly too.

We went to Saltaire with Victoria and Ammon's family. It was filled with little knats but it was so fun. The kids climbed up on the rocks and we all skipped rocks. Scott tried to throw everyone's shoes in the water but was caught just in time every time.

Rebecca and Victoria came over for diner one night and we went to Marc's one afternoon. Cole was really sad to find out that they no longer belonged to their goat co-op but was thrilled when they told him they had chickens in their back yard. His favorite was, Uncle John, (yes named after John) who was a banty chicken. I thought that was really funny. The first week went by so fast and it was so fun.

The First Leg

Saturday Morning at 3:00 a.m. Will takes us the airport. He says he will wait to make sure we make our plane before he takes off. I tell him not to worry about it because we will make it. We have to check in because I have a lap child. The line is not too long and then we have to go through security. We get to the front where they are checking I.D. and they tell me that the front counter people did not give me my lap child paper. I ask them if I can come right back to the front when I get done with that. They say "No, but the line shouldn't be too bad". Seriously, what is that. The later it gets, the longer the line is. Anyway, we go back to the baggage check in and the line is 3 times as long as it was the first time around. I wait for a few minutes and then I just grab one of the attendants walking by (they must have just got on shift) and told her what had happened. She takes me up front and looks at my tickets. Guess what, they didn't forget, the security person just didn't look close enough. So we go back through security. I had planned plenty of time to get to the gate and check in but I don't think I added enough time for two check ins. We get to the customer service desk at our gate at about 5:40. By 6:00, we are not so sure that we will make our plane. The standby list is very full and we are not the priority on the list. At 6:20, we are informed that we will not make the list. Will calls to see if we are boarded and I tell him what is going on. I tell him to wait a few minutes where he is and I will call him back. The kids are getting groggy (I guess grouchy would be more accurate and I guess saying Mckelle would be most accurate). I ask the person at the service counter what I should do. They look up the flights and they tell me that if I run, I can make a plane headed to Denver (I was originally headed to Phoenix) and that I should be able to make the plane after that to UT. Good plan. I tell the kids to grab their bags and start to go as fast as we can to the other gate. McKelle decides that she is not going to go. She sits down and starts to wail. I am grab her bag (I have Scott in my front carrier, a back pack on and also carrying a back pack) and try to pull her along. She gets more hysterical. Some guy is watching and he comes running to my rescue. He takes the 2 bags I am carrying plus the one Sage is pulling so that I can hold McKelle and we run to the gate. The other plane is waiting for us and they have to move a bunch of people to get us together. One of the workers says, "Mam, I would suggest that next time, try to make it at least an hour early so we don't have to hold the plane like this for you. Especially when you are taking 4 kids." (He is not rude but I know what he is really thinking.) I tell him that this was not even my flight and how much I appreciate them waiting and letting me on. He apologizes for his previous statement and we finally get our seats and take off. I think that the plane was about 15 minutes late (because of us) to take off but they still made it to Denver 10 minutes before they were scheduled to land. When we get there, we check in at the next customer service counter where they tell me we might not make the next flight. It just so happens that the flight is very full but who knows, sometimes people don't show up. I take the kids to eat and then we mess around until time to board. It has been about a 2 hour wait. The plane boards and then I get called to board. Hurray!...oh wait, they don't have quite enough seats for all of us. The next flight out is not for 5 more hours and they all have at least 1 layover in which I might make it but it will be close. 2 of my kids are screaming and all of them are exhausted. I am stressed out but trying to pull it together. Will calls his sister (she is an hour and a half away) and she says she will love to come and pick us up. So an hour and a half later, we are climbing in and headed to her home. So glad she was willing to come get us. The kids are super excited because they love these cousins. It was stressful but I am glad it worked out this way. The next morning, the plane is very open for the 6:30 flight but we decided to stay an extra day to enjoy and I don't know if I can handle another 3 a.m. wake up just yet. Michelle has the most adorable new born. She should seriously be put in commercials and she is so calm...until Scott comes around. He is loving not being the youngest and he really wants to touch (hit) her all the time. So other than keeping him away from the baby, the stay was great. We went to the "Garden of the Gods" it was so beautiful. It was also so fun to watch the kids climb up the boulders. I loved it so much. The kids all played so well together and it was nice to see Ryan and Michelle in their own element and just enjoy their family's company.

Stay tuned for the rest of my trip.