What I did with my summer vacation or new and exciting ways to drive oneself to the brink of exhaustion

Look around people, Summer is winding down.  Many mothers look forward to the start of school with the anticipation of a convict being granted parole, but this year I am not one of them.  Why you ask?  Well, it might have something to do with the fact that I will once again have a child in early morning seminary.  I have had a year long hiatus from this blessing.  Hence the fact that we have been sleeping in until 8 every day,  will mean a teeny tiny adjustment to our alarm clocks.  It may just be me, but 5:50 in the AM is pretty darn early in the morning.  I suppose that is why it is named early morning seminary.  That won't feel drastically different than 8 AM, now will it?  In other news I had a fabulous summer that was full of tripping all over the countryside.  Sometimes in planes and most times in cars.  Sometimes as a family and sometimes with only my husband or even by myself.   Here is my back to school essay.

We started off the summer by driving 8 hours to New Mexico to spend Memorial Day weekend with my husband's family.  This was a long drive, but everyone really had a blast and it was totally worth it.  Plus when  you have a driver and self contained children, long road trips equals quality reading time.  Pretty much a win/win.  The kids all had a great time together.  Marion got to play games all weekend long with his brothers and nephews.  We even made homemade ice cream which is always one of my favorites.  We haven't all been together like that for a long time and I was glad we went.

The girls.

Most of the whole Hammond gang.

Dog pile!

He who makes the ice cream gets to lick the paddle.

Three weeks after that trip, we flew to Seattle for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary and a family reunion.  This event came off pretty well thanks to so many helping hands.  We traded 105 degree Vegas temperatures for 60 degrees in Seattle.  A good trade in my book.    There was even this strange water stuff falling from the sky when we landed.  We managed to feed all who showed up at each meal and pretty much squeeze more fun into each day than a fat lady putting on a pair of skinny jeans.  It doesn't get better than that my friends.

Yay for Pinterest! What ever did we do with out it?

All because 2 people got married 50 years ago!

The photo booth was a huge hit with the young crowd.

The help at the reception.

We spent 3 glorious days at one of our favorite places, the Church Ranch, located near Ellensburg, WA.  I have so many fond memories of this place, as it is where we would go for Girls camp each year.  It is hard to say what our favorite part of this place is.  Each day you can choose the slip and slide, canoes rides, the creek, painting rocks, riding horses, the hay ride, and of course all the yummy food that always goes along with camping.  And to be honest there are more bedrooms at the cabins there than there are at my parent's house, so that is an added bonus.

The kids spent hours sliding down the hill.

I made this collage one morning when I walked up to the flushable toilets.  So much beauty all around.  I especially liked the gate made from horseshoes.

We look forward to the hayride every year.  We love to sing songs and the kids all rotate around so that everyone can get a turn to ride up front with the driver.  The sights are magnificent as you drive around the ranch.  I have lived in the dessert for so long that every time I visit the Northwest I just stare at the greenness everywhere.

Three girls

We be serious canoe paddlers!

The great bear hunt of 2013!

We spent one whole day in downtown Seattle.  A visit to Pike's Place market was in order and some great sea food down by the water.  We wore our matching reunion shirts, although the chilly weather caused many to put jackets over their shirts so you can't really tell.

A sea creature sculpture downtown by the waterfront.

No trip to Seattle would be complete with out a trip to Pike place market and the gum wall.  We also had seafood down on the waterfront.  So yummy!!!!!

Here were a few of the things that caught my eye while we were driving around downtown.

Pike's Place Market

After two weeks of fun, it was time to fly back to Vegas.  We had a rather eventful Airport adventure from the drop off at the curb, to the actual boarding of the plane.   We got to the airport and were checking in our bags.  Diana was bringing home some of her rocks from the ranch.  We brought one of the big suitcases that Trent took on his mission,  so we put most of the things in there.   When they put it up on the scale it weighed 13 pounds too much.  We also had another suitcase to check, but it was pretty full.  They had already checked that one in and it was on the conveyor belt, but hadn't gone away yet.  So I opened the suitcases and started taking things out.  I put a bunch of things into our bags that we were carrying on, like the curling iron and hair dryer, as well as the rocks.  The plan to make our carry on bags as light as possible went out the window at this point.  The suitcase still weighed too much.  Next, I took a bunch of clothes out, like a whole armful.  I could barely hold it all.  In fact I am sure some things were falling on the ground.  Then, I  opened the first suitcase and tried to put everything into it.  There was not much room and once I put everything in, it was about 10-12 inches from being able to close and zip up.  The airline employee said "I don't think you are going to be able to close it."   But I was determined to not pay extra for a heavy bag.  Diana of course was mortified and wanted me to stop making a spectacle of myself.  Ignoring her pleas to desist and give up, I forged ahead to make it happen.  I forced the top of the suitcase down and climbed up on top like a cowboy roping a steer.  I knelt on it and bounced up and down and scrunched it down until wouldn't you know it, I got it to zip up.  I felt it quite a victory, but restrained from any celebratory dancing or high fiving.  Diana tried to pretend she wasn't with me.  The airline employee seemed a little surprised and maybe impressed.

Next we proceeded to go through security, where I was asked to step to the side and let them examine my purse which was now full of rocks.  The security guard said they just needed to visually look at what was inside.  After the inspection, they ran my  purse through the camera one more time and we were on our way.  It was at this time that we realized we had left our portable DVD player at my mom's house.  I called and my Mom ran it back to us. I left Diana in the food court with our bags and my purse full of rocks, while I ran out and picked up the DVD player.  I had to go back through security but wasn't stopped this time without the purse full of rocks.  It was after this bit of excitement and craziness, we made it on the plane and got home safely.  I don't know why things like this tend to happen to me. 

We made it back just in time for the Fourth of July and it was a very quiet small celebration with just Marion, Diana, and I.  And then of course we celebrated 7-11 day with free Slurpees.  We went to 5 different stores all with in 2 miles of our house.  I love spending time with these two crazy girls.

We were home from Seattle for a little over a week, before we all piled into the van and drove up to Utah.  Trent wanted to tour the University of Utah and Utah State before he went off to boot camp for the National Guard.  There is too much red at the University of Utah, but it will be a good education if that is where Trent decides to attend.  I liked Utah State better, but it is not my decision.  Utah State did hand out free ice cream which may have helped sway my opinion.  

Leaving Las Vegas for boot camp with the Utah National Guard

We made it back down to Provo in time for Diana's birthday.  We had a special surprise planned for that night.  We took her to see a taping of Studio C at BYU.  It was so much fun and she was totally surprised when we finally got there and she realized what we were doing.  She is a huge fan and let me tell you if you ever get the chance to attend a  taping, I would highly recommend it.  I laughed and smiled so hard that my face hurt before the evening was done.

Fun times stalking the cardboard cutouts

My sister and sister in law took the kids bowling while we were taking campus tours.

And there was a morning spent out on the boat, always a good time.

Dropping Trent off in St George

We dropped Trent off in St George and drove back down to Vegas that Sunday night.  He flew out to Fort Sill in Oklahoma the next day.  He seems to be really enjoying boot camp and is very happy with his decision to serve in the Military.  Diana is enjoying the perks of being an only child.

The next week was the Trek for our stake.   We had not done much in the way of preparation due to all of our other activities.  Finally the day before she had to leave, we made it to the fabric store.  I started sewing her skirt and apron about 10:00 pm and was able to get it all mostly done.  It was a bit stressful and crazy but I got her to the Stake Center by 5:00 am the day of the trek.  She had a wonderful time and was very glad that she went.  

Here are a few of the girls from the ward

There was a family reunion for my Dad's brothers and sisters in Flagstaff that happened while Diana was on the trek.  It was strange to not have any children with us.  But strange in a wonderfully stress free way.  We had a great time catching up with everyone.  And that was only a 4 hour drive.

 Here is my niece doing her best shoulder Angel impression.  My sister asked how she got up there and she said "Uncle Marion was laying on the ground and so I climbed on."  All the little kids loved to wrestle with him and I love how you can see a kid hanging onto each of his legs.

 Here I am with my Aunts.  I love these ladies so much and am so grateful for all they have taught me.  I feel truly blessed to be a part of their family and it was so fun to get to spend time with them.  Especially time in the kitchen, that always leads to delicious things that need to be eaten.  We had cooking demonstrations on pie crust, Lemon Meringue Pie, and cinnamon rolls.  It was awesome.

Here I am with my niece who is so very kind to bring me sticks shaped like "Y"'s.  She knows how much I love BYU and loves to help feed my passion.  It is so sweet of her and I love her for it.   We made it back to Vegas just in time to pick Diana up from Trek.  She had a great time and it was a wonderful experience.

A week later we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary.  I really can't imagine how it has been that long and yet looking at us we were indeed much younger than we are now.  My husband bought me lovely flowers to celebrate.

This same week my class was holding my 30 year High School reunion up in Seattle.  I had known about it all summer but didn't plan to attend.  Several friends from High School started talking to me on Facebook and telling me I should come.  When I looked at the list of the people attending, I started to feel curious and excited to see these people again.  And when I realized that I could use miles I had to get a free ticket, it seemed like there was no good reason not to go.  It was a very crazy spur of the minute decision and 24 hours later I was on a plane back to Seattle.  I was there for just about 36 hours.

I love this group shot from a fall dance.

It was so fun to catch up with old friends.  I have been completely gone from Seattle for all these years and I really haven't had any contact with any one.  I was very glad that I went because who knows where everyone will be in 10 more years.

Here is a picture of all the Mormon kids who graduated.

And here is a picture of most of us again 30 years later.

Here I am with Marianne Diehl

After the main reunion, our group was hungry and so we went to Denny's.  It was so nostalgic, just like after dances in High School.  Only back then we went to Farrel's.  It was very fun to catch up with everyone a little bit more.  I didn't get back to my parent's until almost 2 am.  I needed to get up at 4 am to go to the airport.  I was worried I might not wake up, so I just stayed up all night.

Here is a before and after picture of me.  This was my senior picture, and here I am well I guess 31 years later because my senior picture was taken at at the beginning of the school year.  Kind of fun to see that I haven't changed all that much,  at least on the outside.  Thank goodness the inside me has changed quite a lot.  Good thing or all the trials I have been through would have been for nothing. 

Any of you still reading deserve a medal.  That is what you get when you run a marathon, right?  As you can see it was a very eventful couple of months.  I hope that the school year will feel like a vacation from all this vacationing, but somehow I don't think that will be the case.  I feel very blessed to have been able to spend time with so many wonderful people who I care so much about.  My life is so much better for having all of you touch my life for good.  

Home again, home again, jiggity jog.

My mom and sisters all had to leave quite early on Saturday morning. I had a nice leisurely morning watching my sister in law be mauled by her four small children. Jessica you are amazing. That is all I can say. Meeting the needs of so many, by yourself most of the time. Keep up the good work. Finally I figured that I better get on the road myself. I got everything back into the car. I made a quick stop at Macy's and got some 5 gallon containers for food storage. You don't see those at the grocery store in Vegas.

Then I hit the road. I didn't even stop until I got to Beaver. You can't drive by Beaver without stopping at the cheese factory. Well you can, but that is not as much fun as stopping for squeaky cheese and an ice cream cone. So that is precisely what I did. For any of you who may be unaware of the joys of squeaky cheese, I am sorry for you and that is all I can say. What is not to love about cheese that squeaks. And I am not even a mouse. It is truly one of the good things in life. My Grandma Tanner would always make sure she had cheese curds in her fridge when we came to visit. Whenever I eat it, I think of her. It is yummy, get yourself some if you are ever near a cheese factory. Then I indulged myself in an ice cream waffle cone. None of the flavors sounded that good to me, and so I just got plain vanilla. Boy was it scrum-dilli-umptious. Yes that is another of my made up words, but it fits this situation, so I am using it. In fact this ice cream was so good that I almost ate it all gone before I thought to take a picture of it. It was so good, that had I not been almost to Cedar City, when I finished it, I would have gone back for seconds. I continued my trip home, stopping in St. George for lunch. I made it home by 4:00, part of that whole thing of it being faster to go back to Vegas. I walked in the door and up to my bed, without even unloading the car. I have been pretty tired all week, but am so glad that I went. Now I will have to change the count down on my blog for next year. Only about 360 days to go. Yippee!

Pushing the Button!

I was reading through some of my old e-mails and found this one about a plane trip I took in March of 2000. Reading this made me appreciate my recent trip all the more. At the time I wrote this, Diana was 8 months, Trent was 9, and Jared was 6. I thought it was kind of humous and so I thought I would post it here.
"Diana and I had a pretty easy time getting to the airport and on the plane. Once I got on the plane I started thinking about how pleasant it was to travel with only an infant. For instance I actually got to push the elevator button myself. This is a simple pleasure in life, I rarely experience. Usually the elevator scenario plays out like something akin to World War III. It begins with a mad dash to the elevator with a fair amount of pushing and shoving. Then the winner pushes the button, and the unlucky loser proceeds to fill the air with wailing and gnashing of teeth that sound something like "Why did he get to push the button, I wanted to push the button, I never get to push the button, he pushed it last time, he always gets to push the button" etc. etc. I think you get the picture. Why does pushing the elevator button carry such importance that it is worth such great turmoil? Does it say somewhere in the rules of life "Try to push as many elevator buttons as you possibly can." Is there an unseen counter somewhere that will some day say "You have pushed the elevator button 300 times and so you win a prize, but sorry you only pushed the button 250 times and so you are out of luck?" Gosh you would think lives or money were at stake with the way these kids fight over "Who gets to push the button." Perhaps I am missing out on something and need to get in on the fight. If anyone has any insight on this phenomenon I would love to be enlightened.
And then once the elevator scuffle is over, we move on to the "Who will push the stroller" battle. I never seem to learn to "just say NO" to the request to push the stroller. So I stupidly watch as my precious daughter is rushed off for another adventure in a strange version of roller derby/bumper cars. the stroller bumps into garbage cans, walls, or worse yet an unsuspecting pedestrian. I am sure that most people walk carelessly down the airport corridors, with out even a worry that a child wielding a stroller is closing in on them much like a shark closing in on its prey. It is at this point that I chase the stroller down and relieve the offending child of his stroller licence. But this did not happen on this trip as I enjoyed the simple pleasures of pushing an elevator button and the stroller all by myself.
But the fun did not end once we were on the plane. A young girl about 19 or 20 sat by me and actually used the phone from the back of the seat in front of her. I had to stifle my first impulse to say "Do not touch that phone if you want to keep your hand attached to your arm." You see Jared is obsessed with those phones, and every time we fly I spend much of my time and energy keeping him from even touching, let alone using the phone. I say over and over and over "No you can not call your friend, or Dad, or anyone for that matter, because we would like to have some money left to buy groceries or pay for college or something like that." My sister informs me that you must activate the phone with a credit card, but I was not aware of this, and had been worried that just picking it up would incur some outrageous fee and I can not even explain the amount of energy I have spent keeping him from even touching the darn thing over the years. Perhaps in the future I will not be so worried about it, but in the past it has been a big concern and so you can see why it seemed such a luxury that the phone could be not only touched, but used and I was not required to say or do one thing about it.
I got to Seattle about 5 and got home just in time for dinner. My sister and her 2 kids came over as well. After dinner we were having a nice time visiting. There was a vase with pussy willows sitting on the counter, and my nephew, who is five, took one of the fluffy buds and put it up his nose. It only took 3 adults, 30 minutes to remove the thing. I was glad once again that I was an impartial bystander instead of the parent. And I did not have to wonder just how much the emergency room would charge to remove a pussy willow from a child's nose if I could not get the thing out by myself."

Amazing Race

Well, I returned last night safe and sound. Well maybe not so sound, but I am back to normal life. It was very nice to have a break for a few days and see my family in Seattle. We certainly had very yummy food and I may have gained 5 pounds in 4 days, thank goodness I wasn't there any longer. One of my favorite TV shows is the Amazing Race. I was able to experience on a small scale the trials of traveling. As seems to be the case often in my life, my airplane rides were a bit out of the ordinary.
I flew out of Las Vegas Friday night. I had never done this before, but apparently Friday night is the ideal time to go through security at McCarren Airport. I was shocked to see the shortest line I have ever experienced. After arriving at my gate in record time, I grabbed a salad for dinner and read my book while waiting for the plane to board. I was in the last group to be called to board the plane. Most of the other passengers had already boarded. As we lined up, the Airline worker said to her co-worker, "I think we may have to unload the plane, because it was hit by lightening when it was landing." This made those of us in line a tiny, bit concerned. I quickly called my brother-in-law who is a pilot to ask if this is any thing worth worrying about. Someone else in line actually got out of line and I think was having reservations about getting on the plane. My brother-in-law reassured me that planes are hit by lightening often and it really is nothing to worry about. The airlines just has to have someone come out and inspect the plane to make sure it is safe to fly it. Sadly right when the inspector came, there was a huge thunderstorm and he could not inspect the plane because OSHEA has rules about people being out near the planes during a thunderstorm. Our pilot gave us several updates, telling us that things would be delayed. At one point he tried to soothe any irritated people by telling us "It is better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground." He had a point there. I was worried because I had to connect to another plane in San Fransisco. But I tried to look on the bright side, that if I was stranded at the airport all night, I could just pretend I was on the Amazing Race. Finally we took off about 45 mins late. I did have an hour for my connection, so I still had a chance to make it. And happily, I did make it just fine. So all was well that ended well.
Coming home, I only got to the airport an hour early, which normally is plenty of time. In the past I have never waited more than 10 minutes for security. I am not quite sure why, but there was a very long line yesterday, and it was moving pretty slow. I did make it through after about 35 minutes and then I hurried to my gate. With 15 minutes to spare, I quickly bought some stuff to take home to my kids at the corner store. While I was waiting to pay, a lady with a crying baby came and got in line behind me. I should be more sympathetic, but I selfishly thought "I hope that baby is not on my flight". The mom didn't even seem to be tyring to console the child. I wonder she always cries. If this were a movie, ominous music would be playing. Finally I boarded my plane. My seat was 22C which was the very last row of the plane. I had to drag my suitcase all the way to the back. And wouldn't you know it, there was that lady and the baby who was still crying. I thought "Well at least I am at the back of the plane." (more ominous music) As I made my way to the back, I felt badly because I kept bumping people that were overflowing into the aisle. My parade to the back was accompanied by me saying "Pardon me, excuse me, and I 'm so sorry" repeated over and over again. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, I made it to the back of the plane. Imagine my concern, when the last row of the plane was 21 not 22. I said to the flight attendant, "I don't mean to be demanding or a problem, but my row seems to be missing from the plane. Does this mean I have to sit in the bathroom?" A last minute plane change was the reason for the problem, so he called and got me a new seat assignment. And you probably guessed already that it was at the front of the plane. Yep seat 7D. So I began my pilgrimage back up front, and wouldn't you know it, I was in the row behind the crying baby. That is what I get for feeling smug, when I walked past them the first time. Not only that, but there were two other smallish children who both proceeded to cry off and on during the flight. I know it could have been worse, they could have been mine. Trying my best to ignore it, I read my book. Perhaps in the future it would be fortuitous to bring earplugs. This time the flight was not delayed. Going home I connected in LAX. I had an hour there and got some dinner. Finally I arrived in Las Vegas at 8:30. This was perfect, because Marion had just returned from Scouts. He and Diana came and picked me up at the airport.
Everyone at home seemed to have survived nicely without me. Once again a big thank you to my parents and sisters for a restful, fun weekend and to my dear husband for covering everything while I was gone.

There's no place like home!

As I drove home from Utah on Monday, a song playing on my radio had the words "There was never anything as beautiful, as a long journey's end". Amen to that. After traveling like a billion miles in the past six weeks, I am so relieved and happy to be home for good. Yeah me! I figure that since I left for girls camp, June 12th, I have only slept in my own bed about 15 nights, and I have been sleeping in other people's homes for about 25 nights. Diana and I flew from Houston to Phoenix on Friday July 6th, then we drove back to Vegas Sunday July 8th.
We were home for three days and then we drove back to flagstaff, Thursday July 12th and back home to Vegas Saturday July 14th. This was a fun two days with my uncles and aunts. It was fun to see people I don't get to see very much. We had lots of fun, but the trip home was marred by the fact that one of us in the car got food poisoning and threw up about 10 times. Thank goddness I had some zip lock bags to catch the mess and dispose of it.
Then we were home for three days before Jared, Diana, and I drove to Spanish Fork on Wednesday July 18th. Once again we had lots of fun visiting, but I feel pretty tired by all the activities that we had planned. The best part for me was that I got to see the musical Suzzical, put on by the community. I have the soundtrack of the broadway production and love the musical. It was most difficult not to sing along with the actors as I know the words to all the songs. Jared has gone to Seattle to visit my parents, and Diana and I drove home to Vegas Monday July 23rd. Sheesh!
I can't even believe that I went all those places and I was there so I should know. I am so tired of packing and unpacking, I can' even see straight. I feel completely detached from my normal life and friends. Diana keeps asking my what she can eat and I have no idea what kind of food we have because I haven't been to the grocery store for about 2 months. Hopefully now I can try to get back into my life again.
Perhaps it has been difficult coming home, because I have worked for the past two days, and when I wasn't working I was reading Harry Potter. Yeah I finished it tonight. I am so happy that I don't have to work tomorrow, so I can try to get my house put back together. Maybe I will even get to sleep in a little bit. I am glad that I got to go and visit all the people in all the different places. No one forced me to travel so much, it was just unfortunate that it all worked out to be so close together like it did. I am still not quite sure what is so exhausting about traveling. Even if I wasn't driving, but just sitting in the car I felt pretty worn out when we got wherever we were going. Let me just say that I have gained a new appreciation for my home and even Las Vegas. I just feel like I need a vacation from all the vacations I have taken. Diana gets baptized in two weeks and we have some family coming for that. Once that is over, then my summer vacation of nothingness can begin.