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| She is happy to be alive, and we are completely in love! |
Do you ever feel like you’re drowning? That is how I have
been feeling lately, and I am not a fan. We have been having a wonderful
summer, but once school started… reality hit. Going out of town for a week and
coming back with 1 day to prepare was insanity. Having my parents visit the day
after that made things better, but once they left… drowning… I rarely have days
where I feel like I’m not enough and always feel that if there were only more
hours added to the day, I would be able to get it all done. Well, I now know
what it feels like to not be enough and to walk around in circles trying to
figure out where to begin. In short…. This is me catching up on all our
adventures while trying to figure out how to accomplish this Mt. Everest that
has been placed in front of me. It doesn’t help that my big helper is at school
all day ☹
Well, I guess to start… we decided to make a big trip to
Montana to visit the place where Jason grew up and the people that we still
stay in contact with. Our flights went much better than our ones to and from
Washington, but we did have to drive all the way to LAX (3 hours away). After
the craziness of going through security with 2 babies, a 6-year-old, and all
their things, we sat back for a delayed flight and a sprint to our connecting
flight in Salt Lake City. We barely made it and were the last ones on the tiny
plane to Great Falls. When we finally arrived in Great Falls, we were all too
happy to see our hotel room beds, and crashed hard from a long day of travel.
Wednesday was an interesting day, as we started to notice a
rash all over Daxton’s body. It didn’t help that he was incredibly crabby with
a fever and just not doing well. We stayed at the hotel most of the day, Carter
and I went swimming, we went out to find some lunch, and that was about it
before we met some friends for dinner. Seeing Jason’s second mom, Tina, was so
good. It was great to see that she was so happy and doing well. We love that
Tina girl, and were so happy that she finally got to meet Carter, Daxton, and
sweet baby Callie. A long night of visiting went all too quickly.
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| Tina and Jason, we love you! |
Thursday we were off to another city. Daxton’s rash was only
getting worse and so on our way to our destination in Missoula, we hit up an
Urgent Care. About an hour later, we were still left feeling frustrated and
concerned about our sweet baby’s skin. The doctor had no idea what it was or
how he could help. Our only option, to wait it out and see if it got better or
worse. Our luck only got better when Carter informed us, he was not feeling
well and threw up in his backpack. It was a pretty awesome ride. I’m sure you
would have loved to be with our family in those moments.
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| My sweet sleepy girl |
Once we got to Missoula, we checked into our hotel and hit
the road to find some friends and go swimming. The swimming commenced and
dinner was consumed at Buffalo Wild Wings. With full belly’s and a hard day of
playing, we went to bed right after dinner. I’m just glad we didn’t have more
adventures with kiddos getting sick.
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| My sweet sleepy boy |
Friday, we had planned to hit a water park, only to find
that it was raining and our little guy was still not feeling well. We decided
our travels were probably better to be alone and off we went to meet some new family members on Jason's side of the family. We had a delicious lunch, let the kiddos play, and enjoyed meeting Jason's Aunt and her kids. After visiting for a bit, we were off to Glacier National
Park and American Falls. There we spent yet another night in a hotel, but
decided to go mini golfing, hit up a DQ, and then rest from all our sickness to
be ready for another big day of riding in the car.
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| A wonderful time meeting family members! |
Sunday was a day of rest, church, and lots of visiting.
Jason also took us to see his old stomping grounds and where he used to do
things. He loved telling Carter about all his childhood adventures and taking pictures
of Carter in all these places. On our way back, we got caught in a down pour of
rain and were soaked with in seconds of getting into the house. Our awesome friend
sacrificed himself when he ran outside with an umbrella to hopefully lessen soakage.
Monday, we had the hard task of realizing our trip was
almost over. After visiting one more friend, spending some time with our
friends who so graciously put up with us for a couple nights, and realizing we
were one day away from home, we packed up our things and headed toward Great
Falls. On our way we stopped for some yummy food with yet some more friends, and
forgot to take a picture with them. We were happy to see Adam and Amber with their
beautiful children, and visit them after 9 years of not seeing each other.
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| We love the Shultz family! |
We got to our hotel late and prepared for a crazy early morning
with yet more airports and airplanes. Our flight back was less hectic and we
actually didn’t have any delay. When we got back to LA, we decided to kick it
on the beach for the afternoon and headed to Santa Monica. We had a great time
there, and were covered head to toe in sand before we took off in the car again
to finally head home.
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| My Boys on Santa Monica beach |
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| The beach is our favorite place to be |
Our time at home was short and quick. We had one day to run
errands and last-minute school prep, then it was off to school for Carter early
in the AM.
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| First day of school! |
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| Already loves his teacher |
I wasn’t actually sad this time, because I had much to do with preparing
for my parents’ arrival. Later that day they pulled in and unpacking and packing
began. Once Carter got out of school the next day, we were on the road again to
stay in Pismo Beach California. There we had a wonderful time of camping,
hitting the beach, and deciding to stay another night. When we arrived home on
Sunday, we unhooked trailers, ate a quick lunch, and then it was off again to Sequoia
National Park. We saw massive sequoia trees and said hello to General Sherman,
one of the oldest trees on the earth. We enjoyed our time and didn’t want
Monday to come. Monday was the day we said our goodbyes to my parents and dove
back into everyday life and the giant Mt. Everest that seems to always be there
after a long vacation. Now that we have another week of school under our belts,
things seem to be getting better. Let’s just hope we can survive this one! Happy
Reading!
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| Waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive |
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| He's excited to be camping! |
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| Pismo Beach California |
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| Oldest Tree |
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| My beautiful smiley girl |
