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| This face describes the last 3 weeks for this lady! |
Life is full of hard things. How else would we learn what we need to learn? How else would we be able to help other people while having empathy with what they're going through? It's incredible how everything works out just the way it needs too, even if we are stretched a little thin.
You might think it a little strange as to why I would start my post like this, but my little sister is going through something hard. Something I hope to never go through, and that's why I made the decision to make our adventures a little longer than planned.
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My world <3
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On Father's Day, as soon as church was over, we all hopped in the car for a drive to Las Vegas. Our ultimate destination was Provo UT, but I wanted to get a bit of a head start. My incredible husband said yes to the plans I made, and we took off with our rig piled high with luggage, camping gear, and enough for us to live away from home for 3 whole weeks.
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On the road again!!!
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Monday evening we made it to Provo Utah where we were greeted by my brother in law from Washington. Staying in a 2 bedroom town home with 4 adults, 3 kids, and 3 babies was an adventure on its own. Although we were in a tight space, we loved being together.
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Crazy Boy wok up so early!!!
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Waiting for everyone to wake up.
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He never wants to take pictures with me!
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While in Utah Jason helped fix things around my sisters house, while I entertained the kids. We had so much fun going to the splash pad, visiting our old neighborhood, seeing wonderful friends, swimming, getting caught in a rain storm, and the day Jason left to go home... we even got to visit our girls grave. If it weren't for the heat and time constraint, we might have stayed there all day. It's weird, but being in the place where we said our last see you later, makes me feel so much closer to those sweet 5 baby girls. I miss them everyday day, but I am so thankful for the blessings that have come because of our loss.
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It was hard to be away from this guy for 2 weeks!
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Splash Pad Fun!
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Two peas in a pod while we were in Utah
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| Love these ladies! So glad we were able to get together!! |
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Love this lady!
 | Beautiful little girl!
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 | Our 8 little angels!!
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Can't get enough of this sweet little face!
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The day before going to Oregon to spend time with my grandma, all 3 of my kiddos woke up with runny noses and coughs. I even had a little girl who was throwing up non- stop all morning. I was devastated thinking about having to travel home and cancel our plans so as to not give my grandparents a virus just before a long awaited family reunion. After an extra day of rest, Benadryl, cold meds, and vitamin c... we climbed in the car for a 7 hour drive to Oregon. Just me and my kiddos🤪
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Poor Sick little man
 | Went on a walk and found a little friend.
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I'm so glad we braved the thought of sharing germs with my grandma and grandpa. We hardly ever get to spend time with them all by our selves. There's often sharing with another family involved, but we got 6 days of uninterrupted great grandparent time!!! I wish the week went slower, but Saturday came fast and we were soon reunited with Jason. Sunday the 4 th happened in the blink of an eye, and we were on the road again!
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Grandma's are great at giving grandkids sugar!
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I loved that my kiddos got to spend so much one on one time with great grandma and grandpa!
 | He loves great grandpa!
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My grandma is AMAZING!!!!
 | He loved the kittens at great grandma's house!
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They love animals!
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We visited my uncles farm. Daxton loved riding the tractor!
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Pancake breakfast on the 3rd. Love taking selfies with this crazy boy!
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When we arrived at the place we'd planned to stay for a week, we were a little worried with the less than stellar accommodations. I wanted to go home, but I remembered something I have learned from past experience. "The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives," I chose to focus on making the most of being with family members we don't get to see often. I decided to forget about the place we were only to eat and sleep, and I focused on making memories. We had so much fun, I often forgot to even take a picture. We played at the lake, visited ghost towns, watched as kids and adults slid down an epic slip and slide. We shared talents, played games, and had too many laughs to remember. My sister even announced the exciting news of a little one joining their family. As you can imagine, the week was over in a flash. We hopped in the car for our last 16 hours home.
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The cat at the camp got lots of loves
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A day at the lake.
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It was a hot windy day, and we had so much fun!
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Our team got 2nd place in the Olympics!!!
 | Ghost town with Grandma and Grandpa.
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 | Last morning of the reunion.
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Love that these guys got to play all week!
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It feels so good to be home and getting back into our old routines. I still wish we could have had more time with family, but even if we were given all the time in the world... we would still wish for the same thing, more time. I'm so glad we made the most with the time we were given! Although there aren't a ton of pictures to document, there are so many fun and wonderful stories. I hope you all realize how precious time is, and live your life to the fullest with the time you have! Have a great week!!!
