Our Quick Trip . . . The Ups and Downs

So, this past weekend I took a "quick" trip to California to be there for my brother Daniel's wedding. To save money on fuel, and because Ryan had the weekend off, I left Austyn and Addie at home and drove the car, bringing Andrew, Ashley and Alexia along for the trip. We had considered a caravan with Mary & Frank, Evy & Sam, as they were planning to leave around the same time on Thursday afternoon, but they were able to get on the road a little bit sooner than we, so we started out about 22 miles behind them. We kept in contact throughout our trip through Utah and caught up with them just before we got to St George. We all stopped for dinner and filled up with fuel. For some reason we lost our air conditioning about 100 miles into the trip, which is no good when we're getting ready to drive through the desert. When I started the car, after stopping in St George, it didn't sound very good, but was still drivable, so I filled up, topped off the radiator fluid and continued on our trip. We had planned to drive straight through to Riverside that night, but our car decided to die in Las Vegas. At this point I was able to get it started and keep it running, but we lost our power steering, the battery light was on and the head lights were dimming. Luckily, Mary & Frank, Evy & Sam had reserved a condo to stay overnight in Las Vegas, so we were able to stay with them and wait until morning to figure out what to do next. There was a small auto repair shop near our condo, where I took the car first thing in the morning, but I decided not to leave it there as there was only 1 mechanic and a lot of cars. I was able to reach my friend Linda Trout, who lives in Henderson, and she gave me the name and number of her GREAT mechanic. We were able to drive the car there and he was able to look at it right away. In the meantime, Linda picked us up and took us back to her place so we could rest and cool off. I am sooooooo thankful for such good friends!! It ended up that our compressor had lost the bearings, causing us to lose a couple of belts, thus the multiple problems we had experienced. As they knew we were in a hurry to get to California, they worked on it right away and were able to get it up and running again by 2:00 in the afternoon. We had it picked up and fueled up by 3:00 and made it to my parents' house by 6:30, just in time for dinner:) (Grand total $650 . . . . I think it would have been cheaper to fly to California:)

After a few hours of sleep, we were up and getting ready to be at the Temple at 9:30 a.m. My mom printed out google maps for everyone and we were on our way by 8:40. Things were going pretty smooth, bypassed construction and traffic was moving quickly. We easily found the exit and proceeded in the direction of the temple. On the map it would appear that we basically stay on the same road until we pass the freeway. Unfortunately, somewhere along that road, we must have gone the wrong direction on that road and became lost. Of course, I'm never really "lost," sometimes I just don't know where I'm going. We drove around Redlands for about 30 minutes, trying in vain to see the temple and thus make our way towards it. Finally, at about 9:50 a.m., soon after we got on the freeway, my mom called and helped us find our way from where we were. We pulled into the parking lot at 10:00 and I ran into the temple. Luckily they were still working on paperwork for another 10 minutes, so I didn't miss anything. They even saved me a seat, which was pretty nice because it was standing room only in there. So many friends and family members:) The ceremony was wonderful, Nia was beautiful, and Daniel was all smiles.

After the ceremony we waited outside on the Redlands Temple grounds for pictures. It was quite a pleasant day, especially for Southern California, overcast and only in the 80s.

Mary, Julie, Jenny & Evy

We took a few pictures outside while we were waiting, and then a few more as the bride and groom came out of the Temple.

Daniel and Nia

Sam, next to JennyLyn & Ammon

I had a much easier time getting to the luncheon from the temple, although I did turn on the wrong street for a couple of miles, thinking it was the first light, but not actually looking at the street name. I guess it was just one of those days! By the time I got to the church for the luncheon I was pretty tired, so I took a quick nap on the couch while we were waiting for the food to be ready. After lunch we headed back to the house, since we had almost 3 hours before the reception was supposed to start. Back home I cleaned up breakfast and vacuumed, while the kids watched a movie. Then I needed another little nap before it was time to leave again. If you haven't noticed, I was unusually tired for a lot of this trip.

We made it back to the reception by about 5:30 and the place was already packed. There was some delicious Polynesian food prepared, but we had to wait until about 6:30 to start eating it. Even then, the line was long, so in the meantime I took a few pictures of myself and those nearby.

Sam, Evy and Ashley

Jerry & Sharon

Mary & Frank

I had really hoped to see more people I knew, but maybe there were less friends that came out because the reception was about 30 miles away from where my parents live.

After dinner, cake cutting, bouquet throwing, etc., the music was cranked up and we all danced. It has been a while since I have gone dancing, but I had a lot of fun. I'm sure it helped that the DJ was playing a lot of dance music that I was familiar with, some "oldies" from the 80s & 90s. All in all it was a great party!! We left about 8:30, but still got out of there at least 30 minutes before anyone else. Back at the house I thought about working, but I was too tired, of course.

After all the stress from the quick trip, the car breaking down, and being so tired, I decided that I was not ready to drive all the way home on Sunday. I had wanted to be back by Sunday night, as Monday was Andrew's first day of school, but it just wasn't going to happen. We were able to reserve a condo in St George and stay over Sunday night, which was a much needed break in the trip:) I even got some work done while at the condo and the kids got to go for a swim. Here is a picture of me driving through Nevada.

The weather was quite pleasant as we finished our trip Monday afternoon, arriving home at exactly 4:45 p.m., just in time for Andrew to go to football practice. I was quite relieved to find the house was actually almost as clean as we left it and Ryan even had a pot of clam chowder on the stove for dinner!! :D

I am really glad to be home, back in my own bed, working in my own office. And, for some reason, I'm not so tired anymore. Andrew is back to school today and we're getting back into the swing of things around here. The other kids will be off track for 2 more weeks and Addie will start preschool about that time as well.

I know I have a lot of filling in to do since my post in July, but I'll have to get back to that later. In short, Evy & Sam got married, Heward Family reunion, Andrew and Alexia are Both getting braces on in the next few weeks, Andrew is back in football, Ryan started a new job (still driving, but only gone 2 days a week :D), kids to the dentist and only Andrew had a cavity, adopted 2 pet hamsters, kids back to school, SEP conferences, Andrew celebrated his 14th birthday and went to his first regional dance That Night!!, Ashley got to read the pioneer poem she wrote in front of a full house at This Is The Place Heritage Park, a few trips to the park, a few other birthday celebrations, a few trips to McDonalds and Arctic Circle for soft serve ice cream, a couples evening out with Jenny, Brent & Ammon, cleaned out the garage, which then required a trip to the dump, getting a new bed, Finally!!, yard work, which basically consists of mowing, weeding and trying to keep the grass green, the grapes alive, and our new tree growing:) So far so good!

I better get back to working and cleaning while I have a chance. Thanks for stopping by!! ~Julie~