I should have known better

I shouldn't have been so proud of how far we had come. With pride comes humility. This is what we woke up to.We had checked the weather the day before and it was suppose to be clear all weekend. It wasn't a pretty sight, but we decided to tough it out. About 30 miles later it was clear and so were the roads. So we kept on going, and another 70 miles the road got to be like this.A blowing snowstorm with bumper to bumper traffic.

With driving eight hours, and a nine hour road trip, we accomplished just over 180 miles. We called it quits and stayed our cousins in Denver for the night. We will try again tomorrow.

P.S. These pics do not deserve being blown up. I am not ready for this weather.

P.P.S. I am enjoying the Christmas music on the drive.

Road trip Reality

• Last night was Jake's last volcano (for awhile.)
• This morning was an early (6am) farewell to the beach.
• Throughout the day was a realization as we watched the temperature drop what we were in for when we get home.
• After stopping for dinner and having 3 out of 4 kids spill their drink before dinner came, it came to the point where all I could do was laugh as the third one spilled, even though Jake was telling me it's not funny as he is holding in chuckles also. I'm sure people thought we were nuts.

On another note, we drove over 1,080 miles. We went from the southern tip of Texas to the North-western tip, through a corner of New Mexico, and we are now barely into Colorado. Tomorrow we will be home in another 800 miles.

I must say, we are quite the fam to punch out the miles.

I'm actually tired for once. It's now time for sleep.

Ring Toss

Now that the pool is warm (really warm), the adults aren't so hesitant to get in. Here is the new game that was invented this morning. RING TOSS....some were SCARED....some SANK (and popped)....and some FLEW.... really HIGH.

Our relaxed Thanksgiving

WAS ALL ABOUT THE PIE!!!

(post approved by Betsy)

Tuesday Turnaround

After our first round up of swimming in the much warmer pool and the hot tub. The grouchy parents got their much needed rest. The kids stayed busy and quietly played upstairs, even though they were ready to go to the beach after getting out of the shower from the pool.

It's not a good combination when you have kids that are energized and ready to play since they were put to bed at 8:30 p.m. and the parents stayed up carelessly past 2 a.m. I guess we will have to work on being more responsible.

(The only reason I'm not tired is I got 7 hours of sleep, or in other words, Jake got up with the kids.)

Thanksgiving week of paradise

At this time, I would like to say, I'm so happy we're here and not home in the (high) 41, (low) 17 degree weather!Yay for hot tubs, pools, the beach, family and sunshine! This is how we kicked off our first real day at the beach.Old habits never die for Jake. He built his "volcano" for the kids to play in. (For examples click here (Hawaii 05). McKay loves hanging out with Aspen, so they were off in the waves and seashell pickings.Kirsten loves the water just as much. Unfortunately she had some minor jellyfish encounters. And of course, the volcano was a blast for the little (and bigger) kids.And as we said good-bye for the day, I'm am thankful there will be many more. (For another version click here.)

When will he ever learn?

Being married to Jake will always keep me smiling.... and laughing. Tonight I wondered when Jake will realize what that little yellow light means in the corner by the gas gauge.So in the middle of Austin, in the middle of the evening, in the middle of the road. We ran out of gas..... we all remember Moab right?Luckily, we pushed, parked, and walked just down the road and down a block. We weren't so stranded this time. As Jake said on our walk to get gas, "This never happens to me, the last time was when I was in college......"

(We all remember Moab.)

I'm thankful for....

when all my loving children are asleep so I can give my mind the "reset" that it needs.

There is a First for everything....

This trip was a FIRST in a lot of ways. I originally was going to get a picture of the trailer and how packed it was, but I forgot, and it's unloaded, so I'm out of luck.

FIRST....

• time Jake over packed. I always over pack. I think Jake has more clothes than any of us here this trip.
• in the way we took a different route to Texas. Wouldn't advise it, longer and well, just longer.
• time in a long time that is only took $23 dollars to get to Salt Lake City in gas. Wow, and Ya!
• that we stayed both nights on the road in a hotel with three beds. The best part is we didn't spend more than $75. I don't know if the price is because 1-Jake is always wanting a good deal, 2- travel coupons, 3-because we travel til 1 or 2 in the morning and then are trying to find a room.
• time we saw wolves along the roadside in Arizona.
• ever hearing about Jonestown and the tragedy that went on there. There was a special on CNN that we picked up on satellite radio that was very interesting. This leads to the next one....
• trip with satellite radio. Big bonus!
• trip to Betsy's that we spent less than $240 in gas. And that is adding extra hours of driving on.

Now that the firsts are over there is one thing that we have realized. In all the times of us driving to Texas, we have ALWAYS driven through Albuquerque (and most of New Mexico) in the dark. Always.

Our new Journey's Journey

I guess I have to brag, just a little. He deserves that much. This is the trailer that Jake built.

It's just the perfect size for our upcoming road trip. I'm really stoked because it opens from the top. Easy access makes all the difference.

I must now admit that Jake can be a genius sometimes. He's always asking me that. He is one of the handiest men I know. (That's the bragging part.)

The instigator.....

I admit. I was a slacker. There were many of times I thought to myself, I need to register. I need to make it downtown and register. Then there were many of times I thought, it's way downtown and it's out of the way. I don't want to because I'd have to take all the kids in and chase Katanya around. Although the past couple of days, I really had meant to do it.

McKay started last week by asking about the election, the candidates, and voting. She then asked if we were going to vote. I had told her yes as my intentions were good. This year, I actually paid attention and followed the politics and watched two of the three debates. My thoughts switched several times as I liked some things more than others. But my (what I think) crazy, busy, lazy world didn't get me registered.

Then when McKay asked tonight while I was ironing if I voted, I had to look at her and tell her no. So Jake went to the Internet and found our precinct and that we could register there and we still had an hour left. Thank goodness we live out in the country. We had to go to good old Ririe. There were no lines, no waiting, and basically no one else there. So for the first time in my life I voted. It's the first year of many to come.

I gave my sticker to McKay as she was the inspiration to get there.

And yes, I am thankful to be an American too.

Our contribution to the economy....

We finally got our stimulus check from our taxes. (Just in time as the cut off was Oct.15th.) Since our food storage had depleted, we put a big chunk back into it.

BEFOREDURING AFTER
In case the pictures doesn't do it justice, we had over Jake's "portion of the stimulus" as a grocery bill (yes we took a FULL OVERFLOWING two carts to the checkout, and had to have three carts to take out). The non-food items added up to less than $20. I feel a little bit better now but I still have a ways to go. This week I only got food items. I still have all the soaps, and paper items, etc.
AND

For those of you that are environmentally friendly, the girls take the bags to school for their recycling contest.

Beau and Belle

A couple of my favorite pictures.For a moment..... ....you would think that they were the perfect brother and sister.