Wedding and Interrupted Road Trip

Saturday Morning the kids had chores, and I had the rest of the packing and cleaning to do. Aaron had a meeting with the priest quorum and then had to finish up some things at work. The goal was to get everything ready to go and packed in the Yukon, put Melanie down for a nap and then take off for the wedding. I was still trying to get the kids to clean the play room when it was lunch time. So my timing didn't work well. Then there was an issue of Aaron packing his suit, planning to wear his other suit, and then not being able to find the pants to that suit, so I had to get the luggage out of the Yukon, so he had a suit to wear to the wedding. Then I forgot to get out his belt, so I had to go back out and get that too. What a mess.

Aaron wanted to be at the wedding at 1:00, so I didn't get Melanie down for a nap. She was beyond tired and wasn't letting David help her. I was trying to sing songs to her over the phone while Aaron and I walked in to the wedding, but I finally gave up and told David, "Good luck!"

Aaron was asked to officiate his 3rd wedding as a Bishop, and the 2nd in the month of January. Aileen M* and Jaden C* were getting married in the Winter Lodge on the reservation. The wedding was scheduled for 2:00, but Aaron wanted to be early to check on things and greet guests coming in. I have been to a few weddings outside of the temple, and in my experience, they never start on time. The wedding two weeks earlier (Aileen's cousin Paige) started about 15 minutes late. But this was a little later.

Our first clue was that the mother of the bride was leaving the lodge at the same time Aaron and I arrived. I held Michelle, talked to people, waked around, got Michelle to sleep and made friends with the guest next to me before Aileen came down the aisle at 2:40.

As I stood up, Michelle awoke. So when we sat down again I discreetly nursed her, and she was quiet enough.

 It was a beautiful ceremony.

 

 

Aaron and I stayed and went through the line at the end because he needed a crucial signature from Aileen on the legal document before we could leave. We didn't stay for the meal afterward.

When we got home we did a last minute sweep through the house to make sure everything was put away or packed. Michelle's schedule was a bit off. I tried to feed her before we left, but she wouldn't eat, so around 4:00 we hit the road. I was a little concerned that Melanie wouldn't use the bathroom before we left, but I couldn't force her, so we left. At least she had gotten a nap.

This was a bit of a whirlwind trip. It was only just after Christmas that we even started thinking about it. Aaron cleared his scheduled and we planned to leave Friday night after Aaron was done with call at 5:00. We'd drive all night and get to his parent's house about 1:00 am. Then we realized the wedding was the same weekend, so we left about 24 hours after we intended to. So we added another day to the end of the trip.

We didn't know how far we'd make it before Michelle needed to eat, but we hoped it would be at least halfway to our first destination. She slept great for the first while. Aaron got some things done while I drove and David sat up front with me. We hit some fog and I had to drive really slow for a while. Aaron had warmed up a bottle of breast milk and was ready to attempt feeding that to her if she woke up, but she didn't. Aaron knew I really didn't want to navigate the mountain passes, especially in the dark, so we switched places. We got out some snacks and made plans for a late dinner in La Grande, OR. I was glad the roads on the pass were clear, but I don't like those windy roads. Michelle finally woke up about 20 minutes before La Grande. I tried to give her the bottle, she wouldn't take it. She gulped and gagged and screamed. I tried nursing her while she was strapped in, and that didn't work either. So eventually we made it to our first stop and we found a seat in the restaurant and I got her to calm down and finally eat. Phew!

We'd eaten there before on our way out to his parents'. A Chinese Buffet. It was quite a variety of Asian food, and hard ice cream too. I was glad Melanie's meal came at a discount, because she didn't eat very much. Of course as soon as we got back in the Yukon she asked for a granola bar and fruit snacks! Picky, picky! Going over the second pass was awful. It was snowing just a bit, but the storm that had come through earlier had left the roads snow packed, and icy. We had to drive rather slow. Once we got over the pass, there was one more to go, but we were greeted with lit up road signs telling us the freeway was closed and we had to exit at 304 - Baker City. That was not what we wanted to see. We sat in the parking lot of the gas station for a while trying to decided what to do. We could wait for it to open, get a hotel for the night, or head back home. We kept Aaron's mom up to date about what was going on. We found out there was an accident involving a truck full of propane tanks. There was no estimation of when the freeway would open. I fed Michelle while trying to decided what to do. We talked to the people at Best Western while trying to decided what to do. We went to Safeway while trying to decided what to do. After an hour of trying to decide the decision was made for us. The freeway was now closed in both directions. We were stuck. So we checked in at the Best Western. We were glad they weren't booked. They typically have 2 buildings open, but had to open 2 more buildings to accommodate everyone that was stuck there. Aaron told them there were 6 of us, but they only had rooms that accommodated 5 at the most. The manager was willing to overlook that as we really didn't have anywhere else to go (as in no hotels in the area had rooms for more than 5). Babies don't count right?

So our family of 7 crammed into a hotel room with two queen beds. There were two extra blankets, and each bed had 4 pillows so it all worked out. Of course no one volunteered to sleep on the floor.

 Amy and Timothy entertained Michelle while we gathered things from the Yukon.

It was already 10:00 pm, and we had some tired kids. We all changed into pajamas, and Michelle fell asleep without a fuss.

Unfortunately she didn't sleep well. She was up more often than every two hours. And Melanie woke up at least 3 times. She was stuck in the middle between David and Amy. Timothy had complied and slept on the floor. Eventually I put Melanie on the floor as well. It was a rough night.

We got up early enough for some of us to shower before breakfast. The freeway was still closed. Church was at 9:00 so we got into our church clothes and went to the restaurant for breakfast. We all knew what we wanted before we were seated. It was fairly busy with all of the extra guests from the hotel. The room comes with a free breakfast (from a selective menu) at the restaurant next door and they were able to include all six on our room. The breakfast for the 6 of us probably was worth half of the price of the room! Unfortunately Michelle was not calm when we got to the restaurant. She would not stop crying. I tried to feed her in the bar area, but she wouldn't eat. So I went back out to the Yukon. She wouldn't eat there either. I went back into the restaurant and we were seated, but she kept crying. So I told Aaron to order for me, and I would be back. Eventually I got her to eat and calm down. I wondered what everyone thought about Aaron at the table with four kids all dressed up. We gave ourselves an hour to eat, and it was barely enough time. By the time we got seated and served we didn't have much time left.

We did enjoy the breakfast though. The kids were well behaved and the food was good. I looked around at the other guests and noticed another couple eating breakfast dressed up, and wondered if they were going to church as well. After we finished, we loaded into the Yukon and drove to the church. The roads were still pretty icy, but we made it safely. There was only a few minutes to spare before church started, and a few people greeted us before sacrament meeting started. The Bishopric member started the meeting by welcoming everyone, "We're glad you are with us, even if it's not by choice." Apparently we weren't the only ones who were stranded that came to church that morning. After the opening song and prayer, the couple I had noticed at breakfast came and sat in front of us.

We enjoyed sacrament meeting. The talks were great. Timothy ended up playing a quiet game with the boy next to him. The kids were great, and then Melanie needed to use the bathroom. Church got out just as we came back in. The good news was that the freeway was open again. Several people asked us if we had been stranded and wanted us to know that we were free to go if we wanted to. Melanie was sad that she wasn't going to Primary. We wanted to get out before the snow started again. So we piled into the Yukon and left around 10:30.

We still had a long ways to go. The roads were so much better, slushy instead of icy! We saw the propane tanks in the median as we drove through. We hadn't really thought ahead about lunch. We'd make it there by dinner, but we only had a few snacks for lunch - it would have to do. Originally we hadn't planned on stopping by to see my family, but with the delay we thought maybe we could use Becca's house as a pit stop to change clothes, feed Michelle and perhaps snag something else to eat. However church started at 1:00 and with the time change we'd be there after they were gone. But she mentioned that Mom & Dad and Eva & Dave had church at 9:00 and would be home by then. So as we got closer, I texted and called, but got no answer. Amy had fallen asleep as well as Michelle.

I still hadn't been able to contact my parents, so we just showed up at the house, and n one was home. I called Eva to see if they were at her house. "No, we are at church. I wouldn't have answered the call, but my phone happened to be on the piano and I saw your call come through." Becca had forgotten that church changed to 11 at the start of the year. So we had no where to stop. Then I remembered they had a keypad to get into their house. So we drove over, and used the key pad, but they had left through the garage so the front door was bolted. So Eva and Dave decided to leave church and let us in. We were hoping we wouldn't have to pull them away from church. So we all got to change clothes, I fed Michelle, and Eva loaded us us with some more snacks. Then we were on our way again.

Michelle didn't last as long as we had hoped and we had to stop less than 2 hours later to feed her. Melanie had taken a nap, but I don't think anyone else slept. Finally it was our last stretch until we got there. I also got to talk to my dad and catch up with him. His birthday was coming up, and we talked about stopping by on our way back home. It was close to dinner time when we arrived, and we were so glad to be out of the Yukon. We unloaded our stuff and found our rooms. While we love to see lots of family when everyone is there, it was kind of nice not to be crammed into one room with people on the floor and couches. The girls shared and room, and Timothy and David were in the den on the couch and mattress. We enjoyed dinner and talking with Mom, Dad and Brittany. Finally we were on vacation.

Basketball and Birthday Celebration

Monday - Back to school for the kids. That morning I went to visit Sandi B*. She'd had back surgery and we missed her at book club. So I took the girls to see her after Michelle woke up from a morning nap. We only stayed an hour or so. Sandi got to hold Michelle for a bit, and Melanie enjoyed playing with the various stuffed animals Sandi keeps in her granddaughter's room. We talked, Melanie played, and had to use the bathroom. When it was getting close to lunch time, and Michelle was getting tired we said good-bye and headed home.

Not much else happened except going to the city for Timothy's drama class. Michelle and I went to Costco while he was there. Aaron was on call all week. He had a lot of crazy days. And some crazy nights as well. He didn't get home until after 11:00 that night.

Tuesday was another normal day. That night we went to the basketball games.  Melanie had fun dancing to the music.

We enjoyed two more wins. Aaron had to take a call in the middle of the game. But didn't have to go in.

Wednesday I finally got to go back to Amy's class and help with reading groups. I was wondering how I would do it with Michelle. She should have been awake, but fell asleep after dropping everyone else off at school. She stayed asleep until about 9:00. I finish at 9:15. So I just tried to keep her occupied until then. the kids went off to their next activity, and I was going to feed Michelle, but then Melanie said she needed to use the bathroom. So I took Melanie to the bathroom, but started to feed Michelle. Then Melanie said she was done, so we went back to the hall to bring in our mess, and Michelle was not happy. So I sat at the back table and finished feeding her. Mrs. K* came in and we talked for a bit before we headed home. I almost left the diaper bag there! She found me at the office signing out with Jackie W*. I don't remember much else except that I did laundry. There was scouts/mutual that night and that's about it.

Thursday Aaron spend the day going back and forth between the hospital and clinic. Not much else on my end.

I took these pictures of Michelle before dinner that evening

Friday I was busy trying to get the kids packed and starting to pack for myself, Aaron and Michelle. I went up to the city to get a few things. Not too many groceries because we were heading out of town. That afternoon we had our heat pump serviced. It had been a while. It was the same older man that always comes, and he recognized that we'd added to our family. He was just finishing up when the kids came home from school.

That night we had an early dinner and then headed over to the I*'s to celebrate Timothy's birthday. We got there late as I was trying to get the kids to finish cleaning up, and then they needed socks and shoes etc. Aaron wasn't able to make it as he had a wedding rehearsal to attend. We had fun with those there, and the kids enjoyed Timothy's new toy.

 David took this one of Michelle

 The girls were having fun torturing Phillip

 Michelle and me

David played the piano while Timothy played with little Timothy's new toy.

We stayed for an hour or so, and then headed home. Aaron was done about the time we headed home so we brought a piece of cake home with us, for him. I gave the girls a bath and the kids went to bed. I continued with packing, and then headed to bed.

First Week of January

I forgot to mention that Aaron and I stayed up late Sunday night and finished the puzzle we started on Christmas.

Monday January 4th. The kids had to go back to school. Of course Amy and Timothy needed to wear their snow boots and snow pants so they could play in the snow at school. David went in jeans and a hoodie. I guess it's not cool to wear a coat to school in 8th grade.

I don't recall exactly what I did all morning, but that afternoon Timothy had his drama class, and I took Michelle with me and we went to Costco. I fed her before we went in, and then it started snowing. I got what we needed and went to pick up Timothy. I was a little early. When he came out, instead of getting in the Yukon, he stared running through the 10 inches of snow on the grass (not new snow - just accumulated over the last couple of weeks). I had to yell out the window for him to come back and get in the Yukon. Crazy kid!

When we got home everyone helped unload the groceries and I fed Michelle. I put Michelle on the kitchen mat when I was done so I could get dinner ready. Melanie brought her baby doll and showed me how she was feeding her. By the time I got the camera out she had put her shirt down. 

That night we played with the puzzle for FHE. There is an app that uses your iPad (or iPhone) camera for a game. An animated fish swims across the screen and you have to find it on your puzzle before it swims across your screen (about 10 seconds). It keeps sending out new fish as soon as you find it.

That night  Michelle was babbling, so I took a short video. If you are on Facebook you may have already seen this.

Tuesday I don't remember what we did. I took these pictures of Michelle playing with her hands.

Aaron was supposed to go out on a visit with the Bishopric that night, but instead he ended up taking call for Courtney. She ended up in the hospital for anaphylaxis. She's allergic to almonds. It wasn't a big deal; Aaron rounded on the patients, but didn't have to go in after work.

That night was book club. I was glad to finally be able to go again. It was snowing again, but the roads weren't too bad. I hadn't read the book, but Joan J* had, and she told us all about it, then we got to enjoy some yummy treats. Michelle did pretty well, and Tish enjoyed holding her. Carol C* got stuck in the snow trying to get out. I tried to help her but I wasn't much help. She said she'd back up and try to get a running start, but I was in her way, so I left, but called Joan to let her know what was going on. By the time Tish got out there she was gone, so she got out fine on her own.

I got a text on the way home from Bernie (Kyle's mom) asking if they could hire David to help Kyle with his backpack at school. He had broken his foot and was on crutches. I told him David would love to help out, and that he wouldn't accept payment even if it was only $1 a day. (I never told David they offered to pay him). David was happily willing to help Kyle. That's about it.

Wednesday I was trying to figure out how I was going to get back into volunteering in Amy's class. Then the problem solved itself - there was a two hour delay. After some freezing rain overnight the roads were pretty slick. By 10:00 they were much better, and I only slipped once or twice - in 4 wheel drive. The rest of the day was pretty lazy. I did some blogging. There was scouts that night for the boys, and that' about it.

Thursday - I have no idea! But we finally got above freezing and the snow was starting to melt!  After almost 3 weeks of cold I was grateful! Friday - I don't remember everything, but we did have the missionaries over for dinner that night. Aaron had a half day in clinic, but stayed late to get things finished. He got there just about 10 minutes before the missionaries. Just enough time to grill the naan to go with the chicken tikka masala. It was a good dinner. We felt bad for rushing them out the door, but there was a basketball game and David was playing with the pep band. So right after dinner we left for the game. It was almost half time of the girls' game by the time we got there. We had fun, and the girls and boys both won.

Saturday David had a merit badge round up. He left early for the church with Aaron. Then Aaron came back and waited for Loren to do some duck hunting. I love that he can get out, get in a lot of walking, spend time with a friend, and only be gone a couple of hours. Meanwhile at home we cleaned up the house, and had lunch. I went to pick up David at the church and then came home and put Melanie down for a nap. The evening was a little busy. There was a basketball game that David played at, but the rest of us went to a baptism. Bert R* has been coming to church for a few weeks, and he got baptized! We were so happy for him. Aaron headed out early, and I arrived with the kids about 10 minutes before 7:00. Unfortunately Michelle was rather fussy. She wouldn't nurse, but wouldn't go to sleep either. I missed the actual ordinance because I was trying to calm her down. Then Aaron took her for a bit and got her to sleep. She was fine after that. We got some refreshments afterward, and eventually headed home. Aaron left from there to see the tail end of the game and take David home.

Sunday was a busy day. The morning was fairly normal with early meetings for Aaron and me getting everyone ready and off to church. I had asked Aaron to take Michelle so I could take Melanie to the bathroom. She sat on the toilet, but didn't go, so we went back to the chapel. Aaron had handed Michelle off to Sis. A*. It was the Sunday before I handed Michelle off to Shannon so I could get Melanie to the bathroom in time. I am so grateful for people willing to help me out! I got Michelle to sleep during Sacrament meeting, and she was out for a while:

I took Melanie to her class, and promised I would be back. I fed Michelle at the end of Sunday School, and then I was able to teach my lesson to the girls. Aaron took her once again. After church was a little crazy. The kids were good for the most part, but then Melanie wouldn't go to sleep at nap time. To her credit she stayed in her room, but at 3:15 she was still awake and playing in her room. Well, that's too late to go to sleep. She had also pooped a little, which may be why she didn't sleep. Aaron was gone most of the afternoon. He planned to be home by 4:30, but let me know he'd be home late. He was late enough I had to take David to the church for Mission Prep class at 6:30. Aaron was just getting back to the church with Pres. B*. When they got home we had FHE and David's yummy lemon bars that he made by himself. Then it was off to bed.

 Melanie made a skirt with the straw builders

 Amy did too

David's yummy lemon bars

New Years Day 2015

We started out the new year with a new game - Suspend!  Have you seen this game? It's like Jenga, except you have to hang things without making them fall.

 Amy wanted me to take a picture

 And then asked if she could take some pictures.

 Amy was taking some creative shots - maybe she'll be a photographer!

At breakfast Michelle was looking at her hands. It was so cute for her to discover them.

That morning there was a wedding that Aaron was officiating. It started at 10:00. He left to open the building at 8:00. I left with Michelle around 9:30. David was in charge once again, and they had fun and ate lunch before I got back. I was thinking about something before it started. We have a few extended families in the ward either siblings and their families or parents and adult children with our without kids. Two of those families are related through marriage, and now two more are related through this marriage.

Paige B* and Jacob L* were married that morning - that's the second wedding Aaron had performed! I sat with Carol P*, Joan J* Nancy S* and Tish F*. Michelle slept through the whole wedding. I expected she would wake up and want to eat, but she slept through me waiting for the chapel to empty and congratulating the Bride and Groom. I found a seat with my friends and then she woke up. I fed her and then Aaron took her while I got some food.

 Aaron took some pictures of Michelle

Paige's father does fishing for the tribe on the reservation and provided salmon for the luncheon - yum! There was plenty of other delicious food as well. We talked and ate, and eventually cleaned up. Michelle fell back asleep and I figured it was time for me to go home so I could get Melanie down for a nap on time.

Aaron arrived soon after I did. He was just making sure the building was cleaned up. It was our turn to clean the building. Sandra N* said she'd do the bathrooms, and I told Aaron we'd do all of the glass. So he vacuumed the class rooms (before the wedding) and the hallways (after the wedding).

It was great to have Aaron home the rest of the day. He played with Michelle and we got some great smiles!

Aaron decided to make cheese zombies for dinner. 

Those never sounded appetizing to me, and I was not impressed. I'd rather have a regular grilled cheese sandwich.

 We played more Suspend that night.

Saturday morning Aaron went duck and quail hunting with Clint B*. We started on chores and then went to the church for cleaning. Michelle slept the whole time. We finished the windows, then I fed Michelle made sure Sandra N* was able to get in the building and then we went home. It was mostly another play day. Aaron got two ducks, but Clint got a goose! (Amy pointed out: "It's like duck, duck, goose!")

That morning Timothy had a friend come over. He met Colton at his social group. His mom dropped him off and she went to work on things for school. She is a kindergarten teacher at a school near us, and is working on her national certification. The boys played all sorts of things: LEGOs, ping pong, and Colton brought his snap circuits kit that he got from Christmas. His mom came to pick him up around lunch time. We got to talk a little bit. Colton is an only child, and his mom wishes she could have given him more siblings. She seems really nice, and the boys have a lot in common. I think it would be great to get the boys together more often. I just we didn't live so far away. It's about 40 minutes up in the city.

After Colton left we had lunch and I put Melanie down for a nap. I really can't remember what else we did that day. However that night was the rival basketball game. Since we know the kids on both teams, (both for girls and boys) we decided to go cheer them all on. Since it was not a home game David didn't have to go for pep band, so they all opted to stay home. Aaron and I made a date of it, with Michelle of course. We got there at the end of the JV game. Our boys won. We debated which side to sit on, but decided to sit in the visitor's section. Those bleachers are much smaller than the ones we are used to. We barely had enough room for our legs let alone holding Michelle. The guy sitting behind us was enthralled with Michelle and when he wasn't cheering on our teams he was talking our ears off. 

Then the girls played. Our girls didn't play very well, and the other team played really well. It was fun to cheer on both teams. Both Maci F* and Sophie B* played well. But Sophie's team won. I went out to the commons to get some dinner and then the boys' teams played. We cheered on Jared and Brock E* on our team and Clint B* on the rival team. However our team played really well, and won by quite a lot. We headed home and the kids were in bed, but not asleep. We said goodnight to them all and got ready for bed ourselves.

Sunday Aaron went off to meetings and we all got ready for church. I don't remember many specifics, but with a new year comes new classes in primary and a new book of scripture for Sunday School. the hardest part was convincing Melanie that she wasn't going to nursery anymore. She was excited about the idea of going to primary, but didn't understand why she wasn't still going to play in the nursery. I ended up sitting in Primary with her, until I needed to feed Michelle, and she wasn't letting me do it discreetly. So I told Melanie I needed to go feed Michelle, and that I would come back later. I just didn't say how much later. I checked on her in her class and she was doing just fine.

However Sunday School didn't go so well for me. Michelle didn't really want me to sit down and not talk to and play with her. I ended up wandering the halls for a while, and changing a diaper, and eventually when she was asleep I got to sit for the last few minutes of the class. I was able to enjoy the lesson Shannon and Chelle put together for Young Women's class. Aaron took Michelle again during that hour. When I found them after church, she no longer had tights on as she'd had a blow out. So I fed her while the kids roamed the halls, and then we went home.

I don't recall much after church. I'm fairly certain Melanie got a nap that day, but I don't remember much else. I took a picture of  Michelle. She was enjoying the toy Melanie was rattling for her.

I also took a picture of the cupcakes Timothy picked for dessert. 

Timothy found the recipe in the Cupcake Bible recipe book, and mixed them up - I helped a little. Timothy got the ingredients ready for the filling and Aaron mixed them up, however Timothy didn't realized he was only supposed to use part of the cream in the filling (the rest was for the ganache). So it didn't work very well. Then Aaron made the ganache and they dipped them, and Aaron piped the frosting on the top. We had lots of extra filling since he added too much cream and Aaron tried to fix it. They still tasted fine, just the filling wasn't the right consistency.

David was in charge of the lesson for FHE, but I can't remember what he taught. Oh well. That's about all I can think of.