About our trip...careful..this is crazy long!

Here's our trip...if anyone is really that interested:)

We left Tuesday evening and spent that night in a hotel in Chicago. That was not fun...we were all sick with colds and coughs and Natalie coughed ALL NIGHT! I think that I slept for half an hour total. Blah. I was just hoping that the kids would all sleep on the plane. Everything with the flight was uneventful (just the way we wanted it!). We checked everything right off the hotel shuttle (curbside) and that was nice. The kids did ok on the plane. Sam was on my lap and that was not great...the poor lady in front of us had to deal with her chair getting kicked and pushed and yelling right behind her head. We bought a seat for Seth and he rode in a carseat. He fussed for a bit, but not too long. We survived!

Mom and Dad met us at the airport, we picked up our rental (and got charged a ridiculous amount above what I paid on Priceline...ugh) and went to our little hotel suite and got settled. It was SUPER nice. If you are going to SLC, I highly recommend the Microtel on Tommy Thompson road. So nice, free breakfast, great staff! Yes, I would be on their commercial:)

Thursday we spent at my parent's apartment, swimming, playing and relaxing. So nice!

Friday, we spent with our good friend Beth sightseeing at Wheeler Historic Farm (I would NOT be on their commercial), seeing the Joseph Smith movie (tear-jerker and a little scary for the kids) and dinner with my folks. I LOVE seeing my parents on TMSQ. It brings back so many wonderful memories for me when I was serving there. And every sister missionary we ran into would say, "Oh, I LOVE the Lyons!" It made me smile:)

Saturday, we took a tour at the Beehive House (not a great tour for young kids:). My parents are currently the directors there. After that we went south to visit our friend Andrea and that was perfect!! The kids could run and around and play with toys. Just what they needed! And it was nice to visit! Thanks, Andrea!

Sunday was so nice. We drove north to visit our friend Joan and her family. They live way back in the mountains. The view was absolutely AMAZING! Church was usual...you know, out in the hall most of the time. But I did get to attend RS which was a wonderful, spiritual experience! We went back to my parents house and did a tour of the Conference Center. Very cool. The CC opened and was dedicated back when I was serving there. The sisters gave tours then...it was fun to take a tour and be reminded of everything there.

Monday, we had lunch with our family up from Provo. It was great to see them! And they played with my kids...always gotta love that! We swam a little and after that headed south to see our friends the Jenkins and the Truesdells. Lots of talkin and playin going on. Perfect for our group. At this point, our kids were having a rough time. Plus, we wanted to stay later than was good for the babies because we were having such a nice time. That night was a bit rough in the hotel. No one slept well. Which was actually unusual...we did pretty well considering there were 6 of us in one hotel room:)

Tuesday was our hike to Ensign Peak. I frontpacked Seth and George backpacked Sam...good times! It was quite the hike and quite the view! I am so proud of the Nat and Levi for getting up there. The coming down was much easier and quicker, but a little scarrier for me. It's fairly steep and loose gravel and I really didn't want to fall forward! We survived! After that, we went to Liberty Park for lunch (Artic Circle corn dogs, fries, and fry sauce!) and then we visited with our friends Thelma and Ceci and her new husband. Thanks for letting us hang out! The kids were again, a mess by this point. We ended up buying pizza at Little Ceasars and eating it in the car on the way home. Ah, the things you'll do in a car that's not yours:)

Wednesday was pack up and leave day. Mom and Dad came to see us off and help control kids while I packed. We then said our good-byes and headed to the aiport to go on our "air-pane" as Sammy calls it. Again everything went smoothly for us at the airport. We found a "play-place" at the airport (ha! only in SLC) and played there for a while. It's actually pretty nice to be at the airport with kids. People are fairly helpful and understanding (for the most part). Plus, you don't have to wait in line much. They see you coming and make way! The flight home was fairly empty so Sam got his own seat (much better!) and there was lots of room to walk around and not bother everyone!

We got back to Chicago and had to wait forever for our shuttle back to the hotel to get our car. You should have seen us with 2 rolling suitcases, a HUGE bag with 3 carseats in it, 2 backpacks, each kid had a backpack, and a double stroller. Oh, and a diaper bag. It was CRAZY! Levi had to pull the suitcase that weighed as much as him! It was a bit rough to get back in the car for 4 more hours. I was SOOO tired and glad that George was driving. I have no idea how he stayed awake. I would say, "I'll keep you awake..." and then I would be asleep. I was no help at all.

The trip was THE BEST!! We had fun, parts of it were relaxing, parts of it were crazy and stressful, but on the whole, it was wonderful! I miss my parents already, but I know they are happy and doing a wonderful thing! Thanks for letting us visit!

More trip pics!

Here we are on the top of Ensign Peak. It was a fun hike...though hard and very hot! George and I each carried a kid up and Natalie and Levi both hike it. Impressive!

Pics of the beautiful temple!

Can you see the kids in this one...on the other side of the reflecting pool?

This one's a bit better:)

This is for all of you mountain people...they were gorgeous!!

Here is a picture of the construction of the Salt Lake City...not really...just a power transformer that looked a lot like the temple, don't you think?

Trip Pics

This is one of my favorites. I love seeing kids look up at the Christus. The Rotunda was my very favorite place to go as a missionary on Temple Square.

This is one of the few pics of my parents that we took. This was on the roof of the Conference Center.

Here we are getting ready to fly for the first time. Can you tell George looks just a bit worried?

Natalie and Levi are excited!!

Prayer time

Last night, the missionaries came over for dinner. Right before they left, we had prayer. The first amazing thing was that our 2 year old joined us, kneeling on the floor with arms folded, reverently. Ha! I have not seen this for a LONG time! Then, we called Seth over and he crawled over really fast, stood up, and then clasped his hands together. It was AMAZING and oh, so cute! It only lasted about 5 seconds, but so did Natalie's prayer so it all worked out. :)

Utah or Bust...please, don't be bust!

I can't post because my brain is full of Utah plans. This trip is taking over my life!! Yikes! But I am sure it will be worth it to fly on a 4 hour plane trip with 4 kids, 2 strollers, luggage and 4 carseats to see my parents! If I survive the plane trip, the vacation will be wonderful! I am very nervous about the trip, but I am sure that we will survive. As for all of those good people around us on the plane, I cannot speak for them:)

My babies are growing up!

I am on the 2nd computer, so I have no picture posting capabilities so just imagine my babies.

Sam is talking like crazy...and I wish I knew what he was saying:) His words are becoming clearer, but sometimes, I just have no idea. But I love to hear him say grown up words. And Natalie can get him to say anything... and do anything. Today, I asked him if he wanted me to ask Levi to come build trains with him. He said, "No...Honey (his word for Natalie)" They are a good match and get along well, usually.

Seth is one now. I haven't even posted birthday pictures. Sad. Anyway, he is trying to walk and climb everywhere. His favorite spot is standing on the kid rocking chair leaning over to play the piano. About gives me a heart attack! He also likes climbing on the outside of the stairs holding on to the railing. I can't believe he can even do this! At this rate, he'll be out of his crib way before Sam!

My babies are growing up and I think I am ok with this!! Yea!!

Where is my brain??

I am sorry to all of you that faithfully check my blog day after day and it is old. Ok, so probably no one checks my blog very often and if you do, you might need a new hobby :) I often think of things that would make good blog entries, but they hardly ever make it to the computer. I have had other things that have been higher priority like trying to finish the schoolyear and avoid burnout, get the school stuff organized, get garage sale stuff organized, and plan our Utah trip. There have been so many other things on my mind too.

I would like to get a schedule going that I can stick to. It doesn't have to involve any crazy changes in my current lifestyle (because you know I wouldn't stick to it anyway), I just need a little direction. My brain is just too disorganized. I feel that if I (and the kids) operated by a schedule, I at least wouldn't forget things or think I just did chores like cleaning the bathroom when in reality it has been 2 weeks or more!

Does anyone have any ideas? Flylady is too much for me...plus, I just don't care if my sink is shiny :) I do like some of her ideas though. Spending 15 minutes in "hot spots" and things like that. I also want to give my kids a chore list but, for some reason, that makes me nervous! What chores do you expect your 5 and 4 year olds to do? Also, my 5 year old wants to make money...mostly to buy from the ice cream truck, though I tried to convince him he could buy an entire BOX of popscicles for the price of 1! What can I have him do to earn money? I don't want to attach money to ordinary chores because these are things we do just because we are part of a family. Any suggestions?

So, this is a big part of where my brain has been lately. I want to get myself in gear over the summer with organizing and school planning so I am just a little bit ahead instead of always trying to catch up...which is how I feel now. *Sigh* Life is good, it just needs a bit more organizing! Hopefully, I will get that label maker I want for Mother's Day!