Roadtrip 2105 - Burgoyne Reunion

My mom's side of the family doesn't have regular reunions like my dad's side. And the last few times they've had them over the past 10 years I've been either extremely pregnant or had a small newborn around, so I've missed them. But not this year!

This year they had the reunion in Provo because my Grandpa John (my mom's dad) can't get around as well as he used to.

The first night we had dinner at Dad and Susie's house. I was in charge and had Costa Vida cater the meal. (Because why slave away cooking for that many people - I wanted to visit, not be stuck in the kitchen or at a restaurant where I'd be worried about what my kids were doing.)  Anyway, the meal was a success and we had a great time sitting around and catching up. Too good of a time - I forgot to take pictures.

The next morning we all enjoyed creme brule french toast brunch at Dad and Susie's. It was DELICIOUS.

It was also a good time to get bunny ears from six year old cousins.

As well as create marvelous marble magic runs with Uncle Doug. (I never got a picture of the finished piece. It was pretty fantastic.)

We spent the rest of the day at Seven Peaks water park. It was so fun! My aunt Leslie and Uncle Neil have a daughter who is 6 (almost 7), so she and Cole were good buddies during the reunion. It was so cute! We went on almost all of the slides (I'm not a fan of the straight down, wedgie-inducing ones).

Josh even guilted me to going on this big, scary boomerang one that I had gone on with Lance last year and swore I would never do again. But I did. And it was fun. (And scary. Mainly just that first drop. Man, I'm getting to old for this...)

We had bought these special group passes that rented a cabana for the whole group. It came with tube rental, lunch, and dessert. Seven Peaks is not that well-managed (pretty sure the whole place was run by 16 year olds). First, they didn't have a cabana for us when we first got there. Aunt Lisa (who planned the whole thing) was NOT happy. Then, it took OVER AN HOUR just to get lunch. First I waited in the pizza line for a good 20 minutes and didn't move an inch. So I gave up and moved over to burgers and hot dogs. I waited in line forever there with my aunt Lisa, and while it was great chatting with her, I think we would both agree that line was ridiculous. So you order your food and drinks (which they fill one at a time) (And by that I mean the guy would get ONE cup, walk to the other side of the cafe area, fill it up, walk back, and then get another cup. He did this FIVE TIMES.), and then you would get your buns and have to go wait in ANOTHER line to get your meat, which they would cook individually. THIS MAKES NO SENSE IN ANY WORLD. It was so, so stupid. Fortunately, my kids were behaving themselves and saint Susie was there to help me carry everything.

Also, my kids got Dippin' Dots for the first time ever, and were pretty impressed.

After a long, hot day at Seven Peaks we all met back up at Dad and Susie's for snacks and fireworks. (It was the 24th of July - Happy Pioneer Day!)

Aunt Leslie brought some impressively large sparklers.

Tess really like Elsie. (Older girl worship? Yes.)

The show consisted mainly of fountains and things of that nature, mainly because my dad had no desire to burn down the hill behind his house. (The hill has been on fire before and it was scary.)

My kids were pretty excited to get to stay up late and see fireworks again. They were only slightly disappointed that the fireworks weren't quite the same as our "Back Yard of Fire". (The next day Cole insisted we hadn't really seen fireworks...)

We spent Saturday up at Big Springs park up Provo Canyon. The weather was perfect, we had lots of shade trees, and we enjoyed eating lunch and visiting. The kids had fun playing in the creek and acting goofy.

This was all not nearly exciting enough for Mr. Cole. He wanted to go back to Seven Peaks!

The family got to see some True Coley Misbehavior, but he wasn't too bad. (Bored Cole = loud and obnoxious Cole.) It's a good thing he's so cute. Even with a faint blue mustache!

After lunch we had a little program where each of the grandchildren read poems about the family or sang songs. It was really cute! Here's Zach reading his masterpiece. (It was funny.)

Kevin making faces at my kids, uncle Dale (the oldest), Uncle Neil, and cousin Natalie.

Grandpa John, Uncle Dave, and Aunt Lisa.

Cousin Ben reading his awesome poem. (He's such a fun guy!)

Okay, so my contribution was a little different. Since I am the oldest grandchild and have known the original Burgoyne clan for longer than even the spouses, I decided to write down a bunch of my memories from when I was a kid and teenager. Just so I can remember them (and not have to keep a record anywhere else) I'm adding these memories here. (There's a lot. I didn't mention them all at the reunion.) Feel free to skip these. Although there will be a quiz...

Burgoyne Memories

By Maren Roper Madsen

Grandpa John
• Getting my teeth cleaned in his dental office and thinking it was really, really cool that my Grandpa was a dentist and that he had his own office, his own receptionist, and – most importantly – his own dental chair.
• Jumping on the trampoline in the back yard and having Grover, the dog, jump up from underneath and nip at our toes if we screamed – which would make us scream even more. We kinda got in trouble a lot for that!
• Grandpa had a koi pond in the back yard – or rather, it was probably Grandma who wanted the pond. As little kids that was the coolest thing in the world and we’d like to throw stuff in it. I’m pretty sure Kyle or Kevin dropped toys in the pond. I’m also pretty sure one or both of them fell in at one point.
• Being at Grandpa & Grandma Burgoyne’s house for Christmas was magical. Grandma Regina always had an enormous, gorgeous flocked tree covered in crystal ornaments, which we were threatened NEVER TO TOUCH under pain of death. (I remember Mom telling us this again and again. As a mother now I find it hard to believe the tree went unscathed.) One Christmas I was the first to wake up and I ran upstairs. It looked like an entire store had been put under the tree, there were so many presents! (There were lots of people there that year.) I think the last Christmas we spent there we got a VCR, which was a really big deal – they were still really new and relatively expensive then! One Christmas I slept in Heidi’s old room and I remember lying in bed, looking at the big, old fashioned colored Christmas lights while it snowed. It’s one of my favorite Christmas memories because it just seemed so magical at the time.
• Grandpa owned a small RV that Kevin called “Grandpa’s house that moves”. To a small child, it was AWESOME. I cannot stress enough how cool we thought this was. And the fact that we three grandkids got to sleep in the bed that was over the driver’s cab? Forget about it – it made us so excited! I don’t even really remember specifically where we went on our trips – Kanab maybe? – but I remember how exciting it was to drive in the motor home and sleep in that bed. One time we were in Zion National Park and went on that one drive that’s a tunnel through the mountains but windows are cut into the rock. Someone forgot to retract the little step that pulled out under the door, and that metal step scraped along the rock that whole drive, sparks flying everywhere. The step was ruined and Grandpa was mad. That’s the ONLY thing Kyle and I remember from that trip!
• When we stayed in Tooele Grandpa would make breakfast. He’d make things like cracked wheat, oatmeal, and rice cereal. (I did NOT like the rice cereal!) I’d be sound asleep and wake suddenly to Grandpa’s booming voice proclaiming “Breakfast in 5 minutes!”
• The day before my wedding was spent in Tooele. The pearl necklace and earrings that Grandpa gave me were so pretty and I felt so special receiving them!
• Grandpa has always set a good example to me through his service in the church. He has shown the strength of his faith and testimony in his various church callings, in his service missions halfway across the world, and in his years of being a temple worker. I believe that the foundation of his faith helped secure this family as it faced so many premature deaths. Instead of crumbling under grief, the Burgoyne family stayed firm and steadfast. His influence as a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather cannot be measured, but will continue to be felt for generations.

Burgoyne Aunts & Uncles
• When I think of Dale I will always think of the time my family got to spend with him and Janice in Pasadena. Our family drove down for several Thanksgivings and New Years. We always did the funnest things, like going to the Rose Parade, driving out to Joshua Tree NP, or seeing movies like “Aladdin”. (Yes, that’s how long ago it was.) To an eleven year old girl it seemed very glamorous to live in the Los Angeles area! One of my most distinct memories in Dale’s house was New Year’s Eve in 1999. I was a 22 year old college student on the biggest New Year’s Eve in history, dateless, and stuck playing Star Wars Trivial Pursuit with my little brother. (Sorry, Kevin.) At that moment I decided it was time to stop dinking around and to accomplish some of the bigger goals in my life so at the very least I wouldn’t be doing the same thing on the next New Year’s Eve. (Again, sorry Kevin.) Within eight months I started dating more seriously, got engaged, went through the temple, graduated from BYU, got my first “real” job of my career, got married, and moved out of Utah county. Mission accomplished!
• Neil was the Burgoyne family member who visited the most while we lived in NC because he lived in Tennessee. It was always so exciting to have him come visit because we rarely had visitors! I remember being so impressed with his fast car. He let me sit in the front seat and would go really fast. Plus, he would always buy Kyle and I candy bars at the gas station, which my grad-school-budget parents never did. Cars and candy bars convinced Kyle and I that Neil must be rich beyond our (very young) dreams!
• My strongest childhood memory of Heidi is of her wedding. She seemed so mature and elegant in her beautiful wedding gown, and Doug was so impressive in his uniform! It was dreamy for 11 year old me to get to wear a dress that matched the wedding party. (Coral satin with creamy lace on top, and a little crown of flowers on my head! Swoon!) Right before the wedding I remember sitting in the Milcreek house kitchen eating a meal.  Heidi had taken off her engagement ring to show everyone, and I felt so mature being able to hold it! I went to hand it back to her and accidentally dropped it in a pitcher of milk. Oops.
• Gary was the goof ball uncle; he was always willing to play and be silly and make bathroom jokes. (This played very well with the preschool set.) One time when I was pretty young Gary and I were racing around the Milcreek house. He was growling and chasing me like a monster and I was squealing and loving it. I remember Grandma Regina and my mom both telling us to slow down and to be careful. Of course we didn’t listen and kept at it until I CRASHED into the ornate glass top table in the living room. Glass shattered everywhere under me. All of the adults were worried about me, but I was miraculously just fine – not a single cut or bruise. Gary, however, was not so fortunate. I remember feeling a distinct mixture of relief and guilt when it was Gary who got yelled at instead of me. One year our family and the Burgoynes all went on a big trip to New York. Gary was in fine uncle form, making jokes about seeing up the Statue of Liberty’s dress and changing the speedometer from miles per hour to kilometers so that it looked like he was driving REALLY fast. Kyle and I were really impressed.
• Growing up, Lisa was my idol. She wrote me letters and was always so nice to me. Even though she was only 10 (11?) years older than me, she seemed the height of sophistication and maturity, especially when she was in high school. Her prom dresses were so glamorous, her letterman’s jacket the height of cool, and when she won Miss Tooele County and even got a tiara? Forget about it. I remember her letting me go into her room to look at all of her trophies, medals, and ribbons from running and just being amazed, confirmed in my belief that she must be the coolest aunt IN THE WORLD. When I was really little I remember playing Frogger and Asteroids on the Atari with her and Gary. I kept winning and thought I was pretty hot stuff, although now I realize they must have let me win. When I was a bit older, Kyle and I flew out to UT by ourselves and Lisa basically took care of us for a couple of weeks since Grandma Regina was sick. Over the course of the trip Kyle threw up at the movie theater, Hogle Zoo, and *I think* McDonald’s. Poor Lisa.

Then we played a bunch of games, including BINGO! I had borrowed my Grandma Roper's bingo set and it was all very official. I even brought fabulous prizes, donated from the moving out/cleaning house ladies of Lafayette 3rd ward. The gifts were all wrapped, so you didn't really know what you were getting. (This made it all the more fun.)

We also played games like guessing how many pieces of candy were in a jar, 2 truths and a lie, things like that.

I have no idea whey Tess is rolling around unhappily on the ground. This is not an uncommon occurrence, so I'm not sure why I decided to take a picture of it.

 

Then it was time for family pictures. Here's Grandpa John and his remaining children. (L-R, Lisa, Dale, Neil, and Heidi. My mom, Wendy, and Uncle Gary passed away.)

The Burgoynes and their spouses. (L-R, front to back: Lisa, Grandpa John, Heidi, Dave, Susie, ElRay, Neil, Leslie, Dale, Susan, and Doug.)

Cole kept trying to photobomb the above pictures. In order to get him to stop I told him that he could photobomb his own picture. Which he readily agreed to.

The whole crew! (L-R, front to back: Cole, Spencer, Josh, Dale, Heidi, Grandpa John, Lisa, Neil, Susan, Ben, David, Doug, Peter, Jillian, Maren, Tess, Kevin, Susie, ElRay, Allie, Steven, Dave, Zach, Natalie, Leslie, and Elsie.)

A goofy one was in order.

Then we took ones with Grandpa and all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But instead of nicely posed ones we had to jump. I have no idea why. Especially because we were so terrible at the timing! (It was really funny. Much laughter ensued.)

I love how Tess is just standing there.

Elsie was really upset afterward because she didn't get to jump like she wanted to. So we took a few more shots of her and Cole jumping.

We broke camp later that afternoon and met up that evening at the house Heidi and Doug had rented. We chatted and snacked and watched some TV (including an awesome video Ben had put together for school).

It was a great reunion, and I'm so glad I had the chance to catch up with everyone!

*****
For the sake of posterity (and my memory) I'm going to record who everyone is and how they're relate to each other.

John and Regina Burgoyne
-Had 6 children: Dale, Wendy, Neil, Heidi, Gary, and Lisa
-Grandma Regina died when I was 10 or 11, and Grandpa then married Nancy

Dale Burgoyne
-Married Janice, adopted (and sealed to) Chris and Ben
-Janice died in 2003 and Dale married Susan about 3 years ago

Wendy Burgoyne Roper
-Married ElRay and had three wonderful, perfect children: Maren, Kyle, and Kevin
-Maren married Lance and had four children: Spencer, Josh, Cole, and Tess
-Wendy died in 2004; ElRay married Susie in 2005

Neil Burgoyne
-Married to Leslie, one biological child: Elsie

Heidi Burgoyne Weitzel
-Married Doug Weitzel and had three children: David, Peter, and Jillian

Gary Burgoyne
-Married Leslie and had three children: Sarah, Zach, and Natalie
-Gary died in 2003, and Leslie later married his brother Neil

Lisa Burgoyne Chipman
-Married Dave Chipman and had three children: Megan, Steven, and Allison

Roadtrip 2015 - Yellow House

Because Dad & Susie are apparently running a mini youth hostel in their basement (Kevin and two of Susie's nieces are currently living there), our usual lodgings were a bit cramped. When I first started planning this trip a year ago (Yes, a year ago. I love to plan.) I was kinda worried about where we would stay. Fortunately, my dad came up with the perfect plan - a guy in his ward rents him home through VRBO.com, and this home was just around the corner from Dad & Susie's house. So he rented the house for us. Isn't my dad the best? Seriously. So great.

This post is mostly pictures from the site because I wanted to remember what it looked like. It was a great old house, lots of room, bright and cheerful. The decor was a combination of DI finds, Target, IKEA, and Pinterest projects. I really liked it - it was great to have so much space and not worry about the kids being too loud or getting into things they shouldn't. The kids loved it, too. (Although every time we were there they asked "Can we go back to Grandpa and Grandma's house?" And the answer was almost always "Yes!")

Main living room

Another view. (Note the orange chair on the left. EVERY house has some sort of ugly, old chair. It's the law.)

The kitchen - we'd have breakfast here every once in a while. Dad & Susie bought us a case of 72 Eggo waffles - the kids were in heaven!

Notice the chandeliers in EVERY ROOM. It looked cool, and they were all cute, but I kept bonking into them. 

Master bedroom where I slept. (And Lance, for 2 nights.) It had a memory foam mattress, which was great!

The other upstairs bedroom. No one slept here - I used the bed for laundry piles!

The basement. It was a laid out a little differently when we were there. And there was a huge, blue Love Sac in front of the couch, which the kids LURVED.

More of the basement.

The "bunk room" where Josh, Cole, and Tess slept. Tess was in heaven because she got to sleep on a top bunk. The Western theme was cute.

The basement room where Spencer slept. He felt pretty grown up!

The back yard. It was nice having the play set!

The upstairs bathroom. It was pretty tiny, and zero counter space. The house is pretty old, so it didn't have a master suite.

Fortunately, the kids mostly used the basement bathroom.

Why would I add a picture of the washer and dryer? Because I used them constantly! You can only pack so many changes of clothing for 4 kids and one mom into a mini van...

Roadtrip 2015 - Getting There

I feel like Patty and Selma from The Simpsons when blogging about my vacations. Who really wants to look at other people's vacation pictures? (Certain close family members... and that's about it.) So if you're going to read these blog posts I will try to keep them short and sweet and relatively entertaining. For your sake and, mostly, for posterity's sake. (Your welcome, great-great-grandchildren of the future.)

We started our trip bright and early on Tuesday the 21st. Things were pretty calm - until we got breakfast. Usually we just bring some cold cereal in baggies and have little milk jugs. I thought we'd shake things up with a trip through the McDonald's drive-thru for some breakfast sandwiches. First, it took forever to order because kids are crazy. Then, as we drove on and ate our breakfast, Tess started FREAKING OUT because she had "lost her ham". Yes, the ham from her sandwich had fallen off and landed in some unknown nether-regions of the van. Uncle Kevin to the rescue! All 6' 5" of him slithered from the front to the back and helped Tess find the missing meat. Life calmed down.

At least until the first stop when I found most of Tess and Cole's sandwiches scattered across the back. Gross.

The kids were pretty good most of the day. We didn't have to stop that often, and they were entertained with random gifts I bought them from the dollar store.

That night we stopped in good ol' Kearney, Nebraska. After a quick - and much needed - dip in the pool we ordered some pizza for our room. The kids were pretty impressed by this, and despite the fact that we had been eating snacks pretty much all day, the pizza was devoured and everyone went to bed. The kids are even getting old enough that we didn't have to yell at them for an hour to go to sleep. (Or perhaps it was because Kevin was there.)

**Side note: NEVER share a bed with Tess if you can help it. Good heavens, that girl never stayed still more than 10 minutes that entire night! Highlights included putting her back into bed after she fell out - a couple of times - getting kicked in the face, and waking up with a sweaty little head digging into my side.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. When Cole asked "Mommy, can I get a drink?" I thought he meant juice. Nope. He came back with a tall, frosty root beer. Breakfast of champions!

We got back on the road fairly early again. The hour did not stop us from making gas station snack runs. Also, Cole must have asked "Are we in Utah yet?" at least 63 times - while we were still in Nebraska.

Again, a fairly uneventful day - until Laramie. First of all, stupid Wyoming is the worst. It is so long and BORING. Just brown and dead and empty. And Laramie? I've never had a good experience there. Because of where it's located we tend to stop there for lunch, but the only quick place off of the freeway is McDonald's. We've eaten there probably 3-4 times and I've never had a good experience - mainly because of the kids.

First, as we were getting out of the van we realized Tess had gum stuck in her hair. Grrr... That girl is too old to be doing stuff like that! Second, after taking forever to order, Spencer freaked out about his order being wrong. First he blamed Josh for stealing things (like the toy and fries), then he said he just didn't get it. So I went up and got those dang things for him (no easy feat - it was really busy), only to come back and find out that he still had his fries and toy - he was really missing his GoGurt. Could I get that for him? NO. We had already practically stolen the small fries they had given us, and I never did get a good answer about why Spencer was freaking out. Growl. Then, once we had finally all settled down to eat, a good Samaritan came up and told us our van door was open. What the what?! I don't know why, but my kids have gotten really lax in closing their van doors. It's like they can't be bothered. Annoying. Finally, we were all done eating. I had forgotten to order a drink, so I decided just to take a swig out of Tess's mostly full chocolate milk.

Mistake.

It took me a second to realize what had snuck into my mouth - chicken nugget bits. ERLACK. Seriously, even now I still feel sick to my stomach. Gross gross gross!!! I spit it out and tried not to throw up. Blech blech blech! I was laughing at the same time, which didn't help. Kevin was nice enough to let me take a drink of his soda.

So gross.

We had to get gas before we left town. As we were pulling into the gas station I was still grossing out about the back wash and working myself up about everything else that had gone wrong. Seriously, what was wrong with my children? Then, from the back, in her most angelic voice, Tess started singing "The Wheels on the Bus".

It was hilariously perfect.

After many more long hours we finally made it to Provo! Hooray! My dad and Susie's ward was having a Pioneer Day party, which we joined in for a bit. We pulled handcarts and played a few pioneer games and mainly relished in just not being in the car anymore!

School Lunch Tears

I've had each child accidentally throw away the occasional old piece of Tupperware, but I've never had one throw away their super deluxe water bottle.

Until today.

Poor Cole was pretty upset with himself when I opened his lunch box to find it empty. (Kindergarten tears are their own special kind of heartbreaking!) I assured him it was okay, that I still loved him, and that, yes, I would buy him another water bottle.

But no, not right now.

No, Cole. Not right now.

NO. Because I have other things I need to do. I will get one the next time I go to the store.

No, I don't know when that will be. But it's not right now. NOT RIGHT NOW.

Suddenly, those Kindergarten tears aren't quite so heart breaking.

Back to School - 2015/2016

Oh. Hi.

Yeah, I didn't drop off the face off the earth. Just went to UT for 3 weeks, so almost the same thing. I know, I SHOULD have blogged while I was there. But I just didn't wanna. I'd put the kids to bed at night and think "I really should blog about today." And then I wouldn't. I'd read or watch Netflix instead.

It was a great vacation.

Oh well. What's done is done. Or not done, as the case may be.

I'm hoping to have a blog-a-thon this Saturday and Sunday to catch up. In the mean time, I'll try to keep up on current events.

Such as... the first day of school!

This was a pretty momentous first day of school for the Madsen family. Spencer's off to middle school and Cole started Kindergarten. And even Josh is in on the action, starting 3rd grade, which is when things tend to get more serious in elementary school terms.

Spencer's school starts an hour before the elementary school. His bus comes at 7:13 in the freaking morning. (In contrast, Cole and Josh's bus doesn't come until 8:35. They don't even get up until 7:15. Heck, Lance doesn't even get up until 7:07.) ((You read that right. My husband is a weirdo about alarm clock times.))

This earliness is wreaking havoc on my morning schedule. I used to be able to get up at 6am and have plenty of time to work out and read my scriptures and prep for breakfast. Now I kinda feel like I can't do that - at least until I can be assured Spencer will get up and ready on his own. Even then, I'll have to have his breakfast ready by at least 6:50am. This all means that I'm pretty much doing two "get ready for school" shifts in the morning, which... blergh. I don't even know the right word for it. I just Don't. Like. It. And who even knows what'll happen once Tess starts school. (She tends to sleep in because she doesn't get to bed early enough.)

It's not the end of the world. I'll figure things out. It's just annoying. I had a good thing going.

So. Early pictures for my middle schooler!

Don't let the lack of a smile fool you. (Perhaps that's a middle school boy smile?) He was quite excited and anxious! Middle school can be really tough - it's just a tough age. But I have a feeling Spencer's going to do great things! (I admit it: I teared up when he left for the bus stop. How in the world did he get so old so quickly?! I may or may not have pretended to water the front plants so I could watch the school bus go by...)

Josh was pretty low key about this being the first day of school. Can third graders be jaded? Possibly.

Since we missed back to school night on Monday (we were in the middle of Illinois...) Josh and Cole had to take all of their school supplies this morning. Josh decided he did not want my help and would walk to his class all by himself. (I drove them to school.) I got a little teary eyed over that as well. Seriously, what is it about the first day of school that makes mommas such cry babies? (I still snuck over to his class to introduce myself to his teacher. Josh caught me but didn't seem to mind. He's a good kid, that one.)

And then there's Cole. Oh man. He was smooth as silk this morning, no fear at all. Wouldn't even pose nicely until I begged.

My big Kindergartener!

He didn't seem nervous at all until we were at the school entrance waiting to be let in. He asked several times to make sure I was taking him to his class and helping him out. I reassured him I would, and that there would be lots of nice adults there that day to make sure he had help for everything.

I took him to his class, got him set up, chatted with his teacher (who I am friends with), gave him a hug and a kiss, and went on my way. No tears or fuss from either of us. I feel slightly guilty about this, because I cried when dropping off Spencer and Josh for Kindergarten. (And today! Heck!) But Cole is just so darn ready for Kindergarten. And he's been so darn hard to live with lately. School is a great thing for both of us.

Tess was a bit bored today. (Pre-K doesn't start until September.) But we made it through. And all children eventually made it home, safe and sound. I had to ask very specific questions to get any info out of any of them, but they all seemed to have a pretty great day.

Tonight we had our back to school dinner and theme introduction. (We usually do it the night before school starts, but it just wasn't going to happen last night!) Here is this year's theme:

We're hoping that the kids will get behind the truth that in serving others we become truly happy. (Feeling sad/mad/upset? Serve someone!) The challenge is to unselfishly serve someone at least once a week. They seemed to think this would be difficult, but I suspect if I keep reminding them they'll realize just how many opportunities there are for service.

Here's to a prosperous - and happy - new school year!

Uncle Kevin

We've been lucky enough to have my brother Kevin visit us for a few days. And starting tomorrow he's gonna be lucky enough to drive with the kids and me to Utah. (Lucky.)

It's been extra great to have him around because we had troubles with the mini van, so it's been in and out of the shop for a couple of days. Having another adult around to help watch kids and drive cars to and from the shop has also been great. I really owe him one.

I totally paid him back tonight with the $5 challenge at Walmart for dinner. (I know. I'm the best.) ((In my defense I had been packing and cleaning all day long.)) The kids were happy, but Kevin really got into the spirit of the challenge. He had a lovely meal composed of Velveeta Shells and Cheese Easy Mac, wings from the deli, and Hawaiian King's Rolls. I had a salad. (Exciting.) Cole had a meltdown in the store, which was just lovely and made me oh-so-excited for driving 24 hours with him. Turns out he was super hungry, but still. It was rough.

This was not the best picture taken, but it was the funniest. I love the looks on Tess and Kevin's faces.

Indianapolis Temple Open House (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Today is a day we have been waiting literal YEARS for - the open house for the Indianapolis Temple! (For those who don't know, go here to learn more about what temples are and why we build them.)

Our tour was scheduled for 10am, so we left the house around 8:30 to make sure we'd have plenty of time. It took us LESS THAN AN HOUR to get there! Can I get a hallelujah?! It used to take us 3+ hours just to get to the Chicago temple. Seriously, it was so weird. Even this morning when I reminded Tess that we were going to the temple she started packing up toys and stuff for a long drive; she had a hard time believing it would be such a short jaunt!

We made it to the temple and stepped out into... SUMMER.

Remember how I've been complaining about how cool and wet it's been all summer? Summer decided to make an appearance: TODAY. It is sooooo hot and muggy now. Highs in the 90's with heat indexes in the low 100's because of humidity. It's like the weather in making up for lost time.

Anyways, not the point of this post.

We started in the stake center and watched a short film about temples before heading over to the temple. (As we were walking through the stake center we passed the mission president, old BYU basketball coach, Coach Cleveland.) ((Go Cougs!!))

As we walked out of the stake center and made our way to the temple I couldn't help but tear up. It was all I could do not to break down into sobs of happiness. I was just sooo happy and felt the spirit so strongly!

The inside of the temple is beautiful. It's a medium-sized temple. Lots of bright stone and dark cherry wood. Everything was, of course, just beautiful and pristine. You aren't allowed to take pictures inside, so I have borrowed a few from the interwebs.

Where your recommend is checked.

The baptistery - one of the prettiest baptisteries I've ever seen. (I'm not being biased. I think I've only seen the ones in Oakland and Provo...) Just beautiful.

The bride's room. It was pretty, but I think the one in Timpanogos is prettier. (And I have to admit it... I'm not a fan of the style of chandeliers they have in this temple. I mean, they're not ugly; I just like other styles better.)

The first instruction room. Can't wait to spend literal hours here! The mural represents the Indiana landscape. It was very pretty and well done. Everyone noted the large thunderstorm depicted in the front and commented that there should be more given this summer! I also noticed rabbits... growl. (Although I have to admit they have not given me much grief this year.) 

The second instruction room. So light and airy and beautiful.

The Celestial room. The tour guide didn't speak in here; he just let us sit and think and enjoy.

The sealing room. It was really quite large - you could easily fit 50+ people in there. This is the room where marriages are performed, where my children could possible be sealed for time and all eternity!

This floral image was used throughout the temple: it's the bloom from Indiana's state tree, the Tulip Poplar. (I was the only one in the group who knew the answer! Indiana state facts FTW!)

An exterior shot. The fountain is really unusual because water pours off of it so that kids can very easily play in it. I foresee lots of wet toddlers and little kids in future wedding pictures...

We were lucky to have uncle Kevin with us! He's here for a quick visit and then to help me drive this brood to UT in a few days. (Lance has to stay home. Sad.)

It was VERY bright and hot at this point. You can't tell in this photo, but none of us had our eyes open because it was so bright. And of course Tess decided to be a punk. But that's okay - first family photo in front of the Indy temple!!

One of my sweet husband and I.

It must be noted that by this point I was no longer close to tears, mainly because I was getting tired of dealing with kids. They were pretty good overall in the temple, but once we were outside all bets were off. (Cole was made I wouldn't let him get wet in the fountain.)

Josh wanted a picture by himself.

We went inside the visitor's center tent and looked at the displays. I tried to take a nice family photo in front of this replica of The Christus, but Tess had other plans, that black-eyed punk.

They also had a backdrop with the temple where they took a picture of you. You could have it emailed to you and then you also got a printed copy, which is now proudly displayed on our fridge.

I just feel so amazingly blessed to have a temple so close to us now! I know it will be a blessing to our family and our ward. I love that my kids were able to come and join us and see where Lance and I will be attending (hopefully) very often in the future. I love the temple and the blessings we are promised there. It was a wonderful, wonderful morning!