That crowning moment

Once upon a time it was Logan's turn to choose the family home evening activity.  Logan thought everyone would make fun of his idea so he very sheepishly suggested we get some paper and markers and all make crowns.

And then it was a huge his and everybody had a great time.

That Logan, he's one smart cookie (also, he is incredibly kissable).

FHE fun!

Make in the beds...times eight

The other day we had a food-in-the-bed incident that resulted in the need to wash someone's bedding.

I really hate washing bedding (ok, if I'm being honest I actually hate laundry in general, but bedding is laundry plus aerobics and yoga to get everything off and back on so I hate it even more than normal laundry).

But, over the years (and the exciting chance I have had to manage bedding for eight humans around this place) I have developed a routine which amps down the yoga for sheet/blanket changes and I thought I would share it with you in case you have the same issue I used to have.

Ok, so stripping the bed isn't that bad (yank all the stuff off) and the washing is annoying but not too cumbersome, but the putting the stuff back on the bed was the part I really really hated.  It was hard to arrange the sheets and blankets into place and then tuck them tightly under the mattress so they won't come out too easily and do it all with either very little head room or while trying not to bump the ceiling since almost all of our beds are bunk beds (you try to fit 6 children in an 1800 square foot house and bunk beds are pretty much a requirement) all while also kneeling on the sheets trying not to muss them up or pull them out of place.  And just when you get the top half tucked, then the bottom half wants to come out or the blanket gets tucked but the sheet pulls out or who knows what else.  I was generally exhausted by the time this wrestling match --  I mean chore -- was done.

So, new plan.

Now-a-days I take the mattress off the bed entirely.

Mattress...no on bed.

 Then, I put on the fitted sheet followed by the other bedding.  I tuck it around the mattress pretending that said mattress is lying flat on the ground instead of on its side. 

Nice, cute, bed all tucked together whilst leaning on the wall.

 Then I heft the bed back up into its spot.  This is the hardest part because a) I am a total wimp and b) mattresses are awkward to maneuver.  However, the nice part is when you get the mattress up onto its appointed ledge and slide it back into place, this helps to secure the blanket edges tucked around the bottom tightly into their designated position.  The friction of the slide smooths them out and keeps them from bunching so they are in the right spot.

Precariously perched mattress, notice blanket/sheet ends underneath the mattress
ready to be smoothed tight.

 And voila!  Freshly made bed with very little yoga involved.

It works well for me.

Making bread and dumplings

The other day we had some family over for the evening.  

Josh and I make bread for our family (saves some money and also gets rid of some of the stuff in store bought bread that I don't appreciate so much) and my niece, Lucy, really wanted to learn to make bread for herself (she and my nephew, Jimmy, come for piano lessons each week and LOOOVE it if they come on a day when we've just made bread because we sometimes send a loaf home with them).  

Anyway, so we decided on a swap.  

I made bread with Lucy(one loaf of regular and we also made one loaf of cinnamon bread), while my sister-in-law taught my family how to make Chinese dumplings.

Oh my gosh.  If you have never had these delectable little nuggets of Asian delight, you should totally get your very own sister-in-law raised in China and BEG her to make you some dumplings.  They are fabulous.

There was a lot more technique required for the dumplings than there is for bread, but that was half the fun.  You have to learn the right way to roll the dough, the right way to seal the edges and how to this and that and the other and it was really really fun.  Most of the kids got in on the action at some point and we just had a blast.

And that was the fun of our night.  It was wonderful to spend the evening with people we love, and made it even better that we got to chow down on delicious food while we enjoyed each other.

I really do have the best family.

(Are you hungry yet?)

(P.S. This is my favorite bread recipe.)

(I would totally give you the dumpling recipe, but I'm going to have to do it again and pay attention to the amounts because there was a lot of...."just throw some in" "keep adding some until" "sure, put that in if you want" so I don't really have an actual sort of recipe just yet.)

Welcome infection, come on in

It is not unusual for someone I know and love to ask me what it is like to live with Crohn's Disease every day.

I appreciate  their concern and care when they bring this up, but sometimes it is a hard question to answer.  The medications I am on help to curb a lot of the intestinal tantrums so those (while not unusual) do not show up every, single day (for which I am INCREDIBLY grateful).

However, there are other, smaller disturbances that have wheedled themselves into my life because of my love affair (ha ha) with Crohn's.

One of those reared its ugly head this past week.

About two weeks ago, Bryce got sick.  He was besotted by a lovely little virus which began with some congestion, grew into a ridiculously sore throat, and then promptly dropped him leaving him tired but ok after a couple of days.

And that's when the fun started.

Thanks to the medicines which keep my Crohn's caged (for the most part) my immune system is turned to the lowest setting possible (which is how they keep my Crohn's caged).

This means that ANY illness that meanders into this house will likely introduce itself to me and come stay for a while.

So, Bryce got sick and I watched closely knowing this monster would likely come my way.  And it did (it also came Gavin, and Logan, and Ellie, and Aubrey's way so it really was fun for the whole family...poor Parker has been left out thus far).

However, for me, this nasty little bug didn't do its business and then shove off for a new show at another venue.  Instead he blossomed.  After two days, my congestion grew and grew and my throat, while not burning anymore, now felt plastic.  A week after it all started it was obvious that my version of the disease was going nowhere without help so I headed off the the doctor.  Sure enough, what started out as something small had flourished in my very willing body and had become a full fledged sinus infection with the beginnings of chest/breathing issues.

Super fun.

So, two days of heady antibiotics later, I can finally start to breathe through my nose and my chest doesn't rattle every time I inhale.  I'm no longer coughing up blood (that's fun) and while my ears feel tight, they don't hurt like they did.

HOORAY!  PROGRESS!

I am forever grateful for good doctors and other health care professionals who give their lives to the service of making my life and the life of my family better.  I know it is not an easy thing to do and I am thankful for their time and dedication.

I LOOOOVE feeling better.  It is nice to be on the road back to normal.  Here's hoping we can all stay that way around here for a good, long time (well, as normal as we ever are).

My miracle of the winds in Kansas

Ok, I told you before that when we travel cross-country, Josh really does the bulk of the driving.  It works well for everyone that way.  

However, there are times when he needs a break for a few hours.  And when that happens, I climb into the driver's seat and off we go.

However, let it be know that I am not quite as confident a driver as Josh is.  Not that I am not highly capable (no, I don't get in accidents or earn tickets or anything of the like) but Josh is just more relaxed during his driving experience than I am.

For example, when there are high winds or dense snow or pounding rain we normally let Josh manage the vehicle because he stays more calm than I do...I get overly focused and tense about safety and such.

Anyway, on the way home from Branson Josh needed a break (and a nap) for a few hours.  So, into the hot spot I lumbered.

I started driving just after we entered Kansas.  We were slated to drive East to West across the entire width of the state.  Well, being Utahans uber flat and empty Kansas was a new sort of scenery to us.  

And all that flat invites wind.  

Lots of wind.  

Not little puffs of friendly breeze, but angry gusts that swathed the road.  These near constant (but highly unpredictable) mini-squalls worked to push our fairly large car out of our lane and sometimes off the side of the road.  In fact, the wind was such that a thick cloud of dust covered the skyline leaving it clothed in a grey-purple haze and drawn tightly around the edges of the scene.  There was no lovely view of the distant horizon.  To me, it was nerve-wracking. 

And that meant I was on edge.

But, there was nothing to be done.  Someone had to drive the car, Josh NEEDED some rest, and that left me to manage things.  On my own.

But not really.

Requiring some extra help, I turned to the best support available -- my Father in Heaven.

A simple prayer tumbled from my mind toward Heaven quietly begging for aid in driving and peace of mind to help me do what needed to be done.  Then, I focused on keeping the car between the painted lines on the highway. 

And then, suddenly it had been three hours. Josh woke up and I was happily singing along to whatever podunk radio station I could find.

And that was that.

Seriously, I uttered a silent prayer, and immediately God stepped in to help me.  He quieted my turmoiled mind and kept me from over-focusing on the pressing issue at hand.

I know that I continued to adjust and compensate for the push of the winds.  I know that my body handled the gusts and kept the car exactly where it needed to be.  But suddenly I wasn't thinking of any of that at all.  Suddenly, I was so caught up in music and pointing out interesting sites to my kidlets that it wasn't until Josh woke up and asked me if I was ok in all this wind that I realized I hadn't really registered the force blowing on us for several hours.

It may be a small thing.  It may seem silly and trite.

But it wasn't to me.

To me, it was a reminder of a Heavenly Father who cares about His children and who takes a keen interest in their needs and weaknesses.  He may not always remove the winds that surround us, but He will always help us through them if we trust Him.

It turned out to be a lovely drive.

A brief run in with a bidet

While we were traveling toward Branson over spring break we decided to stop at a gas station just over the Iowa/Nebraska border.  

We trundled inside and took turns at the individual, closet style bathrooms.

These bathrooms were really really clean and well kept (not so much the norm in gas station bathrooms).  Seriously, they were immaculate.  They also boasted swanky toilets with heated seats and even a bidet feature (very very similar to the throne below). Ooooh, fancy.

When it was our turn, Ellie and I went into the room and closed and locked the door (I don't normally leave Ellie alone in a strange bathroom...I get paranoid about, you know, things). 

Well, astute little sprite that she is, she recognized that this toilet was different than any others we have encountered before.  She asked me what the buttons were for and I did a quick explanation about water spray and the like then turned my back and faced the wall so she could do her business in relative solitude.

But no business happened.

There was a surprising lack of tinkling sounds which normally come with a potty break.  When I started to hear sniffling I decided it was time to investigate so I turned back to my baby girl.

And she was crying.

I asked her what was wrong.  She looked up at me with these leaky, cow eyes and bellowed, "I DON'T WANT TO SIT ON THAT TOILET!  I'M SCARED IT IS GOING TO SPRAY ME!!"

So, I stifled my laughter and explained to her that this fancy toilet would definitely leave her alone as long as she didn't push any of the buttons.  I promised that she would come out alive...and un-sprayed.

She was skeptical, but decided to be brave.  We did have a tense moment when her hand brushed the control panel as she started to get up and lights came on and the thing beeped, but -- no worries -- no errant fountains erupted on our watch.

When she was done and all put back together and washed and everything else, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt much better.

And that's when she plastered on her most sneaky smile and asked if she could push all the buttons while I sat on the toilet.  

Troublesome little pixie.

We both left the bathroom without an up close encounter with the bidet function, but we were both smiling.  Guess that's what counts.  

Sweet lady at a road side motel

I told you wen went on a trip last week, and I have a couple of stories -- things that happened on our excursion -- which I don't want to forget so I thought I would share them here over the next little bit.

We started driving toward Branson on a Friday, after the kids got out of school (so right about 1:30 pm).  We had booked a motel in Sidney, Nebraska, which lies approximately 550 miles from West Valley City, making it an eight and a little bit hour drive.  Then we could rest up in our cheap (and only available) motel and head out first thing in the morning for round II of the cramped, car fun.

We checked in after 9:00 pm and quickly got everyone showered, settled, and to bed (as a side note, we always pack an overnight bag with one change of clothes for everyone and necessary toiletries so that we don't have to haul all of the luggage into our hotel for a one night stay -- it works great!).

Our alarm woke us up early the next morning (the sooner you set out, the sooner you get there) and we wandered drearily to the motel lobby to rustle up some grub.  The continental breakfast here was minimal, but did offer waffle batter and a waffle maker.

That was absolutely the coveted breakfast item for our crew.

Imagine this admittedly adorable rabble bearing down on your
breakfast area.
You might not exactly be so thrilled to see them coming.

And so, I took my rightful place as Waffle Queen and started cooking waffles for our kidlets.

There were two other people in the lobby eating (I did make sure they were already waffled or not interested in being waffled knowing that we would be dominating the thing for quite some time once we got started).

One was a sweet trucker (he looked rough around the edges, but what a tender guy).  He told me about his family and his seven children (not too often we meet people outside of Utah with more kids than we have).  He was very patient with the antics of our six, small ones who were rowdy and grumpy from a day in the car and an early morning.

The other person was a lovely Asian woman who was very quiet, but seemed nice.  She shyly smiled at us between glances at her newspaper.  I was grateful she wasn't glaring at my little ones who were behaving pretty well, but are not exactly quiet and calm most of the time.

Anyway, our trucker friend left and I kept cooking and dressing waffles.

Finally, as I finished the last plate of toasted batter for the last hungry mouth I relinquished my spot to make the rounds and be sure all my littles had what they needed for breakfast.

This is when our Asian neighbor sprang into action.  She quietly rose and came to my side, then looked very concerned and said, "I noticed you have been cooking for all of your kids, but you haven't eaten anything yet.  Can I make a waffle for you so that you can have something to eat too?"

I just about cried.  What a kind and thoughtful gesture.

Had I not already poured a waffle which was cooking while I checked on the kids I would have gratefully accepted her compassionate offer.

That she was not only patient with my rather rambunctious mess of monsters, but also took notice of the needs of their mother was one of the most generous and Christ-like things I have ever experience in a road side motel.

Thank you, sweet Asian woman, whoever you are.  I hope to be a little more like you one day.

DeMoux family trip/adventure to Branson, Missouri

Last week was spring break...at least it was spring break for Josh.  His school schedule and the kid's school schedule pretty much never matches up which is annoying, but we live with it.  Anyway, we decided to head out on a new adventure while Josh was off of school so the kids (poor little dears) had to miss a couple days of school (Their spring break started on Thursday of that week....they were so so sad to miss school.  Um, no, they actually weren't.  That was a lie.).

Anyway, thanks to my AmAzInG parents who were willing to share their time share with us, we pulled off an exchange to a place we had never been before...Branson, Missouri.

Friday, after a dentist appointment (oral hygiene is very important, kids) and a day of school we all piled into our Suburban and started the nearly 20 hour drive to our condo in Branson.

Thank you to all the amazing people who build and maintain rest stops along the highway.  We love you and so do our children who need regular potty breaks and chances to stretch their legs and act like weirdos without the restraint required in a car crammed with eight people.

We drove, and we drove and we drove some more.  And then we stopped for the night in Nebraska and then we did it all again the next day...only a little bit less.

Josh did the bulk of the driving.  He does better in that role and I am better in the role of snack-hander-outer and fight-breaker-upper and boredom-manager.

Most of the drive offered loads of fields and empty expanses as our view.  But we did see prong horn sheep, pheasants, deer, antelope, wild turkeys, rabbits, squirrels galore and some other oddities as we drove.  The kids were excited about these for about the first 10 seconds...and then they didn't care anymore.  Sigh.

We also passed the "Sandhill Crane Capital of the World" (for real...the sign said so) and yup, they sure did have masses of cranes in every field and all over in the sky.  Guess everyone needs a claim to fame.  

See...cranes.

We also took a little detour in Kansas City, Missouri, to get a glimpse of the LDS temple there.  We got some strange looks from patrons as we weren't really dressed to go IN the temple, but we did enjoy a quick trip around the grounds.

Finally, we made it to our resort.

Hooray!!!  

It is nice to NOT be trapped in a car for ten plus hours a day.

And off we went to begin the fun!

We arrived in Branson on Saturday night, so Sunday morning we headed to church.  It was a little bit hard to find the building but I am so glad Josh didn't give up because the Branson West ward was incredibly friendly and kind.  We felt very at home and very welcome there.  It was great to start the day by feeling the spirit of that meeting.

We headed back to the room for lunch (we always stay in places where we can do our own cooking which greatly decreases the cost of our trips) and then drove to the city of Carthage just west of Branson.

Our first stop was the Precious Moments Chapel.  I have liked Precious Moments pictures and figurines since I was little so this sounded like a cute little stop to me.  

But I was wrong.  It was FAR from cute, and was much more incredible than I could have imagined.

Unbeknownst to me, the artist who created Precious Moments is a VERY religious man who loves to help people feel the love of the Savior in their lives in any way he can.  He created this chapel as an homage to the Lord and man oh man can you feel that when you walk through the doors.

The walls are littered with depictions of biblical stories and the feeling in this room is incredible.

Even the ceiling is lovely.

The outside hallways are decorated with immaculate stained glass windows showing prophets and disciples of Christ.  Seriously, WOW!

I really can't describe this place in a way that is fair.  Just believe me when I tell you it is amazing and if you are ever in the area you really should take the opportunity to go.  

Next, we drove down the road to a place called Red Oak II.  

This place was created by a man who grew up in the town of Red Oak (the first one, so Red Oak I, I guess).  He loved his home town.  When he learned that a couple of the buildings were going to be torn down, he decided to buy them instead and move them to his new home outside of Carthage.  One by one he continued to purchase the original buildings and to create some of his own and his property transformed into Red Oak II -- the rebirth of his home town.

Some of the locals wandering the streets (pretend I didn't tell you that our
oldest daughter was scared of these two hoodlums and avoided them at all costs).

Logan performing on the bandstand.  

It was a quaint and eclectic collection of buildings with an amazing small town spirit which was fabulous.

Back in Branson that night, we packed everyone up and headed to Branson Landing (kind of like the town square) for their fire and water show.  Due to some issues, we ended up seeing this show over the course of two nights but it was really cool.  They do something different each hour starting at 7 pm and Josh and I saw two of the different shows.  Pretty awesome.

The next morning, Monday, the kids had fun dropping some parachute guys that I got at the dollar store from the top level of our condo and then trying to catch them in the near empty parking lot below.  This entertained them off and on several times throughout the week.  Silly kids.

Our excursion for the day took us to Table Rock Dam and the surrounding areas.  We made a stop at the Shepherd of the Hills fish Hatchery just East of the dam.  Super fun, kids loved it and those trout were HUGE!!

Feeding the fish.

Then we scuttled over to the Dewey Short Visitor Center on the other side of the dam.  This facility was really family friendly with lots of hands on displays, a video about the dam and an observation deck overlooking the reservoir.  

Seriously, any time you can get your two oldest boys to voluntarily play a game of "Go Fish" is a good day.

And we topped it all off with a little fun in the water.  We waded and skipped rocks and just had fun on the shores of this beautiful area.

The following morning, Tuesday, we drove to nearby Springfield and one of the places I was most excited to visit, the Pythian Castle.  I do love a good castle.  As an added bonus, this castle is historic...and supposedly haunted.  

Sounds like fun!

But I'll never know if it is fun or not because when we drove into the parking lot, it was empty.  A little bit of exploring revealed to us that the entire place was closed for the whole week for "filming."

What the heck!

Stupid castle.

So, we had to punt and come up with something for the kids to do for the day.

Enter Bass Pro Shops.

Bass Pro Shops, Springfield is described and "the granddaddy" of all of their shops...and they aren't kidding.  This place was IMMENSE and well worth a visit...even if it isn't haunted (stupid castle!!).

There was soooooo much to see here including a gun museum and an archery museum and animal displays upon animal displays upon animal displays.  Just wow.

Logan meets his first alligator gar.

Not haunted...but maybe still a bit scary.

 Once I had curbed my disappointment, and after Bass Pro helped us all recover a bit, we decided to make a stop at the Springfield conservation nature center.  This area houses a cute little building with nature displays and maps and all kinds of kid friendly, touchable fun and then leads out into several trails which traipse through the forest and river areas nearby.

So, we went for a walk (the kids called it a hike -- which made them grouchy -- but it really wasn't).

This is the prairie king snake we found along the trail.  Ugh, snakes.

One of many frogs we saw, probably baseball sized -- we don't see tons of big frogs in Utah so the kids were enamored.

And here is one little crew of turtles...but they were EVERYWHERE!  and that we definitely don't see much in Utah.

We also saw cardinals-a-plenty, several osprey (two of which were fighting and nearly took Parker out as they dove at each other right in front of him), lots of white tail deer and a couple of wild turkeys.  It was a good day.

 And then it was Wednesday, which was also April fools day.

And so, of course, I cooked bugs into my children's pancakes.

But Josh ratted me out before the kids started eating so they de-bugified their food prior to my getting a good laugh out of it.  Oh well, I still think I'm funny.

   

Some of these little monsters ended up down the garbage
disposal and then I had to fish them out so I guess the joke was on me too.

Later that day, we called all the kids out onto the front porch for a picture and then Josh doused them all in silly string and that was funny for all of us and the neighbors as well (we ended up with a whole crew of laughing observers...that's how we roll).       

 

So, after the hilarity, we wound our way over to the Butterfly Palace.  Now, normally this place would be waaaaaay out of my available price range, but we found a Groupon that let us get in for less than half the regular price so we chose this as our splurge activity (normally when we travel we focus on free or very low cost things and believe me there are plenty of free and low cost things to do so it isn't normally as problem).  

Before we even got in to meet the butterflies we had a blast.  This "palace" touts a mirror maze and a bamboo jungle and a mini-zoo with rain forest creatures.  The ladies that work here was amazing and were so willing to help and advise and give insight -- they were fabulous!

During our visit, the center was scheduled to release new butterflies into the room (they do this twice a day and if you come during those times you get to play along).  Our crew got to release fresh stock from their plastic containers and that was pretty cool for them.  

That afternoon we had planned to hike a local trail, but it started raining....and raining and raining and raining.  It turned out that night that the storm bloomed into a tornado which touched down just outside of Carthage right along a road we had driven two days before while we explored the countryside.  That really made the storm real to us as we watched the storm trackers on tv.  It was an interesting and powerful experience.

Anyway, since we couldn't hike, we decided to drive to Arkansas, which was only about fifteen miles south of us.

So, we drove into Arkansas, bought a slurpee at the local gas station, and went back to our condo.  Now we can say we've been to Arkansas.  Good times.

Next day, Thursday, we took the soggy afore mentioned hike on the Lakeside Forest Trail.  It was wet after the previous day's storms, but it wasn't cold.  In fact, it was VERY humid and as the sun came out of the clouds it got pretty warm.  This particular trail boasts a downward climb via 300+ stairs and then a fairly level trek along the side of Lake Taneycomo (which was foggy and eerie and awesome).

At the bottom of the stairs, along the trail, there are three small caves which people can explore and we did!  Well, most of us did.  Some of us were a bit too nervous to venture inside (cough, cough, Aubrey) but that was fine.  People are allowed to like or dislike things and that is ok.  

Fun in the caves.

Notice how we are soggy from trees that dripped on us and muggy, hot conditions.

That afternoon we again ventured to Springfield for an afternoon dedicated to history.  Which is important to me.  Which Josh loves.  Which the kids were not thrilled about.  But they grew into it and the day turned out to be fabulous.  

Our first, and probably most important, stop was to the National Cemetery.  When I was researching things to do for this trip I stumbled across the fact that there was a national cemetery here and I knew it was something we WOULD NOT miss.

It is difficult to describe the feeling that tucks itself into a place like this.  It is beautiful and sacred and I am grateful that my children had the chance to experience it.  That's pretty much how the whole afternoon went.  It was unforgettable.

 After the cemetery, we continued our historic tour of the area with a visit to Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.  It was on this site that the first major Civil War battle west of the Mississippi River took place.  

We watched a video depicting the events surrounding the battle and then drove the loop around the battlefield.  There were marked sites to stop and explore each of which boasted a piece of these historic events.

Seriously, it was amazing!

This is the site of a family homestead used as a make-shift hospital following
the battle.  They treated the injured from both sides of the lines.

And when we got to the battlefield itself.  There was an awe that hung over it.  We could see where the events really took place and the story took on a life of its own.  It's hard to describe, there is something about standing on those grounds that can't be described.  I am forever grateful that we chose to bring our family here.

On the way back to our condo we took a little detour to a local park.

And then we were tired, and we went home.

Friday was our last day in Branson and I left the planning of activities up to Josh.  We had a list of local attractions and he scheduled the day (normally I am the bossy one and I drag everyone from place to place but this time around he got in on the action).

Josh took us to the College of the Ozarks Table Rock campus (which, incidentally, was a beautiful campus) and we stopped in to the Ralph Foster Museum.  This museum was three floors of stuff to see an explore.

Meet the original car from the Beverly Hillbillies TV show.

The kids had fun together wandering their way through the memorabilia.

Bryce's favorite piece of art.  Interesting perspective.  I like it too.

Guns.  So many guns.  The second floor was FULL of guns.  The boys and their dad were thrilled about that.  

Gavin kissing a zebra.

I think he got one.

Also on the campus was an exquisite chapel (Williams Memorial Chapel) and we took some time to walk through it.  

The building is dedicated to four clergy men who were on a military carrier in the ocean when it was attacked and crippled leaving it to sink and the men aboard to die.  These four brave men of God, representing three different religions, decided together to give their live preservers to the soldiers around them because they felt those fighting for the country needed to be saved before they did.

Next, Josh took us to another local trail, this one touting a 40 foot tall lookout tower with a view of the city.

Due to the continued storms the trails were a bit of a mess so we cleared the small branches as we walked along.  There really was a lot of damage.

Most of our kids enjoyed climbing the tower and looking out over the city from the highest point around, but some felt better just keeping their feet on the ground.

 And Dad finished off his day by taking everyone to a local shop for some frozen custard.  Really, how can you beat frozen custard.  Everyone agreed that Dad should get to plan our activities a little more often (he really did do a great job).

 That night we packed up and spent the next two days driving back home.  Saturday night, coming into Denver, brought us our first view of mountains in more than a week (oh, how we missed them).

Pretend like you don't notice our bug splattered wind shield and just focus on those lovely, rocky, cliffs in the distance.  

It had been a long day in the car and we might have rested better if we didn't end up accidentally scheduling rooms which had full sized beds instead of queen sized ones (this is one of the hazards of Hotwire).  

However, after an acceptable (if snug) night's rest we finished the drive and were very happy to be home.  I do love to travel, but I also really love to come home again.

All in all, this was a fantastic excursion and a beautiful chance for our family to get away and make memories together.  I hope that remembering these times will give our kidlets something to anchor them when life is hard or when they don't feel like they are loved or important.  I hope seeing the beauty of different parts of the world and doing it together, as a family, will really be something they can hold on to and remember with a smile throughout their lives.  I hope they will remember the good times and the laughs and smiles and even the horrible times and we can laugh at those too.

I know these times are precious to me, I hope they are for my little ones as well.

So, to sum up -- Branson:  good times for all!