Our Idaho Trip

First of all, many thanks to my mommy and my mother-in-law for supplying me with  a lot of the pictures that I was a huge slacker with taking! 

 We began our adventure at 3:15 AM on the 20th. Our plan was to get to Ogden, UT. We were looking at a 13 hr drive ahead of us. Surprisingly, the kids did AMAZING. They were so well-behaved! 

Connor did amazing sleeping off and on the whole day

my sweet husband drove the entire way and didn't even complain

Evelynn slept wonderfully too and was so patient with her short breaks from the carseat to eat! 

 We stay the night at Caleb's grandparent's house and then left the following afternoon. We had about a 6 hour drive including stops to reach our destination, but once again, the kids did great. 

After arriving we unloaded the car and took the kids to visit the family, starting with their Hill cousins!

Then we gave them a little break (there was a lot of new places and faces and it overwhelmed them a bit after a long car ride). Then we visiting Caleb's dad, and ended the night with Caleb's mom and siblings. 

The next day we had plans to just relax and get some fun things done, like doing my mom's hair. 

The kids discovered that the big lego bus that stores lego's is perfect for riding in! They got pushed around in it and had the time of their lives! 

And best of all, Caleb and I went to the temple with my mom and dad and my sister and brother-in-law!

My mother-in-law was so sweet to watch the kids for us. She recruited some help from Parker and Katelyn. We were hopeful the kids would behave. Judging from the pictures, they didn't have too horrible of a time!

 On Saturday I did highlights on my sister's hair and went shopping with my mom and sister in the evening. 

While I did hair our kids had tons of fun playing! I also got to cut lots of other hair, which I enjoyed as well.

these two kids were such good friends!

 Connor helped Grandpa West with leaves outside! He had TONS of fun! 

 After all their hard work, the boys got to eat fruit for a snack. YUM!

 The kids played with Uncle Joseph and their cousins while Mommy was busy.

yay for getting highlights! 

Evelynn thought Grandma and Grandpa's house was so cool! 

Connor discovered that he could fit through the banister rails and climb through, and he did it over and over again because it was SO COOL!

On Sunday we went to church with my parents and then later went again to Sacrament meeting with Caleb's dad's family to hear Cami give a talk. The kids were pretty grumpy and were coming down with something, and Connor was especially ill.

After church we had an early Thanksgiving with my side of the family. My parents made a delicious meal!

our sick little boy :(

Someone put lipstick on a little girl... hehehe

That night we got to have tons of fun with Melinda and Mitchell and we went to their house and played board games without any kids! I really don't think they missed us too much... 

 On Monday we got to help set up the Christmas decorations at the West grandparent's house! Mr Connor thought their train underneath the tree was THE COOLEST thing ever!

This kids got to go outside and admire the Christmas lights on the house. My cute little nephews also enjoyed sitting in the wooden sleigh! 

 On Tuesday Mommy had to spend a lot of time doing homework. The kids got to spend all sorts of time playing while I did it!

That night we went over to Grandma Anderson's house and had dinner.

On Wednesday morning we went out to my Grandparent's house for a brunch. Connor had SOOOOO much fun running around in all the space! 

 Once again, Mommy had to get homework done that day before Thanksgiving and wedding fun. The kids got to play and play! Evelynn wanted to attempt the stairs at grandma and grandpas! 

On Thursday we went to Caleb's dad's house for a Thanksgiving meal. I tried to track down some pictures but I guess it wasn't possible to send me any.

When we came home I did tons more homework again so that I could have everything done. This meant lots more playing for the kids!

piggy-back rides from Grandpa are the best! 

 Friday was wedding day! I got to do my sister-in-law's hair for it since they were in the ceremony. Caleb was off doing wedding activities all day. I didn't take pictures so I had to snag some from my mother-in-law!
I got to do hair for all three sister-in-laws, plus a step-sister. I wasn't able to track down pictures of everyone though.

 Saturday we left bright and early to head home. We made a stop in Gooding to give the kids a break and to meet Deanna's boyfriend Bob. We had an early Christmas and Connor got to chase chickens. He even caught one! He had tons of fun.

Connor chased the chickens into the coop and was furious when Daddy pulled him out of there! 

 After that short visit we headed down to Utah! We were all pretty tired out but had plans we were looking forward to. 

he''s his father's child...sleeps with a blanket over his head

We went to Orem to visit my Grandpa Durrant and his wife Linda. We had a great time visiting with them and meeting Linda!

Then we headed back to Salt Lake to stay with my cousin Elizabeth and her family. I was SO excited to see her and meet her daughter! After a yummy dinner we all got to go see the lights and Temple Square. Even thought it was freezing and super busy, we had a great time!

The next day we drove home from Salt Lake. It was supposed to be about 12 hours. The day was a bit of a disaster (screaming kids, flat tire, buying a new tire, poopy diapers, running out of wipes, a two hour stretch until getting home, etc.) I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that by the end, Caleb vowed to never do that drive again. 

We had a great time seeing so many family members and wish we could have had more time for friends! We are hoping to visit next summer when I will be between semesters so that we will have more time for our friends that we have not seen in a long time.