On to Idaho!!!

After Utah we all headed to my parent's house in Twin Falls, Idaho. It was fun going with people who had never been there before because we got to show them all the sites that we generally just overlook. We, or at least I, had a great time with them all. I know my parents did too! It was interesting having only one bathroom with 12 people, 9 of which were girls, but we seemed to manage just fine.

This is Tabi, Toni and I down at Centennial Park...looking at the Perrine bridge and the Snake river.
Tori being the ham that she is when in front of a camera!
Tabi and Tim...oooh, aren't the sweet?!?
After looking at the bridge from below, we went and walked across it! It was great. It is REALLY high up there...I believe it is one of the tallest bridges above water (or something like that!) On the left is a public golf course and on the right is the private one.
Don't ask me why, but this is what Morgan does when the sun is in her eyes!! I understand the hand up top, just not sure about the one on the bottom...maybe for a bright reflection off the ground?!?! It was fun walking across the bridge because it shakes as the big trucks/diesels drive across. The kids, Nick and Tim included, had fun getting rocks and throwing them into the water to see if they would make a splash. It took a LONG time for them to actually hit...half the time you would want to look away thinking it didn't do anything, and then a few seconds later it would finally hit!These are the crazy base jumpers that jump off the bridge! We actually got to watch one of them do it while we were there! A lot of people come to do this on the Perrine bridge because it's one of the only places where it is legal.

This is where we watched the guy jump...at first it looked like he was going to land in the water, but he managed to land on the strip of ground instead...bummer!
So these are the Shoshone Falls that are USUALLY a major tourist stop in Twin. Unfortunately they aren't going right now...because of the drought and the dam and all of that. The picture below shows what they look like when the water is really flowing. They are beautiful...I wish they would have been going so the Hogues could actually see them-guess they'll just have to come back again!
Since the adults and older kids were going to be going to a haunted house that the younger kids couldn't go to, we decided to take them one afternoon to the bounce house and let them have fun and go crazy...which they did! They seemed to have a blast...and it was really nice because we were the only ones in there and didn't have to worry about anyone else getting in the way!
Taegan in the ball pit...

followed by Tylee in the ball pit!
They had fun pushing all the balls up to right under the slides so that they got covered when they slid into them.
Morgan flying through the air...it looks like Tori just took her out and sent her flying, but really she's just jumping...I think!?!
Morgan giving the camera, and me, kisses through the net!
Why can she never look at the camera when I want her too??

The slide was by far Morgan's favorite thing at the place...I think she went on it a hundred times!!
And once Tim got there it was one of his favorites as well!

Overall we had a great time! I wish I would have gotten more pictures of us all...maybe next time. I don't have any pictures of the totally awesome, totally freaky haunted house that we went to, but it was probably the highlight of the trip! And don't believe what Tabi tells you about me and getting freaked out...she WAY over exaggerates;)

Utah here we come!

At the beginning of October we had the chance to go to Utah with the Hogues for General Conference. We had an amazing time and felt so fortunate that Tim got us tickets and invited us so long ago. It is so great to have such great friends! Not only did we go to Utah, from there we all travel to Idaho and stayed with my parents for a week...I loved it(despite only having one bathroom for everyone)!! But that's another blog...this one is about Utah! Before we left, Nick and Tim had been joking that there would be no bathroom stops along the way because they wanted to get there as fast as possible. They said put the younger girls in pull-ups and the rest of us could use depends...NASTY!! Of course they were joking...or at least Nick was. Tim was apparently serious because this is what he was wearing when we pulled up to load the truck...

The day after we got there...we all did the tourist thing. We toured the museums and Temple Square and watch the movie...all that good stuff. Tommie was worried that she wasn't going to be able to go because of her neck surgery, but she was a trooper and did awesome! Morgan especially loved her walker, and I have to admit it was nice having her on that and not running around breaking priceless memorabilia!
This is one of my favorite statues on Temple Square...I would put one in my yard but it might be a little too big!
The Harbucks got to come to Utah with us too...which was awesome! We all had a great time...and of course had to do the "picture in front of the temple" picture-such tourists!
Here are the Hogues...it was a little chilly at this point-I think Tylee was freezing!
I gave Toni my camera, and I should have checked them before we left! Sorry Nick!! I'm hoping Tabi has better ones on her camera...
Here are all the girls...you can tell which one is mine by looking for the really white skin! (At least she got one thing from her mom;)

Seaworld!!

We ended Kayla's and Owen's trip to California with a trip to Seaworld. I was SO excited because I have never been and really have been wanting to go. We had a great time. It wasn't crowded at all, the kids were great...it was just a super-fun day. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, the kids or the adults, but either way it was well worth the money!

We started off at the sea lions, and this one cracked me up because he/she (I don't know the difference!) was sitting on the bottom, just relaxing and watching everything that was going on.

Then we went to the sharks...which I think was Owen's favorite. Him and papa had been talking about them before they came, and he was SO excited to see them, and didn't understand why we wouldn't let him get in the water with them! Call me crazy, but even if he could swim I just didn't think it was the smartest idea...Morgan and Owen loved being able to get up close to the fish and touch the glass...there were some really awesome and beautiful fish in the different exhibits.

My favorite, of course, was the Shamu show. It was so amazing!! When I was little I always wanted to be a marine biologist, and after going to this show I had to ask myself why I didn't pursue it?!? But a funny story...before the show started, as those of you who have been there know, they were showing a movie/preview thing on the big screen in front of us. We were sitting on an aisle seat, watching the show, when the people around us are laughing and I think someone tapped Kayla on the shoulder. We look over, and Owen , who was standing in the aisle before the show started, decided he needed to pee and had pulled down his pants and was getting ready to go RIGHT THERE, in front of everyone, on the stairs where everyone walks. Kayla, of course, was super embarrassed and grabs him, and his pants, and bolts out the back way to take him to the bathroom. It was absolutely hilarious!! I'm just glad it wasn't Morgan:)
Morgan loved the stingrays, especially when they started splashing her! I thought she would be freaked out by them and wouldn't touch them, but she loved putting her hands in there and rubbing them as they swam by. We didn't feed them, because truthfully it freaked us out a little bit, but they were really neat to pet and watch.
They both loved watching the dolphins swim right in front of them, and again we had to explain to Owen that he couldn't just jump in and swim with them, even though he tried!!

Owen loved the Polar bear caves, but Morgan was a little freaked out by the growling sound effects that they had playing through them. She wouldn't go through them without a death grip on my hand!
Morgan's favorite movie right now is Happy Feet, so naturally her favorite exhibit was the penguins. She kept tap dancing like they do in the movie and wanted to know why they weren't dancing too!
I'm not sure how many times we were asked if Morgan and Owen were twins, and then when we said no they would usually ask if Kayla and I were twins! I used to get mad that people couldn't see that I was eight years older than her, but now it's starting to be not such a bad thing!!
I don't think we were in the car for more than 5 minutes before these two just passed out! It was a long day for all of us, and they both did so well. Morgan absolutely loved having her cousin out here and keeps asking for him. She even still calls her car seat "Owen's seat" and is waiting for him to come back and use it again!!

As a souvenir we got the kids matching Shamu jammies and slippers. They were hilarious together when we put them on them....and absolutely adorable. They really are best buds. I was worried how they would do since we don't get to see them very often, but they were great and I am so happy that Morgan has such a good friend, regardless of the distance.
~A perfect ending to a perfect day~

They FINALLY make it!

So FINALLY, after hours of headaches and frustration and tears and delays and everything else that went wrong, Kayla and Owen make to LA!! It was so nice to see them finally in California!! Their luggage had come hours before they did so I already had it loaded in the car, so we just got to hug and be glad they were safe and then jump in the car and head home. We get to the car, take off, start talking and everything is going well. We were all so excited that everything had worked out, me especially, that it wasn't until we were in the middle of no-where-land, out of cell service, at least 30 miles away from a gas station, that the gas light comes on and I realize we are going to run out of gas. Seriously, after the day we had had, it would have just been the icing on the cake! It's the middle of the night, we can't call anyone, the only cars we see are an occasional semi, and we just know that we are screwed. Nick is working in Inyokern, but I don't know if we're going to make it even to cell reception to call him. Kayla says we could start a small grass fire because his engine would be the one to respond, and even if they didn't have a tank of gas with them, at least they would know we were stranded and could get us help. By now we are laughing uncontrollably, because for me it was either that or cry. We somehow, after lots of prayers and luck, make it into Inyokern. I know that there is a gas station just past Nick's work, and it was a big down-hill, so we put it in neutral for as long as we can and coast to the gas station...only to find out that it doesn't pump gas all through the night! I had finally gotten ahold of Nick, and I'm somewhere between his station and Ridgecrest. I tell him I'm going to try and make it to Ridgecrest, but if he doesn't hear from me in a few minutes to come and find us, when out of nowhere a second gas station appears that I have never noticed before...and the pumps worked!! If it wasn't so nasty and covered in germs and who knows what else I would have kissed the pump, but I didn't, i just was very greatful...which I explained to the sheriff's officer who pulled in after us to make sure everything was OK! All in all, we got home extremely late, but we were safe and happy to be there, and the kids had a blast...starting early the next morning!

Even the kids were super excited that they finally made it!!

It wasn't my doing or my fault, the boy just loved Morgan's shoes!!

We got in some Rockband while they were here...go Owen!
Owen LOVED Morgan's 4-wheeler and was even gentleman enough to give his cousin a ride!
They kept zipping themselves up into the inside pocket of one of my suitcases...I don't know why but they were laughing and having a blast!