Vacation and Growing The Basement

We just got back from a short trip to Arizona. Roberts mom (Nanny) was born and raised there and his dad (Papa) moved down there to live with his aunt. They ended up being in the same ward and it has been true love ever since. Nanny can't drive after dark and since his stroke, Papa can't drive at all so Robert volunteered to take them. The kids and I wanted to go along, and Robert assured me that it would be a 12 hour trip. Terrible, but after looking at the cost of flying 7 people for only a few days, it seemed acceptable. Um, yeah. We tried to avoid some construction in St. George and ended up taking back roads with construction of their own and many small towns. 16 hours. 16. Seven people in one car. Three kids, two in-laws, Robert and me. Again, 16 hours.

The night before our trip

He shaved his head after.

Sweet boy and his Papa

Mr. Aleq at Glen Canyon Dam

They thought this cactus was so cool for some reason

Of course, a pink horse

The next few days were wonderful, though. The weather was in the mid 90's, the hotel pool was beautiful with palm trees and shade, the Mexican food was delicious, and Nanny's brother even took us scorpion hunting/killing around his house. We did a whole lot of nothing and it was everything I thought it could be.
We even got to see the new Gilbert Temple which was unbelievably beautiful!
The trip back was ONLY 14 hours so it was a pure delight.
When we got back, there was a smell in our house that just smacked us in the face as we walked in. We could not place it. But then Aleq went downstairs to get P.J.'s and found the source. The city had turned on the irrigation water and it had been flowing into our house for...who knows how long. We tried watering the basement to see if it would grow, but no luck.  Disaster clean up came finally at 2:00 a.m. only to tell us it was too big for them that night and they would need more equipment and men. It is considered a contaminated water source so everything is a loss. Carpet and pad, doors, base boards, a bit of wall, furniture, many toys, nearly everything. They have to spray everything down with antimicrobial spray, dry it with big fans, and then replace it all. Luckily, most of Tommy's stuffed animals were on his bed, so all is well with him. So we cleaned out Jain's playroom and moved her toys into her room and the boys have makeshift beds in her bright pink playroom.  They love that.

my lovely basement

On Thursday morning, I fly out to San Diego for my nephew's wedding. No kids, Only me, the ocean, my very own room in a nice hotel, and a fun wedding with fun family around. Ahhhhhhh. I just have to keep that in mind as I deal with my STINKY and messy house.
And I survived driving to Arizona so this is nothing!

My Sweet Boy

I know it has been a long time since I posted and I may or may not catch up. Most likely not. I'm too lazy.  But I just had to write down what Tommy said tonight.
I had a banana that was getting old and so I made banana chocolate chip cookie dough to freesze. You never know when somebody might need fresh baked cookies and I like to be prepared. Okay, I never know when I might need some. Anyway, Tommy likes to lick the beater paddle, so keep in mind that he was eating the dough made by ME while talking.
We were discussing how strong his teacher is because her fiancé passed away this past December, yet she still is a happy and sweet teacher. I told him that Heavenly Father must know that she is strong. He asked if Heavenly Father knows when bad things will happen. I told him that, yes He does. For example, He knew I would have a stroke and He had the power to stop it from happening, but He knew that we were a strong family and we would get even stronger with hard times.
He then said, "He let you live so I'll just do whatever you're like. If you can't do some things, I'll just go with it. I don't care how you look, I just care that you are alive."
Seriously? How did I get so lucky?? I told him that was so sweet and it made me cry because I was so happy.