Nauvoo: Part 2

We finally made it to St. Louis and called my dad to come pick us up. They pulled up in a sweet ride. A big ol 12 passenger van. We therefore dubbed ourselves the Stomin' Mormons. We started on our way to Nauvoo. Poor Easton had about had it with traveling at that time, but he was still a good sport. We had a great experience at a local Walmart, sang Hannah Montana, oh wait, Abbey corrects me, that song is Miley Cyrus, we sang with Abbey at the top of our lungs, laughed our guts out and admired Dad navigating the huge white monster and finding  it necessary to honk randomly all the way to Nauvoo. We finally got there, we all stayed in a home their that we rented. It worked out quite nicely. The next morning we got ready to head to Carthage.  Here we are in the white bus, my dad at the bottom.

After getting harassed about doing his hair, this is what Randon came up with. Yes. Lovely. All day. We got to Carthage and went inside the visitors center for the little presentation when it started to rain. We ran inside Carthage jail, a little wet but that was okay. It was so neat to be there, I can't even describe it. I've always known Joseph's story, but we I realized a different side of the story, that while he was a great prophet, he was also a man, who had to say goodbye to his wife and children, his beloved people and city and ride to what he knew was his death.  We were able to sit as a family in the room where he was shot. This picture is outside of the room, taken through the bullet hole in the door that is still there, looking through at the window he fell out of when he was shot.

Our little family, outside of Carthage Jail.

 That night we went to "Sunset on the Mississippi", a little program that the missionaries put on. We stayed to watch the BYU folk dancers who were also there, but that was cut short when it started raining. Here is Easton as happy as ever even in the rain.

The next morning we were able to do a session in the Nauvoo temple. Randon and I, and my mom and dad went, and it was so amazing. Its such a little temple from what I'm used to, but it was so neat to see a replica of what the people of Nauvoo worked so hard for. Later that day we went to old Nauvoo where they have restored several of the old homes and shops have been restored. 

Very cool to see how prosperous and efficient those people were! It also broke my heart to see all they left behind to face the unknown of the west. I'm so glad we went, it strengthened my testimony and I learned a lot. Easton was such a good boy. Happy everywhere we went, even when wet. 

And thankfully we were able to fly home without incident. :)

Nauvoo: Part 1

We were lucky enough to be able to travel to Nauvoo last week. It was a great experience and really fun, I'm glad that we went. Our trip did, however, get off to a rocky start. We were to fly out of SLC Sunday morning. We flew separate from the rest of my family and we were to meet up in St. Louis to make the 3 hour drive to Nauvoo. I had us all packed and ready and out the door by 8:00 am, on time! Delta now has the awesome rule that a person can only check one bag, any extras would cost $25. With three of us, and a car seat counting as one of our bags to check,  we were so proud that we fit all of our things in one larger suitcase. After the drive the airport and the looong shuttle drive, we went to check in. Easy peasy. "Um, ma'am, you'll need to repack this bag. Its too heavy. To check it you'll need to pay $80." WHAT?! But what if both Randon and I didn't think and totally forgot about any kind of weight restriction? Shouldn't we be rewarded for our efforts of stuffing every last thing into ONE bag? Just rearrange things into other bags you say? We don't have any other bags beside the diaper bag. And anything heavy we could take out and somehow juggle would be identified as LIQUID which we know won't fly with those lovely security people.  We sadly looked away as he took our money. Eighty dollars. EIGHTY DOLLARS! Sorry, rant over. Well, kinda. We then rushed to find our gate thinking we had about 7 minutes before they would start boarding the plane. As we're running and see our gate area in the distance, it looks oddly empty and calm when I was imagining the cattle herd of people trying to board the plane at once. We approach...no one is there...no...no...NO! People don't really miss their flights!!! That only happens in the movies!!! We ask the attendant...sure enough...plane is gone. I burst into tears. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what to do. Even if we got a later flight, my family would have to wait as we were all driving together. I thought of bagging the whole trip until I thought of the $80. We got booked on the next available flight which wasn't until 4:30 that afternoon. My dad said they were planning on staying in St. Louis for the evening anyway to go to dinner and see the arch, so it would work out for them to come pick us up and head out. It would all work out. We luckily just had alllll day to spend in the airport seeing that it was only 9:40 and our carseat was already well on its way to St. Louis so we couldn't leave. Here we are, happy as clams in the airport. Randon wanted to punch someone and I may have over reacted a bit with the crying. I almost felt pregnant again. Whew. I'm not. We couldn't believe our luck that morning.

So...we decided to drown our feelings in calories and eat a Cinnabon. (My first time...didn't think they were all they were cracked up to be.) 

Luckily Easton took a three hour nap and we both had books to read. Even so... it was a very long day. Easton was such a good sport. He is so friendly and would smile at everyone. I'd look down at him and every time he was smiling at someone different grabbing their attention from across the room. When we FINALLY got on the plane, I was so nervous about Easton. I had planned for him to be tired and sleep and he did...while we were still in the airport. He did so awesome though. He is just like his papa, he loves to fly. Here he is on the plane, giving Randon and I no excuse not to smile. 

Well we finally got there and had a great time, all included in Part 2. I had to separate the two posts since this part was a story in itself...and because we were all much happier for the rest of the trip! :)

This Could Be a Problem...

I had always heard about this establishment and that people loved it. I didn't see the big deal, hadn't even gone since there wasn't one around. One just opened recently by us. Randon and I have discovered the divinity that is the original chicken sandwich. I think I might have an addiction. I won't even mention that I may have had one three days in a row. Nope. Don't remember that. I better stop cold turkey. Or cold chicken. HA.

My Dad is Cooler Than Your Dad!

Yes folks. This is my father. What a fine specimen of an athlete. He hasn't changed one bit since those days. Still wears those stylin shorts too. My dear father...the one and only Special K...where do I begin? I was thinking of children and how they immortalize their fathers. I was no different. I was pretty dang sure when I saw this picture as a young girl that he was in the NBA. I knew my dad could do anything, fix anything and make everything better. I still find myself with these thoughts...times like when I've missed my flight at the airport (story to follow later) and I'm thinking...if only Dad were here, he would know what to do. He is quite the airline passenger officianado (is that a word? the more I look at it, the more I think I made it up), he traveled a lot for his job. I can't even begin to list everything my dad has taught me and done for me. I have to give him credit for instilling in my heart a love of good music. As far back as I can remember, songs would come on the radio and he would ask me who it was. I remember I always guessed the Beatles, that being one of the few bands I had heard of, all the time thinking, why would a band be named after a bug? Not long after, I learned more about all kinds of music and could guess correctly more often. Some of my favorite memories are of us driving in the car listening to music while he would tell me stories of the band or person and why they wrote a particular song. One that sticks out in my mind is Ozzy's "No More Tears". So thank you Dad, for introducing me to a broad spectrum of music. We also share a love of scary movies. I remember watching the classic Halloween with him and being scared out of my pants. I'm so thankful for his example. He has a solid testimony that I learn from continually. He is a hard worker. I had the opportunity to work as an administrative assistant at Cambric where he was the Executive Vice President. I was always impressed with his work ethic and leadership and was always proud to say, yes I'm his daughter. Thank you Dad, for always being there for me, for helping me with my math, for taking me and my friends to haunted houses, for loving me even though I don't have an athletic bone in my body, for teaching me to change the brakes on my car, for always being worthy to give me priesthood blessings when I needed them, for being a great example for what I should expect in a husband, for being an awesome Grandpa to Easton, and for helping to get where I am today. I love you Dad.

Three Years Ago Today...

...was the disaster that somehow started it all. Randon was a flight instructor, working towards being a commercial jet pilot, and he was pretty close. He flew with one of his students to Detroit to pick up a plane the student had purchased, and they were supposed to fly it back. Shortly after take-off, the plane crashed into a field. Both of them miraculously survived. Look at that. Holy cow. I still can't believe it. Both of Randon's ankles were broken and he suffered severe third degree burns on his right arm and burns and lacerations all over his upper body. Randon doesn't remember going down or escaping the burning wreckage, however, now and then he remembers little things, like laying in the field and feeling the weeds poking the back of his neck. He spent several days at a hospital in Detroit. His Dad and brother, Casey flew out to be with him. Thank heaven for his family. If I had been in the picture at that point, I would have been a basket case. He then started down the road of the painful recovery of not only his body, but his career and the life he knew. Warning...graphic pictures...he had to have two skin grafts, which he says is the worst pain he has ever experienced. I always jokingly complain that I get no sympathy from him when I am giving birth or going through pain, he knows its nothin compared to what he's gone through. (Okay not really, he is a great husband and a great support. But I know I can never use the pain of labor card.) Weeks after the crash, UVSC Flight School fired him from his job as an instructor, I guess not wanting any strings attached to the crash. (Randon was not at fault for the crash.) Any sort of crash puts a black spot on your pilot's record that would have set him back about five years in getting to the airlines. He wasn't offered any workman's comp, and he fought daily with the health insurance companies to pay for his medical care. As I think back to this time, I admire him so much. Some life altering, or rather, life destroying time would send many people, count me as one of them into a downward spiral of depression. Randon wouldn't let it get him down. He looked at it as an opportunity for growth and new career paths and got involved in the world of real estate and has done an awesome job. Every time we fly, it breaks my heart when I see in his eyes that he wishes he could still be a pilot. He loves everything about it. But instead of flying others on a commercial jet, he now has a goal to one day own his own private jet to fly. More power to ya babe! Not only did the crash change his life that way...it presented the opportunity to meet ME! :) I still remember being anxious for the blind date. I had never seen him, but had only heard the stories. Our first date was August 11, two months after he crashed. Everyone was teasing me saying to be nice since he walked with a walker and that he might drool a little bit trying to make me nervous. I was thinking oh great...pity date. Turns out he could walk just fine with no walker, he had just gotten his casts off. You could really only tell by the compression glove he had to wear on his arm, that he told people when they asked what it was for that he had gotten attacked by piranhas in Alaska or some totally believable story. He later told me he had waited to call me hoping I would be the one to make the first move and bring him cookies. Psh. I couldn't come off as desperate! Just kidding. I wish I had been there sooner to have offered him any support I could have. Well obviously we fell in love and the rest is history. I'm just so grateful for the chance I had to meet him, even if it did come at the price of a little pain on his part. :) And I'm thankful as I know he is for his family that took care of him and did everything for him. I'm thankful for his example of how he meets challenges head on and finds a solution to anything. And I'm glad he is alive! I love you Randon! And so does Easton, Happy Fathers Day! Now lets get workin on that private jet, eh?

Girl's Trip to Cedar City

So I was planning on going camping with the whole fam over Memorial Day until I realized all the women wouldn't be there and it would just be the men fishing all day. My sister Cass was going to the farewell of a "friend", Jerron, who lives in Enterprise by Cedar City, and my mom and sister were going too.  So I decided Easton and I would tag along with them. It was a fun little girl's trip. LOTS of driving- good old E town is like five hours away. We stayed at a hotel in Cedar, had quite the time trying to figure out the self timer on my mom's camera and trying to fit us all in the shot. Check out this cheeser! Hangin out with Cass. Oh my heck he is the cutest boy. Creepy Kylee headed down to the continental breakfast where I spilled hot chocolate all over everything. Twice. Easton enjoying a luxurious hotel bath experience. Cute Cass with Jerron, he's just a friend okay! ;)He gave a great talk and we had a little dinner after which we started our five hour drive home with Cass entertaining us with her rendition of Baby Got Back. Sweet.

Grandpa's Farm

We were able to go down to Mt. Pleasant the day after Memorial Day to visit and help Randon's dad move. We were able to stop by the farm, I was excited, I'm always eager to see how Easton will react to animals. It looks like he will take right after his dad, he loved it. He loves just being outside in general, but also got so excited when he saw the animals. Here we have Grandpa helping Easton ride Bob, Randon's horse, Easton is just happy as could be. A nice little treat...a fresh egg from the chicken coop. This shot reminded me of the movie Babe, with all of the animals chillin together. Thanks for letting us visit Grandpa!