I Went North Instead of South

As I was getting ready to leave Manti and make the 700 mile drive home to Cali, I had this wild idea to just drive to Salt Lake instead. I really think it began with me wanting to do ANYTHING to avoid the loooooonnnnnng drive. And it evolved into me offering to take my niece Alyson back to Cali with us. Carly agreed that it was a great idea...only she couldn't leave until Friday.

So my trip was extended and I was able to spend a couple of days in the Salt Lake area. Although I felt (incredibly) strange being so close to some of my dearest friends and NOT seeing them, it ended up working out great because I divided up some of my visits. I was able to spend time with my sister Carly & Alyson, Tiffany & Eliza and Tucker's family. And in a few weeks when I come back to UT, I'll get to see everyone else! What a fun month with lots MM (making memories).

Although trips like this are exhausting and rigorous, they are also priceless. I was SOOOOO wiped out when I got back from traveling with the three kids (four on the way back including Alyson!), but I am already looking forward to coming back soon. I love making memories with the kids. My mom did such a great job doing that for us growing up and I'm passing that on to my kids. Jordyn kept saying "I miss Daddy so much, but I want to move to Utah! Can Grandma and Grandpa and Lindy and Mike move here too so we can ALL be here together?". I remember those feelings as a kid. I always wanted to live in Anaheim, where ALL my relatives were. I just longed to be closer to my family. But since we have no intentions of ever moving from where we are, I find comfort in the close relationships I was able to have with my relatives from a distance and I know my kids will have the same thing. They will have such fond memories of our summers in Utah visiting family and close friends.

Here are some pics of our short little addition to the road trip:

A short swim at Carly and Alyson's house. Elisa and Calli were there visiting too!

Peyton and Eliza, as you can tell, have similar skin tones. :-) They are 8 months apart (Peyton 20 months, Eliza 28 months)

Eliza, Lexi and Jordyn. My girls thought she was the cutest thing and she thought it was fun to have big "sisters" around.


Tiffany got a new camera, and took some really cute pics of my girls. Here's Peyton diving into Tiff's blow-up pool with her dress on.

My Lexi Lou. I love this kid. She's my (Mexican) "flower child".

And Jordyn could not get enough of Heidi's new Pomeranian. Jordyn loves to take care of anything (she's definitely the oldest!)

Here's my little nephew Brock who is 2 months older than Peyton. Their hair is identical.

Jordyn and Lexi with their cute cousins Abby (7) and Hayley (5).

The girls with "Gam and Pa". They sure love their Gam and Pa!

This is the crew on the (ridiculously long and expensive on gas) way home.

And this is me. Sorry for the ugly pic, but this is how I felt. D-O-N-E! I'll recooperate so I can jump back in the car in a couple weeks!