To My Claire, On Your Birthday...

Happy Birthday, Claire Bear!!

Admittedly, this letter is a couple of weeks late. You celebrated turning 10 in Nauvoo this year, at the onset of our epic road trip. But how cool that we took your birthday picture together at the Hotel Nauvoo?! Thanks for being such a good sport about your birthday being different this year. You are still ever so good at going with the flow. :)

You're a decade old, Claire! That means I've been a Mom for 10 years!! I can hardly believe it. I can still remember the whirr of our swamp cooler, and the way the air smelled slightly musty in our little apartment in Orem on the day we brought you home. The day it really set in that I had just given birth to a little girl. A daughter all my own. And I was struck with a certain amount of fear that now it was real. I not only had to keep you alive but I had to teach you how to get back to our Heavenly Father. I remember looking at you while I held you on our couch and thinking we could do it. Even still, ten years later, you still fill my heart with happiness and confidence in my role as a mother. You are such a gift to your Dad and I, Claire. We are so grateful you came to us first, so you can help us on our way as a family.

Well, if I thought you were looking too grown up last year...this year has blown me away! You've grown out your bangs and your braces are gone for the time being. That smile!! You are breathtaking, Sweetheart. Though I do miss my round-faced little girl, I'm having so much fun watching you grow into a young woman. I think what I love best is seeing who you are. Seeing your confidence grow and your personality flourish. But second only to that is how much I love your newfound desire to be with me. You've always been so independent. You were never a big cuddler, and you've never seemed to need your Dad and I very much. I have worried if we would be friends. But you come to me more, sit by me more, even hold my hand while we're out shopping. I love it!! I'm so excited for the relationship we are building. I hope you'll always be one of my closest friends.

You had such a wonderful school year this year. You adored your teacher, and loved your friends. You even had some boys that quite liked your company! ;) You're learning how to manage relationships more. Your best friend is still Grace, but as with all friendships there has been some friction between the two of you from time to time. You are so good about being patient and working to resolve the conflict. I'm so proud of you for that, and I know it'll help you so much as you get older. You excelled at your studies this year, and most especially in your Spanish. You have tested out way above where you should be...you're speaking at an 8th grade immersion level in the 4th grade!! Professor Summers said that you take to the language naturally. I'm so glad you have the opportunity to learn a second language. You have also taken to piano like a natural, and I'm shocked at how well you play already. It makes me SO HAPPY to hear you practice in the morning! I love music, and playing the piano has brought me so much happiness in my life. It has been an anchor during some difficult times, and it makes me so happy to see you loving it too. You played soccer for the first time this spring. You didn't take to that quite as naturally. :) But you never got frustrated or discouraged, and you played your hardest every time you were on the field. Claire, you just amaze me in every way. You are destined for great things!

You continue to grow in your love of the gospel. You were so excited to find out that you would be studying church history this year in your primary class, because you knew we were going to Nauvoo. You have soaked up every bit of information about the early Saints. You still love Activity Days, and you passed off all your Articles of Faith before Recognition Night. You just have an eagerness when it comes to the gospel. I love that about you! 

You're still my biggest helper. You're patient with the younger kids and are always willing to lead a game or pick up a mess that isn't yours. You and Sophie are still basically inseparable, though you are both starting to have your own identity and lives. You are such a good big sister to Johnny, who can be a little intense sometimes. And Joey just adores you. What else can I say? You are simply awesome in every way. :)

I love you so much, Claire! I can't wait to see all the adventures and growth you have in this next year. Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!!

Love,

Mom

The Lord's Hand

Sometimes, every so often, something incredible happens and you absolutely know you're seeing the Lord's hand in your life. That happened for our family, and for me specifically, during our epic road trip. Now a disclaimer before I launch into the stories: this makes total sense in my head! All of it. But I'm stringing together a few completely separate events, so bear with me when this seems to bounce all over the place. :)

I'll start with my experiences in Nauvoo. I wrote a bit about it while documenting our time there, but in order for this to all make sense in the end I'm going to rehash it here. Danny and I started out our trip with a bit of heaviness in our hearts. We missed Luke. It's so hard to make these incredible family memories knowing that he's not here. Now, I've heard so many times since Luke passed away that he's aware of us and what we're doing here, and that he'll be able to share in these memories with us when we're together again. I always appreciated the attempt at comfort that those words brought, but they never really resonated with me. Would Danny and I, and Luke, just magically forget that he WASN'T here for any of these memories? Or does he somehow magically get photoshopped into our memories? I don't mean to be cynical, though I probably am totally being cynical. It's more that I just really couldn't get around the fact that nothing was going to change that Luke won't be a part of our family's memories of mortality. Period. This was on my mind a fair amount during that first day of driving through Wyoming, but I've gotten fairly practiced at not letting those thoughts and the longing for Luke take too much purchase in my mind. The pain is too much to bear, and we were on vacation for goodness' sake! So I didn't think much more about it.

Then in Nauvoo, first thing on our first day there, during Sacrament Meeting there is an impromptu musical number by a member of the popular musical group "Gentri". And he sang "How Great Thou Art"...the song from Luke's funeral and the focus of Danny's incredible funeral talk. Both Danny and I let the tears fall during that song as we felt not only the Lord's love, but Luke's presence near us. It was the first way we saw the Lord's hand in our lives during this trip.

The magic of Nauvoo didn't stop there, however. I was overcome during my time there by this sense of time overlapping. That's the best way I can think of to describe the sensation. It felt like I was seeing everything there through different eyes than I've seen anything else before. It really felt to me like I could see the Saints while they lived there. I could feel them there...their love of the Lord and His gospel, their love of family, and the happiness they felt during their time in Nauvoo. But I was still seeing the land for my first time, and noticed the modern enhancements and embellishments. I saw my children running around and the cars in parking lots that didn't exist in the 1840s. These two distinct time periods were happening at the same time for me, and somehow...even though the Saints and I were occupying the same space hundreds of years apart...becoming one memory. I had the sensation of creating and experiencing a shared memory with complete strangers that now felt like family. Again, I feel like words completely fail me in trying to relate the experience I had. I'll never forget it. At the time, I chalked it up to the amazing spirit of Nauvoo, and I thanked the Lord that He was helping me to gain a much-needed testimony and love for the early Saints. 

Now we have to fast-forward to our time in Georgia, and specifically to graduation day. My older sister Jami and her family moved to Georgia about ten months ago, and it has been a big adjustment for all of us to have them so far away. I'm very close to Jami and her family, and had spent many months between various semesters at BYU living with them in their home in Parker, CO. Some of my best memories of my life are living there, and it's always felt like another home to me. I wondered if I would feel the same way in Jami's new home and in her new life. It didn't take long for me to feel like this new house was still home to me. It was home because it had my sister and my brother-in-law and my beloved nieces and nephews there. I know, it sounds totally "duh"...but it was a deeper realization than words can convey. It was a spiritual realization. That wherever my sister was, it would be home. And even though the memories we shared were in a different place, they would follow us wherever we went. 

Anyway...(I told you this would be a bit jumbled)...back to graduation day. Jami's family became fast-friends with the bishop's family of their new ward, the Damianos. They have a son that is the same age as Natalia, and was graduating from the same school. So they decided to share the celebratory dinner together at a Mexican restaurant called Chuy's. All the adults ended up sitting together, though that wasn't how it originally was. For some reason, all the seats got shifted around and the adults ended up together. I ended up sitting next to Tiffany Damiano, the bishop's wife. I remember there being a distinct lull, and I felt prompted to ask her where she was from. She told me she had grown up in California, and then she asked Danny and I where we were from. The following conversation ensued:

Danny and I: "We're living in Syracuse, Utah"

Tiffany: "No way! We used to live in Syracuse...right off the golf course."

Us: "We live right off the golf course!"

Tiffany: "Seriously?! Yeah, we were on Prestwick Drive..."

Us: "Uh...we live on Prestwick Drive..."

Tiffany: "We lived at (some number) Prestwick Drive>"

Danny (looking confused): "There is no (some number) on Prestwick Drive..."

Tiffany: "Yeah, it was the cute tan stucco rambler on the little elbow cul-de-sac..."

Me: "That's our house!"

Danny: "3842 Prestwick Drive?"

Tiffany: "Yes, that's it! We built that house!"

Seriously. Now, to be perfectly honest, that conversation probably isn't exactly verbatim. But it's darned close! We sat there looking at each other in complete disbelief. Jeff and Jami sat back with their arms folded in stunned silence. The chances are astronomical that we would meet the people that built our house, and much less that they'd be friends with my sister in GEORGIA! I think Danny, Tiffany, and I talked about a thousand words a minute for the rest of dinner. We learned all about how our house was the Damiano's miracle house. Tiffany was the general contractor, and they did as much of the work as they could on their own. They built the house with $800 in the bank, earning their 20% down by what they saved by being their own contractor. They saw miracle after miracle building this house, including but not limited to not only meeting the building deadline...but finishing two weeks early. Jared and Tiffany had decided from the get-go that no work would be done on the house on the Sabbath, and they stuck to their guns. Tiffany knows that because they kept the Sabbath Day holy, and made sure anyone they hired did as well, that they finished early and passed all their inspections. I sat there, remembering how I felt when we walked into the house for the first time. Danny and I loved it immediately...but honestly it wasn't exactly the floor plan we had wanted. And there were things that probably would have been deal-breakers in other houses that I didn't notice or didn't care about. It felt like home the minute we walked in. In fact, Danny sat at a table (one of the only pieces of furniture in the house) and picked where he would sit at dinner and I started dusting off counters and picking weeds in the front bed. Our realtor knew we'd found the one, finally, after walking through more than 30 homes. And now I know why! Every inch of this home was literally built with love and faith. 

After the first five minutes of frenzied conversation, Tiffany turns to Jami and said..."Wait...you re-did MY bedroom!". Jeff and Jami had already shared the story with the Damianos of when they came to re-do our bedroom the week or so before Luke died. It was just crazy. We sat and talked about every inch of the house, sharing what we loved about it. Coolest. Dinner. Ever.

So that was on Tuesday, and we continued to marvel over the seeming-coincidence throughout the week. We were heading out to Florida on Sunday, but not before we went to church. It was Fast and Testimony Meeting that day, and Tiffany was the first one to the pulpit. She bore her testimony about meeting Danny and I, and how she felt knowing that a home that was such a miracle to her and her family continued to be a miracle in the lives of others. And how she knew that the Lord was mindful of her, and that bringing us together was a way of letting her know that He loved her. It was awesome.

Then a little bit into the meeting, I was surprised to see Jami get up and head to the pulpit. Jami bore her testimony about how this move to Georgia had been very difficult for her family, but how they knew even though they didn't necessarily love their home that they were exactly where they should be. Then she went on to say how much it meant to her to know that a home that had been so sacred for me and my family had been a sacred home to the Damianos. Again, that the Lord is in the details on our lives. It was while I was listening to Jami bear her testimony that all the pieces fell into place for me. I felt myself getting up to head to the pulpit myself, before I realized what I was doing and definitely before I had figured out what to say!

First I bore my testimony of my experiences in Nauvoo. I felt safe to confess (since I wasn't the bishop's wife in this ward!) that I have always had a problem with the pioneers. Or, to be more precise, my lack of pioneer heritage. :) But I bore my testimony of how my heart was changed during my time in Nauvoo and especially Carthage. And I attempted to explain that "layering of time" that I experienced while I was there. I explained the realization I had spending time in Jami's new home, and the feeling of "being home" that I felt there...even though it was my first time making memories there. And then I told them what Jami meant by the Damiano's home being a sacred place for me and my family. I briefly told Luke's story, and told of all the miracles we saw while living in our home. And then I told how Luke passed away in our home, and how precious and sacred that experience was to us. 

I then attempted to relate how all these different events and experiences came together for me just minutes before while I was sitting with the congregation. How I received an answer to a prayer I never expected to have answered in this life. In the smallest of ways, I understood how it is going to be when we are reunited with Luke. I think it will feel a lot like Nauvoo felt for me. Even though Luke wasn't physically present at the times we were making these memories as a family, he very well could be occupying the same space in the Spirit World. We know that the Spirit World is here, and that our loved ones are very aware and invested in our lives. Like in Nauvoo when I felt I was having a shared experience and creating new but shared memories with those Saints, I think we'll feel the same way with Luke. We'll share the memories and the feelings, like they are layered on top of one another, and we will share them as one experience. It was the same feeling when Tiffany and I were talking about "our" house. I could see her raising her little kids here, where they slept and where they played...because I am raising my kids here. Even though it's been fourteen years since the Damianos were in our home, and even though she was a complete stranger just days before, we are forever connected by the love in this home. It's the love that makes a home, and anyone we share that love with becomes family; becomes part of this shared experience of mortality. But even though we will have been apart from Luke for almost all our mortal experience, we will feel at home and "one" with Luke when we are together again...just like I felt in Jami's new home. We will still share all these experiences, even though we weren't together for them. It made me realize what heaven will feel like, and how it is the love we share that will make it heaven, not the actual place itself. It won't matter who got there first or who's been there the longest. We will just be there together. And maybe that's the thing about being eternal creatures...there is no beginning and no end. Time is one eternal round, and we will have always been together. Forever. I still feel like I can't, in words, express what I felt in my heart that Sunday or what I feel in my heart now. But I never realized how much my heart yearned for this fraction of understanding. It was the greatest miracle of our trip, and one of the greatest miracles of my life. I can never deny that the Lord is aware of me, and that he knows my pain and will teach me and comfort me in His way and in His time...which is always the best way and always the right time.

What a wonderfully sanctifying experience that testimony meeting was. The following two blocks of church were also awesome, and we left with full hearts. Tali and I were grateful that we had made way more meatballs and sauce for meatball subs than we needed, because the Damianos were coming over for dinner! It gave us more time to talk, and gave Tiffany the chance to give Danny and I all the pictures and blue prints she had for us as well as to show us her incredible binder that she has kept all these years. Every receipt, every memo...even (for some reason) Jared's home teaching assignment. There is still a family he home taught that is in our ward now! It was such a great way to end our time in Georgia.

Since coming home, Danny and I have continued to marvel at all that happened on our trip. Tiffany and I are Facebook friends now, and it's fun to continue to watch each other's lives. Who would have thought that the insane idea to drive our kids around the country for two weeks would become one of the most cherished experiences of our lives. I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven. I'm so grateful for the way my Savior guides my life. I'm grateful for all who have gone before me, including my amazing son Luke, and for all they teach me and for their influence in my life. Really, I could go on and on. But suffice to to say, my heart is almost bursting for the gratitude I feel for all the many ways my Heavenly Father blesses me. I'm just so, so grateful.

Our Epic Road Trip - The 505

 Our final destination of import on our epic road trip was to New Mexico. I spent the five years of middle school and high school in Rio Rancho, and it's still where I consider myself "from". But I haven't been back in thirteen years! Shortly after I moved to Provo to attend BYU, my Mom moved her and my siblings to Utah as well. I went back and lived in Albuquerque for about seven months, but left after a failed (but very dramatic!) engagement. I called off my wedding on the wedding day, moved the day after, and haven't been back since. The worst part of the deal is that my best friend of 18 years has stayed in the town we grew up in, and I've missed her terribly! We needed a stop on our drive and Rio Rancho was the perfect point for a rest. I was so excited to see Amanda and her family, her home, and especially to show my kids where I grew up.

But New Mexico was a long way away from Florida! We got on the road Tuesday morning and made the trek to Ft. Worth, Texas. We'd spend the night there before driving the rest of the way to New Mexico. After our fantastic beach day, wonderful Panera dinner, and a good night's rest we were ready to start making our way home!

We would be driving through the rest of Florida, and then through Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana before landing in Texas. It was quite the moment when we crossed the Mississippi River for the last time! The bridges we crossed each time were just incredible to me. Our rivers in the West are, well, puny compared to the Mighty Mississippi!

It was a long day in the car, but the kids did awesome...again! Still no fights or freak outs! Well, no freak outs from the kids at least. I had some freak outs when I had to drive through that torrential rain all through Louisiana!! At one point I hit standing water during a downpour and I thought for sure we were all dead. But gratefully, we survived. :) From that point forward, any storm clouds on the horizon made me a little stressed.

We finally made it into the Fort Wroth area after 724 miles and just about 11 hours in the car. Sophie was still feeling miserable, and we were all feeling a little, well, off. Meloncholy, maybe? Most of the highlights of our trip were behind us, we were tired of living in the stinky car, Sophie was sick, and we were sick of eating out...but we were more sick of sandwiches from the cooler! We decided to eat at a place called Genghis Grill, thinking it would be similar to our beloved Mongolian BBQ at home. Well, it wasn't. Not even a little bit. It was super disgusting! Mine was legit burned, and Johnny's was nigh inedible. But we were too tired and hungry to complain, so we ate what we could and headed back to the hotel. We got a sufficient night's rest, and then got back in the car for another day of driving.

We were inside of New Mexico's state borders I believe when we finally hit the 4000 mile mark. We had driven 4000 miles with our little kids, and they were making it seem easy! Danny and I talked for a while about what we were doing right with the kids, because we could never have dreamed in our wildest dreams that the trip would have gone so smoothly. It was bewildering though, because we know us. We're not THAT great of parents! And we know our kids...and while they are awesome, NOBODY'S kids are that good!! But we must all be more amazing than we thought, because so far we hadn't even had to threaten to move their clips from the visor, and Joey hadn't cried for more than a few minutes at a time. We were killing this epic road trip thing!

We logged 669 miles and 10 hours in the car when we finally made it into Albuquerque. Because we've never driven that stretch of interstate before, we assumed we would be able to stop somewhere for dinner before getting into ABQ, but we were wrong! We were starving and everyone had to go to the bathroom, so even though we were only 15 minutes from Amanda's house, we had to stop. On Amanda's recommendation, we stopped at Twister's where I had the breakfast burrito I have waited 13 years to have! Danny had some awesome green and red chile burritos, and the kids had burgers and nuggets. But oh, that burrito was as good as I remembered them being! I have definitely missed the food in The 505!

Amanda's current neighborhood isn't that far from the neighborhood I grew up in. In fact, we were literally a block from my old house when we were supposed to turn at a particular intersection, so I diverted us one more time to drive by my old house. It was definitely a trip down memory lane! The front of the house is exactly how it used to be, but someone added onto the back and made the house bigger. I have so many memories in that house. Some are really hard, like my parents' divorce. And some are really good, like the fun times I had there with my boyfriend (who lived across the street) and my best friend. It was an interesting nostalgia for me.

We got to Amanda's house at about 8:00 pm, and it was such a fun reunion! She's come to visit us a couple of times, so the kids were quick to reunite. And the thing about Amanda and me is that it doesn't matter how long we're apart, we can just pick up like no time has passed at all. We're definitely bosom friends!

We only had one day in Rio Rancho, so we had to make the most of our time there. We decided to take a walk in the bosque in the morning before it got too hot. My Spanish-speaking girls thought it was so weird that the names were so plain in New Mexico. The Rio Grande is "big river"...and it wasn't even that big! And "the bosque" might sound exotic, but the girls knew it just meant "the woods". They were honestly a little perplexed! It was kind of funny for me, since they were just the places I grew up in. I had never really given it much thought.

Anyway...the bosque was beautiful in an entirely different way from Georgia. And again, it was good to walk for a couple of miles after two days in the car. Another big plus to all this hiking was that Joey was always happy to be in his pack...which meant Danny and I didn't have to chase him down or entertain him. He was quite the handful when he was set loose in these not-Joey-proof houses!

Danny had class (I know...school during vacation?!) from 12-3, so during that time Amanda and I let the kids play while we visited. Her mom came over, and it was so nice to see her again. I spent so much time at Amanda's house during high school that I just called her parents "Mom and Dad". I wish I had been able to see her dad as well, but it didn't work out this trip. Joey had a blast playing with Lotus, and I think Lotus had at least as much fun playing with Joey! Johnny played with Micheal and Silas (Amanda's nephew), and I don't think I saw him all day. He was loving actually having boys to play with! My girls spent the day on their kindles and reading, as they didn't really have counterparts to play with. It was good for them to have a down day.

There was really only one option for dinner. Dion's! I have suffered, and I mean SUFFERED, through five pregnancies worth of Dion's cravings I couldn't satisfy. This was mine and Amanda's (and basically everyone's) favorite place to eat. Pizza, salads, and subs...and you can get green chile on everything! The pizza is the best, the salads are the freshest, yummiest salads ever, and the subs are amazing. At least, that's how I remembered it. I have told Danny for over a decade how delicious the food is there...and it was as we were walking into the restaurant that I started to panic a bit. What if my memory betrayed me? What if it really wasn't as good as I remembered?! We ordered a pizza with all the fixings, including green chile, and a chef salad. When it came out I was so nervous! I took my first bite of salad, and it was exactly as I remembered!! And the pizza? The best pizza I have ever had. Even Danny agreed. The only bad part is now I really know what I'm missing when I'm over 500 miles away from a Dion's!

After feeding 10 crazy kids at Dion's, we did some souvenir shopping in Bernalillo and then went back to Amanda's house. Danny and I starting getting packed up and organized for the drive home the next day. Well, I mostly talked with Amanda while Danny got us ready to go. :) No matter how much I wanted to delay it, morning eventually came and it was time to say goodbye and head home. I was ready to be home again, but I was sad to leave my friend. One day just wasn't enough! I'm so grateful for Amanda's friendship. I've never found another friend like her...we really are the best of friends. I would be so lonely in my little world of raising kids and cleaning house if I didn't have her to text all day long, every day. It's crazy how much has changed, and all that hasn't, in the 18 years that we've been best friends. Also, these babies of ours and their big brown eyes!!  :)

We drove for another 610 miles, making it home in 11 hours. It was probably the longest-feeling drive of the trip. We had definitely had our fill of being in the car! But believe it or not, those clips of the kids' still hadn't moved. In fact, as much as we were all ready to be out of the car we weren't ready to go back to real life. When we got into the Layton area, I told Danny we should just keep going until we got to the cabin. Island Park was only another four hours of driving, and we had everything we needed in the car! I think I almost convinced him. :) 

When we got to Kaysville, I had a little revelation. I was still marveling at how well the trip had gone, specifically the time in the car. And then it struck me. It wasn't our parenting per se, or how awesome our children are. It was a "bishop blessing"! A legitimate miracle...a tender mercy of the Lord for our family. When we left on vacation, our coffers were empty. We needed time as a family, making good memories and enjoying our time together. And if the time in the car had been awful, it would have ruined the whole trip. We sacrifice a lot of time together so that Danny can serve in his calling, and the Spirit bore witness to me that this was one of the ways our family was blessed for that sacrifice. 

When we finally pulled into our driveway, we were greeted by a whole lot of Utah Utes signs on our garage and front door! Danny was so conflicted. He felt the love...and the nausea. ;) It was good to be home and it felt good to have been missed by our neighbors and ward family.

All in all, we spent 15 days on the road driving 4685.6 miles and spending more than 75 hours in the car. We ended up getting 42 out of 50 state license plates, which we were pretty excited about! I think the high point of that game was when I spotted an Alaska plate in the parking lot of a Chick-fil-a in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. That was pretty cool. :) It was also cool to fill out our map in its entirety and see just how much of the country we drove through and around!

 I can't say enough how amazing this trip was. Everyone thought we were crazy. Heck, WE thought we were crazy! But I'd do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, we decided we need to head towards Ohio and Palmyra next summer. This was a trip we will all remember for the rest of our lives, well, except for Joseph. :) I'm so grateful for the means we have in money and time-off to have taken a trip like this. I'm grateful for family and friends that housed us. I'm so grateful for a patient husband who actually wanted to go on a grand adventure with his little kids. And I'm so grateful for my children, who are really quite incredible and so so much fun to be with. There were so many times on this trip, often when Danny was sleeping and I was driving, where I felt a lightness and happiness to my heart that I haven't felt in a very, very long time. We missed Luke, but I know we will share our memories of this trip someday. More on that later. :) 

Best. Epic. Road. Trip. Ever!

Our Epic Road Trip - Florida

Way back when we were college students, Danny interviewed for his job at Edwards Air Force Base. One of the people that conducted that interview was Nathan Cook, or "Captain", as we would come to know him. He was impressed with Danny from the start, and hired him for the F-16 test wing and was Danny's supervisor while he was there. Captain has since moved onto bigger and better things in the testing world, and is now at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Every so often, he contacts Danny with a job offer that he specifically wants Danny for. Obviously, it hasn't been the right time. But the last time that offer came, we got awfully close to seriously considering the possibility of moving our family to Florida! One hang up for me, however, is that I had never even seen Florida...so it's hard for me to envision moving our family there. Well, when we were mapping out our trip we realized we were only six hours away from Eglin...and also the beach. We had to go check out the area, and Danny was dying to show us what a real beach was like. :)

So we did it! We drove our kids to FLORIDA!! Which makes us a special kind of crazy, for sure. :) The drive from Georgia to Florida was definitely our hardest yet. Sophie had a really bad cold, and hadn't been sleeping well. Claire and Johnny had literally played non-stop for 5 days, and it was in the car (after all the crying) that they realized just how tired they were. But everyone settled down within the first hour on the road, and we made the 355 mile drive in 5 1/2 hours. It was pretty late when we got in, and the kids had slept most of the way. Yet everyone went right to sleep once we were settled in the hotel, which was a huge blessing. 

But that wasn't the end of our blessings on this leg of our trip. On our drive from Georgia to Florida, we drove through the craziest rain I have ever seen. Like, slow-to-25-mph-and-put-on-your-flashers crazy! And apparently, this crazy rain system extended through most of the southeast...including Fort Walton Beach, FL. We had one day to spend on the beach, and we woke to a downpour. We fed the kids, and then decided to get ready for the beach and head out despite the rain. We had wanted to check out the area anyway, so we figured we'd drive around until the rain stopped (which was predicted to happened in about an hour or so). Well, we checked out the area...for 2 1/2 hours! And still, it poured buckets! I was starting to get a little worried that we had driven 6 hours out of our way for a beach day that wasn't going to happen! Finally, Danny figured we were going to get wet one way or the other at the beach, so we were just going to do the best we could with what we had and head to the beach. We ended up in Destin, FL...and the traffic that comes with a tourist hotspot. But by the time we parked the clouds had parted and we had sunshine!! 

I have only ever been on the beaches of California...and Danny was always telling me I had no idea what I was missing. Well, now I do and I'm ruined!! The Emerald Coast was just that...the water was green and the sand was soft, white, and smooth. The water was the perfect temperature, and you could walk out into the waves without fear of stepping on rocks or sea weed. It was perfection, and totally worth the drive to Florida and around Florida! :)

We had fun playing in the sand and surf, but the kids especially loved boogie boarding. Danny did some body surfing as well...but that ended poorly when he came face-to-face with a sand bar. Ouch! Claire spent a long time panning for little sea shells, and Joey alternated between playing in the sand and trying to crawl into the ocean. It was the perfect afternoon on the beach!!

After three hours, Joey was getting tired. And I was tired of either saving him from drowning or trying to get him to not eat the ENTIRE beach. Seriously...so much sand! We decided to pack it up, even though we all wished for more time. Just as soon as we got everything packed and off the beach, the winds picked up and clouds rolled in. Perfect timing!

We got back to the hotel and got cleaned up before heading out for dinner. We treated the kids to Panera, and we all had a very good dinner. It was such an amazing day!! Danny and I were a little daunted by what we had facing us though...two days straight of driving to get us to New Mexico and a day of rest from the car. With our beach day in the books, our trip was coming to a close and we were all feeling a little bummed about that. So far, in all our driving, we still hadn't had any fights or freak outs. Surely we were going to pay our dues on the way home!!

Our Epic Road Trip - Georgia

We got up and going on the morning of the 30th...we were on our way to Georgia! We've all been so excited to see Jami and her family, and to finally see their new life in Georgia. As we drove through St. Louis, Danny took a little detour off the beaten path so we could get a good look at the St. Louis Arch. It was pretty cool!

We drove through Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee before getting into Georgia. I can't even begin to describe how captivated I was by the landscape. There were just so many trees and rivers! At one point, somewhere in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, we entered a sort of valley with the mountains on either side of us. I was absolutely stunned to see the whole vista covered in a solid blanket of trees! It was so gorgeous.

After driving 571 miles and being in the car for about 10 hours, we finally made it to the Downs' house in Cumming, GA! It was so wonderful to see everyone again...but most especially our sweet Sister Rose Downs. She had just come home from her mission to Irvine, California a couple of weeks  earlier, and it was so good to hug that girl again! And my amazing family made sure to have a little birthday party ready for our Claire, complete with presents and a birthday cake made by none other than Jannet Downs (Jeff's mom). It just made Claire's whole birthday. We spent the evening touring the house, visiting, and playing with cousins. Definitely worth driving 2000 miles to be there, without a doubt.

The next day was graduation day! We expected the graduation to take a couple of hours, and so it did. There were a LOT of names to read! Of course our favorite was "Natalia Camille Downs..with honors". We also had to give a big cheer for Tali's "friend" JB. :) I cannot believe my Tali, my bestest buddy, graduated high school. I so clearly remember playing with her when she was just a cute, chubby, pig-tail wearing toddler. She's always been such a good friend to me, and a blessing in my life every minute she's been here. I'm so so proud of her, and so so lucky to be her aunt!

After graduation we met up with another family from Jami's ward, the Damiano's, for dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Chuy's. The food was really good...but the experience we had there was even better!! It deserves it's own post entirely, so I won't spoil the surprise here. :) It was a great graduation day, and Tali was so happy we were there for her big day. And so were we!

The one thing we wanted to do while we were in Georgia was hike. So the next morning Jeff and Jami took us out to the Chattahoochee River Trail...which is basically their back yard. Again, I couldn't get over how gorgeous everything was!! And I didn't mind the humidity one bit. In fact, I kind of liked it. The trees...oh my goodness, the trees! Chance showed Johnny the cool vines that grow on the trees. You know, the kind Tom Sawyer would use to swing out over a river bank and into the water with! So cool. The other cool thing was how comfortable Joey was in his new hiking back pack, and how comfortable Danny was wearing him the whole time! Joey would nap when he wanted, and then happily watch the surroundings when he was awake. It was awesome! After a mile and a half or so, the trail opened up to the banks of the Chattahoochee River...which was so beautiful. It was such a huge river, and the water was clear!! There were lots of fly fishermen, and kayakers too. I wished we had the time and equipment to spend time in and on the river. Another trip, for sure. We had the best morning out on that trail, and it felt so good to get some physical exertion in after so many days spent driving.

Our time in Georgia was awesome because aside from the graduation on Wednesday, we had no plans! Nothing we had to do, and no where we had to be! We enjoyed slow mornings, though Joey tended to want to start the day early. But he was kind of the star of the show, so everyone was okay with his early start to the day. :)

We decided we had loved our hike the day before so much, we wanted to check out another trail the next day. Jami took us to "The Greenway", which was...you guessed it...gorgeous!! This might have been my favorite spot. It is miles and miles of boardwalks, surrounded by the tallest most beautiful trees. Some are more than a hundred years old! The kids even found turtle in one of the little ponds on the side of the boardwalk, and my kids thought that was about the coolest thing ever. We all enjoyed walking and talking, and I found that I spent a lot of time talking to Rose, Tali, and Ace. I have loved these kids for as long as I can remember...they were, in so many ways, like my first kids. I have loved them fiercely since the days they were born, and they've alway been my friends. But it struck me how much I enjoyed them as people, not just my nieces and nephew. I decided I needed a selfie of me and my used-to-be-littles, but we couldn't get a decent picture. Danny got frustrated and said he'd just take it for us, but I was adamant I wanted a selfie. It has a different look to it, you know? So he said, "Great, have Ace stick his arm out and it'll look like a selfie." And you know what? It worked! Best fake-selfie ever!! When will I learn to just listen to Danny? :) My sweet husband was all about assisting everyone with their crazy schemes that day, as he also lent his strength in boosting Rose up for their epic piggy-back pic. :) And Johnny was in his element with all the critters about! He found a dragonfly, and he also picked up a caterpillar that the boys had found but everyone else was too skittish to pick up. Johnny plucked him right up, and when I told him to put him back he said, "But Mom, he likes me! I think it thinks I'm his father!" That had us all laughing...

It has been unusual, and possibly has never happened before, that we have so much time to just be at the Downs' house. We are good about getting together, but it's usually for the major events...and it's always a marathon trip. I loved watching everyone just be together. In the girls' case, I'm pretty sure Lily had to beat them off with a stick so she could go to the bathroom in peace! :) They had so much fun together though. The boys played and then fought and then played again, so they did just like boys do! I even got to do some cooking with Tali, which we both very much enjoyed. 

On Saturday, our last full day in Georgia, we decided we needed to get back out hiking. This time they took us to Haw Creek Park. The trail was so cool, and different from the other two we'd done. And this one ended at a little playground, which was nice for the kids. And by kids, I mean Danny and Ace, too. :) Somehow we ended up taking slow-mo videos of everyone jumping off and onto the equipment. It was a blast! Also, I have to add here (since this is when I finally took pictures of them) that Ace and Joey were insta-buddies on this trip. Joey absolutely loved Ace! He would pretty much only let Ace hold him, and he especially loved pretending he couldn't hear Ace when he would call out to him. It was hilarious to watch! What's crazy is I remember playing with Ace when he was Joey's age. Where did the time go?

After the park, Jeff treated the adults to a nice BBQ dinner...and that included Rose and Tali! We all ate WAY too much, and enjoyed shouting conversation to each other over the rather loud (but good) live music. We had a great time, and it was the perfect way to spend our last evening in Georgia.

The next morning, we went to church with the Downs and had a wonderful experience during Sacrament Meeting listening to some very powerful testimonies (again, I'll cover that in another post). Then we had an impromptu dinner with the Damiano's after church, and Tali and I were so grateful we had made SO MANY meatballs and doubled the sauce the day before! It was such a wonderful afternoon that we had a very hard time pulling ourselves away. We had a six hour drive ahead of us that evening to get us to Florida, but we just didn't want to leave. It had been the best visit, and with the Fam being in Georgia, these visits aren't as frequent as we would like. Luckily for all of us, the Downs will be heading to Utah in July. If we didn't know we'd be seeing them so soon, I don't think we would have been able to leave!

I know I've written a lot about my relationship with Jami and her family. So many of my happiest memories growing up are with Jeff, Jami, and their kids. And I am who I am today in no small part because of the time I spent living with their family. Most of those memories took place in their home in Parker, Colorado...so I wondered how I would feel in this new home. And you know what? I felt every bit as much like I was coming home there as I did when we would go to Parker. I didn't realize how much that meant to me until it was time to leave. I cried for the first 15 minutes of our drive away. My heart was happy and sad at the same time, my heart simultaneously full and broken. I am so grateful for my family! I'm grateful for all the time and work that we've all put into our relationships, so that we can enjoy the heavenly benefits of those relationships. I was overwhelmed with how much I enjoyed my time with my grown up littles, and it hurt to leave them behind...just like it always has. My heart broke for my kids, as they cried and cried leaving their favorite cousins behind. And my heart swelled with gratitude that these nieces and nephews that I have loved so much have in turn taken my sweet children into their hearts and loved them as much I as do them. I learned so much about heaven and family on this trip. We were only half way through our epic road trip, and it's already the trip of my lifetime.