Durango-an unplanned vacation

I have had a couple of National Lampoon type vacations in my life. Someday I will document the worst one. I need to record it for posterity, so they can laugh about it. We didn't laugh at the time, but have a lot in all the years since. We realize it was the craziness of it all that made it memorable.

But our most recent vacation wasn't supposed to be one of these crazy types. It had been a quickly planned and anxiously awaited trip. Curtis's parents had called us in the first part of May and told us that they would like to let us have their Honda Accord as they were purchasing a newer, taller car. They wanted to know how they could get it to us and Curtis and I jumped at the chance to fly to Georgia for a visit and then take a cross-country drive home, just the two of us. It was going to be like an unforeseen 2nd Honeymoon. At least that's what we thought....

We were scheduled to fly out of Durango on June 2, the morning after we got back from Provo. I had arranged for my mom to drive us to Durango and drop us off since we wouldn't be flying back to pick up a vehicle. That part went smoothly. Then we got in the line to check in and get our boarding passes. The lines weren't moving very quickly, but we thought we were fine. All of a sudden, a guy behind the counter said, "Counter's closed. If you're in line to fly on Flight---, you're late. If you do not have your boarding passes by 45 minutes before flight time, you will not be allowed to fly." 

There was quite an uproar. We stood there stunned. We had been in line on time, but now we were not going to make our flight. Curtis was very calm, when I wanted to be very angry. I thought it was unfair of them to not tell people of these rules when they book a flight. We don't fly often and had no idea that this was the rule. But you know what they say about ignorance of the law.....it didn't matter, we were not getting on that flight. 

Then the bombshell, their next flight out was on Wed. What? What were we supposed to do? We had no car, no way to go home, no way to get to town. nothing. It was a very strange feeling. We spent several hours in the airport trying to decide what the best thing to do was. Should we call my mom? No, she was already on her way to Bluff...Should we call Cambria and have her come get us and then we'd try again on Wed? No. We'd already gotten things all set up of them and they were off and running. I didn't really want to stop and have to start that all over again...Should we try to fly on another airline? No. They wanted about $1000-1200 for last minute tickets...that was not in our budget. 

We ended up rescheduling for the Wed. flight (another $100) and renting a car (more $) and getting a hotel for 2 nights in Durango. Our plan had been to take 4 days driving home, but we decided to split up those days and use 2 of them before we ever flew to GA. We would just have to reroute our trip home and do it faster than planned. It would be fine, just not according to plan. Which is very typical of our lives!

Curtis at the ticket counters trying to get things figured out. The guys were more than happy to help because
Curtis was so nice and was not exhibiting anger at the situation. 

How I spent several hours. With my feet on my suitcase, watching stuff on Netflix or wasting time on FB...

watching river-rafters come down the Animas River. There were  a lot of them...
it sure was running high.

They're all lining up to hit the rapids. Woohoo!

This was a nice, restful quiet spot to spend an afternoon. The river was high and moving fast.
Love that man!!

I hate selfies, but I need to document that I was actually there too!

Lunch at the Animas Cafe, a patio restaurant on the bank of the Animas, at the DoubleTree Hotel.

The food was lovely AND yummy!!

Our dessert, Fried Cheesecake. It was fantastic...MMMmmmm!

Curtis found this shirt at Walmart. It was made for him!!
D.A.D.D.--Dads against daughters dating...

Although this was not a planned part of our trip, I'm actually glad we got this time to spend together, exploring a town we've never really been to. 

Good Things:

discovered a terrific eating place

watched a good movie (Belle)

had a nice, relaxing time with no schedule

 

Highlights of May 2014

Just a few highlights from the month of May:

Surf and Slurp opens- first shaved ice of the year!!

Charles the Insect man...6 pairs of eyes.

Soren gets awards at Pack Meeting. Good Job!!

James has a bout with stomach flu. Poor little guy.

Ford and Shiala bring Kami down for her first visit to Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Why Yes! That is snow. In May! we asked for it.

Curtis gets to play grandpa again when he goes to the BYU Invitational. I am jealous!

Love this one! She looks pretty comfy there!

Montana has had a pretty good time in Idaho. He has gone to lots of fun places with his roommates.
He also had some heartbreak and it was very hard on him. Life lessons. They always hurt a bit.

Cambria, the shoulder angel?
You should have seen the process to get her up there. Oh, my!

The boys helped me plant some seeds in the garden. These are peas.
They were excited thinking about eating them when they grow.

Our little apple tree has lots of blossoms on it. We hope it will provide lots of apples in years to come.

Blessing weekend

We went to Orem for Kami's blessing on June 1. These are just a few random photos of the fun that we had while we were there. We stayed at the Baymont Inn in Provo. (the old Cottontree Inn) We had a wrestling match, some swimming, dinner at The Olive Garden, Church at 9 and brunch in the park after Sacrament Meeting. It was short but very sweet and we were so thankful to have our whole family together one more time this year. (it's sort of unusual!)

brothers wrestling match in the hotel room

poor Jordan, he's outnumbered

Ford is a really good, hands-on dad.

the wait at The Olive Garden was long....

Shiala and Lindsey, our daughters-in-law. How happy we are to have them!

it was nice to see so many of Ford's friends come to support them...
(Derek's friend, Derek, Montana, Ford. Jordan walking in the background)

It was a really nice day for the park. Had to collect the little guys so we could head home
Charles, Cambria carrying James

Kami's Blessing Day

We made a quick trip north to be a part of Kami's name and blessing on June 1, 2014. They had asked Curtis to give her her name and a blessing. It was very sweet to listen to the blessing he gave his granddaughter. She cried a bit, but is such a sweet little girl.
There were a lot of people there to support Ford and Shiala. All of Shiala's family, except her brother, who was out of town I believe, some of Ford's friends, the Lefebvre family and Great-grandma Barton and Stacy and Zoe Black.
After Church we all went to a nice park near Shiala's high school to have some refreshments (donuts and milk and juice) and to have a place to sit and visit. It was nice to get to know the people in Shiala's family a little better.
Here's a funny: Curtis had gone over to talk to Shiala's mom and while they were talking Shiala's little 5 year old niece came up and put her hand in Curtis's pocket. She thought he was her dad. Boy was she embarrassed when she realized what she had done. She wanted to go home immediately. It was pretty funny. I felt sorry for her. I hate when I have done a dumb thing in front of so many people!

Kami, Ford and Shiala. What a cute family!

Kami, Grandpa Curtis and Ford

Grandma Kas and Kami
I am toying with the idea of being called 'bestemor'(best mother) which is grandmother in Swedish and Norwegion?
Then I can be my grandkids 'bestie'!!

Good Things:

FAMILY!!!

The smell of a sweet baby!

A beautiful Sabbath Day.

Down it goes...

I posted previously about our town getting a new elementary school.  Well, the day has come for the old one to make way for the new one.
Last week, the last few days of school, they let school out early to allow staff to move stuff to the new school and they started knocking down the old building the day after Memorial Day. We had to drive by and see the progress a few times and watch the big trackhoes do the demolition.
We are very excited that in August our #7 and #8 kids will be some of the very first students to grace the halls of the new Monticello Elementary School.  How fortunate they are to be able to go to school in a brand new building.

knocking down Soren's old 2nd grade class room

everything is down, leaving the new school and the newish gymnasium.

Watching the big tractor pick up stuff with its claw.

looking straight at the new school from the road leading west to it. There will now be a nice parking lot in front for all the parents to park in at all the events held there. HOORAH!

Good Things:

Small town education where teachers know you outside school and you know them. Chances are you're in the same ward

Surf and Slurp is open

sleeping in

Memorial Day Weekend

Ford and Shiala and Kami came down to spend Memorial Day with us. It was fun having them here.

I love Memorial Day. It's one of my most favorite holidays. I love history, family history and connections between part and present generations. We always went to Bluff and Blanding and Monticello cemeteries when I was a kid to clean graves and pay our respects to our ancestors. I loved it. I love continuing this tradition with my own kids. I hope they will continue on in honoring their ancestors :)

Curtis and Kami

sweet little face

resting at Grandma's in Bluff

Nap time...Auntie Cambria and Kami

Redneck ride-kids loved it
Thanks, Joe.

They don't love her at all!

GOOD THINGS:

A bit of a breeze to keep the gnats off in Bluff

Salon time-pedicure for Shiala, haircut for James...

Time to snuggle and play with Miss Kami!

Track-2014

Cambria's favorite sports season is track and field season. She typically runs the 400m and the 400m leg in the medley and the 4x400m races. This year she also ran the 800m a few times and discovered she also likes that race as well.

I have known since she was a little girl that she was a runner. I would watch that little 5 year old girl run up and down the street we lived on in Provo and she just made it look easy. She had hardly any up and down motion, all her energy propelled her forward smoothly. 

It has been so fun to watch her over the last 5 years as she has run XC and now track, to see her push herself and give it her best. 

It hasn't been easy for her, as she only makes it to half of the practices due to her job. But she loves track so she does her best to improve and contribute to her team. 

This year there were meets in many places, including the BYU invitational, San Juan, Moab, Salina and our own home meet. 

I got the opportunity to go with Curtis and Nina to State Track at BYU and I realized I really missed out on some fun by not participating in track as a student. I'm thankful I got to go and watch her do her thing! Sure love my beautiful daughter and I'm very pleased with her efforts to develop her talents.

waiting for her event to start

In the starting blocks

Off like a shot

coming around corner #3 being cheered on by teammates

Heading into the last straightaway

I helped Curtis measure javelin throws at our home meet. It was SOOOOOOO cold that day.
Gotta love spring on the Colorado Plateau!