Pocatello and Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

Ever since we moved to Utah & browsed through the information from the welcome center, the kids (& I) have been begging to go to Lava Hot Springs. For some reason, it just wasn't as high on Steve's priority list, so there *may* have been some nagging. I suggested that we go for a weekend away for Shanan & Alyssa's birthdays, & Steve consented. :)

There was a lot of steam since the outside temp was +17 degrees

We spent the most time in the pool that was the least hot, although plenty warm

We truly had a great time! We stayed at the Red Lion Inn in Pocatello, which was a great hotel with an awesome indoor pool.  We spent one day playing in the hot springs. They were very hot, so although I was hesitant about the temperature being in the teens, it was perfect! The littles did a great job getting in & out to regulate their temperature.  They scooped up the snow on the sides & put it on their heads (& everyone else's, too) to cool them down. Then they'd get back in to warm up! This is a great place to check out if you're in the area. However, I think I'd only go if it were winter.

The snow felt great on the tops of our heads

The water is fed from a natural hot spring with nothing added

I wouldn't consider going here any other time except the winter, it would just be too hot

Katie really enjoyed the hot springs

Great times were had by all at Lava Hot Springs

We also decided to check out the Museum of Clean in Pocatello, as Steve's research showed it got great reviews.  We had a great time here, too.  Don Aslett, the owner, gave us the tour himself.  He also gave our girls some books on cleaning & gave Katie a Baby Banana toothbrush/teether that she loves!  The kids loved all the play areas, so it was a great time by all.  Don was so nice that we stopped by his cleaning store afterwards & got some cleaning supplies!

The museum founder gave us a personal tour

Mr Aslett showing Alyssa how people used to carry water for laundry

And now do you like my hat

We loved all the hands on exhibits

We all had fun with the cleaning themed costumes

A great time was had by all, we highly recommend the Museum of Clean in Pocatello, Idaho

California Road Trip

Steve's fear of winter was the impetus for a roadtrip to California to enjoy sunny skies and time with good friends, the Delotes!  Steve decided we'd hang out at the Delotes between Christmas and Jake's birthday, and he'd telecommute.  Mike & Karen acquiesced to Steve's plan. ;)  They're pretty easy going, as they welcomed us with open arms, despite the fact that we come with five children in tow! 

Karen and Katie had a special connection

Jake was pretty enamored with Matt, and Matt got a taste of what it would be like if he had a little brother. ;) Katie shared some of her first laughter with Karen---sooo sweet to see! (I think they grew rather fond of each other, too!)  Between hanging out with Mike, Karen, & Matt, we played outside, went to the park, and enjoyed a little beach time.  There's just something about the beach that soothes my soul!  

Santa Monica Beach on January 1, 2014

Katie's first time to see the ocean

We enjoyed the beach all afternoon.  The temps were in the 60's and pleasant.

Under Santa Monica pier

This girl is growing up quick

This girl loves to strike a pose

Under the pier at low tide is very interesting, lots of starfish clinging to the pilings

Hard to get the Jakeman to look at the camera

Beach Beauty

We also managed to hook up with Jeb & Barb Egbert at their place in Huntington Beach. It was great to see them and catch up. Jeb was in fine form and made our girls laugh at his goofiness.

Since we would be driving back home on Jake's 3rd birthday, we celebrated the day before. We took him out for lunch, including a birthday milkshake (which later would cause him to proclaim his birthday to be a "drinking birthday"), a trip to Target to replace his truck that he lost at the beach, & a trip to the playground.  Meanwhile Mike took Matt, Shanan & Alyssa to LegoLand! Wow, I think everyone had a great time!  Sometimes I can't believe how blessed we are to have such great friends that love on & invest in our kids as if they were their own. Thanks a million for welcoming us & treating us like family, Mike, Karen, & Matt!  Miss you guys!

On the way to San Diego to visit Legoland with Uncle Mike

Fun times at Legoland

Thanksgiving with the Gordon's

We were delighted to have some of our best friends come visit over Thanksgiving!  Besides the usual Thanksgiving festivities, there was a whole lot of playing & bonding going on between our kids!  To say that Jake is extremely fond of Jereme is a gross understatement!  And, Jereme played the big brother role very well!

Our girls requested a Chopped competition while the Gordons were visiting, modeled after the Food Network show called Chopped.  Jereme & Shanan teamed up against Zaynah & Alyssa.  Ali did the shopping & came home with the "basket items": salmon, jicama, citrus, ginger, & cashews.  It did get pretty heated in the kitchen, but the good news is that no one got hurt, the food was not overcooked or undercooked, & they figured out how to work together!!  Fantastic, really!  And...there was some really, truly tasty food at the end of it all. :)  Seriously, it was great to see their creativity at work!  

Jereme and Shanan working hard in the kitchen

The final lineup for the Chopped competition, we had one last commercial before we announced the results

Team Jereme/Shanan on the left, Team Zaynah/Alyssa on the right, judges were mixed and awarded a tie.

Greg, Jereme, & Zaynah also went skiing with Steve, Shanan & Alyssa.  Shanan enjoyed skiing with friends much more than just with Steve & Alyssa.  Everything is better with friends, right?? :)

Great day for skiing, it wasn't even that cold

Alyssa posing on the slope

All in all, it was a great visit.  It was truly a treat to have the chance to spend Thanksgiving with friends!  We miss you, Gordons! :) 

Thanksgiving Dinner with pecan pie for dessert that Alyssa made

We had a lot of fun playing the 'Let's Dance' games on the Wii

Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Jon come to Utah for a visit

We were honored to have Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Jon fly out from Pennsylvania for a visit.

Jake had fun jumping all over Grandpa

During their six day visit, we spent most of our time just hanging out.  There was lots of game playing--everything from Apples To Apples to Liar, Liar.  Uncle Jon played lots of Barbie's with Genna.  The kids can always count on Uncle Jon to play whatever they want him to play.  The kids also had loads of fun taking distorted photos of everyone using our borrowed iPad.  It took a lot of willpower to resist posting some of the crazy pictures here.

iPad fun

We did go twice to the park to let the kids burn off some energy, and give Grandpa a reason to get some walking in.  The girls gave Grandma a makeover, which she tolerated.  Grandma got plenty of time to hold Katie, which is the real reason she came :)

Getting a makeover

Star of the show

Enjoying some October sun

Hubacher Visit

While traveling full-time, we met this incredible family in Louisa, Virginia at a Civil War Battle Reenactment of the battle for Trevilian Station.  The Hubachers' oldest two girls are the same ages as our two oldest, and they really hit it off & became fast friends in just a couple days before we took off again.  And, Philip fell head-over-heels in love with Genna in the same amount of time. ;)  Over the last year, they have stayed in touch via letters primarily, as well as email.  Thanks to their friendship, the Hubachers decided to take a cross country trip to come see us & meet Katie.  Wow---that's one long trip to make by car with five kids!

Katie was just shy of one month old when they visited.  To say it was a little crazy & chaotic with 10 kids & 4 adults in the house goes without saying, right? :)  Shannon was great about helping out in the kitchen, cutting up fresh peaches every morning (our neighbors' peach tree lost a huge limb & we scored a LOT of peaches as a result!)--YUM!--and making lunch every day they were here, not to mention taking out the trash 57 times a day or so (we still only use a small trash can from our rv days). ;)  Dwight also mowed the lawn for Steve!  There was a LOT of play going on--playing the Wii, playing at the park, playing in the mud, playing games, playing American Girl dolls, playing 3-legged races in the back yard, & hula hoop making!! There was also some serious competition over Genna's affections between Philip & his little brother Levi!   Whew, it was action-packed!.

A rock, we must climb it

Besides lots of play, Steve also took them up the mountain to hike to Cecret Lake.  I admittedly stayed home with my three littles & enjoyed some peace & quiet.  We also took them to In-N-Out, & then Shannon & Dwight treated for roller skating.  Again, I stayed back this time with Katie & Jake for some more peace & quiet. :)  With baby number five, I no longer feel like it's a race to get back into everything I was doing before; I give myself more grace to adjust & figure it all out.  I've found that's super important for my sanity in the early days where sleep is scant & the other littles are more dramatic thanks to their position in the family getting bumped by the latest addition.  

Cecret Lake

We even got together with the Hubachers' friends that had moved to SLC several years ago, the Grinsell's. They were kind enough to invite both of our large families over for dinner & s'mores!  And we were able to commiserate on some of the challenges of living in this area.

We are so glad you guys came to visit, Hubacher family!  As one of the challenges of living here has been the difficulty of making friends, it was so heartwarming to hear Alyssa say, "I had forgotten how much I enjoy spending time with kids my own age!  It was so much fun!"

3 legged race in the backyard

We went skating on the second last night

Genna made great strides, she was determined

Jake holding a real doll baby

Time to say goodbye

They are going to miss each other

Fishing with Friends

(By Steve)  One of the first things we did when we moved to Sandy was to join a church.   We have been going to the Rock Church and have really enjoyed the solid Biblical teaching and the friendships we made.   We joined a small group the first week we started attending because my first day there just happened to be when they had tables setup to entice people to join a group.   In the group we joined we met our friends John and Lori Duddleston and their daughters Sam and Carly.   Jake took a big liking to Uncle John and did his best to make him wish he tried for that boy :)

Jake is very fond of his Uncle John

We were honored to be invited by them to come up to Washington Lake on their annual labor day camping trip.   John has a large 5th wheel like ours, but we were only going to tent camp this time.  Since Linda had just had Katie, there was no way that she could go, so I bravely decided to go with the other four kids.

We passed this waterfall right before the campground

Washington Lake is in the Uintah mountains which is about 90 minutes East of Salt Lake.   It is way up at about 10,000 feet in elevation.   It is on highway 150 which leads to the highest point in Utah and the Flaming Gorge area of Wyoming.   

We had planned on going there Friday night and then stay all day on Saturday, and then leave Sunday morning.   Those plans changed when John called and told me that they had been having a cold rain that looks like it will continue for a long while.   We decided to be smart and just go up on Saturday for the day.    The trip up there is gorgeous.   It is always so nice when I can get out of the Salt Lake valley, for some reason when I do, I feel like I can breathe again.

Alyssa caught the second most fish

When we got there, the weather actually started to clear up a bit which was nice.   Everyone was telling us how much it had rained over night.   The first thing I did was to take all the kids fishing.   Of course I knew that Genna and Jake would grow tired of fishing very quickly.   After about 30 minutes Jake could not stop crying, so I left the big girls and took the two little ones back to the RV.   They spent the rest of the time being spoiled by Sam, Carly and their friends.

By the time I got back to get the girls they had a sting of trout that they had caught.   I was surprised and impressed.    All together I think that Shanan caught seven fish, and Alyssa caught five fish, and me, well I caught only one fish.  It wasn't for lack of trying though.    While we were fishing, within 5 minutes the winds picked up and the temperature dropped 20 degrees and chased us back to the RV.   We struggled to clean the fish in the cold and then retreated back to the RV.  

Shanan had to clean all the fish, since she caught the most

For dinner John, Lori, and Jim cooked up an amazing dinner.   John cooked the trout and they were amazing.   Lori made delicious fish tacos and Jim made the most incredible shrimp I ever tasted.   He kept saying that they didn't turn out well, but I couldn't imagine them tasting any better.   

The rain came down on and off, but the campfire carried on.

We all had a wonderful time, and are very thankful for our friendship with the Duddlestons and that they invited us to spend the day with them.

Hanging out inside during the rain