Feb. 2020- Week 3- Moab Trip, Moving!, Bethany Pirate Day, Anna Dance Dress Rehearsal and Team Pictures

Saturday after breakfast Dan and Ben went to help Dan's parents take some loads of boxes to their storage unit.  Then they moved more of our stuff.  Jonathan came to help too.  I did laundry and dishes and went WalMart, DI, JoAnna's, and then got Keva and Great Harvest bread for lunch (funny faces from Alice and a bitmoji from Ben).  The girls also packed the fairy garden.  For dinner, we had our fancy Valentine's Day meal (pasta salad, PDQ, and chocolate covered strawberries).  We went around the table and said what we loved about each other.  Lyla Lefler came over to help McKenna babysit while Dan and I went to the adult session of Stake Conference.  Afterwards, we went for ice cream with the Pugsleys and Moultons. 

Sunday we had a productive morning with baths and working on clearing the kitchen counter and going through kids' school papers.  Dan went to leadership meetings for Stake Conference.  After lunch, McKenna had to be there early to sing in the YW choir.  Our session was from 2-4pm.  Jordan and Lindsey Jensen spoke and did an amazing job!  After dinner, my parents stopped by to say hi and Dan packed some of our food for our trip while I finished going through school papers.  

Monday we packed up and left by 10am to head to MOAB for a couple days.  This week was our kids' February break from school (we went to Disneyland last year).  We ate lunch in the car in Price.  I was able to finish listening to my book and finish listening to the Joseph Smith Podcast and catch up on Marco Polos.  The kids watched "The Croods" and "Charlotte's Web."  Our first stop was at Dead Horse Point.  It was awesome because there were only about 5 other people there!  

We checked into our hotel around 5pm then went to eat at a Mexican food place.  We also went swimming, but really just stayed in the hot tub because it was too cold outside.  Dan rubbed my shoulders cause I had a big head ache.  We watched some YouTube videos and put kids to bed as Dan and I planned the next day.

Tuesday we left by 10 to head to Arches National Park!  Our first stop was the visitor's center.  Then we headed to Balanced Rock and Double Arch.  I feel like we were pretty dressed just right for the weather and I'm so thankful it was sunny.  I kept telling the kids people come to this place from all over the world, so why don't we ask people where they're from?  We were going to play the "Where are you from?" game.  At first, McKenna and Ben seemed so embarrassed I would talk to strangers.  Then, they thought it was pretty cool to find out where they were from.  Our first people were from Colorado.  The next couple we asked were from Switzerland!!

The kids loved their voices echoing at Double Arch.  

After lunch in the car, we started our hike to Delicate Arch!  Along the way, we met people from NY, CA, MI, NJ, France, Poland, London, and Brasil!! It got warm enough I didn't need my coat the whole time.

It was amazing seeing Delicate Arch in person!  Amazingly, there were hardly any crowds at all!  Dan took the three big kids under the arch, while I stayed back with the two littles.  It was fun to take pictures of each other from a distance.  Bethany and Alice spent time making a "soup" in a while in a rock.

Alice finally napped on the way down and we stopped at the Petroglyphs.

We ate some snacks, then headed to the Sand Dune Arch.

I felt like I was surrounded my giant dinosaurs or something with how big those rocks were.  We headed back to the hotel and got the kids Wendy's for dinner.  Then McKenna babysat and Dan and I walked across the street to a Thai food restaurant and went on a date. :)  We went swimming again after dinner.

Wednesday Dan was up super early with Bishop stuff on his brain.  Poor guy can't take a vacation.  We packed up and had McDonald's for breakfast then we played on a bridge that crosses the Colorado River.  We threw rocks and enjoyed the view.

Next, we stopped by the visitor's center again, this time to buy souvenirs.  Then we headed to Canyonlands!  We hiked to the Mesa arch and met a 95 year old woman with her daughter!

We ate lunch in the car then headed home.  The kids watched "Secret Life of Pets 2" and we headed back home to Bountiful.  I drove to Spanish Fork and mostly listened to music.  The kids watched "Turbo."  When we got home we did laundry and had left overs for dinner and McKenna went to YW activity where they made blankets.  I had a bad head ache and Dan worked on packing.  That was our last night sleeping in our house. :(

Thursday was our last time eating breakfast at the house.  

Since we were still on break from school, McKenna and Lyla Lefler went to the temple.  Sarah Moulton was driving by and saw us loading a trailer so she took the three little girls so I could be more productive without them.  Bethany still had dance, so I took her and then got a car wash and vacuum.  Bethany also had "dress like a pirate day" at preschool and I took a picture of some of her art work.  

Later that afternoon Dan actually had to go into work for a bit and I tried to get the kids to do some homework but it was kind of rough.  Anna was also whiney about going to a dance event that evening but the pictures show she had a great time!  They rehearsed in costume and took team pictures!  

 

We ate pizza at the new house and then got beds set up and put kids to bed!  Then Dan and I headed back to the old house to do more packing.  By the time we got to bed that night, we were both exhausted but had a hard time sleeping in our new environment.  

Friday, Dan went to the temple and the back doctor.  I ate with kids, then showered and we went to the old house.  Anna played at Emi's ALL day and McKenna babysat.  I came back to feed kids lunch and Ben went to play at Caleb's house.  That afternoon we had help from the Paulson boys and things went very quickly.  Ben also had a Primary Activity.  I worked on organizing the basement toys (and Ben built an awesome "city") at the new house and Dan had help unloading and moving the piano and big heavy armoire.  Jonathan hung on for dear life on top of everything in the trailer as we took one load up the hill.  We ate tacos for dinner.  After kids were in bed, Dan and I went to the old house to make a final push to move everything from the house out to the garage.  Once again, we had a hard time falling asleep.