Trip to Texas: Part 1

Wow, what a whirlwind past 10 days!! Aaron and I had been planning a trip to Texas for a few weeks just to get away from the stress of having the house on the market, etc. It was all set and then a few days before we were going to leave we got news that our house was under contract and that we had to be moved out by August 25th. So instead of staying and start packing we still went to Texas anyway. The week before we left we went out looking at pre existing houses to see if there was anything out there we liked. There wasn't a house we absolutely loved for a good price so we decided to build. We met with 5 different home builders to see what they had to offer. We then pitted them against each other to see how low we could get the price. Wahoo for us it worked. However, it will take at least 4 months to build so we have to find a place to live in the meantime--also meaning we have to make two moves. Not fun at all!! Anyway, we still decided to go to Texas anyway. We picked the kids up from their last day of Kids in the Park at 2:30pm and headed out. We had been haggling back and forth with the builder on prices. While we were on the road we got word that the builder finally agreed to our price, but in order to secure everything we had to sign the formal offer. We pulled off the road in the middle of Wyoming and found a Staples store that had a fax machine. It took about an hour to get everything done, but it is finally done. One hurdle down only a few big ones left to tackle--like finding a place to live in the meantime. Anyway, that night we only made it to Laramie, Wyoming until I just couldn't drive anymore because I was so tired. We called ahead to a hotel and they had a two queen bed room available. I also had brought along two sleeping bags and kids cots as well as a pack and play for Noah. We checked in and pack everyone into the room. It was about midnight and trying to get the kids all settled in that close of quarters was not easy. I, luckily, had brought ear plugs so I could tune out some of the fighting and snoring. Everyone finally all settled down in to sleep about 1 am. 4 am I was jarred awake when Aaron lept out of bed. I sat up to see what the emergency was. Aaron had thought he had heard Josh having a seizure, but it only turned out Josh being a noisy sleeper. However, after having such an adrenaline rush neither Aaron or I could fall back asleep. We gave up after about 30 minutes and decided to get back on the road again. That was the shortest hotel stay ever--4 1/2 hours!! I think I can safely say our family is too big for a regular hotel room anymore. Luckily, everyone was able to fall asleep in the car except me of course. One good thing is I got to see the pretty sunrise:

On the road trip we ran into all kinds of people. It also became readily apparent that living in Utah we definitely DON'T live in a culturally diverse area. We live in a sea of salt with a few specks of pepper if you get my drift. Anyway, while on the road trip we made numerous bathroom breaks. At one gas station I was coming out of the bathroom with Matthew and Daniel when the clerk, who happened to be an Indian from India with a thick accent, commented about how beautiful my kids were. He then let them have a free otter pop which my kids loved. Aaron followed with Josh and clerk said the same thing to him. Josh just heard popsicle and started reaching into the freezer to grab one. However, he tried grabbing some ice cream instead. The clerk told him to get the popsicle and not the ice cream. Josh replied, "Oh I am sorry. I don't speak Spanish." Aaron about turned fifty shades of red. He grabbed Josh and his popsicle and left ASAP.

While down in Texas we went and toured the Mint in Forth Worth where they print paper money. As much as we could hear above the five screaming kids it was interesting. No cameras or cell phones were allowed inside the mint so I don't have any pics to post. We parked and were taken by bus inside the building. As soon as we got inside the building Noah started fussing. Aaron put him up on his shoulders. Noah still hasn't quite lost his reflux issues and he ended up puking nasty milk curds from his previous bottle down Aaron's back. Wow, I could hardly stand next to him during the tour because he smelled like sour milk. Here's the pic I took after we got done with the tour:Anyway, during the tour we watched a movie and then went on a tour. Our tour group was quite large with quite a few different ethnicities. There was a small group of Indian people from India. They were talking Hindi to each other about the tour. At this point Josh elbowed Daniel and said, "Hey Daniel, they are speaking Spanish!" Josh then turned to the Indians and started speaking gibberish thinking he was speaking Spanish to them. Awesome. Aaron grabbed them and we went to the other end of the tour group to try and get away from the embarrassment. Thanks, Josh!

All the grandkids have gotten their pictures taken with Grandpa M's navy hats except ours. We finally got that picture taken this trip. It is nearly impossible to get five kids to smile, leave their hats on and look at the camera at the same time. Here is the best picture we got: I also have to admit it was hotter than all get out while we were there. The temperature was about 110 degrees every day with lots of humidity to boot. It was extremely hot!! This is all I have time to post for now. Stay tuned for some more interesting/embarrassing stories for next post!