Utah Trip

Picking up where I left off on my last post, the kids and I began our trip to Utah starting at about 7:45 pm on Thursday. Aaron couldn't spare the vacation time so he wasn't able to join us. The trip down was blessedly uneventful and we arrived at Keith and Rachelle's house in Salt Lake sometime around 1 am.

Bryce and Dena were there (which surprised the kids), then after a couple of hours of talking and goofing and trying to get Finnley to stop talking and goofing, we all went to sleep for a few hours.

In the morning we got up and got ourselves ready to head to Mom and Dad's. The kids and I got a little bit of a head start, which would give us plenty of time to get down there with some time to spare for showering and changing and getting to Jennifer's graduation ceremony that evening. OR SO I THOUGHT.

We hadn't been on the road even an hour when we hit a major traffic jam. What should've taken us about 20 minutes took more like an hour, which supremely stressed me out.

I thought it'd be easy going after that, but then this mysterious warning light showed up on my dash board. I called Aaron who thought it was just the tire pressure light (which is really sensitive in the Mazda), but he suggested I pull off at the next exit and take a look at the tires just in case. So I did, and as I turned the wheel to exit I noticed that it was really stiff. Turns out my power steering had gone out. The owner's manual said to turn off the car, then back on, and if the light didn't come back on then the steering would be functioning again. If the light did come back on, then to have the car taken to a dealership immediately. I did as it said, held my breath, said a silent prayer (or ten) and no light. My steering was back and we hit the road again.

After the traffic and this unexpected stop, I knew any chance of showering before the graduation was out the window.

Things went well for the rest of the trip until we were about an hour away from Mom and Dad's. Finnley had started to have a minor panic attack and Pyper told me she wasn't feeling well. I handed her an empty chip container and told her to use it if she needed to throw up. We finally pulled into the State Park where Mom and Dad live when I decided to stop for a second to give Finnley his water cup. Just as I got out of the car and was opening the back door, Pyper erupted and vomited down the side door of the front seat, chip container still in hand.

I fairly freaked out, mainly because she had the dang container right there but still didn't use it. Instead she just turned her head and covered the side of the seat, the carpet, the door, her backpack and her pants with barf.

I spent about ten minutes or so trying my best to clean things up enough so that we could keep going, then once we were on our way again I just cried. I'd tried so hard to get there on time for Jennifer's graduation, but I just didn't see how we could possibly make it. I'd almost resolved to just get to the house and throw everyone in bed, but then I knew I'd feel like a total loser if I didn't at least try to get to the graduation.

And even though I was unshowered, greasy, malodorous and worn out, I'm so glad we tried because we made it with just a few minutes to spare. All three of my brothers and their wives had come, my grandparents and some cousins were there, but the image below is what made it worthwhile.

The school is fairly small, so the actual graduation ceremony didn't take very long. This made it possible for them to have some performances intermixed with speeches, including this bagpipe and drum group that was really fun to see and hear.

Jennifer has been a member of a choral group called X-Press for a couple of years and the Seniors of that group performed a couple of songs at graduation as well.

After graduation we all went to a local restaurant for some food and family time. Pyper got sick in the car right before going in, but luckily this time she used what I'd given her to catch it.

On Saturday a bunch of us decided to go on a hide through the Buckskin Gulch Slot Canyon. We didn't do the whole thing which is about 21 miles, but instead did a six mile section, and that was quite enough. I think we were all sufficiently beat by the end, but the weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, the canyon was spectacular and the company was THE BEST!

I only got two pictures before my camera died, so I hope somebody posts some better ones on the Anderson blog shortly. (The chick on the far right was some other hiker we ran into on our way in. Just so nobody's staring at her trying to figure out who that is.)



The kids and I hung out at Mom and Dad's for a couple of days as everyone else gradually had to head home. Todd and Kristen were the last to leave on Monday, so we decided to make a trip to Bryce Canyon with them on their way out.
I'm sure I've been to Bryce before, but I couldn't remember it. You'd think something like this would make a lasting impression.









There's just no denying that Utah has some of the strangest and most breathtaking landscape in the entire country.
On Tuesday Finnley and I headed to Keith and Rachelle's while Pyper and Hakan stayed at my parents'. I spent the next few days reupholstering their couch and knowing that my two oldest had the best babysitters around.

Friday evening Mom drove the kids up to Salt Lake, then headed back home on Saturday. The kids had a fun day with Keith and Rachelle while I finished up the couch, then on Sunday we made our way home. We stopped in to see Aaron's brother's new baby and to hang out with his older brother Justin's family, who were vacationing in Salt Lake as well- then home to Caldwell. Thankfully that leg of the trip was also uneventful and we got home in good time.

Unfortunately, Aaron had a week-long business trip to Mexico that required him to leave early the Sunday we came home, so we didn't get to see him before he left.

All in all, though, it was a great trip. And now that I've driven such a distance with the kids by myself, I know it can be done and I will probably do it again.

But probably not soon. :)