Are We There Yet?

Minivan.... check

Gas... check

Snacks.... check

Drinks.... check

Etch a sketch x2... check

Sticker books... check

Crayons... check

Portable DVD players... check

Movies... check

Blankets... check Pillows... check

Nintendo DS... check

Toy cars... check

Diaper bag... check

Pacifier... check

I-pod... check

Cell phones... check

Luggage... check

Snow gear... check

Mom... check

Dad... check

Kids x2... check

Baby x1... check

And we we were off!!!!

So we did it! We piled the family and practically half of our house into our minivan and hit the road to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bell in Utah.

Dad was a champ as always and did all the driving,

While Mom and the boys lounged quietly and enjoyed the beautiful scenery along I-15...

Ate our snacks peacefully, napped intermittently, and were entertained happily with movies...

YEA RIGHT!!!

Ok so that is not exactly how the drive went but it was a nice thought right. We figured things were going to be a little rough when, after about 15 minutes on the road, Phearson was already wanting to get out of the car and Porter was asking "how much longer until we get there". I, mom, went ahead a made a permanent seat in the very back of the van, in between the two boys, acting as mediator and or entertainer as Ryan drove on hour after hour.

The snacks got eaten,

Drinks were drank,

Etch-a-sketch's were unwanted,

Sticker books and crayons went unused.

Movies were partly watched,

Blankets and pillows off and on.

Toy cars were thrown on the floor,

and the i-pod listened to now and again.

Some tears were shed,

and some fists were thrown.

An unwanted mountain burger was removed from time to time

And approximately 10 hours later, were quietly welcomed into the state of Utah! Thanks to Grandpa Bell who was nice enough to leave his Christmas lights up and ON until we arrived, mid January, so that the kids would be able to find the house in the dark. (The only house in all of Utah I think that still had their Christmas lights up, not to mention ON!)

We made it...

"Sigh"

We were happy to see that there was still snow and the kids couldn't wait to play in it.

UNTIL...

It came time to put on the "snow clothes". There was a bit of a freak out moment. However I'm not sure that I blame them, the thought of putting on a snow bib, as a kid, for the first time almost made me cry too! However we managed to talk/force them into getting dressed and they had a blast playing in the snow and sledding down a nearby hill.

Sledding was a blast. Porter was smiles from ear to ear. The faster he got going the better and the bigger the smiles became. Phearson enjoyed just being there. Not so much the sledder he was but definitely enjoyed the snow. Tav thought that the sled made a great place for a nap.

The big boys had a good time snowboarding a day or two and even tried their hands in Skiing one day just for the heck of it. (Wish I had pictures of that!) The rest of the trip was spent just hanging out with family.

We ate,

We played,

We shared exiting new family news,

We explored,

We discovered,

And we laughed.

Good times!! Congrats to the newly engaged Colby and Emily!

Great grandpa doing a little "wrestling" with the kids!

(Bless his heart!!!)

Tav exploring the stairs

Hanging out with cute cousins

And meeting this beautiful girl for the very first time!

"Becoming" a game of chess at the Treehouse Museum

And demonstrating our fantastic tiki drum skills.

More exploring for Tav

Experimenting with water at the Discovery Gateway

And designing sweet, funky hats with mom.

Thanks to everyone who made a special trip to come see us while we were in Utah!

We love you all and can't wait to do it all over again!

Once we recover from the drive home, which went a lot like the drive there!

We -are -a -hap-py- fam-i-ly!!