Here it goes...

{disclaimer: this is a very very long post. I didn't think Adam was going to post a novel prior to mine, so I'm sorry for all of the writing. I know you just like the pictures, right? Well...there are those too, but there are lots and lots of words as well.} Are you ready for this? I don't know if you are. I'm going to do just one big ol' post, rather than lots of little ones. That way you get to have the pleasure of seeing it all, and not being confused. It's been a while. Three whole weeks. A lot has happened in those three weeks.

PHASE 1
Toward the end of March, Adam received an e-mail from his mother. His dad, Bryan had been in the hospital, and his numbers weren't the best. He hasn't had the best medical luck for a while. He did, however, receive a kidney transplant in January of 2007. Which has been such a blessing. He had been going to dialysis twice a week for like 4 hours at a time, and that isn't fun. Who enjoys that? We lived with them for a summer, and I learned very quickly how to read the door opening and closing after he returned from a dialysis session. There was a definite difference in the good days versus the bad days. So, the transplant was greatly needed and very welcomed. He also suffers from diabetes, among other things. Let's just say I think he takes more pills in a day that I have taken in my entire life! {well...probably not, but there are a lot!} But...back to the e-mail from Adam's mom, Carol...the e-mail just told of the unfortunate event of the hospital visit. He had been no stranger to the hospital, and had been there many times within a very short amount of time. This doesn't bring out the best in people, and it isn't the most pleasant time. So, Carol just really explained what was going on, and asked to call him every so often to help lift his spirits. The doctors were going to be putting him on a new medication that they had hoped would help him out. But, hearing so many bad things and reading that his health was taking a turn for the worst with not much hope that it would turn back around, we both decided that we needed to make a trip up to Seattle. We decided one day, and a week later, we were on the road. We had planned to come in June, but this seemed much more important, and we didn't think we should wait any longer.

Adam asked for the time off of work, and they really couldn't say no. So, we left. I usually sit in the back seat with Jacob, and Noah sits in the front. We do pretty well with three kids in a Honda Accord. The first night we stopped in Medford, OR. It took us a little longer than expected, however. Macie threw up a few times, which isn't fun. And we had to stop for food. {we stopped at Taco Bell, by the way. And I am NEVER eating there again. I know that it was a Taco Bell in random who knows where in the middle of nowhere land California, bu there was a cockroach. Who knows if it was just that one that has them...but maybe it was transported in the food or something. And for that reason alone, I am not eating at Taco Bell again...} As soon as we stopped at the hotel, the kids were wide awake. Especially Jacob. Noah and Macie eventually went to sleep, but Jacob decided to stay awake until around 3. And he was so cute. It made Adam and I mad that he was being so cute. We wanted to be mad at him for not going to sleep, but he was cooing and laughing...it made for a LONG night. In the morning, we were able to swim for a bit. Jacob LOVED it.


Fortunately, we were able to leave for Seattle around 9:30. I had a terrible sinus/cold thing, and was miserable, but we made it. We got in around 6ish. The Kim and Geoff and the girls were there to greet us as well. It was great. We used to see them everyday when we were both in Rexburg. Oh, those were the days. It was so fun to see the girls, and spend time with the whole family. We got to watch Conference on Saturday and Sunday with the Christensen/Schwiermann family, and what we were able to actually hear was great. I still need to rewatch it all. Maybe when things slow down here!


But, our trip was not anything that we expected it to be. Sadly, we left our house thinking that this would be one of the last with Bryan. That is not what we left Seattle thinking. We were able to do so many more things with Bryan than we ever have. There were no hospital visits, no 911 calls, no scares...just a lot of fun! We did quite a bit. One night we were able to go down to the temple. Carol is an ordinance worker on Wednesday evenings, so we went down with her. I did a session and then drove the kids home, and Adam stayed behind and did a session and waited until it was time for Carol to come home. It was a good time. We went to Edmonds Beach. We went to Meadowdale Beach. We went to Paseo's, which is probably the best place to eat ever. They have the best Chicken sandwiches ever. I think they are Cuban. Oh, so good. We went to Pike Place Market and ate the best donuts and bought the ingredients for Stone Soup {we didn't actually make the soup, but Noah had fun getting the stuff for it!} We were able to spend lots of time together with Adam's parents. It was fun. We ate teriyaki twice. I don't know what it is, but the teriyaki in Seattle tastes the best. We're still trying to figure out why it doesn't taste the same here in California. We saw the troll under the bridge. And the Easter Bunny even found Noah and Macie and left them with lots of candy and toys! We even got to see the Shuler cousins for a little bit. They unexpectedly stopped by on Saturday before Easter. It was fun and Noah LOVED playing with the boy cousins.


We are very glad that the medicine is working for Bryan. The doctors also changed his insulin schedule, which is helping out tremendously as well. We are grateful for the time we were able to spend with Bryan and Carol in Seattle. We look forward to many many more visits with them. Did I mention that the new medicine is a Canadian drug? Gotta love Canadian drugs! ;-) Thanks for the great visit!!

PHASE 2
We made it home on Monday the 13th. My sister, Erin, was scheduled to fly into the Orange County airport on the 15th. My cousin Kyle was getting married in Chino Hills, so she flew in for that, and to see baby Jacob. So, I had enough time on Tuesday to unpack the cold weather clothes, do laundry, and then pack up the warm weather clothes. We were going to be gone for an entire week, and wouldn't have the convenience of laundry. And...I had to pack the big double stroller. We were going to also go to Disneyland on Monday, after the wedding. The car was pretty packed. There was just enough room for Erin's stuff. I left on Wednesday morning at 7 to give myself enough time with traffic and things to pick Erin up at the airport by 12. We were almost there. It was around 10:30. I thought we'd have time to go to IKEA or something while we waited. Jacob was screaming because he was overdue for a feeding. So, I kept telling myself that I had 7 more miles until the IKEA exit. And then I heard the dreaded noise. The noise of a tire popping. But, it couldn't be MY tire. That just doesn't happen. So I kept driving. It just HAD to be someone else. Nope. My car sounded like an airplane. I freaked out. And immediately cried. Here I am, alone with my 3 kids, on the 405 ...5 lanes of traffic, right at an interchange. TONS of traffic, and I have a flat tire. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't get a hold of Adam. So I called my Mom. I knew she couldn't do anything, but she may be able to console me. She was with my Aunt Laura who used to live in California. She said that she thought the Highway Patrol came by every so often. Well...I was there for over an hour and half, and there were no Highway Patrol's going by. BUT...before I waited there too long, just after I got off the phone with my mom, I had an idea to call our friend Tim. I knew he'd be at work, and probably couldn't help me, but he could probably give me an idea. He did. He called his wife, Anniece, and she drove to meet me on the freeway and called AAA, and they came and changed the tire and we were on our way. It looked pretty easy, but I was a little overwhelmed with 3 little ones.

And, yes, we were late picking up Erin at the airport. After getting her and a new tire, we spent the day in Newport Beach, eating at Daphne's Greek Cafe, devouring Sprinkles cupcakes and enduring a windy beach trip! It was a fun day after all. My kids were so excited to see Aunt E and she was so excited to see them. I think she held Jacob about 90% of the time she was here. The other 10 he was eating!

The next day, Mom and Cory and the rest of the gang got into town. We didn't see much of the others, they had Wedding rehearsals and such, but we were able to see Momo and Cory, that was fun. Erin, the kids, and myself decided to head to LA one day, and it was an experience. LA always is. Lots and lots of traffic. We stopped at a Taco Bell {for the kids...remember, I'm not eating there again.} and it was just off the Crenshaw exit. What ever you have heard about Crenshaw, is probably true. Not the best place. We walked in, and not only did we stick out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of black people, the Taco Bell workers were behind glass and you had to pay to use the bathroom. We turned right around. Call me a chicken, but I was scared to death. That night we had a bonfire at the beach with the Alldredge clan...it was a lot of fun! We even roasted hot dogs with bamboo sticks. {pictures to come...}

And then that brings us to the wedding. My cousin Kyle and his lovely Stephanie were married on Saturday in Chino Hills. It was an amazing set up. They had it at Stephanie's brother's house. It was a gorgeous backyard. And Stephanie was, of course, gorgeous as well. I regret that I don't have any pictures of the wedding, however. I thought I had lost my camera. I was so upset, but then soon after returning to the hotel was very embarrassed that it was just in the bottom of the diaper bag. Those dang diaper bags. I'll update them as soon as someone makes me a CD of their pictures. It was fun, though, to see so many family members. Jacob got to meet his great grandparents, and they loved him. Noah and Macie couldn't wait to see their Great Grandpa and Great Grandma, Myrt. They were SO excited. It was funny at the wedding someone made the comment, "Poor girl, she has three kids and no husband." Sad. One of these days Adam will get to go with me somewhere! Jacob was quite the hit at the wedding. He's just so cute! Macie was excited to the see the princess {or Stephanie}! It was very cute. I'm glad we were all able to be together for the wedding. It was a way fun time that ended too quickly.

PHASE 3
Yeah, we were gone for a VERY long time! On Sunday, everyone left. We dropped Erin off at the Airport, and headed to Anaheim. Mom and Cory were already at Disneyland, but me and the kids couldn't go yet. With our passes, we were blocked out until the next day, due to Spring Breaks and things. Which was probably a good thing. It was like 105 degrees. It didn't get any better the next two days, however. It was a scorcher. But not busy, so it was fun. The kids had their moments, they really wanted their Daddy. At this point in the game, I really wanted their daddy too. There is a reason I'm not a single mother. And this trip away from him for a week reaffirmed that! I love you, Adam. You really do do a lot!! ;-) But, Disneyland was fun. A little hot, like I said, but still fun. Macie was so excited to see Minnie. She talked about it for weeks. Even in the line she could hardly contain herself. And then as soon as we got up there, she froze. She hated Minnie. It was pretty funny. That Macie is a brave girl. She loves the Matterhorn. She is about two inches too short for everything, but can't wait to go on the big rides! Noah is getting scared of them. It's kind of sad. Jacob was a trooper. He cried maybe once. And he was teething. He's such a good baby!!



And then Wednesday was time for us to trek back so we could see Adam, and Mom and Cory could travel to St. George for another cousin's wedding. My cousin Megan and Blake were married on Thursday in St. George. I wasn't able to make it for their wedding. Sorry, guys. I hear it was a beautiful reception and seemed perfect. I'm sure it was!

We did make it home, and Macie and Noah were so glad to see their stuff. It was all new to them again. It was fun to be with family for so long, but so good to be home and sleeping in our own beds with a better attempt at our "normal routine". Three weeks is a bit long to be away from home. Luckily, we still have heat, electricity, water and cable...all the bills were paid! And now we can focus on other things...like this blog, maybe!