Last week we flew out to see Ken's family in Nevada. We hadn't been out there for 5 years so it was time for another visit. We were especially wanting to see Ken's 93 year old grandmother who recently broke her hip and isn't doing so well. Ken's other 3 siblings and their families came as well (from Oregon and Georgia). The 2 siblings in Oregon we hadn't seen for nearly 3 years so we were very happy to be together again.
I took lots of pictures and I will share a few (it might not look like few but it is in comparison with the amount I took!) of them here.
We had nice flights getting there though we experienced quite a bit of turbulence. We had a short layover in Salt Lake City. On our 2nd flight Megan decided to sing nearly all the flight (1 1/2 hrs). She wasn't being very loud and she had a sweet little melody going with her made up song that was about anything and everything. Whenever she got loud I would say "Shh" and she would tone it down again. I was still a little concerned, hoping it wasn't bothering anyone. As we were leaving out flight I overheard a conversation that made me feel at ease about it. There was a group visiting (I think they had all been on the plane just spread out but at least 2 of them had sat right behind us) and one guy was telling them "we got serenaded the whole way here." and then another girl was like "Was it that cute little girl?" and then another guy that had been behind us confirmed that it was and told how she was singing about just anything and everything. It seemed like they thought it was neat so I felt happy about that.
We got there mid day Wednesday. We had got up at around 4:30 am (MN time) in order to fly out. That afternoon the guys set up a very creative croquet course on Ken's parents small and very hilly yard. They had a lot of fun playing and I enjoyed spending time with the niece and nephew I had never met before.
On Wednesday night we went to church. By that time we were getting pretty tired (up early, time change, travel) and on the way to church Megan fell to sleep and I carried her in and then she slept the whole time and I carried her out again. The next morning when we were getting ready to go elsewhere her comment was "Are we going to church now?"
Thursday we drove up into the mountains and to Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe. We packed a picnic lunch. Above Aaron and Aunt Luann are enjoying their carrots.
We went hiking up a trail above Lake Tahoe. Our family found it quite a treat to be hiking in the Mountains. I loved all the scenery and had my camera out a bunch of the time! Mara is in the picture above.
Our adorable nephew Kaleb was being carried his Uncle Daniel's shoulders until he decided to spit up. At the time of this picture they had him down to wipe everything up but Daniel gamely put him up again and carried him there some more.
We got to watch a couple of guys taking turns climbing up the side of a cliff. It was pretty cool.
Aaron really loved hopping from rock to rock and asked me to take his picture a bunch of times. He makes a great subject for my camera so I didn't mind!
Jonathan loved being in the lead of the group when we were hiking. It was a challenge to get him to stand still for a picture.
What fun it was to explore God's wonderful creation with our family. No matter where we go there is always something that leaves me in awe of the majesty of God!
Granddad blowing out the "candle" on a "cake" the boys made for him to go along with an early B-day present we brought him.
The next days agenda was to visit Grandmother, eat and play at a park and see some other friends. The agenda got messed up a little for some of us when Jonathan and Megan ended up with a stomach bug. (I had felt funny the day before but had tried to ignore it.) We didn't join the others in visiting Grandmother but we did go to the park. It ended up being an interesting day. The kids would feel fine for a while and they had fun flying the kits their Granddad had bought.
Mara and Aaron with Grandmother
After Kite flying we decided to play a game of croquet. Jonathan wanted to play but it was soon evident that he wasn't feeling good. He asked for the up chuck bowl (that I had brought along) and then he proceeded to throw up and lay down on the grass but he absolutely didn't want to quit playing. So he would throw up, lay down, get up to take his shot, repeat over and over. Finally we convinced him it would be good to rest and I made him up a bad where he slept the rest of the afternoon away. I made up another bed for Megan and she slept too. Come supper time I asked where Mara was only to find out that she was cuddled up in yet another blanket sleeping too. That was not a good sign as Mara just doesn't nap. Sure enough she was sick too.
On the way back to Ken's parents those 3 kids were in the car with Ken and I and we had a bowl for them just in case and sure enough pretty soon Mara was using it, loosing everything she had eaten that day. While she was using it Jonathan was saying "please pull over so we can empty that, I need to throw up too. Ken was trying to pull over but before he could Jonathan grabbed the bowl and added his contribution. Then Megan grabbed it. It was so gross but it was one of those times when you either laugh or cry and so I was laughing like crazy while I tried to pat their back, and help them in any way possible.
The next day our family felt much better but some of the others had got the bug (some of them had already had it before we came). Originally we had thought we would go places again but some of us only went to see Grandmother and then the rest of the day was at Ken's parents.
Megan enjoying Corianna
We had fun playing Gestures (Brian was trying to get his team to guess "face lift") .
That evening Ken joined the ranks of the sick and then I ended up throwing up too. We came home the next day feeling a little scared that we might feel ill in the plane but God was very merciful and we made it through fine even with only about 5 minutes to change planes in Denver (Our first flight had been very late!).
It felt very good to get home but I am very happy we were able to make the trip!
