The Trip West

(Disclaimer: a lot of catch ups, and long post for family history sake... :)

Originally we planned to all drive out together when Jeff finished his residency, but due to some minor issues we decided to have the kids and I go out west a couple weeks earlier. Flying wasn't really an option, so we decided to drive out and have Jeff fly back. We left Pennsylvania on Thursday evening, June 3rd, to start our drive across the country. We had to do the drive quickly because Jeff had to fly back to Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately everything worked out as planned and we arrived in Salt Lake City on Saturday morning about 9am.

We've definitely been called crazy before. Driving across the country in 1.5 days without stopping or spending the night at a hotel, with four kids and two tired parents is probably borderline crazy, but we didn't have much of a choice. Jeff and I switched off driving so the other could get some sleep. I usually prefer the 3am-6am shift, it's kind of cool to watch the sun come up. We pulled over a couple times to try and get some sleep around 2am, but usually kids just wake up and you can't sleep anyway. Even though it's painful, it's nice to have the drive over quickly.

We've done this drive quite a few times over the past eight years, including times with the boys, and times when I've been pregnant. I was a little nervous about the fact that this would be the first time we'd be doing it with a new baby (2.5 months old) since a new baby has to eat every 4 hours, and especially since Emily has made her dislike for her carseat well known. I know we were blessed because the drive went great. The boys did great and so did Emily, in fact, she was an angel during the trip. She slept a lot of the time, and cried for less than an hour during the entire trip. I'm sure there was some divine intervention for that! In fact, part of the reason I loved looking forward to the stops was so I could get her out of her carseat and hold her- she'd look up with a big smile and just be so happy. It made me sad to put her back in her carseat afterwards, but she was such a sweetie. During one time when we pulled over at 2am to try and catch a nap, she was wide awake so after feeding her I just held her while I tried to sleep. She is such a great baby, she just sat there content to be held and didn't make a peep.

The boys did great for the most part too. They loved passing through the states, stopping at the gas stations, eating travel food (I was definitely tired of 'snacks' by the end!) and watching movies on the dvd player. I think the drive was a little tough on Matthew- he would sleep for a couple hours and then be awake for a couple hours so I think his tiredness made him a little grouchy during parts of the trip. He just didn't sleep as good in the car, but considering he's a 2 year old on a nonstop 36 hour car ride, he did pretty well.

The best part of the trip was being able to see grandparents! We made it to Salt Lake City on Saturday morning and were able to spend time with both my great-grandma Hiller and Jeff's grandma Forman. We saw Grandma Hiller for a little while and even had breakfast with her before she left for a dr's appointment. Then we went up to Salt Lake City to see Grandma Forman. She's on a mission there and it was so much fun to see her new apartment and spend time visiting with her. We loved hearing about her missionary responsibilities, neighbors, and all that she's been up to. I think our boys were a little on the crazy side, I know they were excited to finally be out of the car, but Grandma was so sweet as always. We had a yummy lunch with her and even were able to play a couple games, and tell some family stories. She never ceases to amaze me with all that she does. It was fun to let her meet Emily for the first time too. We loved every minute with her and look forward to seeing her again soon.

We went back to Grandma Hiller's afterwards and spend a couple hours playing at her house. The boys loved the house and her amazing yard. We always have so much fun visiting with her, she's an amazing lady as well. I love being able to get pictures with grandparents and our children. (Even though we all look a little scary because of the trip) I hope our kids will sometime be able to recognize what an amazing heritage they have!


We left later on and traveled down to Provo to see Tom and Kristie and Houston. We had a bbq at their new house on Saturday night. It was so much fun to see them and spend time with them. Tom and Kristie are expecting baby Lilah sometime around June 11th too, so we'll be excited to meet her when she makes her appearance. The boys loved running around in Tom and Kristie's yard and playing frisbee and basketball. It was nice to have a place to stay for the night and actually sleep in a bed again! One of my favorite parts was staying up talking together, it's been a long time since we've seen them, so it was nice to be able to catch up in person. We went to church with them the next morning and stayed for lunch before heading out for the airport.

I dropped Jeff off at the airport in SLC and then headed up to continue the trip. Even though I was anxious to be home and done driving, I wanted to be able to see both of my grandparents and spend some time with them.

Of course it wouldn't be complete without some type of issue. We got Jeff to the airport early, but he called me about 25 minutes later and told me that his flight had in fact, left 1 hour earlier than we thought. He ended up having to be put on another flight to a different city which was fine except that his 1-way car rental ended up being $200 for one day because of the late notice. He also realized that he didn't have the keys to our apartment. Fortunately, somehow I left a window unlocked (rare for me) so he was able to climb through the window. I mailed the keys to him a little later. Then on Wednesday, June 23rd, the day he was scheduled to fly home, his flight ended up being cancelled due to tornado warnings in Chicago. They told him they wouldn't be able to get him out until Saturday, which was ridiculous. So he ended up having to pay another $200 for another rental car so he could drive to Baltimore and fly out the next morning. On his 3am drive, he also managed to get pulled over and got a ticket which almost made him miss the flight. Fortunately he made it and we were happily reunited on Thursday afternoon. Always something exciting.
I arrived at my grandma and grandpa Tanner's that evening and was able to stay until Monday afternoon. The boys loved running around and playing with Austin and Rowan, and a couple friends. Jordan and Steve even came by for dinner so we were able to see them and their cute little boy Deacon. I loved being able to see grandma & grandpa and everyone again. The yard is a child's heaven with so many fun things to do, and it's all fenced so it's perfect for moms too! Grandma and Grandpa were so sweet and accommodating. That night I gave the boys a bath in the bathroom where I used to always have my baths when we went to grandma's and read them some of my favorite books. I loved waking up and remembering all the great memories of when I was little. I'm glad the kids were able to share some of those things. Mostly, I'm glad they could spend time with the family. I've definitely missed spending time with my grandparents & aunts and uncles.


We left Monday afternoon and traveled up to see my Grandma and Grandpa Haworth. Once again we were spoiled with love, and had fun spending time with grandparents. The boys love seeing the farm and being able to enjoy the outdoors. My cousin Matt actually arrived home from his mission that nigh too. I didn't really want to take 4-overly tired and overly-traveled children to a nice dinner. I ended up putting them to bed early at 7pm, then Grandpa Haworth came back a little early so I could run over with Emily to visit with the Porter family for a little while and then bring Grandma back home. It was really fun to see everyone and so neat to see Elder Porter again. The next morning we had breakfast together and grandpa gave the boys rides on the 4-wheeler. I usually do that myself too, but it's tricky with four kids, a new baby, and only one parent. I just let grandpa give the rides this time and the boys loved it. It was also fun to sit with grandma while she worked on her church calling. The time really just goes by too fast. We said our goodbyes and left to travel home on Tuesday afternoon. It wasn't a lot of time with family but I was grateful for all the time we had.

We arrived at my parent's house that night and it was so nice to see them and so nice to know I was done driving for a while! After dropping Jeff off, I had done an additional 8 hours of driving. The crazy thing was that a few days after getting into town, I started to notice the car making a funny noise and it seemed to shake. It got to the point where I didn't even want to drive because it didn't feel safe. My father-in-law took it in the next morning and they found that the driver's side front wheel was ready to fall off. Apparently when they replaced our tires the day we left, they forgot to put back 2 bolts and our wheel was ready to come off. Fortunately it was a 'cheaper' fix, but it could have been a disaster if that wheel had come off during our trip. I was very grateful that we were looked out for! Talk about a blessing.

Anyway, it was a great feeling to be done with the trip and finally have a little down time to relax and let the boys run around to their heart's content. I'll miss Philly, but wont' miss having to make the trip again. We're excited to be home!