So, I just barely uploaded the photos from our trip which ended well over a week ago. What can I say...I'm a little behind.
First I think I will post an summary of the trip and will schedule future posts of more specific things.
We left home the evening of Friday, May 28th. We made it to Denver around 3am Denver time. The next morning (Saturday) we left around 9am and arrived at Silas's mom and dad's house around 10:30pm.
Here's the boys (mostly Ryan) rocking out in the car. Ryan is playing his arm like a guitar.
The next morning we were able to slowly get ready since Silas's parents' ward doesn't start til 1pm. Going to church was fun. The ward boundaries have changed several times since we moved, but we saw quite a few people that we knew. This is also the first time on the trip that we saw a bunch of family. Kizzie (Silas's sister)and Andy, who recently moved there form Provo, are in that ward, Silas's sister Sarah and her family are in the ward so we were waving and smiling. Another sister, Sasha, is in a different ward but their kids were at church with some friends so we saw 15 Aitchison cousins at church.
Here's the highway from Kidder (where Silas's parent's live) to Cameron (where the church is and where I lived). It was so green!
My brother, RJ married a girl from the same area as Silas and they were visiting from Illinois for Memorial Weekend, so we got to see them too...5 more cousins. It was pretty fun. Primary, needless to say, was extra crazy with all the cousins talking and being crazy. Fun times.
That evening we ate at Sarah's house which was so fun. With all the older cousins, our boys could go outside or whatever and I didn't have to check on them every 5 minutes.
Monday, May 31st was fun. We started the morning at Adam-Ondi-Ahman at a multi-ward Memorial Day breakfast. Yum. We were able to play with RJ and Rachel and their kids for a while at Rachel's parents' place. I forgot my camera, which was sad because RJ helped the boys fish in the pond on the property and Cleod was so excited to catch a fish. That evening we got together and Sarah's again and had a good ole Memorial Day BBQ.
Here's Emma taking Cleod and Cole on the four-wheeler, Ryan and Avery in the trailer, Grant "reading" and Cleod in a Mario costume.
Tuesday, we relaxed at Grandma and Grandpas most of the day but we did make it to the park in Kidder with cousins.
That night we went out to eat with Grandma and Grandpa and Kizzie and Andy. It was yummy Mexican food.
Wednesday and Thursday we spend time with Silas's brother Jonah and his family in Nauvoo. We haven't been there since we got married 6 1/2 years ago and we haven't seen Jonah and Laura for 3 1/2 years so it was really nice. We did a little touring but mostly played with cousins and visited.
Here's everyone at the Family Living Center in Nauvoo where they teach you about making rope, pots, candles and other fun stuff.
Friday we spent the day with our friends, Josh and Tina who moved to MO over a year ago to go to school. Silas and Josh worked at the bank together and it was fun to see them again.
That night we were going to drive back to Kidder, but Silas got sick and so we were able to spend the night at Josh and Tina's and get on the road in Saturday morning.
That evening I got to go out with Silas's mom and three of his sisters for a Ladies Night. We went shopping and ate dinner at the Smokehouse or something. That's when we went to Barnes and Noble and I found the Gerald and Piggie books (see previous post) at buy one get one half off. Yea!
Sunday after church the family met at Sasha's house for dinner. We really enjoyed these potluck meals because there was also so much yummy stuff to eat. Sasha made Silas and Andy cakes and we had a mini graduation party for them.
Here's Silas, Josiah (brother), Andy and his son Avery.
Here's Silas feeding Alexandria, Josiah's youngest. She was begging everyone for cake. It was adorable!
Monday, we hung out at Grandma's. I think that was the first day we played Farkel, a dice game that we ended up playing A LOT. It was lots of fun. Josiah and Kizzie's families came over too, so again...lots of cousins. :)
Here's Silas's mom (Grandma) with Jack (Kizzie's youngest) and Grant while we were playing Farkel.
Tuesday we just hung out again, played with whoever came over and relaxed.
Wednesday we did some site seeing with Grandma and Grandpa. We went to the Far West temple site first and stopped at the Far West Store that Silas's dad built.
We also went to Jamesport, an Amish community not far from Kidder, which was fun.
Later that day we had pizza at the park in Kidder with most of the family.
Here's Cleod having a temper.
Thursday we had another day at Grandma's. That evening I met three of my friends from high school at Dairy Queen in Cameron. It was lots of fun to see them.
Friday evening we got together at Sarah's again. It was the last night we all could get together so it was extra nice. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and I enjoyed sitting around, visiting with family. Jonah and Laura came down from Nauvoo so we had 28 of the 34 Aitchison grandkids together.
Saturday, the last full day of our visit, we stayed at Grandma's and played with cousins. It was a little cooler than some of the other days, so the kids played with sidewalk chalk for a while.
Sunday we messed around, not really wanting to leave and not really wanting to be in the car all day.
Ryan, sucking his thumb with his blankie. (Yes, he still does this.)
Cleod and Uncle Jonah.
Grant and Joshua (Jonah's youngest) lying on the table. ;)
We finally got on the road. The way home was not as fun as the way there, but the kids were fine. In Colorado, we got snowed on for a minute. Crazy!
Again, we made it to Denver that evening and had a good sleep. We heart Holiday Inn Expresses, by the way.
Monday, we made it home around 10pm, and had to eat a celebratory bowl of cereal.
Here's Grant with a marshmallow on his nose, which he didn't notice for abour 5 mintues.
So, there you have it. Sorry it's so long...it was a long trip. More photos to come, I hope. We have TON from Nauvoo.
