Random Roper Ramblings: vacation

My family went to Lake Powell again, and John was nice enough to let me go, even though we just got back a month ago. He consented to fend for himself for a week (which basically means being lonely and eating fastfood dinner as the sole meal of the day), so I was grateful. The neat part about this trip is that ALL of my siblings were able to come (I don't know how long it has been since that has happened...) and ALL of the grandchildren were able to go, which meant 10 children ages 5 and under on a houseboat...

It was a little crazy, a lot of fun, and really neat to be with all my siblings for a week. The only family members missing were my John and my sisters' hubbies.

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Today is Monday. Three weeks ago we started packing up our home of two years in Springville Utah. Upon completing our packing a few days later (Thursday), I spent a few days with my in-laws in South Jordan while John helped his brother Mark move across the country to Columbus, Ohio. John spent 3 days on the road (Fri-Sun) with his Dad and 2 brothers, only suffering a minor accident in the Taco Bell parking lot while he was eating lunch somewhere in Wyoming or Nebraska....the great plains. The door to his brother's new forester wouldn't open on the passenger side but fortunately it still was in good enough condition to take them the rest of the way to Ohio.

Meanwhile back in Utah I was frantically preparing a talk to give (I was only given a few days notice and I was in the middle of packing...plus, I REALLY worry about writing talks...I think I have already mentioned my feelings of inadequacy with the written word...my written word that is) which I delivered fairly successfully (no one laughed at my 2 jokes and I started crying unexpectedly). Immediately after Sacrament meeting where I delivered my fairway address and without John (as he was in Ohio) I headed down to California with my mother-in-law to move myself, my children, and our Camry to the Golden State. Now, some of you may not feel comfortable taking a road trip with your children and mother-in-law but for me, I was very excited when she offered her assistance. My mother in law is awesome and very fun to be around, but now I am getting sidetracked. We made it to Mesquite that night (Sunday) and drove straight to the airport the next day (Monday) in Ontario, California as she had to be back in Utah by the next day. So 2 weeks ago I had made it to California and stayed with my parents for a couple days, waiting for John. John flew back to Utah 2 weeks ago (Monday night), loaded up the 26-foot truck the next morning (Tuesday) and drove the whole way down joined by my brother James and his brother Daniel. (Do you have a headache yet?) They made it to my parents house that evening and Wednesday morning we drove out to Burbank to unload our junk into our new apartment (it seems like junk when you realize how much stuff you have acquired). My Dad was gracious enough to help us even though he had just come back from Phoenix the day before (Tuesday) to help my sister move into her new house....
We unpacked for the next few days, getting our apartment in working order before leaving for Lake Powell one week ago (yes, another Monday). We had a great time at Lake Powell with some of my siblings, friends, and cousins and made it back to Burbank on Saturday. After a much needed day of rest yesterday John started his new job today!