I took a non-intentional break from the world of blogging. So to all of my avid readers (hardy har) we're back!
Now that I have recovered from our wonderful trip out west I thought I better blog about it before I forget everything.
Tanner had to do a Preceptorship (basically he shadowed a doctor in Kennett, MO) for the first two weeks of break. So I decided to fly out early to be with my family. Mariah wasn't too bad on the flights. There was a lot of screaming and flailing and throwing of things, but I was planning on that so it wasn't too traumatic. The people we sat next to were very understanding as well. Even the man who I sprayed down with my water bottle (pressure changes will do that) as Mariah was having a tantrum. As he had water dripping down his face he said, "well that would make a cool experiment." What a dear, dear man. Then there was the elderly woman who entertained Mariah while we waited to board our second flight. She then offered to help me get off the plane and as I was walking out, she was waiting to ask if I needed help picking up my luggage. A great thing about flying is you often get to see how wonderful people truly are.
Mariah had a blast at my parents. When you're at a ranch with dogs, cats (and kittens), horses, baby calves to bottle feed, chickens, four wheelers, a Grandpa who is constantly sneaking you treats, a Grandma who gives you baby dolls and stuffed animals, sweet cousins, and aunts and uncles who are always doting on you; it's hard not to have fun.
She was filthy and exhausted at the end of every day, a sign of a good time. And this won't come as a surprise to any of you, but this was about all the pictures I got at my parents'...sigh.
Tanner got there a few days before we had to head down to Vegas for my sister Tiffany's wedding. And just because it was in Vegas doesn't mean they were married by Elvis...they were married in the beautiful Las Vegas Temple. A much better option.
Aren't they a gorgeous couple? I am so happy for you Tiffany and Cameron! May you have a long life filled with happiness and beautiful babies! Oh and a little factoid, Tiffany wore my Mom's wedding dress with a few alterations. It was so beautiful. And my mom did the flowers; she is very talented. This picture was taken at the reception at the ranch in my parent's cute little barn.
We weren't able to be there because right after the wedding we were heading up to Idaho for Tanner's family reunion! It was in a big ol' cabin in Island Park. It was so great to see all of Tanner's family. We hadn't seen most of them for at least a year or more. We had so much fun. The only downside was that Mariah was super sick the whole time we were there. I promise Crossley family she is usually a happy baby who loves people.
One night we had family challenges. In one of the challenges, all of the dad's had to have peanut butter smeared all over their face and then their teammates tried to get cheetos to stick to their face by throwing them. It was pretty awesome and Tanner was such a good sport to do it.
His face was smooth as a baby's bottom after this... oh and he tied for first. Whoop whoop!
We then had to build towers with marshmallows and toothpicks. The family with the highest tower still standing won. Tanner had some plan that he wasn't divulging to me so I just ate marshmallows and kept making little triangles like he asked as our fifteen minutes ticked away. By the end we hadn't really accomplished much so we just ended up piling all the triangles on top of each other.
So we aren't architects...oh well.
Earlier that day we went on a little hike, and then went out to an open field and flew kites. Mariah was feeling a little better that day so she even played in the dirt some.
We did a lot of other fun stuff but this is all I got photos of, once again, I really dropped the ball.
But thanks to all who planned this wonderful reunion! It was so great to be together. I love the Crossley family so much and I'm so grateful to be a part of it!
After the reunion we stayed a night at one of my best friend Brynn's house. It was fun to spend some time with her and her cute little kids. The next day we spent with Tanner's good friend Elliot and his wife Esther (who just happens to be Kaisa's (Tanner's brother Chad's wife) sister.) I don't know if all those paragraphs confused you or not... But that meant we got to spend it with Kaisa and her kids too! Elliot and Esther live at a great house with an awesome playground and a pond with canoes. In preparation for his canoe trip with the scouts, Tanner went on a little jaunt that ended with him falling into the pond and his canoe taking a little trip on its own. I haven't laughed as hard as I did in a long time. Thanks Tanner!
The next morning Kaisa offered to watch Mariah while we went to the Rexburg temple. It was our first session together at that temple, which was kind of special because Rexburg is where it all started.
We then headed up to Star Valley, Wyoming to spend a couple nights with Tanner's other good friend Matt and his family. That place is so beautiful. And no, I didn't take any pictures.
We then headed out for the long drive back to Missoura. Mariah was such an angel for the drive. I probably complained more than she did. Grandma Crossley is a genius and gave me a balloon to blow up in case Mariah had a meltdown. She loved it!
We stayed a night in Ogallala, Nebraska. Tanner put Mariah in the bathroom part and hung up a blanket so she wouldn't be able to see us. She usually sleeps better if she doesn't know we are in the room. We laid her down and within a couple minutes she was peeking out at us behind the blanket. She was pretty pleased with herself.
The next day was again filled with driving. Mariah was such a good girl and only had a few meltdowns. We had some suckers in case of emergency and it gave us a whole fifteen minutes at least of peace and quite. And Mariah was in heaven.
We made it to Kirksville Monday evening, grateful to be in our own beds again.
Oh yeah, we have a new car! Sven the mini-van. I think that is part of the reason why Mariah did so well on the drive. She could see so much more than she could in our little two door and it was way easier for me to heft my pregnant self to the back to sit by her.
And I have a little confession to make: of all the driving that was done during this vacation, I think I may have driven a total of 1 hour...Tanner drove the rest. The total hours of driving that Tanner logged this trip was at least 63 hours. That man is amazing, especially when he has all the Harry Potters on audiobooks.
