Travel Log Part 2

Sunday, June 12: Church. After Nathan took a quick nap we went to visit with Andrew’s family who came down to Orem. We surprised Mindy who didn’t know we were coming. Emily and Ariana played really well together, mostly because of Aunt Kimby. She spun Emily around and helped her get drinks of water. Emily and Ariana gave each other huge, long hugs and jumped together. We went back to my grandma’s for dinner and then hung out with Brian, Christine, Mom, Aunt Melinda, Katie, Andrew, and Grandma Blomquist.

Monday, June 13: The Jackson clan was up at 6am so we grabbed breakfast and went on a family run around the neighborhood and then played at the park. We got home just as the rest of the family was getting up. We played and chatted for a few hours while Christine got ready for EFY. We went grocery shopping at Macey’s, had lunch, and Nathan took a nap. We headed up to Andrew’s family when he woke up for a large Jackson Family gathering for Eliza and Trent’s quilt tying and dinner with questions event. Great night and we stayed up way too late chatting with family.

Tuesday, June 14. Nathan was up a ton during the night and we discovered that he has a second tooth about to cut through his gums. We went to Castle Park in the morning with Aimee, Ariana, Kimby, Andrew’s mom, Jon, Andrea and their three kids, Michael and Mariah. We played and then had a picnic lunch which began on the grass until we got blasted by the sprinklers and made a beeline for the shelter. Aimee joined us at Grandma Jacksons and we chatted while the kids slept and played. After dinner Andrew, Emily and I went to Chick-fil-a to see Aunt Kimby at work and get a little ice cream to share. Emily has been extremely pleasant and surprising us with her conversation (“let’s do an experiment” when trying to get a purse full of things to close”).

Wednesday June 15: we got up and packed to return to Provo. I went on a run around West Valley and then we did the final packing and loading while we waited for Nathan to wake up from his nap. We headed straight to BYU and grabbed Jamba Juice for a mid morning snack and then Andrew met his brother Sam to get access to a computer so he could work on a poster for his New Orleans conference in a week. Emily, Nathan, and I met up with a roommate from sophomore year, Michelle. We wandered around campus, explored the MoA at toddler speed, ran into my sister Christine for 10 seconds as she was on her way to an EFY class, and then spent another 30 seconds talking with Aunt Angela. When we got home Emily and Kalin played the rest of the afternoon. In the evening Aunt Melinda came over and hung out for a bit. Brian also moved out of his apartment and back to Grandma Blomquists home.

Thursday June 16: Andrew went to help his uncle and cousins on a house they are getting ready to sell in Provo. I stayed at Grandma Blomquists with the kids. Emily was is heaven playing and often disappeared into the children’s room. She ironed a blanket and made Christmas stockings. She took care of the babies. She went shopping. She filled purses and bags. She typed in the keyboards in her office. We read books and drew together. Both kids were super tired and Nathan went down for a three hour nap at 9am and Emily went down for a two hour nap at 10am. It was a good reset. I made enchiladas for dinner and Jenny and Kimby joined us. We chatted until 9:30 at my grandma’s home and then they went to Kevin and Lindas for the night and we went to bed.

Friday June 17. Andrew went to campus all morning (he was going to stay all day but he was working in his laptop which was still on ET so he showed up at 1:30 thinking it was 3:30). We played at Grandmas home with Kalin for a bit and then I took all three kids to the nearby park for an hour. We did lunch and naps and once both kids were settled my roommate from Jerusalem, Jamie, came over for her lunch break. Andrew arrived soon followed by Jenny and Kimby and we talked for a while and then I snuck away for a quick power nap (it took four attempts but so got it eventually once the kids were officially settled). Andrew worked a bit and then we went to Deseret book to pick up a few things. At 5:45 we met Mindy, Kimby, Jenny, Amy, and Ariana at Zupas for dinner and then we went to a park in Orem for a solid hour or two. Emily mastered a huge, fast, twisted slide and climbed up over and over again and then would go down, twisting into her stomach part way. Nathan hung out on the blanket with aunts playing cards and was held often. We stopped at chick fil a for a frosted lemonade in the way home and put kids to bed around 9pm. Nathan must be working on tooth number 3 because he screamed a good portion of the night.

Saturday, June 18. So tired from Nathan not sleeping again. This is a rough stretch. Christine came home from EFY around 8 and Derick and Brian and mom came back from Idaho so we were all together! We gathered to hear all about EFY from Christine. Nathan went down for a nap and Christine and I went out and cleared around grandma’s trees and talked while Andrew and Derick did homework. Emily tried riding the pink scooter for the first time and was in heaven. She would ride for a bit on the back patio and then run over to us and help for a minute until her scooter was ready to ride. She also embraced the magic of Grandma Blonquists yard: finding the little animal figures (they very quickly become her baby), wetting her hands in the fountain, ringing the wind chimes, playing in the little cabin and making dinner for us (and the missionaries), sitting on the children sized benches and chairs, and having a picnic outside on the little table.