The Neff Family: July 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

29 Weeks

Feeling huge

Hips are aching

Skin is stretching

Still a while to go!

Monday, July 30, 2012

We stayed at my parent's house in Utah for about a week. The kids loved playing with Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Paul! The mornings were so nice and mild- with much less humidity! My dad got this awesome bounce house for the kids to play with. Lots of fun!!

Lucy was so excited to play makeup with Grandma!

And Emery just loved playing ping pong!

We spent one morning down on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Lucy wasn't feeling very well that morning but she toughed it out and was doing much better later that day.

Grandma took us to a horse parade in celebration of Pioneer day, later in July.

Emery liked taking pictures of all the horses. Unfortunately, he later deleted them all! I don't think he fully understands that the purpose of taking a picture is to save it! Oh well, he'll learn eventually.

No trip to Utah seems complete without a visit down to BYU in Provo. We visited the Alumni center, the dinosaur museum and the bookstore. Followed by a delicious lunch at Los Hermanos. (More on all the yummy foods we ate coming up!)

My good friends Jenny and TJ planned an overnight girl's trip in Park City for me! We talked, shopped, and ate yummy food! It was so fun to catch up and have some girl time!! Thanks girls!

While I was in Park City, Grandma took everyone else swimming!

We just so happened to still be in Utah on the day my sister-in-law Mary was having her graduation. It was neat to be able to make it to celebrate her accomplishment! Congrats Mary!!

One of my favorite things to do in Utah is eat! I love to visit my favorite restaurants that I don't have here in South Carolina! We never get to them all but we sure tried! Some of the places we went this time were Sconecutter, Letherby's, Del Taco, Panda Express, Los Hermanos, and Training Table. YUMMY!

Some other things I didn't get pictures of that we did in Utah: went to the Distribution Center, eye checkup for Joel, got the seatbelt fixed in the van, visited with Joel's sister Annemarie, visited with my Aunt Diana, visited my sister Heidi and her family, and the kids played a lot with grandma and grandpa! It was an awesome week that went by all too fast. But, it was time to head out in the van again to drive 4 hours to Ruby Valley, NV to see Joel's family! So Saturday evening we loaded up and headed out. Man, that 4 hour drive seemed like a piece of cake compared to the 32 hour drive from a week earlier!!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Getting there

This year we decided to drive back west to Utah and Nevada to visit family. It felt a little crazy to drive 32 hrs each way with two kids and being 6 months pregnant myself! But, we thought we'd give it a try. As my packing list grew I wanted a way to keep some sort of organization in the trunk. I loved THIS idea but couldn't find the shower caddy bags she used. So, I sewed up some of my own with some fabric and vinyl I had on hand. Thanks goodness they turned out ok, though with many flaws, because I did not have time to re-do them!

I made lots of lists so I didn't forget anything, but left the packing for the day we were leaving. I hate trying to pack ahead of time and realizing you can't pack something because you need it before you leave! However, I was way over my head with doing laundry and getting everyone's things together in one day. I spend from about 9am until 5:30pm packing that van! Whew! I was already exhausted before we even pulled out of the driveway!

One of my biggest concerns for the trip was keeping the kids occupied so there was very little whining and screaming :) The dual DVD player proved the best investment and kept the peace most of the time. I also bought lots of snacks and treats to keep the tummies happy. I also bought a handful of new toys from the dollar store and wrapped them up for the kids to open periodically. Each kid had their own bag of toys plus a bunch of books and toys to share.

Blankets and pillows kept everyone cozy!

On average we stopped about every 2 hours to stretch our legs, have bathroom breaks, and change drivers. I think I may have been the most uncomfortable and need the stops the most! We drove about 6 hours the Friday night we left. Little Lucy was our crazy girl that night deciding not to fall asleep, despite the fact that we drove until 11:30pm. Emery finally nodded off around 10 but not Lucy! Luckily her late night helped her have a little nap the next day. Saturday we drove 14 hours! Sunday we drove another 14 hours. It was LONG!

Amazingly we only had a few minor meltdowns. Lucy's biggest fit was over a fly trapped in the van after we'd stopped to get gas on Saturday. She kept saying "Scared!" and screaming when it got close to her. I think she must have thought it was a bee and would hurt her. Emery did great until about the last 4 hours on Sunday. He was over being in the car saying "We're NEVER going to get there!" and "I just wish we were there NOW!" Once we arrived in Utah everyone was relieved! Especially me; my feet and ankles had gotten very swollen over the 3 days of sitting in the car.

Most of the country can be summed up in: trees, corn, brush, dirt (as you drive further west). But, we did see a few picture worthy things! A few cool bridges, the St. Louis arch, and wind mills were our favorites.