I got the sweetest voicemail sometime in April from our amazing niece Mallory giving us a heads up that she was going through the temple in a few weeks and inviting us to be there. Ummm, yes please! Of course it was a weekend Chuck worked and would officially make it three weekends in a row I'd gone to Utah but neither of those factors slowed me down at all ;). We switched things up a bit and left Carma Junie home with my mama, so I hit the road Friday afternoon with just my three little boys:
We left late to accommodate Clyde's end of the season tennis party, which meant we rolled into Kaysville pretty late. The boys all stumbled into Courtney's guest room and took over the bed, leaving me the floor. Whatev, they were asleep immediately so I was thrilled! And I loved having some time in the morning with Court and baby Davis... who is really not a baby any more! Thanks for always being SO willing to let us crash with you Courtney.
Next up we headed over to Blues for some cousin time! I abandoned Will and Jack pretty quickly and hopped back in the car with Mallory and Clyde to go watch George play some Ultimate frisbee:
George is the cute one in the bright yellow and orange shoes. Confession: I've never really watched Ultimate Frisbee BUT I do love watching sports live, so I jumped right into the frisbee spectator life... until that game was over and it was going to be a while until George's team played again. Then, like the bandwagon fan I am, I peace'd out ;). We left Clyde there with Kevin and George and Mallory and I headed back north!
As if this weekend wasn't jarring enough to a nice aunt who just wants her nieces and nephews to stay little, it turns out Courtney can like legally drive. Ridiculous. We piled in the car for a quick D.I. trip and she did AMAZINGLY WELL and then we miiiight have laughed a little at Terri and Sue fitting all their purchases into the trunk ;).
Have I mentioned that I was a pretty absentee mom all day? Clyde found no reason for complaint, as he and George holed up with the XBOX once they got home.
Welllll what do we have here? A cute picture of me and Court that she posted to facebook with this caption: "everyone this is my super cool aunt jana! i lost a bet and now i have to say that she is the all wise and all knowing, etc. love you!! (ps come to utah more often)"
... sidenote: if you have to post a picture on facebook because you lose a bet, isn't it illegal to disclose that fact? Like don't you have to post it and leave out the whole part about the bet? hahahaha
Didn't get a lot of quality time with Miss Lily this trip, but we managed to sneak in some really incredible aunt/niece selfies. And she and Will got to hang out alllll the livelong day together, which is what both of them wanted anyways!
I turned Jack over to Aunt Amanda for most of the day - and he was in heaven! He loved hanging out (sometimes literally haha) with cousins Anna and James. Love all these pictures Amanda sent me.
And then it was temple time! All the kiddos stayed home with Courtney and George (and possibly Clyde haha) in charge. Mallory and Melissa needed to be there before the rest of us, so they sent me these pictures of Mallory later. Such a beautiful, strong, capable, wise niece! I am so proud of how committed she is to follow her dreams and how she asks for help when she needs it and finds joy in life and is so loyal to her family and friends. I loved being able to watch her in the temple, a place where she can find peace and inspiration and be reminded of her worth and God's plan for her.
The Salt Lake temple gets me every time - such a beautiful building and such an incredible testament to those who gave so much to build a house of God.
I'd driven myself so I miiiight have taken a few extra minutes before and after to wander around and play photographer:
Love it.
I made it back to my chillens and then made a fairly impulsive decision that luckily turned out all right ;). My original plan was to stay one more night and drive back in the morning, making it for 1pm church. But honestly, I really wanted my house. And my bed. And to wake up on Mother's Day at home. Aaaaand I was pretty wide awake. So at 10pm I tossed the three boys in the car, fed them McDonalds and got myself a Dr. Pepper and headed for Nampa!
There's also a chance I let everyone down there believe that I was indeed staying another night... and that I didn't tell Chuck my plan... but about an hour into the drive I realized I should probably tell SOMEONE I was on the freeway so I opted for the one person I knew for sure would still be awake, Dan haha. He told me this was not a wise plan but stayed up and talked with me for an hour and then told me to call any time.
The boys did awesome - Jack and I sneaked into a rest stop just before 2am for a bathroom break but otherwise they just slept and slept while I listened to music!
We made it home right around 3am safe and sound and just an hour before Chuck needed to wake up anyways for work haha! I loved finding this sign on the garage and I loved being home after such a wonderful quick trip to Utah. It means a lot to me to attend as many family events as possible and Mallory going through the temple was absolutely worth it.
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