It Is Good To Be Home

WARNING: This is a very long post, but a very interesting story. I threw some pictures in just to break it up a little. Enjoy!!

So . . we made an impromtue trip to Idaho to see my family. The map says it is a twelve and a half hour drive straight through. Well, with three little girls and only one adult it is a bit longer. On Dec. 7th, we piled into the van with all our warm clothes, snow suits, boots, snacks, and extra blankets. We drove all the way to Cedar City with no problems. Stayed in a hotel (always fun) and drove the rest of the way on Monday. There was a snow storm over the Salt Lake Valley, but we made it through okay. After two days and 16 hours of driving time we got to Blackfoot, Idaho.

My brother Bret holding his son, Luke.
His other son Noah and cousin Cooper are int he background.

We arrived at my parents house in time for dinner and the girls, who had done so great in the car, were overjoyed to finally be there. My brother's family, that we only get to see once a year, arrived on Wednesday. It was a fun and crazy time. Tthe kids played in the snow almost every day and loved it. They had a slumber party in the living room. We went Christmas Caroling and to church in the snow. After all the fun stuff we were very ready come home. We had planned on leaving on Monday, but there was supposed to be a storm so we decided to wait until Tuesday. Monday morning was clear and bright, but we weren't ready to go. Tuesday morning was cloudy and snowy. But we were packed and ready to go.

Rachel with her decorated sugar cookies.

So with a prayer and my mother stressed out, we left on our journey home. The freeways were clear and it only snowed for about an hour. We made it to Cedar City again and spent the night thinking we would be home the next day. We had a great morning driving on Wednesday, but when we got near Las Vegas the clouds were settling in.

Beka eating her Christmas Tree.

It got really foggy and started to snow. At the edge of Las Vegas it was really snowing. Then we started seeing road signs saying the freeway was closed at Primm from 10am until 2pm for road work. So when we got to Primm, around 12 o'clock, every car had to exit. Little did we know that the freeway would not be opening up agian for 24 hours.

Olivia and Mary putting sprinkles on sugar cookies.

We went into the outlet mall to kill some time. We walked over to a kiosk that was selling crystals, which is Isabel's favorite thing in the world. As we were looking, the lady started asking us about where we had traveled from and where we were going. As I told her we were just trying to get home, I started crying. She warned me that because of the snow, the Cajon Pass might get closed. She gave me a certificate for a free night stay at the hotel, Whiskey Pete's. I thanked her and told her we would be back to buy a crystal.

Logan and Isabel making snowflakes.

After calling Gabe and making the decision to stay, we went back to her kiosk. She told us they had just closed the pass that I had better go get a room. We walked as fast as the four of us could go and got in line for 40 minutes. The girls had a little melt down while waiting in line. We got checked into our free room, then walked to the bathroom which was also at the end of the line. There were probably 150 people in line now trying to get a room. I was so grateful for the lady at the crystal kiosk for her kindness. To get back to our car and lugage I had to walk back through the mall and I saw her agian. I gave her a big hug and told her she was our angel.

Jona (18 months) eating frosting.

After we got settled in our room, we got some games form the toy store and some dinner at the mall. We had a great time playing and hanging out. In the middle of the night my glasses got knocked off the bed stand. Then when I got up to go potty I stepped on them. They broke right in the midddle. Great huh!! The next morning we went to the gas station to get super glue and we also got donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast. There were already cars and trucks lined up to get on the freeway. We ate in our hotel room and I tried, with no luck, to fix my glasses. We didn't have to check out till noon, which was the time they said the freeway would be opening up. We walked around the mall for a long time and did some Christmas shopping.

Almost all the grandkids, Luke and Noah had already left.

Just as we were about to go to our car, the lady from the crystal kiosk came to work. We were able to buy a pink crystal for Isabel for Christmas. We also bought a crytsal angel to hang in our car. I told the lady, whose name is Sharon, that she was our angel. The crystal will remind us of her. She gave us some more advice for places to stay in Victorville in case they closed the pass again before we got there. She was so wonderful, she gave us all a hug and wished us luck and safety.

Cooper and Simon ringing Grandma's bells.

We got settled in our car for a long wait in line to get on the freeway. There where hundreds of cars and semi trucks all in line. After waiting for a little while at the very end of about 100 cars and trucks, without even moving an inch, we decided to drive around and see if they were letting people on yet. We got over near the intersection and cars were getting on the freeway. We found a line and decided to get into it. Just a short wait later we were turning into the intersection leading to the freeway interance. How lucky I thought, until I realized we were in line to get on the north bound freeway. So my shortcut didn't pay off because we had to drive all the way to Jean, NV just 10 minutes away. Then we got off the Northbound freeway and back on the Southbound freeway.

Ellie eating her ice cream cone Christmas Tree.

Over an hour later we were back at Primm and needed a potty break. I tried to get Livi to agree to going potty in the bushes, so we wouldn't have to get off the freeway again, but Livi's OCD was not going to let that happen. We got off and spent another 30 minutes waiting to get back on the freeway. So finally at about 3:30 we counted down to cross over the CA state line. I was crying to hard to say "Welcome to California!"

fGrandma Rose (who hates to cook and bake) making sugar cookies.
Thanks mom for all the fun crafts and goodies to make memories for the kids.

So now it was just a matter of getting over the pass before it got to cold and they closed it again. The traffic was crazy, lots of bottle necking and slow/go. We had to slow down and wait about 20 minutes at the agricultural check point. They just waved us through but there were stopping other cars and trucks. We drove as fast as we could the whole way. The roads were clear in most places and wet in others, but it never got cold enough for ice.

Sofie with her one and only sugar cookie.
I'm lucky I got this picture, because she immediatly
ate all the m&m's and frosting off it.

We got to Victorville and stopped for potty break. We got up and over the pass jsut fine, but coming down all the traffic slowed way down. The rest of the ride home was wonderful. Especially when we started to see things that looked familiar. I was emotional the whole trip home and expected to just burst into tears again as soon as I saw Gabe. The girls and I missed him so much and we were extremely glad to be home. We got home about 7pm, had dinner and we all crashed. The girls fell right asleep and we all slept soooooo good till 6am. Have I said it is good to be home.

As you can see from the pictures, the kids had tons of fun while there with their cousins. It really was a fun trip and well worth it. I just wish it wasn't so hard to travel. And I know my mom will say it so I will say it here. "We just need to live closer!"