Family Trip

Aaron started a new job this past week on Halloween.  He is no longer working in OC Jail and has now moved over to the UCI ED, which is one of the top rated hospitals for trauma in our area.  The ED has always been a passion of his, so we're very happy about the opportunities this provides him.  When we found out that he would have a weekend open before he started his position, we figured it was a good time to visit my grandparents.  I'm not sure when I'll be able to travel next with August's upcoming arrival.

It worked out perfectly that the weekend Aaron had free was also the weekend that my Uncle would be traveling down from Salt Lake City with his family and my Aunts would be traveling up from So Cal. 

We left at 1:00p on Friday and stayed overnight in Las Vegas.  Aaron hadn't been in 9 years and the girls had never been, so it was quite an adventure.  We did LOADS of walking.  Not one complaint from the girls either and it was chilly out.  We had such a wonderful time taking in the sights!  The downside of our adventure in Sin City was all the things around us that were not-so-kid-friendly.  Fortunately, my girls are still oblivious to drunken groups of people and pictures of virtually naked women EVERYWHERE.

On Saturday, we woke up and grabbed some breakfast on the outskirts of Vegas before heading up to meet the family in St. George.  My grandparents actually live just North of St. George, but the family had all come in to St. George for shopping/eating for the day.  We met up with them at Tai Pan Trading Company.  For those that know of TPT Co., I didn't think their other stores could be any bigger than the one they have in Rancho.  Boy, was I wrong.

After TPT Co, we headed to Wal-Mart, and then to Paradise Bakery.  I had to laugh as we were taking pictures inside the Subway within the Wal-Mart.  Nothing says family reunion like the Subway in Wal-Mart.  AWESOME.

We only had 5 hours together with my extended family before they headed back to my grandparent's home.  I would have loved to have spent more time with them, but we would have had to turn around the moment we got to their home to start our own journey home.

I think one of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing my grandparents sit and visit with our girls through out all of dinner.  It was so nice to hear my grandparents speak so highly of the intelligence and sweet spirits that my daughters possess.  They really are amazing little girls and it felt good to know that my grandparents were able to see that in our short time together.

Since we had a little bit of time before we needed to get on the road, we headed to visit the St. George Temple.  We have a replica of this Temple in our home so it was exciting for the girls to see it in all of its life-size glory.  We also had the opportunity to go into the Visitor's Center and watch a video of God's Plan for Us.  What a sweet experience that was for me to recall the great blessing I've been given to be a part of an eternal family.  I falter so much in life, yet I've still somehow been found worthy to be a part of this amazing family!  What a gift they are in my life!

One little glimpse of our travels home.  It was a whirlwind trip (34 hours to be exact) with lots of time on the road (12+ hours), but it was a memorable one that I will treasure forever.