My, Oh, My! It's the 4th of July!

Well, it WAS the 4th of July a few weeks ago...

 What an adventure this 4th of July was! We were all planning to go to WA for the 4th of July weekend again, but the plans changed last minute because we had to get 4 new [used] tires for my car and our trip money was depleted. We cancelled the trip and we were all really, really bummed. Especially my two younger brothers. However, when my brother, Mitchell, who's in the Navy up in WA found out we weren't coming anymore, he came to the rescue and made it possible for us to get up there. Thanks, Mitchell!!!

We left on Saturday morning, the next day after Mitchell bailed us out, and the drive up there was... less than pleasurable and just a tad above unbearable. It's about a 12 hour drive when you're not having to stop very often, but with a 1 1/2 year-old and two teenage boys who didn't sleep at all the night before and couldn't help out very well, it was almost a complete disaster. Talk about stressful! Plus, Russ couldn't go because he had so much to do here with school and work, so help with Rusty wasn't ideal. And then, to make matters worse, my front passenger side tire completely blew [up] just outside of Baker, OR (which I hear is a death trap!), so I spent almost an hour and a half on the side of the road with a screaming toddler, two ornery teenage boys, and a the sound of me crying for the trip to be over and for the people at Allstate Roadside Assistance to die. Seriously, I've had better days. I had my brother, Colten, call Russ, who had just gotten out of the temple, and tell him what was going on. (Funny side note- just before Russ went INTO the temple he called me and said that if I needed him, he wouldn't be available for the next 3 hours or so, so if I had any car troubles- run out of gas, flat tire, etc- to call Roadside Assistance... who knew...) He was also less than thrilled to know we were stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere with no help in the immediate future. However, being the awesome guy that he is, he looked up tire places in Baker, found a Les Schwab that was still open, despite the holiday weekend, and arranged for them to come and pick us up. It took less than 10 minutes and it was without stress. Let's just say I was SO beyond bugged with Allstate!! I spoke with 2 different people and neither of them could help me! I mean, REALLY??

When I got to Les Schwab, they informed me that my new [used] tires were not at all the right tires for my car... the tire place that got us the 4 tires gave us 3 different tires! Needless to say, instead of getting just one tire replaced, we ended up spending almost $600 to get 4 brand new tires! They said if we only got the one replaced, with the 3 different treads, my transmission could blow, so I really didn't have a choice. Russ was SO MAD and had them put the other 4 tires, including the one that was completely blown out, in bags and put them in my car to bring home. He was bound and determined to get all of our money back from that stupid tire shop in UT, and we did, thank goodness. Anyway, after this whole debacle and feeling extremely stressed out and exhausted, we decided that we had had enough for the day and drove out of Baker (no way we were staying there!) to Pendleton, about an hour and a half away, to stay the night and resume in the morning. 

Here comes another good story:

As we were driving away from Baker, I called Russ and asked him to call ahead and reserve us a hotel room for the night. Obviously I wanted something nice, but cheap, so the only hotel in town that wasn't booked for the holiday weekend was a MOTEL called "Relax Inn". We pull up and I had to see the room first, before booking anything. The room seemed okay. We were only staying the night, so I wasn't going to be overly picky. The area seemed okay, so I booked it. I made the kids stay in the car while I booked the room, then we went into town to pick up some Burger King and came right back. As were pulling up to the motel, it was surrounded by fire trucks, an ambulance, and police cars. OH. MY. GOSH!!!! Driving into the parking lot we could see a man laying down on the sidewalk with a ton of people talking to the police, while the police were taking notes and looking from the man to the roof, and then back down to their pad of paper as they continued to write notes... Okay, so what would YOU gather from that scene? I seriously think that that dude jumped off of the building! We all raced out of the car and went up to our room, locked the door and ate our dinner in relative peace. I had to go outside to the car a few times to get things we needed for the night, but other than that, we stayed behind locked doors for the rest of our stay. We heard some drunken idiots around midnight laughing and yelling in Spanish for about 20 minutes, but other than that, we all slept well, under the circumstances. 

We left the following morning at 8. I got a speeding ticket coming out of Snoqualmie Pass. Miss the exit to the freeway I was supposed to take to get to my dad's house. Got all the way into Seattle before I realized I had made a mistake. Back-tracked about 20-30 miles. And then...

WE FINALLY MADE IT TO MY DAD'S HOUSE!!!

I NEVER want to make that drive again. Honestly. I will fly when we go up there, or we just won't go. Aside from the misery of the trip up there, it's such a long, boring, and hard trip to make, especially with little ones. 

On a much happier note, the actual visit at my Dad's house was AWESOME! For the first time in, I think, 6 years since I have been back to WA to visit, it didn't rain once! It even got into the 80's a few days, the sun was shining the entire time, and it felt SO NICE to be outside all day! We had a blast!

Rusty was my Dad's best bud as soon as we go there. Since we had just been to his house in April, he was familiar with his house, with him and Judith, his wife, and he had so much fun wandering around my Dad's gorgeous yard and playing in the grass, climbing up rocks, throwing rocks in the 2 ponds and the stream that goes through my Dad's yard, and following my Dad around to help in his greenhouse and garden. Oh, and we can't forget the pheasant coop, the horses that live on the other side of my Dad's fence, and the riding lawnmower and Kubota tractor that he wanted to ride nonstop! My Dad has the most awesome, almost-kid-friendly, yard and we have so much fun enjoying it when we're there! 

My brothers, Mitchell and Derek, came down for a few days, which was awesome! I haven't seen Derek since last 4th of July, so I was anxious to see him and to show off how much Rusty has grown since then. They loved each other and had so much fun together. :) Mitch saw Rusty in April when we were there last, but Rusty had grown a ton since then, too, so it was fun getting them reacquainted. They boys immediately left as soon as we got there to go to the Indian Reservation and buy fireworks. My whole family is a bunch of pyros, so we had fun lighting off fireworks for a few days. :) We also played softball and kickball, which was SO FUN! I really miss our outdoor activities as a family. It would have been fun to have my sister, Caitlin, and brother, Jeremy, and his wife, Cassie, with us... then it would have been a REAL family circus! ha ha! With 6 younger siblings, and the majority of them boys, we had a ton of fun growing up. And we always had pretty big yards, so you can imagine the fun we had. :)

We got to go to the zoo while we were there, as well! It was Rusty's first time ever going to a zoo, and since he pretty much knows how to make the sound of almost all of the animals at a zoo, it was pretty funny watching him discover what the animals actually looked like in person! As with any toddler, his attention span can only go so far and his tolerance of the zoo lasted about an hour... if that. The rest of the time we were there he just wanted to push his little stroller around, so we didn't stay for very long. Plus, it was about 84 degrees that day, so it was hot and humid. Grandma Judith did, however, insist on buying him some gifts from the gift store, so Rusty got a zoo plush ball that he loves, and some educational animal flash cards that Judith couldn't resist getting him. :) He loves both!

After the zoo, Colten, Rusty and I went over to Port Orchard to visit my Grandma Malmstrom for, what seems to be, the last time before she passes away, so it was a little bittersweet. I love my grandma; I always have, so it was so good to go and visit her, but it was a little hard for me to digest the fact that it would probably be the last time I see her in this life. She seemed happy and somewhat healthy still, which I was so grateful for, but she told me that she's ready to go. I asked her what her last wish would be if she were granted one and she said that she'd wish to go peacefully, in her sleep. She was a little melancholy thinking about her life, both past and present, but I hope for the most part that she thinks her life was enjoyable and worthwhile. I told her that one of my favorite memories with her are of when I was little and she took me on a walk to collect pennies on the sidewalk. She said that someone must have dropped a bunch that day, because we literally found half of a sandwich bag full of pennies! I was 3 or 4 then, but I literally remember that day in detail. It was good day. I also told her I loved our walks around her neighborhood and going over this little bridge that her neighbor had in his garden. These memories are almost sacred to me and I'm so glad I had such a special relationship with her.

We also got to see "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" in 3D while we were there, and it was so good! We even took Rusty with us and he was perfect the whole movie! He even seemed to like it, even though he didn't wear the 3D glasses. If you haven't seen it yet, you must! It's so good! 

All in all, it was a great trip and we had a lot of fun. Russ was miserable back in UT without us, so Rusty and I left earlier than planned to come home to him. Poor guy. He has been SO stressed out at work and school this summer and has felt really overwhelmed with everything lately, so he needed us to come home. I was kind of nervous for our drive back, since it would just be Rusty and I, but the trip back was actually a dream compared to our trip up there! He didn't cry once! He fussed a few times because he was hungry or tired, but other than that he was a complete angel and we actually had a lot of fun! He took 2 naps, we only stopped 3 times (for gas, food, and so he could get out and poop... he can't poop in his carseat!), and we made it hope by 10:00 that night, so the total time for the trip home was just under 15 hours. Not bad! We were sure happy to be home, though! Russ and my sister greeted us outside as we pulled up and when we walked in, I could immediately tell that they had cleaned the entire house. There is nothing better than walking into a clean, orderly house after a long, tiring trip! They even washed the baseboards in my bathroom! How awesome is that?!?! 

Phew! I know this was pretty much a book, but I just had to document this trip! As always, here are the pictures from our fabulous trip. :)

This first picture is of the place that I broke down at in Baker, OR. I HAD to take a picture of it as I was driving home, just so I would remember how much I hate it. 

These other pictures are from the FUN times we had! :)