For the first time in Hough history, we decided to take a family trip over spring break. Jared's never been in a position with school or work to take that much time off. The doctors get priority. We had originally planned to go on a cruise over spring break, but then we noticed the prices were cheaper at Christmas, so we went that route instead. That's when I was prompted, rather urgently, to take the kids to Utah for a Lee family reunion. My parents haven't had all their grand kids together before. With Jake's graduation on the horizon, this trip seemed very important. So that's what we did. Fortunately and gratefully, my sister Michelle and brother Mike and their kids made the trip up from Arizona and down from Ogden, respectively, to make the reunion possible.
Friday, March 9th--We picked the kids up early from school the last day before the break officially began just so we wouldn't have to wait for them to all come home and we could get a couple hours head start. It would be a late night no matter what. We were headed to Amarillo, TX. Which we learned is a big jumping off point for Texans as they head to Colorado. We could not believe how much traffic we ran into at 9pm!
Grateful that Jake could do some of the driving for us.
We had to get two motel rooms and because it was so late, we ordered in for dinner. The rooms were pretty small, but they weren't moving like the car and we could lay horizontal and stretch our weary bodies out. As we drug all our bags out for the night, I learned a couple years ago going to Georgia that the next time we do an overnight trip on the road, I am packing jammies and a change of clothes and our hygiene things in one Go-bag so that will be the only thing we have to unpack for the night. Best travel decision ever.
Sat. March 10th--Happy 12th Birthday Karcyn! I'm sorry you had to spend it stuck in a moving vehicle for 11 hours with your obnoxious brothers.
Stopping at Denny's for an early dinner. They have a few gluten free food items that Karcyn felt like eating.
After we left Denny's we had a couple more hours before it got dark. Then we started making our way into the Utah mountains in the southeast corner of the state. I decided to check GPS to see how much longer we had and I noticed we were going AWAY from Utah. I told Jared and he realized he made a wrong turn and even remembered where it was. Unfortuately it added an extra 45 to 60 minutes to our already long day. And as we drove through the last pass that would take us into the St. George area, there was snow falling!! Not cool when you're exhausted and it's dark and around 10pm. Definitely wasn't expecting that.
When we finally arrived at my parents' home in Santa Clara, there were balloons and signs all over wishing Karcyn a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, if only for the next hour before we turned in for the night. :) It was such a sweet and thoughtful way to make Karcyn's day special.
There were even gifts waiting for her to open up on Sunday after church and more decorations inside. My mom always knows how to make things special!
My parents' missonary plaque shrine. :) They got their own plaques when they went on their first mission. But I guess they got smart and combined them into one when the wards realized my parents would be going on many more missions!
Karcyn ready for her first day in YW--in another ward, in another state! Our family was given the "extra wing" of the house and we stayed in the 5th Wheel Trailer parked along the side of the house. It was perfect for our crew.
Trying to herd the cats for a family picture.
One of these will have to do!!
JJ and Brooke (her dad, Shawn, married my sister, Michelle, just a few months previously), playing together.
Calvin and Jameson hanging out.
Karcyn and Kaden getting to know each other.
Bruce.
Michelle, Christian, Jake and Jared.
Cooper, too.
JJ ready to walk to church!
Playing frisbee across the pool. (Seems a little risky to me!)
Calvin attracted to electronics like a moth to the light...
Cooper challenging Grandma to a Tetris battle. My parents are ruthless when it comes to Tetris!
Now there's an organized group playing frisbee over the pool. ;)
I love wandering through my parents' home at any given time and gaze at the pictures and knick knacks and collections and just...remember...
This is a picture of my Grandma (Opal) Cooper with her twin brother, Orville. Grandma is on the right. Orville died of a ruptured appendix when he was just 14. So so tragic.
My mom's halibut she caught in Alaska! It's a beauty! I never had the opportunity to go halibut fishing myself.
My dad's model airplane mobile.
Pictures of our family and extended family. JJ is that cute oval in the middle. Jake is beneath him. Calvin is the rectangle above JJ to the right. Karcyn is the bottom right oval. Jared and I are in the bottom left corner and Cooper is the oval above our picture and to the left. My parents are the upper left couple. My sister Kelly and her husband Steve and the rectangle on the right. My sister Shell is in the red hat and my brother Mike and his wife are the couple above her. :)
JJ enjoying the sleeping bag/foam piles.
JJ helping Grandpa clean the pool.
And threatening to jump in.
Karcyn coloring one of her birthday gifts.
The boys playing with birthday balloons.
Karcyn's finished product.
On Monday, March 12th--we headed for the St. George Temple visitor's center. Sadly, that temple was closed the week we were there. But we could still go see it and learn more about it.
Sure you're ready for this, Mom??
Us following my Dad--coming down the canyon with the temple in the center of the picture.
Learning about the early saints who settled St. George from Elder Scoresby...who is related to our friend and neighbor, Richard Scoresby back in College Station!!
Christian answered a question correctly and Jake gave him a fist bump. :)
Love this!
My family and Shell's in front of the temple.
The sun was pretty bright!
This house used to belong to my friend, Laura Bell. She and her husband moved into my ward in College Station when I was the Relief Society president. Noel Bell was my parents' home teacher. They lived just a few houses down from each other. But did not know the connection when the Bells came to College Station. That was a really fun connection to make!! I took this picture to show Laura. :)
Karcyn helping Grandma clean out the pool to get ready for a Spring Break swim!
I forget what this is. A human wrap raft. :) I think Michelle got it for my parents. It was pretty hysterical. Because there's a child in it right now.
There's JJ peeking out.
Haha! We're not totally sure how it was supposed to work as it "ate" little humans.
JJ having a good time!
Tuesday, March 13th--we drove three miles down the road from Grandma and Grandpa's house toward Las Vegas to go on a hike and look for petroglyphs in the Santa Clara River Preserve. Left to right...Christian, Shell and Cooper and the others up ahead.
Jared, Jake and JJ.
Karcyn and Jameson.
Christian and Cooper.
Everyone climbing the rocks looking for the petroglyphs.
Bruce and Calvin.
Karcyn.
Jared.
Jake.
Calvin and Cooper being the ever-dramatic. ;)
So fun! Just what our boys need...places to climb and explore.
Christian and Jake.
The two oldest grandsons and Grandpa!
Yay--the fam!
Shell rallying her troops for a picture.
Haha!! Nailed it!
Shell, Mom and Jenn.
Jared and Jake.
Heading back.
Our little guys and cacti!
Our group split up from there...the girls (except me) went back to Grandma's, while the boys all went with Grandpa on another relatively short drive to Grandpa's prime spot to look for petrified wood.
Following Grandpa's truck.
On the hunt...
JJ found some!
Jake found a stink bug. :)
All EIGHT grandsons and Grandpa! Super special!!
We took advantage of a Deseret Industries nearby and headed there to look for clothes, mostly. But the little kids saw this butterfly that holds earrings and immediately thought we needed to get it for Grandma. So we did! She LOVED it and all her earrings fit perfectly!!
Some more memories from around the house. Dad took me on a fishing/camping trip. I forget where, but we had to be flown in on a small plane piloted by his friends, the Andersons. They have a cabin out there. I remember distinctly that I felt like I was going to puke. Which really surprised me. I've been flying since I was 6 weeks old. My dad said that you feel the movement more in a small plane. Ahhh. Fortunately, I kept my breakfast down but Dad reported my face was pretty green. We rode on a 4 wheeler to go exploring and we went fishing on a river nearby. I didn't catch this King salmon. Someone else did. But Dad got a picture of me holding it...it was still alive! Those things are SO heavy!!! And it was thrashing. I'm surprised it didn't just leap out of my arms. Fun times!
Later that night, we had plans to drive to Hurricane (hurri-cuhn), UT to meet up with Jared's former MTC (Missionary Training Center) companion--Shane Johnson and his wife. These are his amazing parents, Dean and Marcia (both of whom were at our wedding).
It was a gorgeous drive up the canyon for dinner at Oscar's Cafe in Springdale, UT at the mouth of Zion National Park. I wasn't real happy when my parents decided to sell their home in Alaska and move to Southern Utah instead. Alaska is an incredible place with raw, untamed beauty and wildlife. The multitude of experiences are never ending. The vast distance from kids and grandkids is definitely a downside, though. So I get it. But I was convinced we wouldn't like the St. George area like we loved Alaska. But my heart is softening. I couldn't get enough of the beauty here and told Jared that we should consider this area as a 2nd choice for retirement (Arkansas being the front runner at the moment. :)
Yummy fish tacos!
Two peas in a pod! Shane Johnson and Jared Hough.
An impromptu family picture.
On Wednesday, March 14th, we headed for Snow Canyon State Park about a 15 minute drive from my parents' house.
Karcyn and a tiny lizard, which we're pretty sure she accidentally squeezed to death. :(
Look at these ancient lava flows!! We ran all the way up to the top!
Love this family picture!
JJ loving the wide open space on the rocks.
Jake taking a picture.
The red Navajo sandstone is really impressive.
Mother-daughter selfie.
Run free, kiddos!
At the top!
Gorgeous!
Most the crew. Cooper wasn't at this spot yet. Gotta grab the pictures when you can!
Most the cousin crew!
It was a blessedly beautiful day.
Yay!! Now we have the entire Merrill/Hough/DeWitte cousin crew, minus Brooke.
JJ is like a mountain goat.
Cooper, too!
Jake and JJ coming back down.
Father-daughter selfie. :)
I love how there's a metal, half dome with a white arrow on it to show you where to go.
After that invigorating and breathtaking trip to Snow Canyon, we headed to the bowling alley! There's Karcyn and Brooke. The lone girls (both with FOUR brothers) need to stick together.
I'm not sure who won, but we have fun no matter way. Bowling is definitely a family favorite. We were super happy to have my brother, Mike and his daughter Kaitlyn (center) join us for the party!
After lunch it was time to break out the bubbles and go crazy!! ALL the kids had a blast. Never knew teenagers would get such a kick out of bubbles. :)
Nice face, Mom! Looks reminiscent of your ride on a dolphin in January. :)
Don't hurt yourself, Jake!
Mmm, lunch on the back patio with Grandpa. What could be better?
A group pic before Shell had to head home.
Aunt Shell with the Houghlings.
Aunt Shell with all her nieces and nephews on the Lee side. We're so sad Shawn couldn't make it (plans changed at the last minute) but are BEYOND grateful Shell came with the kids herself. She's a better woman than I am.
JJ and JJ saying goodbye. :) Jameson sometimes goes by JJ.
After lunch, Dad took the rest of us shooting (minus JJ, who was too little--so they went to see the movie, "Peter Rabbit" instead.)
Mike.
Cooper.
Jared.
Jake, Grandpa and Jared. At one point, when my dad was ready and aiming at a target, Cooper walked right in front of him. My dad LOST it. He jumped all over Cooper and was furious that Cooper would walk on the shooting range when a gun was up. I can't remember what Coop thought he needed to do. My dad actually needed a moment. He was scared to death when he realized how close he came to shooting Cooper in the head. My dad was actively pulling the trigger back when he happened to catch something out of the corner of his eye and stopped. We were all a little sick with adrenaline after that. Once Dad got his wits about him, he went back to Cooper to make sure he knew how much he loved him and was only utterly terrified at what might have happened. My dad never would have been able to live with himself. Cooper definitely had angels watching over him that day.
Jared teaching Calvin how to shoot.
Now it's the girls' turn.
Jared teaching Karcyn.
She did really great!
Chillaxing.
Kaitlyn playing some tunes.
Grandpa being silly.
Kaitlyn following suit. Haha!
Friday, March 16th--time for Mike and Kaitlyn to head home. We're so so happy they could make it! It was iffy for a bit.
The Houghs and the Lees.
Cooper challenging Grandma to a Tetris rematch.
Later that afternoon, we headed to the Cedar City Utah temple. It was an hour away, but it was the best we could do. We can't come to Utah and NOT go to the temple. Especially because Karcyn was now 12 and SHE could do temple baptisms now, too! Our awesome Bishop interviewed her before we left (and before her birthday) and he tried to issue her limited use recommend to us before we left town, but the computer wouldn't allow it because she wasn't 12 yet. But--Bishop Graham just sent it to us in an email after March 10th so that we could have it for this special day. I'm so grateful for technology in these instances!
The Cedar City Temple.
We had an amazing time doing baptisms and confirmations for our kindred dead. Jake baptized all of us. Being at the temple with my family filled my soul with joy. But even the freezing cold and biting wind couldn't of the Utah mountains couldn't keep us from smiling! Mom was a gem and took JJ to McDonalds for lunch and a treat while we served in the temple. We couldn't have done it without her.
That white stuff is snow.
Jake challenging Grandpa to a Tetris battle. :)
And then we were off. Back on the road for the two day journey (roughly 23 combined hours) to Texas. Phew. That's a long drive. 4 days of driving. But absolutely worth it!! We stopped in Albuquerque, NM on the way home as our "halfway" point. The kids were troopers. We feel so blessed to have been able to gather together as a family and make some very special memories with cousins and aunts and uncles they haven't seen in a long time or ever.
This rest area is one we're familiar with in Texas because of all the awesome equipment to play on.
We were being chased by some severe weather that afternoon. (I love how Karcyn is trying to find her inner peace. :)
We swung by the mailbox on the way home. Our stake president had texted Jake on TUESDAY, to say that his mission call had ALREADY been assigned...3 days after it was submitted. :o Perhaps it would be waiting for us when we got back. Sure enough...it was!!! You can read all about THAT fun reveal
here.
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