Another Road Trip

For most of you, or all of you, this post might be dull ramblings and although I haven't yet claimed my blog to be my journal, I just feel like I should document this trip and this is the format I find most enjoyable for such documentations.

There aren't a lot of pictures to capture the moments for two reasons, the first being that everything seemed to go by so quickly. Our stops were brief. The second reason is that this road trip was just me and my little guys and found that my hands were always busy. It actually turned out to be quite challenging. (Don't ask why that surprised me, it shouldn't have.)

First stop after departing Boise was Mountain Home. We stopped there to see my friend Autumn and her new little boy Justin. He was so sweet and it felt nice to hold a newborn. Cameron had fun playing with Lizzie and I think Lizzie was having fun too because she asked if Cameron could stay and I could pick him up on my way home.

Second stop was Twin Falls where we took my little brother Darren to lunch at Pizza Hut. Darren loves the boys, he's a great uncle and we wish we could have spent more time with him.

After dropping Darren off at work we went to see my college roommate Ashley. I hadn't seen her since her wedding last summer and she hadn't ever met Eli. I'm looking forward to someday meeting her little offspring. :)

From there we went to Jodi's house where we could relax a little bit and Cameron was happy to play with another person his size again. In fact he was having such a good time he didn't want to go to the Twin Falls temple open house with me. So, I went alone. Which turned out to be a really nice and reflective experience. I'm grateful I had that opportunity. If you are still reading, thank you Jodi and Eric for a delicious dinner, babysitting my boys, generous hospitality and just good company.

We stayed in Twin overnight and the next morning hit the road for Provo. It was a long morning to say the least! I think the most difficult part of the trip were the regular visits to public restrooms. Cameron still requires frequent potty trips and it was a nightmare trying to keep Eli from touching anything while helping Cameron do what was necessary. Inevitably it ended up that Cameron and Eli would both need hand washing which meant lifting them both to the sink and maneuvering hands, soap, etc. Then helping them both dry (curse the air dryers, I don't care if they are environmentally friendly!) without letting them touch anything again. I'm really not an excessive germ-a-phobe but public restrooms are just a little too icky.

Once in Provo we headed to the graduation. I thought the boys did pretty well and I really enjoyed the talks by Richard G. Scott and John Hughes, who spoke at the second commencement the next morning. Two graduations, yes that is the way it is at a big university like BYU.

Hence, the only picture to document our trip. Congratulations Laura. College graduation is a pretty big deal in my opinion. Good for you!
We had BBQ with family on Thursday night and went to lunch Friday after a nice tour of campus with the fam. Then we headed home! The drive home went relatively smoothly, and I felt a little bit better because Gordon and Julie were close at hand and very helpful.

The only stop I didn't get to make was at IKEA. I figured if a public restroom stressed me out then I better not venture into that huge abyss. Maybe next time.

I have a new gratitude or a renewed gratitude for the following things:

-paper towells for drying hands
-the car dvd system
-Richard!
-good friends
-new friends (Michelle probably won't read my blog but Laura's sister was a ray of sunshine to me while in Provo)
-temples
-cruise control

One last story: Ben got Laura some balloons for graduation and she gave one to Cameron. Of course he let it go and it started floating up to the sky. He begged and begged me to get it back and I tried to explain that it was too high. He said "But we just need a ladder!" Ben was quick to reply "We just need an airplane!"