*Schnowflake*

What a fun weekend we had! We went up to Snowflake to visit my Mom and it was the best weekend I have had in a while! We were so spoiled & pampered all weekend, now its back to reality! Good thing the rest of the weekend made up for the INSANELY MISERABLE drive up. I almost pulled my hair out. My kids were better behaved on the SIX hour drive to Cali this summer, than this measly 2.5 hour drive. I was unjustly tortured in between Thing 1 and Thing 2, or "Overactive Bladder/are-we-there-yet-kid" and "Crazy-screaming-for-no-reason -kid" who repeated "Snowflake... cold... Snowflake...cold..." the entire way there. Then he demanded to wear his jacket in the warm car. Telling him NO backfired, so somehow I managed to get the DANG jacket on without undoing his car seat straps! It took some major finagling, but somehow I accomplished the task! DON'T be fooled by his smile in that picture, he is such a FAKER! I made Brayden go pee RIGHT before we left, and he had to pee again before we were even out of Mesa, & then again just outside of Payson!!! Grrr! We FINALLY got there Friday night & my mom had warm chili & cornbread for us, we were FREEZING, STARVING & GRUMPY, so it hit the spot. We let the kids play for a while & finally crashed late that night. The next morning, we got lucky again & had waffles & my FAVORITE comfort food, Cream of Wheat with extra sugar & "lumpies." Then we went to a real Pumpkin Patch, it was cold & windy, but the kids loved picking pumpkins, and I was AMAZED by these ginormous sunflowers everywhere, they were like 6 ft tall--and COVERED in sunflower seeds, imagine that! I am such a deprived city girl, I didn't even know that's how sunflower seeds grow. Am I the only idiot?? I guess I never really thought about it, but I found it rather fascinating, and they were really tasty too!



Then we went back to the house for the arrival of my sisters, niece, & brother. It was "the original 4" (meaning my siblings before my parents got remarried) it was like old times again & we had fun catching up. The boys played basketball & my mom made us turkey/avocado/bacon sandwiches for lunch. Then we all chatted and then took naps. Jer woke up & looked out the window to see my Mom & my brother (with a ponytail in his hair) racing quads up the mountain, he was cracking up, I wish I coulda saw that one! So then we all went quad riding, SO MUCH FUN!! My mom lives in the middle of nowhere, so you are free to just roam wherever you want. That night we went out to dinner, then came back & carved pumpkins, baked sugar cookies, and got ready for a "brain beatin" as my Mom called it, and played 'Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?' in which case some of us found out we were not!





On Sunday, we all went to church in the morning, my little brother Chase was in the primary program, so we got to watch him. Then, we came back & my Mom treated us to brunch with baked french toast, sausage, & fruit salad. Lucky us, and what better way to end a delicious meal than with another afternoon NAP! YAY! :) the boys played the Wii and we just hung out and tried to digest before we were served yet another meal before our departure. This time Mom made roasted chicken, fresh green beans, rolls, and then we had an early celebration for Braydens b-day (since they wont be down next weekend for his real one) and she made homemade flourless chocolate cake & whipped cream. MMMM. I'm tellin ya, we were SPOILED ROTTEN. Then we said our goodbyes :( & drove home. It was a much needed relaxing, delicious, and fun weekend. Did I mention that her guest bed is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in? huge fluffy pillows, warm down comforter & the softest sheets ever. I am really gonna miss it! I LOVE MY FAM. Thanks SO much Mom!!!