Utah

Mandi and I packed up our three boys and three girls, loaded them into the suburban and drove the eight hours (9 1/2 for me) to Cedar City for a week. It was a great week. The six kids were angels on the drive up.

During the week we drove another hour north up to Beaver for a cousin picnic. And also to get the brood of ten children out of the house so that a Realtor and prospective buyers could take a look at it in peace.
My gorgeous niece Andersyn, and her new child Caleb. I think she should come live with me and take care of this boy always! What do you think Andee? I'll pay you in motherly love! Maybe not, that's stretched kind of thin, how about in chocolate? Hmmm.

The boys. Talin, Crew & Collin.

The twins.

They are always together.

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One of the highlights was visiting the property to feed the animals. JoDee and Shane are proud parents (I hope I get the numbers right) to 9 rabbits, 10 (?) chickens, 3 donkeys, 2 goats, 4 pigs, and one yellow lab puppy. Did I miss any??

Andee introducing the kids to the animals.

Nothing scares this boy. He loved the animals.

My boys hanging out with Burrito, who might become a father to two this fall. Let's see, that would make five donkeys.

Cool.

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When the brood of children were not outside playing in the water, riding bikes, or scootering around the yard, they were to be found playing legos. One afternoon they played for four hours straight. It was really neat. It's a love hate relationship with legos, for me.

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When they weren't playing, which was not often, we put them to work. Shucking corn was one chore. Cleaning up the backyard was another. Cleaning up their "Cousin's Club" they created was another, and a nightmare for Jo and I who had to empty their bucket which was used as the toilet and which they all took a turn peeing in. So gross.
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Us adults spent our time on the back porch monitoring the kids and playing cards. Intense games of cards. During these times we would sit Caleb at the table while he was hooked up to his g-tube eating. And this is where we found his amazing talent of cup stacking. Madalyn was his assistant and in charge of setting up the cups, and Caleb was king of taking them down, in the suavest way possible. He was so obsessed he even napped while clutching his stack of cups.
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It was so sad to come home. We loved all the time spent outdoors and letting the kids run wild for a week.

I think Mandi and I knew that the stars were stacked against us, there was no way the kids could duplicate the calm, wonderful behavior for the ride home that they had for the ride there.

They are lucky they all survived. Reagan slept and London pretended to sleep. The kids fought. Screamed. Cried. Complained. Walked into a truck stop bathroom barefoot (Talin!!!).

The most classic of all is when we stopped for lunch at Jacob's Lake and sat down at the table. Our waitress approached and brought coloring sheets for the kids and a mug full of crayons. She then said,

"Be sure you put the crayons back into the mug when you're done coloring, I really don't like to pick them up from off the floor. It's annoying."

And Mandi still tipped her.

This is one of my favorite views. After hours driving on the reservation you catch a glimpse of the mountains and you know you're close to Flagstaff and pine trees and a beautiful drive.

Can't wait for our next Utah trip!

Thank you Adair's for putting up with us.