Family Reunion

 Family 

This week the last of the Cox Clan filled my parent's house and we all dealt with being crowded for a morning while getting ready for our Lake Martin trip. The girls had a lot of fun with their cousins but I still don’t think they remember all the names of their older cousins! They played mermaids by tying their feet together, built Lego houses, colored, painted, and had so much fun being spoiled. Shay had a few issues throughout the week because she doesn’t handle being teased very well and my brothers and dad are good at teasing. Hopefully, she had a good time and can remember it as a fun time. My mom introduced the girls to a cute book I remember when I was younger and they liked it so much that Claire learned most the story and would read it to Shay.

The Lake

We drove about an hour to our cabins at Lake Martin and unpacked enough to find our swimsuits on Tuesday so we could swim. We found some boat docks not too far walk from the cabins and liked being able to jump in the water and then later play mermaids. There weren’t many other campers and we had free reign over the other areas and found a cute little beach next to a playground to swim on Wednesday morning. I had too much fun supervising my girls to get pictures of the crafts we did but we glued things on sunglasses and then tie-dyed shirts. On Wednesday night there was a rainstorm that started and Claire and Shay learned how to go have fun getting wet. It was over too quickly and we packed and cleaned up on Thursday morning so some of us could swim one more time before coming back home. We didn’t do a lot of swimming because we found some kittens and played with them more!

Friday

My mom had organized family pictures and a temple night for our last day so the morning was filled with curling hair, makeup, and dressing up. They didn’t take too long and I hope they turned out well because this is the first time we’ve had everyone together since adding so many new people! The last time we were together was in 2018 and I kinda think someone was missing…I’ll have to look back at the pictures! The rest of the day I worked on packing the car up because Chris and I decided to leave from the temple since it’s a 2-hour drive in the right direction. Initially, we were going to stop in Clarksville for Friday night but then we wanted to get home earlier than late on Sunday and get to relax so we tortured ourselves with driving all night and day to get to Blackfoot by Saturday night and then finishing the last bit to our home Sunday. 

Honorable mentions

I must mention some of the yummy food we ate together! When it was just me and my parents we had sushi and Thai coconut soup. Then our family coxes crumble and the raclette on Father's Day were spoils over the weekend. Then on the Lake trip, we had a few yummy breakfasts and Dutch oven chicken with dessert as a peach cobbler! Then my last spoiled meal was the Thai food my dad has perfected over the years and I am going to avoid the scale when I get home! Claire helped when Chris collected and broke up fire wood during our night at the fire and she learned how to saw and then jump on the branch to get smaller pieces. She is going to follow in his footsteps and be a master fire starter eventually.

Far From Home in Alabama

The Drive

30 hours of driving brought us to my parents in Mongomery, Alabama. We made a lot of stops at rest areas, gas stations, towns, and camping sites on both nights. I heard the sayings "Are we there yet?" and "How much longer?" all day for 3 days straight! It was nice to find play areas when we stopped and the girls got to run around and play for 30 minutes at a time and I got to practice saying no when they wanted me to buy things at every gas station. I was relieved to get to my parent's house and then had them all to ourselves before some more family came. The hardest part was being all alone as the driver and having to do every mile by myself. At the end of each day, I would look at how much time I could have kept going but then need to lie down because my back was way too stiff. The girls were enjoying the excitement of camping and we had neighbors with dogs the second night that they asked to pet politely. Then I did more traveling to pick Chris up from the airport yesterday...yaaay...

The Week

My mom and I spent time doing puzzles or sewing, the girls played with new toys, Grandpa joined to play games together, and cooked some yummy food. On Friday, Nana is planning to go to a place called Newtopia with a little girl from her ward whom she often spends time with and the girls had so much fun! We were the first group to get in, but it became very loud and crazy after just 30 minutes and they had dance parties and music playing on top of that. There was some face painting that luckily was free with admission because the girls always ask for face painting when we go places. Later on Friday, more families came to town and they have been playing with their cousins all week! One ties their feet together for a mermaid game, another plays princess, and the last likes to share her jewelry with them. They are in heaven, and we have more cousins coming tomorrow! 

Father's Day

Started today being tired because Chris and I came in pretty late from his flight and the bed we are sleeping in is very squeaky. We still made it to church on time and listened to the messages without falling asleep. After lunch, Chris got a nap today while I made some cookies for the Father's deserts. Then we had a big family dinner called a raclette so super fancy and such, even though there wasn't enough room on the table and we extended with an extra table. It was yummy and we flavored the meat with Korean BBQ flavor to make it extra yummy. The girls even had fun picking what they wanted from the different things on the table and I have no idea how much they actually ate besides the bread they got at the very beginning. Our gift to my dad was coming here, but my brother got everyone a fun little hand that they have been going all day and we only have 2 figured out so far.

Hello Idaho!

 The Home

What a week! On Saturday we made it safely to our new home and unpacked the moving truck so we could run to an appliance store to get a new fridge and then moved that in too. Most of the boxes lived in the garage until Monday when I had enough energy to bring in the rest of them. The kitchen and organizing where the boxes go so I could mass open them was my main focus and was finished so I could start the process on Tuesday. Chris was at work so it was my job to o 90% of the unpacking, shopping for curtains, and entertain the kids by taking them to new places. We were able to go to church and meet some people and get settled in although there was a worry for a second that we went to the wrong ward, we are right on the border and did the right one after all. We also already had a few visitors including the Relief Society presidency, some of the people to help with home stuff, and a friend from Chris's high school that lives a town or two over. This was my first time meeting her in person, but the girls had fun playing with her kids and we plan to meet up for some days at the park this summer because we wanted to know where some fun splash pads were. They've played in our half-dead backyard with the slip-n-slide we found in our stuff though and we are getting our sod replaced.

The City

We found our new library on Tuesday and learned about free lunches at the park for the summer that we went to right after. The main reason for the library was because I needed internet and it has been a headache finding a service provider who is in our new subdivision. We have gone 3 times this week to do some internet borrowing and the girls get to play in the kid's area! We also got to visit a park within biking distance for the girls once during the day and then with Chris the next day after he got off work. The other park we picnic at is farther so we drive, but there are always other kids to play with which is fun. I've shopped at several different stores, been to the UPS store, and driven past other interesting places we will be excited to visit over the years. There is a lot of construction in our area because of how much this area is expanding, but that will only make it better in the future. I can now get to certain places right in town without the GPS and it feels good to not have to rely on it every time for the simple places.

The Girls

Claire and Shay have so much fun in our new huge house and have tried to spread their toys out all over the place. The first thing they claimed was the crawl space under the stairs as their little house as well as the dining room right outside that door. I took it back on Wednesday and moved their toys up to their room and the loft at the top of the stairs which has been a mess until Thursday night. They earned a quarter for picking up all their toys and putting them on the shelves I set up. Claire also lost her first tooth this week! She complained about her teeth hurting when she eats sometimes and when I checked her mouth Thursday morning I saw one of the adult teeth peeking through the bottom and her baby tooth almost falling out already! It was gone by the end of the day and she got her first Toothfairy visit which I guess we made a toy and the rest of the teeth will be money. Shay is jealous because the tooth right next to the one Claire lost is loose now too and Shay thought it was her turn I guess. But Shay had a big week too because she got her ears pierced finally! I've been planning this since she was like 4 months old but never got around to it but there was a Claire's store on our walk out of Walmart and when I asked her she wanted it. It was a surprise for Chris even though he has said he agrees, we dumped it on him when he got home from work and he asked so many questions about how well she did.

The Trip

Chris is holding down the fort at home for the next week because I am in traveling mode to visit my parents in Alabama! I started by coming to Pocatello for a 5K race yesterday and then will take the girls on the longest road trip of our lives so we can spend time with my side of the family. Chris will fly out there in a week to join us for our family reunion stuff and we will drive back together. They had a sleepover last night with their cousin Arianna and we are traveling all day. I did get a chance to clean my car yesterday because we are leaving it with family and borrowing a new car with much better gas mileage so it will be nice to have a clean car when I get back. It does make me nervous because I'm driving a long way and I will be much more careful with this car. 

Goodbye Utah!

Amusement

Being our last week this close to Lagoon, I went with the girls almost every day! We were up in Idaho for Memorial Day to spend time with family but were there when the park opened on Tuesday to do some rides before the beach opened at noon. On Wednesday, the girls and I went again but it was cold and we didn't stay in the water very long before going to do some rides we had previously missed. I know there are a few more rides we didn't do that the girls can, but Thursday we didn't have time for more than just the water because Chris would be coming home from work with a truck to load all our possessions into! They love the water but Claire gets really cold apparently and they don't always want to stay in the same place together but I have to be with them to keep them safe. Now Chris and I have to plan a day when we can go without the girls so we get to ride the bigger rides.

Move

While I am scheduling this to post on my normal day, I will be without internet in our new house and I'm writing it early. It is currently Friday for me and I just spent 3 hours yesterday packing up our moving truck with Chris and only have a few smaller things to fit in today. We will have our beds and freezer last thing on Saturday morning before we drive and then unpack at the brand-new home that is completely ours! The closing went through on Tuesday so we are homeowners and ready for the next adventure to start! Today I have planned a full day of finishing packing and then cleaning the house and luckily my oldest friend is going to join in the cleaning so I won't be lonely. Expect next week to have plenty of pictures of our new house and an update on how our move went.