A Cougar Summer

While Logan interned at Workman Nydegger in Salt Lake for the summer, we lived in Provo.  No we aren't idiots.  We tried to live closer to Salt Lake but trying to find a short term, furnished, 2 bedroom apartment under 2000 was pretty much impossible.  My sister's brother in law happened to be moving out of their two bedroom apartment in Provo so we took it.  It was much cheaper and they were so kind to leave it very furnished.  All we could bring was what fit in our car so this was so helpful.  And although Provo has it's BYU/Cougar stereotypes, we really had a great summer there.  Of course we headed to Gunnison the day after we arrived to see family.  We were greeted with such love and Jack and Char were in heaven.  I am pretty sure Char hadn't really come in contact with animals up to this point and the Christenson house is literally a zoo.  She loved it.  Chasing and torturing kitties, petting Fresno, looking at the cows, and constant snake catching, she couldn't get enough.  Jack got to go for a backhoe ride with Grandpa Lynn.  Family came up to see us too.  Lafe spent the day with us at the Provo rec center and we went to a birthday part for Bradley where Jack go to play with cousins.  I loved being close to my friends Mysha and Jenna who both happened to be living in Springville.  We were good friends with the Densons and Tippets when we went to Utah State in Logan but then all went our separate ways so it was a wonderful coincidence to be so close to them both again.    

Char lovvvves puppies.  Here she is petting Fresno.

This was one of the saddest and funniest things I have ever watched.  Char had never touched a kitten until this.  And there were five of them.  And she just wouldn't stop picking them up and bringing them to me.  

Backhoe ride with Grandpa Lynn.

My children in  a nutshell.  Jack crazily driving his 12 cars and Char quietly looking at a book.

Playing with cousins at Bradley's birthday party.

Snakeeeee!

Chillin at the Provo Rec Center.  We got a family pass and pretty much lived here.

Lafe came up to play.

We didn't have many toys in Utah.  Rice and noodles are fun right?

This picture needs no explaining.

Looking at emus with Mysha and her girls.

Number 5 is alive

We have been back in Virginia for a couple weeks now and our lives are mellowing out so hopefully I will have many posts to come of our entire summer.  Although it was still unpleasant, number five was probably our best cross country trip yet.  Our Tahoe was acting up again (the same problem we had when we bought it in Laramie and tried to finish the trip to Virginia) and we just couldn't risk doing another trip in that car.  So to recap: we bought the Explorer our first year out to Virginia.  The next year we drove to Utah for the summer and on our way back the engine blew stranding us in Laramie WY.  We bought the Tahoe there and continued our trip but ended up having problems the whole way there.  We eventually made it, got it fixed and drove back to Utah the following summer.  Once we got there the Tahoe started having problems again.  We got it fixed a few times and then gave up.  So, we bought a brand new Subaru Outback.  Three years, three cars.  Let's just say we are out of money at this point.  We ended up choosing the Subaru because we got a great deal on it, it was brand new and has an awesome warranty (finally), it's practical and is AWD.  It will get us through the year, become Logan's car for work and we'll get something larger for the family.  Back to the trip, because we were downsizing vehicles, we had to leave a few things behind.  Kind of a bummer but we made it work.  We stuffed the car full and left Monday morning.  We hit the hotel that night and started again the next day.  At this point, we realized how tired of this trip we have become so Logan and I formulated a crazy plan.  We had about 14 hours left and we decided we were just going to go for it.  Just drive and drive through the night until we were there.  As crazy as it was, we tried.  We hit about 12 a.m. and we just couldn't do it.  Jack was great and sleeping away but Charlotte kept waking up and wouldn't settle down.  The crying, oh the crying.  We grabbed a hotel and got some rest.  We made it to Cville late the next night.  Which means we did it in three days instead of our usual 4 or 5 so it was still a success!  We arrived at our apartment at midnight and couldn't wait to crash but instead we found mold everywhere.  Mold on our bedding, couch, walls, everywhere.  It was weird because our friends had been checking on our apartment for us so we aren't sure what happened.  They had been away for about three weeks and it must have happened then.  Logan and I managed to make beds for the kids with some clean bedding we found and then we cleaned and did laundry until about 2 a.m.  Home sweet home right?

And so it begins.

Snoozing.

A snack at the hotel.

Taking a break at a park.  Throwing rocks in the water.

Playing with a calculator.  Thanks dollar store.

Elmo, lots and lots of Elmo.

Heading in to the hotel.  Char insisted on carrying in her own suit case every time.

You can tell we are getting close by the trees.

Elmo and fruit snacks.  She is in the zone.

At this point we were all worn out.  We caved and let the kids pick out a toy at Wal-Mart to get us through those last hours.  A remote control loader for Jack and a puppy for Charlotte. 

Glow sticks for nighttime fun.

The Trek, round 4

So here we were, round four. This was our most recent trip, May 2013. We were headed to Provo this time to sublet from our friends Melissa and Brad Jackson (Brad is Staci's brother in law).  Logan is working at a different firm than last summer but still in SLC.  This worked out great because although Logan has a long commute (almost 3 hours a day), rent is super cheap and our apartment is furnished so we had to bring very little. This has probably been our best trip yet.  We swore off trailers and sold ours a while back.  So this time we just stuffed the Tahoe to the brim with whatever we could fit and called it good.  It was kind of like camping for three months.  We left early that morning.  We usually decide as we are driving if we will take I-70 or I-80.  I usually prefer I-80 due to that fact that I hate Kansas, however our car did blow up along I-80 so now I just dislike them both.  We took I-80 this time.  It took us four days and we made pretty good time.  By chance, we ended up staying in Liberty Missouri which was a nice surprise.  Not only did we get a great deal on a super fun hotel with a water park, but we also got to visit Liberty Jail which was amazing.  We brought along Jack's bike and got Charlotte a stroller to help get out energy on our pit stops.  That was very helpful and the kids loved it.  Well four down, and two more to go!

Ready for our drive.

We stopped for lunch and it started to rain so we took cover nearby.

Pushing Biscuit in the stroller.

The St.Louis Gateway Arch. 

The water park at our hotel in Liberty MO.

The kids love the hotels.

Liberty jail.  Such a neat experience.

Of course there was crying.  She has a scab on her chin from a fall at one of our pit stops.

Hanging our at Buffalo Bills Museum in Cody Wyoming.

Our last stop in Wyoming.  Almost there.

Made it!  We celebrated with some park time for the kids and some Cafe Rio for mom and dad.

Melissa and Brad were super nice and our new home for the summer was very welcoming.  There were even some toys for the kids.

Brad even edited their family picture to make us feel welcome.  Haha!

The Worst Trip Ever

I am preparing for our 5th cross country trip in two years. When it dawned on me, I haven't posted trip number 4.  And then it dawned on me again, I haven't even posted trip number 3, aka the Worst Trip Ever.  So here it is.  It was late in the summer of 2012.  We were headed back again to CVille.  We packed up all our junk and hit the road.  Char was older this time, now almost 6 months, so things were looking good.  We left from Salt Lake with our Ford Explorer pulling our trailer.  We made the first days drive and spent the night.  The next day we left early that morning and were making good time.  We were just outside of Laramie WY when we heard the noise.  It sounded bad right away.  We pulled over, Logan popped the hood and smoke poured out.  We waited and waited and finally called a tow truck.  Jack was thrilled to have a real tow truck tow us away.  I died a little as we unsafely installed our car seats in the back seat of the tow truck.  Luckily it was a short drive to the shop.  This is where the waiting begun.  In the whole mess, we were blessed time and time again.  The tow truck guy was super helpful and cut us a deal.  He found a good shop for us and there was even a park right next to it with a train station which entertained Jack for hours.  We did everything we could think of while we waited that day: went for walks, played in the park, read books, watched movies, took naps and browsed through local shops.  That afternoon our mechanic told us that our engine was gone.  We went through every scenario possible on what to do.  Logan had to be to CVille in three days for job interviews and we were stuck in Laramie.  We couldn't buy just any vehicle because we had to pull our trailer.  Do we try to go back to Utah?  Do we fly out?  Should Logan go to Virginia and the kids and I go back to Utah? Should we replace the engine or buy a car?  Where in the world are we getting the money for all this?  Again, I tell you we were blessed.  My dad was with us on the phone the whole time helping us out and my Uncle Hal even offered money.  We got a hotel and early the next morning Logan went car shopping (on foot of course).  Our choices were slim.  We ended up with a 2005 Chevy Tahoe.  It was an older car but still nice to us, leather seats, DVD player, etc.  We started our trip again.  The day went great.  The next day the problems started again.  The Tahoe check light would go on and the car's computer would override and we couldn't drive more than 30 mph until we pulled off, turned the car off for a minute, and then we could go again.  It happened a few times and we decided to stop at the next town and take it to a mechanic.  Again we played at a park and waited.  They said the throttle body was the problem and replaced it. We hit the road again.  The next couple of days blur together, but the same problem happened over and over.  I remember being literally about an hour outside of Charlottesville and the Tahoe did this about 10 times with in the hour.  We were stuck.  So close, yet so far.  Our kids were such troopers but the trip had worn on us all and we were tired.  I cried for the first time on our trip and we pulled over in a parking lot.  Trying to decide what to do since it was getting late and the fear of being stuck on the road overnight with our kids was upon us, we said another very sincere prayer.  We tried again and we made it the whole way without a problem!  Like I said, a terrible trip and yet we were so blessed throughout it.  We had the car looked at again and it treated us well for a year, until..... to be continued.    

Getting ready to go.

And so it began.

Jack loved this. 

Waiting and waiting in the park.

Exploring the town with Mr.Peanut.

A miracle he napped.  He has done this twice in his life. Wall-E always helps.

Browsing a pawn shop.

The trains nearby.

Finally they took her away.  Jack was sad and cried.