Utah Trip....and boy was it a trip

So we made it...BARELY! For those of you who don't know (sorry for the delay in posting) it has taken us a couple of days to recover from our 44 HOUR travels back to B'ham. Our trip was exceptionally fun but the traveling back was HORRIBLE! We left Bear Lake Sunday morning about 6am and arrived in Birmingham Tuesday morning about 1am. NOT IDEAL FOR A FAMILY OF 5 SMALL CHILDREN. However, our vacation to Price, Utah was awesome. We enjoyed every bit of and made some lasting memories with the our loved ones. I want to thank all of my "HOWA FAMILY" for making our stay so special. My children haven't stopped talking about you guys since we got back. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Airport and Plane pics...In case you are wondering what it is like to travel across the country on airplane with twin infants, a CHALLENGING two year old, a HYPER four year old and even a relatively calm seven year old; IT IS PURE CRAZINESS! I was mostly proud that my children were able to travel 14 hours without ANY TELEVISION or MUSIC of any kind. They were entertained the old fashion way, books and stories! One more funny side note; we received quite the stares and oohs and aahs in B'ham and even in Ohio, but traveling with 5 small children in Utah wasn't anything out of the ordinary at all. As a matter of fact, we would have ranked below average for number of children per family in the state of Utah! Ha Ha!!

Ready to go!!


Papa and Ellie drawing!








Van ride to my dad's house. They were a bit excited..bouncing off the walls by the time we arrived!


First night at my dad's house. The boys were so tired. We left our house at 6am Tuesday morning and made it to my dad's house by 9pm. The boys slept so good in their bed. Thanks Cindy for letting us borrow Hayden's bed! The quilt the boys are covered up with in the picture is another one of the famous Aunt Sybill quilts.


Riding Four Wheelers...SO MUCH FUN!




Playing under the homemade tent in the dining room.


Becky with John David.


Becky with both boys...For those of you who don't know, my dad is called "Becky" by my children. It is all Claire's fault..haha! She was about 1 and the ONLY grandchild when she tried to say "grampy" but mistakenly said "becky"...it stuck and hasn't changed since!


This was a special day. We made Lebanese bread. Claire and Ellie and Jenna enjoyed rolling and flipping the bread dough. Mamaw even tried her hand at making a loaf.




The girls on top of the rock pile at my dad's house.


The whole gang...Uncle Ryan, Darlene (Mamaw), Mike (Papa) Rob, Me, Mose (my dad, a.k.a Becky), Rose (my stepmom) and all the kiddos: Claire, Ellie, Jenna, James, and John David. We are standing in front of my dad's house.


The 3 Little Bears..haha!


Here the girls are picking flowers with Rosie (my wonderful stepmom) The kids absolutely adore her. She is excellent with them. She is about the only one that can tolerate Jenna for long periods of time. Jenna loves her "ro ro" and will generally behave better for her than most!


Me and my goofy little brother...Uncle Ryan ran those four wheelers up and down the mountains more than a few times. This picture is of us on top of a really big mountain. It was gorgeous up there. Absolutely breath taking.


Smores NIGHT! This was hands down my most favorite food I enjoyed during our trip. Yummy! Ellie told me afterwards, "I only like the chocolate, the cracker and marshmallow aren't very tasty!"


Here is the "camp out" upstairs in the cabin. I really can't believe my dad and stepmom slept on the floor in a cramped tent with my children so they could "camp out"...well, actually I can believe it! They would do just about anything for these girls.


Here are the pictures after the marathon.

(I only got one pic of us immediately following the race, Daddy was not in the mood for socialization...He was interested in finding the van and going home afterwards!)



This was our last night at my Uncle Curtis Howa's Cabin. Look at the gorgeous lake behind us...it was amazing!


This picture was the end of our "vacation"...little did we know at that moment that all heck was brewing the next day. We left the cabin at 6am the next morning, drove 2 and a half hours to Salt Lake, boarded a plane heading to Cincy,Oh and flew for 3 and a half hours before landing in Louisville, Ky...now what is funny about that is that the flight attendant announced welcome to Cincinnati Ohio as the pilot announced welcome to Louisville Kentucky!!! Seems as though we ran out of fuel and had to emergency land in Kentucky to "re-fuel"....
After we were diverted to Kentucky to "re-fuel" we eventually arrived late in Ohio only to miss our connecting flight to B'ham, Delta was kind enough to give us a hotel to stay in for the night. The earliest flight to B'ham was the following night at 8:30pm. Here the girls are piled up in the bed at the Hyatt. I took this picture at about 11:00pm once we settled in. BTW- we arrived at the airport Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm...and yes, it took from 3 until 9 to smooth out the chaotic mess we were in! The girls were so excited to be staying in a fancy hotel...I was not quite as excited but nonetheless...very thankful to have a place to sleep.





Finally on our way to board Delta flight 1788 to Birmingham, ALABAMA!!!! It was 11pm and we were all so exhausted. Our original flight was scheduled to take off at 8:25pm but due to bad weather, it didn't take off until 11:00...we were delayed THREE times!



Our trip to Utah was amazing. The kids had a blast and the big people did too. We enjoyed our time visiting with my family. Running the marathon with my husband was as equally as awesome. He may think differently, but I LOVED it. He says the only reason he runs the races is for a motivation to make him run and stay healthy. I am just purely addicted to running and LOVE if for nothing more than the "runner's high" I get after a long run. My dad and his precious wife Rosie were so terrific to our family. Entertaining and putting up with us all with smiles the entire time!

Here are some pictures of my family with our children. BTW- my dad has one sister and 10 brothers



Uncle Danny and Aunt Debbie


Uncle Dew


Aunt Jean Ann


Uncle Bobby


Uncle Eddie


Uncle Rex


Uncle Paul


Uncle Phillip