Longest Road Trip Ever

I haven't been blogging because we're on our long trip from California to Virginia - which I wouldn't recommend to anybody unless there is no other option. There have been a few adventures:

1. The truck seats don't recline and there's no AC so we melt into the leather seats.
2. I officially hate the desert, especially between California and St. George, UT.
3. The GPS is my new best friend
4. Right after we walked into my grandma's house in Fillmore to stay the first night, she got a call from my aunt saying she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Nancy is only 35 years old, with 4 kids, ages 8 months-11 years old. She was still nursing the baby. It was not the news my grandma wanted to hear because two years in a row, her husband and daughter-in-law were diagnosed with cancer on her birthday. My grandma is a breast cancer survivor too. It was good that me, Tash, and Bear were there with her.

5. I got to spend time with Tashi and take her college shopping for BYU.

6. I got to see both of my great grandmas Verna Challis and Geneal Smith (ages 87 and 90) while in Utah. I love them!

7. I got to stay at John and Traci (my aunt and uncle)'s house in Grantsville. Traci did my hair as my wedding gift.

8. We get on the road and start having a sputtering engine. The oil was empty and we accidentally overfilled it, which made it still sputter of course. We had to keep stopping. But we finally fixed the problem and finally got to Amber's house late Wednesday night. It was good to meet her new husband and catch up because I wasn't able to go to her wedding.

9. We finally made it alive to Nauvoo and I was finally in my momma's and the babies' arms.

10. I keep thinking that Tashi's going to come home from work or school. But then I remember she's at BYU and I get sad on the inside.

11. I'm getting to eat my favorite foods and play Ticket to Ride to my heart;s content. I love my mommy.

12. Our Bustard kitty is so big now and I can't wait to take him back to Virginia with us.

13. I'm sad that I missed my grandma and grandpa Stout because of our truck troubles.

We take off early tomorrow morning (Sunday) because class starts Monday. Crazy life.

Huck's Harbor

Me and Bear took the bebbes swimming at Huck's Harbor in Fun City. We took Sarah along with us too. I love the lazy river there. But now I'm in Calirfonia where everyday is sunny and hot, unlike Illinois where you have to find the perfect day to go swimming. Gracie was being so funny with the tubes. Look at the way she's straddling that double tube. Swimming is one of the best parts of summer. And the cute bebbes of course.

Bear says he looks like a chubby bunny in this picture. Whatever.

The Babies

I miss my bebbes.

This is the day my grandma took us out to eat at Ziggie's Pizza in Nauvoo, a few days before my wedding.


I have too many pictures of this bebbe eating.


His signature smile. I want to kiss their hair and squish them til they scream. I wish I didn't miss people and things so much :(

Memorial Day

Oh dear. I don't want to bore you all to tears with more talk of frozen custard. But to me, there is no limit to expressing love for this stuff.

On Memorial Day we went to Sunsey By the Mississippi for Family Home Evening. They had added a lot of new funny skits this year and the whole family enjoyed it.

My mom's cousin and his family were in town visiting Old Nauvoo. We had them over for Sunday dinner the day before but ran into them unexpectedly at the show. So we all tottered over to Annie's.

Um Gracie's face is hilarious. Actually all 3 of them.

3 generations. Each generation gets cuter. Haha totally kidding.

MMMMMMMMmmmmm she knows what's good for her.

TOMS

I just ordered me some Toms this weekend. Everyone is wearing them at school so I finally gave in. They're slip-ons that are apparently super comfortable and they have arch support. Our school is really into "A Day Without Shoes". Last Tuesday some students walked around barefoot all day to raise awareness for children that always have to walk around with no shoes. I can't wait for mine. I actually wanted some white or ivory ones, but they were out of stock. I'm still very happy with these ones. They should match a lot of stuff. Sadly, they are still processing my order. (Yes, I keep tracking it).

^ These are the ones I got for Mia's birthday.

^ These are the ones I got for Noah's birthday.

Their birthdays are the 15th and 17th and they'll be 10 and 7! I'm freaking out! Mia will be older than I was when she was born! They won't be little squish bubs anymore.

So anyways, these shoes are a little expensive. Because you're technically buying two pairs of shoes. I got this information off of their website:

One for One

TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we're all about. The TOMS mission transforms our customers into benefactors, which allows us to grow a truly sustainable business rather than depending on fundraising for support.

The TOMS Story

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.

As of September 2010, TOMS has given over one million pairs of new shoes to children in need through Giving Partners around the world.

Countries they currently give to:

Argentina	Honduras	South Africa
Armenia	Lesotho	Swaziland
Burundi	Malawi	Uganda
Cambodia	Mali	United States
China	Mongolia	Zambia
El Salvador	Nicaragua
Ethiopia	Niger
Guatemala	Peru
Haiti	Rwanda

Click here to go to the site to see all the shoes and read all the information!