Go Utes!

Thursday, December 29

Our plan was to leave at 8:00 am, but that was changed when 2 of the cars needed an oil change. So 2 oil changes later and we were on the road! Left at 9:00 a.m. on our what was supposed to be 10 hour drive to Albuquerque. With many stops about every 2 hours (1 3 year old and 2 7 month olds) we got to our destination 14 hours later. Needless to say, we weren't the fastest traveling group! Albuquerque didn't come soon enough!

at Sonic in Truth or Consequences NM

Friday, December 30

Happy Birthday to my sister Collie! Collie has been on the road for Ute bowl games for many of her birthday's. Thanks Cole for sharing your birthday with our road trips. :) Drove around Albuquerque for a bit and went to The University of New Mexico. It was fun to go to "The Pit" and see its structure in person.

Now off to El Paso! We freshened up at the hotel before heading to the U pep rally at the convention center downtown. As we were driving we around we found the US/Mexico border, saw border patrol and could definitely tell where Mexico began. The pep rally was fun and Ryan really enjoyed the battle of the bands. We ate at Texas Roadhouse (in Texas) and went to bed.

Saturday, December 31

Got up early to head to the UTEP stadium for the game. The stadium is set between two mountains and I just love the feeling of bowl games. Everyone is so happy and you can just feel the excitement from the fans! Me and Ryan, Collie and Zach, Josh and Macy all had our picture taken for a local paper. We checked later to see if they posted our pictures but couldn't find the paper they would have been in.

Oh man this was an exciting game for sure. The Utes were in control for the first 2 1/2 quarters but then Georgia Tech came out from no where and made the game interesting. The Utes were down and made a great comeback to tie the game and send it to overtime. We went on to win the game and everyone in the stadium was going crazy! We couldn't believe it and were so excited. We went back to the hotel to pick up my mom, who watched Nolan and Corbin. (Thanks Mom!) Back to Albuquerque for the night. We made it to the hotel room to watch the ball drop and then it was lights out! We were all exhausted. The boy's room didn't even watch the ball drop - party poopers!

Sunday, January, 1
Started the trek back home. This is a long drive and I hope that I don't have to make it for a while. There really isn't too much to see between SLC and El Paso. We stopped in Gallup, NM to visit Ryans dad. It was fun to see where Craig is living and spending his time these days. Driving through Navajo Nation was interesting.

This was another fun trip with the fam and I am so glad we were able to go! Thanks dad for the tickets and the fun time! We love the Utes and love going to the bowl games, they are some fun times!!

Nolan at 8 Months

I can't believe that 8 months ago Nolan fit in the basket, and now he barely wanted to sit still long enough for me to take the picture in the basket!
At 8 months Nolan:
*Still has 2 teeth - I thought more were going to break through the surface but not yet!
*Pulls himself up on just about anything and at times I have caught him letting go and standing by himself for a second or two
*Makes us laugh everday
*95% formula fed now, and loves his mixed grain cereal and anything we put in front of him
*Crawls everywhere
*Loves to talk and blow his lips together
*Touches everything and everything goes in his mouth - his 2 little teeth are very sharp and I wouldn't recommend putting your finger in there!
*Has a strong grip
*Still as smiley as ever
*Visited 12 different states this month (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Utah)
*People comment daily on his "mowhawk" hair and ask if we cut it that way - which we say it just grows that way, the sides haven't caught up with the top part of his hair yet
*Still not sleeping through the night, i'm getting over this but I just wish one night he would make it all the way through

We sure love this little guy and can't get enough of him!

On the Road Again

Sunday, December 18
We rolled out of Raleigh late morning after a delicious breakfast at the Larkin's. It was pretty surreal that we were leaving Raleigh, and the only time we would be back was to visit. We had a great time in Raleigh and really grew during the last 3 1/2 years there. We met great people and made lifelong friends. We will miss them, our ward, Harris Teeter, Oberlin Road, the round abouts by NC State, NS State, Snoopy's hotdogs, Six Forks, the fun trips we went on throughout the east coast, the beach, the ocean, and so many other things. It was a great experience for us and we really learned a lot while there. We were both a little emotional leaving the state that day.
Ryan wanted to go see a museum in downtown Atlanta, so we stopped there. Me and Nolan waited in the car while Ryan ran around and took pictures. We crossed through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and spent the night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

A Georgia peach

Monday, December 19
We drove around the University of Alabama before hitting the road for Fort Worth Texas to stay with Nate and Olivia. When we entered Texas, it was just as everyone says, the sky opens up and everything is bigger in Texas. :) From Dallas to Fort Worth it seemed like it took forever! We were glad to finally make it to the Haynie's house!


Tuesday, December 20
Slept in, which was the best thing ever! We have been go, go, go for so long it felt nice to take it easy and not worry about rushing to get anywhere. We went to Dunkin Donuts for some hot chocolate and donuts - I really love DD's hot chocolate! I would say it is some of the best out there. After that, we went downtown to the Kimbell museum another one of Ryan's architecture stops. We went back to the Haynie's loaded up our stuff, had a sandwich and hit the road for Fayetteville, Arkansas to stay with the Leonard's. We stayed up an chatted with Bonnie and Scott for a while, it was good to see them and we appreciate them letting us stay with them.




Wednesday, December 21
Bonnie made a nice breakfast for us. Scott and Ryan talked architecture, I got Nolan ready, and off we go to another museum in Bentonville Arkansas, Crystal Bridges. This museum was very neat and was designed by Moshe Safdie. Ryan went with Scott to see his office, Bonnie went to work and I packed up the car while Nolan took a nap. Next stop was dinner at Johnny Carino's with Aunt Vicki and Gram in Tulsa Oklahoma. It was so fun seeing them. Ryan wanted to stop by the Price Tower in Bartlesville, OK that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Are you sensing a theme on this trip....lots of architecture! :) I was asleep in the car with Nolan while Ryan went in a took a look around the place. We drove to Wichita Kansas that night.





Thursday, December 22
The plan was to get up and drive to Denver, but due to snow and icy conditions we decided to stay in Kansas for another night. We spent the day in the Best Western Hotel taking naps, Ryan emailed some firms, Nolan was able to get a much needed break from the car and all in all it was a fun day with our little family in the hotel.



Friday, December 23
We finally left Wichita, Kansas early in the morning and started on our second to last leg of the trip to Denver to see Ryan's family. The roads were not bad, there was snow on the sides of the road, but luckily the sun was out the whole day. We rolled into Denver early evening and spent the rest of the evening visiting with Ryan's family.

At least this time we had a different view of Kansas - with snow

This was the third time I have driven across the country this year and I do not hope to do it again anytime soon. I really hope that the place Ryan ends up at is in the west (like we are hoping) and not on the east coast....if that is the case I think me and Nolan will fly and i'll let Ryan make the drive!