This summer we took 2 weeks to go to Yellowstone and Utah for vacation, family reunion, wedding, and 50th anniversary celebrations. We did a LOT of driving, and then 3 weeks after coming home we got back in our van and headed to Minnesota for a week with the Hales side. These trips were WONDERFUL! But, we were happy to be home, and we made sure everyone knew that we were out of vacation days and DONE driving long distance - at least for this year. And then...
I think it was about a month before Thanksgiving that it occurred to me that EVERYONE in my family was going to Washington for Thanksgiving but ME...that's when it dawned on me that if I were there it would be the FIRST time mom and dad would have all 12 children in the same place...EVER! Someone has been continually serving a mission for our church for the last 6 years; plus, 2 of the 12 children weren't even BORN when the missionaries started to go. Basically, I HAD to go - even if it meant driving 4 little kids across the country by myself, then so be it.
I brought it up to Cliff and he agreed; However, he wasn't so keen on me going all by myself - especially since I hadn't driven more than a few hours combined on our long trips since we got married. After a few minutes of excited brainstorming we decided to call his sister and see if she could drive it with us...and THAT's when all the secrets began! As soon as I suggested the idea, Cliff piped in with, "You know, if you do this, and get to go and have all this fun without me, then it has to be a COMPLETE surprise! You have to walk into that house and BOWL them over with your presence." (or something close to that) and then he immediately reminded me that, "Two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead." So, with great trepidation and warning, I called Laura. She couldn't come.
THEN we thought maybe we could fly a cousin out to drive with me, (large families are SO useful sometimes!) and of course that led to Angela - my awesome cousin who stayed with us for a couple months last year. We called her up and it turned out that she was going to Nebraska for a month and actually wanted to come home for the holiday but didn't have the means! Seriously? Your just randomly going to be RIGHT where I need you, when I need you?
Next we called my brother and sister-in-law to find out when they planned to go to WA and it worked out perfectly to drive up and back together! I'm telling you, things just FELL into place from the moment I felt the word, "GO." (It makes me wonder how much time it took my guardian angels to work it all out.) Not once in this whole journey did I feel trepidation, fear, or that it was just TOO long, hard, or crazy, or that I couldn't do it - and believe me, I thought I would feel at least SOME of that - but, even when the situation warranted those feelings, I just felt, "good" about it. There were many times I thought, "usually this would make me feel really frazzled...I guess I'm being really blessed right now!"
In past road trips both the little ones cried/screamed a significant part of the way, (and that was with me sitting NEXT to them and nursing the baby most the way!) However, on the first leg of this trip (10 hours of which I did alone) the baby was quiet and happy for the first 14 hours, cried for 15 min. and then went to sleep for the rest of the drive! Now THAT was a miracle.
So, surprise #1: Angela didn't tell her family she was coming home for the holidays. We got into Utah at 1am, running on pure excitement and adrenaline. Angela walked into her bedroom, flipped on her light, and accidentally surprised her brother who was home from college and sleeping in her bed! LOL. The next morning I had the 2 little ones standing in front of great-grandma Scott's door for a lovely morning surprise :-) Those 2 days I was able to visit with multiple cousins, (Nathan & Kristy, and Lorretta & Scott) play lots of games, and eat tons of grandma's homemade bread and jam!
(Grandma watching, "The Lawrence Welk Show" with Emily.)After debating with my brother and sister-in-law about when to head up to WA, we started out Sunday morning at 5am; with about 4 hours of sleep in us :-) We stopped for church just outside of Twin Falls, ID and then pushed onward and upward. When we were about an hour and a half from "home" I called my mom up for our weekly Sunday phone call. I listened as she relayed that Cory and Kayla were almost there, (yeah, I know!) and that grandma and grandpa were staying in Port Townsend (hey, the town that we just BARELY drove through!) and then I told her it was late and I couldn't talk long, but I want to hear about Joshua's Eagle Court of Honor. After talking to Josh for a bit he said, "You should just wake your kids up and hop on a plane; you could be here in a couple of hours!" I told him, "Sure, I guess I'll see you in an hour then!" lol :-)
That leads us to surprise #2: Since Cliff couldn't come on this trip, he gave specific instructions to video tape the surprise. So, to make sure we didn't alert their suspicions and have some of them run outside (in the cold, rainy, dark where we couldn't video tape,) we flipped off our headlights, drove down their long driveway, and as quietly as 7 people can, walked/clomped across their noisy, wooden porch, and knocked. Josh opened with a dumfounded look and said, "Hey!....It's Brittney...Mom! It's Brittney here!!!" Mom was around the corner talking to my brother Jacob, (whom we were GOING to surprise on Wed, but oh well!) and I think her exact words were, "OH my heck! Oh. My. Heck!" lol! :-)
The clomping woke dad up and brought him out to join in the hugging, but the 4 youngest kids were already asleep. My own 4 were tired of sleeping in the carseats and begging to lay down, so Isaac climbed right up next to his aunt Aubrie, and we made beds for the girls on the floor next to them.
At about 3 am uncle Micah (9-yrs-old) woke up, anticipating Cory and Kayla's arrival, and in shock ran to Aubrie (7-years-old) and woke her up with, "Aubrie, look!" Aubrie glanced at Isaac next to her, assumed it was our 4 year-old brother Hyrum, and replied with a groggy, "So?..." After 2 more exasperated, "No, LOOK!" Aubrie finally woke up enough to realize who was sleeping all around her! I'm not sure, but I think they both had a hard time falling back asleep :-) When I woke up the next morning the kids were all contentedly playing together and I hardly had to even peak at them the rest of the week! They REALLY had a great time!
And here comes Surprise #4: Tuesday we arranged to meet grandma and grandpa Parker at the Port Angeles Visitor Center. Now, Cory and Kayla were SWORN to secrecy, so even though it ALMOST killed them when grandma asked if we were coming so she could bring up our Christmas presents too...they DIDN'T let it out! (at least not that the grandparents noticed :-) So, even though grandma's initial reaction to seeing us was "mad" that she didn't bring our presents, she quickly forgave us :-)
That same day we got to see and touch all kinds of tide-pool animals, see an octopus eat a live crab, and watch my brother Philip (17 yrs) practice his dives at the pool.
Surprise #5: My brother Jared returned from his 2 year full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Roseville, CA mission on Tuesday night. He didn't know we were coming, but since there were so many people in the room, hugging and loving all at once, it took him a moment for it to fully sink in that we were THERE and that he hadn't just, "missed the memo!"
On Wednesday morning Cory and Kayla, met up with Jacob and drove down to Portland Oregon to attend the temple with their friend. We continued to have a nice time visiting with the family and that night watched, "Captain America." For those who haven't seen it, it's a SAD love story! By the end of the show I missed my Clifford and was so bummed that he hadn't been able to come and be there with us. It didn't help my emotions that I hadn't been able to get a hold of him that day yet either, but I knew he we busy with work and was spending the evening with his family. Anyway, on a positive note, Cory, Kayla, and Jacob were due back right as the movie ended and it would be the FIRST time Jacob and Jared had seen each other in 4 years because their missions had overlapped by a few days! Mom got out the video camera and taped their reunion at the front door, and then...
Surprise #6: from out of the kitchen entry way, CLIFF jumps in and says, "SURPRISE!" My jaw dropped and my brain couldn't register. After a few seconds my mouth responded with, "HOLY CRAP!" I can honestly say I am NOT a cryer, but squeezing my hubby, after all that I'd been through getting there without him, brought tears to my eyes.
The video missed the, "Holy Crap" but it shows the excitement and whirlwind of people and hugs!
Thanksgiving day was all that it should be: LOTS of family, LOTS of food, and LOTS of PIES. Plus, THIS Thanksgiving morning we opened our CHRISTMAS presents too! The rest of the day we cooked :-) and then mom brought out her wedding china and crystal for the first time in 27 years of marriage and it brought tears to HER eyes!
Then, it was time for the epic family pictures! Like I said before, this was going to be the first time all of the kids would be together, and now that Cliff was there everything was truly complete!
That night was our traditional family program. The little kids all sang solos and duets, Philip sang and played his guitar, and Cory sang us his original pop song that he wrote for his song writing class - It was amazing! We were all very proud of his efforts! Then Jared talked to us about his mission; the people he met and how they influenced his testimony and the lessons he learned from the different companions he served with. It was amazing to feel how much he had grown and developed over the last 2 years. After that the grandparents shared their love with us too. It was a beautiful evening. Here's a little video of everyone just before the program :-) Sorry, I didn't have any of the actual event...lol.
Saturday morning we said goodbye, took Cliff to the airport, and started down the long road back to UT. I know it's painfully obvious, but flying is SO much faster than driving! Cliff got back to MO at 9pm UT time and we didn't pull into Provo until 3:30 am, (which is only half the distance it takes to drive to MO.) Now, here I must put in a good word of recognition, with great gratitude and thanksgiving, to the many people who put their efforts into inventing and designing devices to view videos in moving vehicles, and to the writers and makers of, "The Magic School Bus"! My 2 year old does NOT sleep well in a carseat, and the 50 episodes of "The Magic School Bus" probably saved our lives! (or at least our night.)
Luckily our aunt's ward started at 11:30 so we got a couple hours of sleep before church! That evening I visited and played with more cousins (Adam and Candy, the Harrisons, and Sam and Scott) and said goodbye to Grandma Hales and ran a few last minute errands.
Other blessings from this trip: I got to attend the Provo temple with my aunt and grandma while Angela watched my kids. This is particularly wonderful because the nearest temple to us is over 2 hours away and getting a babysitter for the entire day is really difficult - especially when I'm still nursing. So this was a rare and welcomed opportunity for me to serve! Thank you to Angela AGAIN!
We were on the road Monday morning at 7:16 am! (When you're driving long distance every MINUTE counts.) I started driving, but after 3 hours of drowsy driving, (I'm not a morning person...I can drive late into the night and be fine, but morning driving makes me DROWSY!) I switched out with Angela and she drove the next 6 hours to Sydney, NE where we dropped her back off with her friends/family. We grabbed some dinner and more snacks since we don't shop on Sunday (the one day we had to rest) and had run very low. Then it was down to our LAST 10 hours! Once again, Emily was abnormally good in the car seat for me when it really counted! My phone (on speakerphone) was also a HUGE blessing since Cliff was able to track my every move, navigate me through the tricky parts, and keep me awake and alert through the long hours.
And, that brings us to the end of our journey, and surprise #7: We pulled up to our house at 1:45 am. Cliff was up waiting and came out to meet us to help bring the sleepy, cranky kids in. I got to the door first, walked in, and there, screaming at my eyes in all it's shining glory, was a beautifully finished HARDWOOD floor! That's right! With the help of his family, Cliff re-finished our hardwood floor while we were gone! Now, we ripped the carpet up and scrubbed it down as best we could back in 2009, but the floor had pet stains and the people we got quotes from either wouldn't do pet stains, or said they wouldn't really come out. So, for over 2 years we just lived with it, hemming and hawing wether to put down carpet, or tile, or fake wood on top, or refinish it anyway and see what happened etc. but we could NEVER agree what to do! It had bugged me forever and I was finally set on just getting it refinished and maybe stained slightly darker to hide spots if needed...Since we were gone for 2 weeks he figured it was now or never!
The initial sanding down didn't take out the stains very well at all, (like the pro's predicted,) so Cliff and his sister and dad spent hours hand sanding down the dark spots and the base boards! He said that some of the nights he was up until 4 am working on it! But, I think it turned out BEAUTIFUL and I absolutely LOVE it! It was SERIOUSLY a huge surprise since I didn't think I was going to get anything done to it until after we moved out and HAD to do something to sell it.
The pictures didn't turn out great, but the floor DID! Thanks again to all who helped and everyone that kept the secrets to make all these special surprises possible!
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