California to North Dakota

Our plan was to leave for North Dakota sometime in the first week of June.  Oliver's preschool graduation was scheduled for May 31st, and Jason and I planned on seeing Les Mis in Sacramento that evening.  Jason's grandma has suffered from Alzheimers for quite a few years now and has been getting worse.  We knew that she probably wasn't going to make it long and that we may need to pack up early and head to Blackfoot.  I really wanted to make it through the end of May because Ollie had swimming lessons everyday and a few other things going on.  We made it through that week, had a fun weekend with friends and then got word on Sunday May 26th that Jason's grandma had passed.  Even though we knew it was coming and had been wanting it (she really had no quality of life anymore), it was still really sad.  The funeral was scheduled for Saturday June 1st.  We decided (since we were going to miss the preschool graduations etc) that we would leave Wednesday after Ollie's last day of preschool, drive part of the way, spend the night in our camper and then get to Idaho on Thursday.  

The really crappy part about the already extremely long 26 hour drive to ND was that we would be driving separate vehicles.   Miller Honey needed another 2 ton truck in ND and our Flex has a hard time towing the camper that far.  So, Jason drove the truck and I drove the Flex.  The DVD player we had for the boys in the car had been on the fritz so we ordered a set of individual back-of-the-headrest DVD players.  Jason ordered them from Amazon on Sunday and upgraded to one day shipping.  Monday was Memorial Day so we knew they wouldn't ship then.  They still weren't there by the time we left around 2:30pm on Wednesday.  I was slightly annoyed, but luckily Jason's dad was leaving Thursday for ID so he brought them up with him.  Those DVD players were lifesavers.  

We drove to the beautiful resort town of Winnemucca, NV the first night.  We stayed at a little RV park that had a a pool and playground.  Unfortunately, we got there too late to swim and the playground was locked up the whole time.  We walked (the kids ran) around a lot and then put them to bed.  We got up and headed out around 9am the next morning.  The second day of driving was quite a bit longer.  We got into ID around 6pm.

Our caravan.

Idaho was so awesome, even though the circumstances were sad.  It was great to see Jason's family and the boys had the best time.  After we got there Thursday Jason's Grammy Miller brought dinner over.  There was SO much food the whole time, people were so kind and generous.  Eric, Michelle and Taylor arrived late Thursday night.  On Friday morning Jason had a couple Miller Honey meetings/things to take care of so the boys and I just hung out.  That afternoon Michelle, Jan and I went and got mani/pedis.  Jan was so busy with funeral preparations she just got a mani.  Michelle and I got a soda and then some onion rings at Rupes, we are wild and crazy.  That evening was the viewing.  Jan arranged babysitting for the kids which was really nice. It was nice to stand around and talk about Dallas, and to see so many friends and family members.  Jason has a LOT of family in Blackfoot since both of his parents grew up there.  Every time we go anywhere in Blackfoot we run in to cousins/aunts/uncles etc.  

Mike, Jen, Jeff, Ezra, and Jonah got to Blackfoot Friday evening.  The boys were really excited for Ezra to get there, and I couldn't wait to meet baby Jonah (the worlds sweetest baby).  Saturday morning we played outside for a bit and then got ready for the funeral at 11am.  Jason's grandparent's ward arranged babysitters during the funeral. The hour before was another viewing.  Jason took the boys in (which I wasn't sure about, but they did fine).  Max really wanted to know "who killed her" and if they used a knife, I am definitely a mother of boys.  Before the funeral, we had a family prayer in the room with Dallas.  It was really special.  The funeral service was so wonderful.  Jan, Jen and Jason's cousin Megan did a life sketch, there were four beautiful musical numbers by Emily, Sharee and Carley, Uncle Mark and someone from the ward.  Jason's uncle Scott spoke and did a great job, as well as their bishop.  Tears flowed freely, but mostly it was a great tribute to Dallas' life.   We picked up the boys from the babysitters and took them with us to the cemetery.  We had just been at a cemetery for Memorial Day so my boys knew the drill.  Max picked a dandelion and put it on Dallas' coffin.  It was a sweet moment (and the only pic we took).

The ward put on a delicious luncheon after the funeral for all the family.  It was so nice.  After that we went back to Jason's grandparents.  The backyard at his Grandpa's house is unreal.  The yard is huge and the grass is perfect, like run around with no shoes on and never step on anything but soft, luscious grass perfect.  My kids have the best uncles.  Eric (Michelle's husband) plays with them non-stop and Ollie just adores him.  Uncle Jeff (Jen's husband) always brings and initiates tons of fun games.  This time he brought stomp rockets, bocce ball, dodge ball, kites, etc.  We spent the whole afternoon outside having the best time.  That evening without planning, tons of family just started showing up.  Kids played, adults sat outside talking and laughing, everyone ate exorbitant amounts of food, it was awesome.  I know Dallas would have been happy to see her family together enjoying each other.  

Here we are driving to church.  We did a lot of driving like this, kids sans car seats.  We are really good parents.  

Taylor is so cute.  Pretty blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes.  Her parents are going to have to keep a close eye on her!

Uncle Mike put his #provoallstar shades on Max.  Max knew he was hot stuff. 

I'm really sad this picture is so dark.  This is grandpa playing with Max.  Max's face says it all, he was having the best time playing cars with grandpa.  I don't think my boys realize (they are too young), how lucky they are to have such awesome grandparents AND great-grandparents.  

Jason's grandpa was watching The Lawrence Welk show one night and my boys really liked it.  I'm going to start making them watch my favorite musicals.  

We left Monday morning around 8:30am.  I wanted to stay another day, but Jason was anxious to get out to ND and start working.  The boys actually did really well on the drive. One would drive with me and watch a movie, while the other rode with daddy in the "big, big truck".  After that they would both get in with me and nap (the carseats in my car are a lot more comfortable for napping).  After naps we would swap and the boy who had been with daddy would come with me and watch a movie, while the other rode with Jason.  I was definitely the least favorite car to ride in.  They LOVED riding in the truck.  They could see everything and would just talk and ask Jason a million questions (which I guess is payback because Jason was an annoyingly curious child).  That night we stopped in Billing, MT.  We had stayed there last year on our way back from ND.  Instead of the same campground, we tried one a quarter of a mile down the road.  It is the first KOA in the United States.  Ollie overheard me talking about the pancake breakfast that they serve in the morning and decided that is what he wanted for dinner.  We went to Denny's and it was the best my kids have eaten in a long time, they ate everything!  Since Denny's was not our first choice for dinner, we were pleasantly surprised .  After that we hit up the last Costco we could (no Costco in ND).  We stocked up on paper products and some of our favorite Costco staples.  Then we went back to our campsite and went swimming in the heated pool and hot tub.  It was cold that evening with misty rain and strong winds, but the pool felt awesome.  The next morning the boys and I played mini golf while Jason packed up camp.  

Along the way we stopped for gas and lunch in Glendive, MT.  It is a GHETTO town, but we needed to stop.  We ate at this seriously shady Chinese restaurant.  It had good reviews on Yelp, so we took a risk and ate there.  Was it the best Chinese food I've ever had?  No (that title is reserved for Lincoln Chinese), but no one got sick...whew.  As we were driving away we decided we had to have a picture of the place.  I can't believe we ate there.

We couldn't decide if we were going to stop in Bismarck (2 hours from Gackle) and camp, or just push through.  The weather was pretty craptastic (windy, rainy and cold) so we decided we didn't want to get the travel trailer all set up in the cold.  We stopped in Bismarck, got some groceries, and had dinner.  I had both boys from Bismarck to Gackle and we were all DONE with the trip by that point.  Needless to say I was SO happy to see the Gackle water tower, and drive to our little yellow house off Main Street.  I've had a couple people ask to see more of Gackle so I have been taking pictures around town and plan to post them soon.  

I took this pic of Ollie at a rest stop, he needed an emergency bathroom break.  Both the boys only needed to use the bathroom when they were with me, and at the most inconvenient times.  The area behind him is called the Painted Mountains.  It was really pretty.