Logan Reclaimed

Yes, I have reclaimed Logan.
It is mine yet again.

You see, it didn't feel like mine, not since we moved so far away.  I mean, twelve hours?  How could I ever go back to Logan without significant money, planning, etc. etc. etc.?

Well, I had just finished two doula clients in two days, gone to a game show, and felt exhausted.  I wanted my Mama.  But Mac is now old enough to cost a plane ticket, so flying felt more unreasonable than it has in the past. 

So ... why not drive?  Why not drive?  Honestly I could think of a million reasons not to drive, but I brushed them aside.  Every time I got in the car and turned on my Garmin, Mac gave me detailed instructions on how to go Bumpa's house.  He was game.  Belle was questionable, but she could make it.  I was going to drive to Logan.

And two days later, I did.  How?  Not caffeine. 
Sunflower seeds.
Sunflower seeds, and naptime.

I only drove once it was bedtime for the kids, or their afternoon naps.  And I chomped on sunflower seeds till my mouth felt like bleeding.  I was thirsty and sore, but not over-stuffed and definitely very awake.  Add listening to "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks (lame, but entertaining) and "Shanghai Girls" by Lisa See (SO GOOD), and you're set for a very comfortable trip.

Oh, and lastly, I took three days getting there.

Here's the breakdown categorized by all the distant loved ones I attempted to squeeze into two weeks time:

T H E   G U N N S

• Spent the night at Grandma's, and played catch, jumped on the tramp, shot zombies, and sang about excavators all morning long.  And took pictures.

"Grandma so happy" by MacAlister

• Hustled over to Josh and Heidi's to enjoy some cousin time.  We are so lucky to have so many cousins and need to play with them as much as possible!  Plus Josh and Heidi are always fun to talk to, and so knowledgeable.  Also still wanting us to move there .... ??  (Yes, our future is still undecided.) 

• After a little more driving, we made it to Salt Lake where Benny-bless-his-heart babysat my kids so Katie and I could get some girl time.  And some fatty cheesey bacon fries straight from Heaven.
• The next morning we got to meet up with Rachelle and the kiddos ... but not long enough to feel satisfying.  (Can we try that again sometime?) 

• On the way back (two weeks later) we were able to squeeze in a little more Gunn time with the Salt Lake-ish family memers, where Katie shared her Cafe Rio with me (sigh), Belle and Grace became best friends, Adam solidified his best-Gunn-uncle status, and I got to meet the lovely Sam.  Adam has snagged a real catch with this gal.

Okay ... so maybe I wimped out on taking actual pictures of her ... didn't want to scare her off you see.  But is it weirder that I facebook stalked her to get a picture? 
Maybe. 
Don't tell.

• We then were able to snag Matt and Danika for a bit before we settled in to Grandma's house one last time.  The following day (Sunday), we met a celebrity.  Turns out being late for church can be beneficial in all sorts of ways.  We caught Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in the parking lot as we has leaving an earlier meeting.  He and his wife shook our hands, fawned over Mac and Belle (naturally Belle grinned back and reached for them, while Mac hid in my skirt), and then told us they didn't want to keep us from chruch.  I'm pretty sure my reaction was somewhere between Mac and Belle's, while Chris attempted to make connections with them through similar friends.  Yes, we were a little star struck.

• After church, Chris and Heidi combined forces to make so much delicious food.  You know, the kind that tastes good and feels good.  And of course, more cousin time.

T H E   T H O M A S '

• Oh my wonderful family.  I wish everybody could experience being the oldest sibling, with the first grandkids.  We get spoiled rotten.  (i.e. Dad took a day off work to spend entirely with Mac.  We picked his berry bushes dry.  I went out to eat, to a movie, and shopping without my little lovelies and without feeling the need to rush back.  And ... I went to the temple.)

 

• They were even so good as to call up the neighbor boy (who I used to babysit and who used to enjoy throwing tomatoes on his mom's white carpet and dancing on them,) and having him set up his homemade rocket launcher.  He made it rain candy and toys.  Yes, it was awesome.

• I also got to watch Dad act as the new Bishop of my home ward, which was wonderful.  The man oozes love and compassion; he does wonderfully. 
• And I helped Trent ask The Hair Girl to Homecoming.  It was hilarious ... and probably made her hate him.  I hope not.  We stuck real live bags of trash on her porch, one of which contained Rachel holding a diaper with Trent's name and mashed candy bars inside.  The poster read, "Don't trash my life, come to Homecoming with me."  The plan was for Rachel to wait patiently while they rummaged through neighboring sacks, then when they got to hers, she was to thrust her arm out, hand them the diaper, and take off running.  Unfortunately, The Hair Girl (and some guy she was snuggling with on a couch ... WHAT? ... supposedly he's "getting ready for a mission") started bringing the trash bags into the house.  When they tried to pick up Rachel's bag, she panicked, threw the diaper (which landed in the bushes), and took off running, losing a shoe and falling a few times.  Would you have said yes?

T H E   E X T E N D E D S

• I don't know if you've heard of #52 on Utah State University's football team, but he's kind of a big deal.  And he's my cousin.

•  Many many Thomases from all over the place gathered to watch this boy hand it to U of U.  He did wonderfully (surprise) and the fam went crazy.

Who doesn't love these three?  Kenzi, Kyler, and Lori.  Absolute gems.

Mac played catch with a beanbag football all during lunch.  (Frederico's ham & cheese salads of course, had to get a lunch of champions in this big guy.)

Me, Rachel, and the parents ended up being on kid duty.  It was actually very very fun.  I wish I could've taken Alexa home with me.

After an intense overtime, USU pulled out a win and the victor came home bruised and all smiles.  And so of course we had to watch the entire game over AGAIN to hash out all the details.  Also, Kyler's lady friend is a BABE.  I like her too much.

•  We even got to spend a Sunday afternoon with Darrell and Kolby, who my kids adore (Mac still talks about Darrell) and we had a hard time pulling away from at dinnertime.  Why can't I have a yard like this?

T H E   F R I E N D S

• I was quite swamped with all the family love going on, and only got one high school friend in.  But Lacy was a good one, and one I haven't seen in a while.  Also ... she brought her babies.  Same ages as mine.

My goodness, did you make it through all that?  I feel about as tired putting that together as I did making it happen.

But of course I loved every bit of it, and most importantly:
I proved to myself that I can do it.

If we end up living here forever (which is still an unknown), I can come and go as I'd like and soak up all the extended family time the kids and I need.

The only bummer:  what about Mark?

I will say that the homecoming is heaven when we finally get our own little family back together. 

But ... I still want to live close enough that we can do more of these types of things together. 

We'll see.