We made it!

What do you get when you put 9 people (and all their "stuff") in a minivan and drive over 2,000 miles??? Lots of memories and lots of TOGETHERNESS!

Here is a report of our big family adventure to California...

Day 1: Drove from Tremonton to Reno and stayed with cousins, John and Lisa and their family.

Day 2: Drove from Reno to Riverbank Ca. to visit Great Grandma DeWitt, just home from a brief stay in the hospital. We also got to visit with Aunt Reanette and Uncle Bob and Aunt Joyce.

Then more driving from Riverbank to Fresno where we stayed with Eric's sister Stacy. While there we saw all of her family ( Stacy, Carl, Sonja Grace and fiancee Chris, Tasia and husband Allen, Jaden and fiancee Rose, Ben, 4 little dogs, 2 big huskies, 3 cats, 6 fish, 2 turtle, and a partridge in a pear tree.) We also saw Papa Lee, David and Nathan, Steven, and Tricia, Randy and Lavell, and Aaron and his family, and the Kelleys. Everyone had fun visiting and cooling off in the pool!

Day 3: We all went to the cemetery where Eric dedicated Sonja's grave. There were a lot of family and friends there. Sonja was buried right next to her mother and just a short distance from her baby, William. The cemetery was beautiful and we left yellow roses on all of their graves. Then we went over to the Church for a beautiful memorial service. Lots of beautiful music and a few short remarks (as Sonja had requested).

The rest of the day was spent catching up with lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, and old friends back at Stacy's house. The kids had a fantastic time in the pool again and playing with all the animals.

Day 4: We went to church in Fresno and then drove down to the Los Angelas area. We thought the traffic wouldn't be so bad through LA on a Sunday afternoon, but it was crazy! I'd hate to be there for rush hour! Thanks to help from "Maggie" we made it to our hotel in Anaheim and then to see Will in Orange. We saw his charming 101 year old apartment and he gave us a tour of down town Orange, We had a nice picnic together before we went back to the hotel to crash...

Day 5: DISNEY LAND!!!

We packed in as much fun and excitement as we could from about 8:00 am to 11:00 pm. We didn't do it all, but we sure had a great time! There was something for everyone and we all found our favorites!

Day 6: We checked out of the hotel and headed for the beach! We walked out on the pier, waded in the waves, and built a sandcastle. It was terrific! We could have spent the day there, but we had to head for home before "rush hour" hit. After many long hours on the road and a detour through Las Vegas, we made it to St. George (barely!) and relaxed for the night. We were all beyond exhausted by that time and appreciated a clean, quite hotel!

Day 7: We hit the road again and headed for SLC. We loved the beautiful scenery in southern Uath and hope to go back and spend more time visiting the National Parks around there. We got to Salt Lake in time to have dinner with Bathany and Stetsen at the Myan. (Unfortunately Brianna and Nick were at work.) The kids enjoyed the mexican food (a nice change from PB&Js and rice cakes!) and we loved the diving show!




We finally arrived home at about 7:00pm. YEA! Out of the car!!! We saw lots of wonderful places but there is no place like HOME! :)