I get so overwhelmed when I get behind on the blog.  I'm going to forget half of what I want to put on here, but I'll do my best.

On July 1, we left bright and early for our trip to Utah.  Things were going well until we reached Rockport, MO.  We were suddenly kicked off of the interstate and given vague directions to a detour.  After spending quite some time on this two-lane country highway with no idea why we were there, Ben took out his CD and we heard on the news that the interstate was closed for flooding.  Our next road was supposed to be Highway 2, so when I saw that coming up on the GPS, I thought we could jump on and still cross over to I-80.  No such luck.  Highway 2 was also flooded.  We were headed to Omaha.  We were eventually able to get on I-80.  What was supposed to be 13 hours on the road turned into 15.  Ugh.

The next morning we got off to a slow start so that we could go to the Geological Museum at the University of Wyoming to see Big Al.  Sydney has been a fan for several years, and we stopped here when we moved to Missouri two years ago.

We had to stop at Little America for $.50 ice cream cones and to see Emperor the Penguin.  We took this picture right when we got there.  But the time we had gotten our ice cream, it had started to rain so we weren't able to have the outside time we'd hoped for.  At least it wasn't snow like last year.

We made it to my parents' house that night.  My sister, Stephanie, and her family had arrived a couple of hours earlier.  We had a great time having all of the family together. 

On Sunday, I was able to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Olsen.  My grandma was in the hospital after having surgery so she wasn't feeling her best, but we had a great visit anyway.

On the 4th, we got family pictures, which my kids cried though.  We then got some lunch and went to see Cars 2.  My brother Danny and his wife hosted everyone for dinner and fireworks at their home that night.

On Wednesday, my mom rented a bouncy house all day for the kids.  They had a blast.  My nephew Matt took a spill off of a chair and hit his head on the window well.  I drove him and my sister-in-law Emily to urgent care where he got 7 staples in his head.  Poor little guy.

We spent a lot of time just hanging out, playing games, and shopping since we have no stores to speak of near us.  I had to get a shot of this jeep we saw in one of the parking lots. 

My brother Stephen and his wife Kathleen also hosted a dinner and game night.  The kids kept themselves occupied in the playroom and with video games so the adults all had fun.  Weird.

My Grandma and Grandpa Weeks stopped by for a visit as well.  They are always so busy with church assignments and missions that you never know where they will be.  My grandpa was actually stationed at Whiteman when my mom was little.

We said goodbye to Stephanie's family on Saturday.  That afternoon, we went to visit some old friends of mine.  Bethany used to teach fencing and still has a bunch of stuff in her basement.  She game me and Ben a lesson while Dan and their niece Cora kept an eye on the kids in the backyard.  Ben's a lot better than I am, and this was actually my second go at it.

On Sunday, I decided to try to see if I had lost enough weight to get back in to my wedding dress.  It was a little tight around those ribs my kids rearranged while they were in there, but it went on.  Sydney and her cousin Jasmine were already dressed up as princesses so we had to take a picture together.

On Monday, we met Ben's mom and our nieces and nephews on his side of the family at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden.

We grabbed some lunch at Burger King afterwards then headed up to Logan.  I went to dinner with my friend Alisha that night, then we crashed at the hotel.  The next day we went to the USU bookstore (Ben wanted to get a t-shirt since he wasn't interested in merchandise when we went to the BYU bookstore.  Go figure).  We met with his family at Willow Park for lunch and were planning to go to the little zoo there, but we got rained out.  It as only 70 degrees that morning so my kids were freezing.  They insisted on wearing their jackets.  We spent the afternoon bowling instead.  We had yummy Mexican food with Ben's brother Lorne and his wife Megan, then headed back to Orem.

On Wednesday, Ben and I got to go to the temple.  Ours is currently three hours away so 15 minutes seems like a dream.  Kansas City will be open some time next year and that it just over an hour away.  Aaahhh.

Thursday was zoo day.  They have dinosaurs all over the Hogle Zoo right now, so our family obviously had to go. 

That wrapped up our time in Utah.  Friday morning we headed back out.  We couldn't get a room on base this time so we stayed at the Days Inn.  It had a room with two queen beds and a set of bunk beds.  They kids loved it.

On Saturday, we took a detour through Denver since it was shorter than going through Omaha again.  It was a very long day.  We didn't get home until 10:45 that night, but we did make it to church at 9:00 the next morning.  We had a great time.  I am all fast fooded out though.  Tyler isn't though.

This week has been busy too.  Ben had to go TDY (temporary duty, for those who don't speak Air Force) Monday morning even though we'd only been home a day and a half.  We dropped him at the airport, and then I tackled the laundry.

Zack was diagnosed with eczema on Thursday so we got a new lotion for him, which already seems to be helping.

Sydney and I saw the allergist on Friday.  Her asthma is doing great, and her second round of allergy tests were nearly at unspectacular as her first.  She had a small reaction to hickory and a couple of molds, which doesn't really match her horrible symptoms in the tree pollen season, but he will keep treating her each spring anyway.

I, on the other hand, had some great reactions.  Turns out I am allergic to cats, despite what they told me at my doctor's office.  Not as bad a grass though.  They said everthing would fade in 5-6 hours.  For me, it took 48.  He agreed that it was time to do shots so I start next week.  Hooray!

Ben also came home Friday night.  His flight was supposed to get in at 6:20, but with all of the delays, it ended up being 10:20.  Since most of my friends are on vacation or were out that night, and the young women were at girls' camp, I got to take my kids with me.  It was miserable, but I am so happy to have him back.