Latest trip to Utah

We recently made another trip down to Utah.  We went down again to see Chris' baby sister Courtni for her farewell before she heads out on her mission.  It was really more like a mini McDonald family reunion.  All of "the McDonald kids" and their families came for the festivities. Our numbers seem to be growing rapidly. Just since last year there has been two new additions with Emilia and Issac. 

We are all starting to spread out more too.  Adam is going to California for an internship, and then long term in all probability.  Andrew, Stephanie, and Henry are settling down in Texas. Nathan, Melissa, Clark, and Issac are moving ahead quickly in the wake of school and jobs. Brittni and Richard are moving to Qatar for a year, and possibly longer if they like it. Courtni is headed to the Eugine Oregon mission for 18 months. Peggy and Curtis are planning out their next few kid less months before the winter sets in again. Last but not least there is our growing little family.  Who knows how long we will be in Montana, could be six months, could be ten years (probably not though).
The trip was good.  Pretty short for us this time.  We only stayed the weekend.  Unfortunately we weren't aware that family was going to be there before us and after we left or we might have found a way to stay longer. Our fault for assumptions made I suppose. We did get quite a bit crammed into that short space.  We were able to stay close to Saratoga at a much better price than we had planned on (Thank you Rick and Brittni!) and so we were able to do a few things that we might not have otherwise. 
We were invited to go to the dinosaur museum on Saturday with some of the group.  Duncan had a blast there, and it was so much fun to see all three of the older(ish) boys playing together, and separately. In some cases they were playing separately together =).

We also got the chance to see Cars 2 with the whole family.  Millie and Henry didn't last through it.  But I didn't notice until nearly the end of the movie that Chris had handed Millie to his mom, who took her out of the theatre with Steph and Henry.  It was nice to be able to enjoy an entire movie though. We were able to spend a few hours with my grandma and Robin a couple of times while we were there. We even managed to get some re-arranging done for grandma.

 We were able to have Millie blessed. Chris' mom made her blessing gown and it was so SO beautiful.  I guess that she took it nearly completely apart the night before and re-made it a little smaller in fear it wouldn't fit.  I am still in awe over it.  It was such a nice thing to do for us.  Being able to have all the family stand in the circle for the blessing was so nice.  We were a little nervous about it being done on Courtni's day.  She was so gracious to let us share it a little. Nathan and Melissa had their new baby blessed with the family too.  Uncle Adam did Millie's blessing.

Courtni's talk and farewell was really nice. Coutni also did a song with some friends and Brittni.  The talk seemed to be cut a little short (probably in relief) due to time.  But it was really nice, and everyone was there to support her in her new calling. The farewell at the park was amazing too. There was a huge spread and tons of people.  The kids all played out in the field.  Duncan was a monster while we were there.  I wish I knew why he felt the need to act up.  I hope it is a phase and ends quickly.  I am running out of options when it comes to "punishing" the behavior.  Nothing is working.  It didn't help that the poor kid didn't get a nap for two days and was either sick or had really bad allergies.  After the outside picnic was over we went to the house to chat a little.  We all got to talk about the things we love most about Courtni, and give her a few more well wishes. Uncle Rick had a half an hour long pillow fight with Duncan and Henry (poor little Clark fell asleep before the fun started). Before long the rest of the family was planning out their activities for the next few days and saying goodbye's.  Adam had a plane to catch and everyone else had other plans for the rest of the evening. So we said our goodbye's to and headed back to the hotel to get packed up for our trip home.

 In the end Chris had to get back to work and it was nice to take a little more time coming home.  The kids seemed to fare a little better on the way home for it. Before heading out of town we stopped at Chris' grandparents house (the McDonald's) to visit with grandpa and grandma great.  It was the first time that they met miss Millie.  Duncan was really shy at first, but warmed up a little with DJ trying to play cars with him.  After the McDonald grandparents we went to see my grandma and aunt again before heading out of town.  It was nice to take our time and not feel rushed to get home.  My poor gram can only handle my kids for about an hour at a time though.  She was exhausted by the end of the visit.  After all of our goodbye's were said we decided to head up to the base an see some old friends from Chris' last job.  We have missed a visit with them the last few times we went down.  After that it was time to start the road trip home.  We made it home by 11pm even with all of the stops, including nearly every rest stop on the way home for our potty training two year old. I was surprised.
Chris planned for another day before going back to work this time, so it was nice to be able to sleep in a little with the kids and get some things done at home with no particular plan.
We were sad to part with our rental car for the trip though.  We only planned on a Jeep Cherokee or similar.  The rental place gave Chris a Yukon Denali.  Very nice.  It came in handy to have the extra seats while we were there too.  Now we need to rent a few of the other ones we had our eyes on and see which we like best.
Now we are home and it seems that we are running through "normal" life at breakneck speed.  I honestly think Duncan grew an inch while we were gone.  I went to put some of his pants on him, only to find out that they are all suddenly floods on him.  At least the waist fits a little better.  Millie is right behind him.3-6 month clothes aren't going to last much longer on her.  she is also starting to scoot across the floor to things she wants to grab. As well as discovering her voice.  I need a pause button.  They grow to fast.