Zion National Park

This place ended up being my favorite National Park that we visited. The kids really had a good time here too.

Christopher, as usual, makes his own path. Our boys LOVE to climb!

Anytime they can rock climb, they are happy. It is Mommy who isn't very happy when they get so far up and away I can not even see them.

Feeding a full grown male elk from their hands was a rare experience too.

Off they go, on another climbing adventure!

Can you even see the male Smiths in this picture?

I colored them below so they would be easier to find.

The hot tub back at the motel was a favorite spot as well.

Now for the scenic shots: The one below is my favorite picture from the entire trip.

I really like how the trees were silhouetted in the bright daytime sun.

I will give Sam credit for this shot below, that he crawled down a hill to take.

See the bird that flew into the picture?

What an amazing place. The little town of Springdale is quaint and I recommend staying there. But either leave the kids at home, or bring a big cooler with your own food, because eating there is VERY expensive and they aren't really kid friendly in the restaurants.

We are home!!

6,633 miles driven

500 pictures taken and a full memory card

316.92 gallons of gas (ouch)

56 Brady Bunch episodes on the DVD in the car

( and about 20 full length movies and cartoons)

                   

37 family and friends at Sam's surprise party

26 days gone from here

17 states  (whew)

   (Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana)

16 nights in a hotel (double ouch)

14 relatives visited

6 national parks and monuments visited

      Zion National Park

            Grand Canyon

        The Badlands

     Mt. Rushmore

           Devils Tower

             Yellowstone National Park

5 bags of puke (yuck)

4 different churches attended

2 prescriptions filled from one ER visit

1 unforgettable family vacation

We did get the car unloaded and I did start the first load of wash. But then I had to do a main post because I have been having withdrawls. :)

It will take me a few days to get all 500 pictures organized and pick the favorites and tell the stories.

I will just have to do it in chunks.

As much fun as we had, it does truly feel good to be home.

I am actually at a computer. And I am so far behind on my blogging that I actually dreamed about posting last night. Alas, I don't have time right now. We are in Mrs. Zuri tonight after a 10 hour drive today. I like how Kaebrie says this state. I guess after being in MRS. Sippi for a few days, she has the right idea of how to pronounce Missouri.NO THROWING UP today! I count that as a success!We are taking the Northern Route home, so I can finally see Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower and Yellowstone.We expect to get back to Idaho Saturday night.Good.I am so totally exhausted. Physically, emotionally, and packingly. (So tired of trying to be UBER-organized from living out of suitcases and moving around so much).Kaitlynn and I are going out trying to find the Shoppette to stock up on some snacks. Hopefully, this base will be easy to figure out and it won't be far.More later this week if I can, then way to much after we get home and I get the 457 (an actual real total, not an exaggeration) pictures I have taken off my camera and organized. My memory disk only holds 500 pictures, so it will be cutting it close!By for now!!!!

ALABAMA

We made it safely here, to the excitement of all the grandparents and aunts and uncles (and great aunts and great uncles) and cousins and friends.

The drive from Dallas to Montgomery was our longest day of driving. It took us 14 hours. including stops.

The kids did amazingly well. Better then the best I even hoped for. We were one hour from Montgomery, after having driven a total of over 2,100 miles, when we heard the FIRST

"Mommy, HE IS TOUCHING ME!!!!!!"

I think when my sister and I were little and traveling we didn't even make it out of our driveway before we started that mess! :)

As usual, every time we do anything, there is something UNusual that happens.

We pulled into a small town in Mississippi when it was time for super. Sam chose Krystal because it is cheap and fast. That was one of the only meals in the entire drive from Idaho we ate in the car. We were all in a hurry to reach our final destination!

When we finally arrived at his parents house at 11:10 pm, the kids piled out and I noticed a small bite looking mark above Kaitlynn's lip. I thought she must have a bug bite. She woke me up at 3am with a stomach ache, and proceeded to throw up the rest of the night. The next morning, she woke up feeling fine, but that small bug bite was really big and blistered and there was another one below her lips even larger. Then we noticed her legs. Raised red marks with blisters in the shape of her fingers.

All we can figure is she had an allergic reaction to something. Her face reacted, her legs reacted where she touched them, and her stomach reacted all night. No fever, she has felt fine since waking up that morning, but poor thing, she just looks terrible. The blisters all scabbed over and now the skin is starting to heal.

Weirdness.

I don't know if it was the Krystal burgers or not, but I don't think we will be stopping there on the drive back.

This sure has been the "throwing up trip!" Hopefully, that part of the trip will be a one way only!

...........More to come!!!

Just Listen

I think I mentioned before that this convention we are at is like one big reunion. People that were important parts of our lives from all over the country are here. Sam and I counted, and from the first PCA church we were at that sent him to Seminary, we have been involved in 10 PCA churches through either interning, youth pastor, or senior pastor in Alabama, Mississippi, California, Colorado and Idaho. That is a lot of people to know! Every time the elevator opens or you go up the escalator, you are looking at everyone to see if you know them. We have had many great reunions today. Wonderful men Sam has interned under through the years, families we lived next door to in seminary housing, fellow students we graduated with and were involved with as long as 11 years ago. It is amazing to reconnect after all these years.

One of my other favorite parts of General Assembly is the singing during the worship service every evening. There is something incredible about the voices of 3,000 men singing praises to God. It gives me goose bumps every time. The video isn't much to look at, I was just holding it up to try and let you hear the singing, though of course it is nowhere near the actual sound. So turn up your volume, close your eyes, and enjoy.

DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES

Kaebrie usually naps for about 2 hours every afternoon and usually goes to bed at 8pm, and sleeps between 11 - 12 hours. That has not been happening on this trip. She is in such a sleep deficit from not napping and staying up way to late, that I had to do something drastic today, as my sweet girl was turning into a crabby, fussy, whiny, not so nice to be around three year old.
We came back to the hotel room, and I put her bed into the bathroom. I turned her sound machine on loud, closed the shower curtain, shut the door, and she slept for almost 3 hours, in the bathtub.
Sam thought I was nuts.
But she wouldn't have slept with the rest of us sitting out here all in the same room.
Hey, it WORKED!
The only rule was you could only go the bathroom if it was absolutely necessary, but NO FLUSHING!!!!!

Discovering Dallas

Yesterday was our first full day here. The little kids went to the play area all day and had a great time. I was able to attend a few of the sessions with Sam and meet other PCA chaplains from all over. Every branch of service, civilian, hospital, ect. I took a break over lunch and Collin, Kaitlynn and I walked over to the Holocaust Museum. It was very well done and tied into a lot of what we have talked about this year in school.
Our great friends, the Bowman's, arrived last night from Savannah and they kept the kids while I attended the Chaplain dinner with Sam. David Peterson, a retired navy colonel, is now retiring from MNA and working with the chaplain service for over ten years. They did a surprise roast for him. I wondered how funny a surprise roast for a chaplain would be, but it was great! Joel Belz, the editor of World Magazine spoke, as did about 12 other people, then they ended with General Norman Schwarzkopf on the phone.
It was a very nice evening.
This morning, we got up and ready and headed out to the Dallas Aquarium with Carol and Thomas.
We had to buy tickets for the DART tram system and you can't buy them in groups. Each one has to be done separately. After reading all the instructions and options, I started the rather lengthy process of putting in the right amount of money.....5 times. One of the tram workers came over to me and asked if I needed any help. He said it looked like I was playing the slot machines.
:)

Kaitlynn loved the manatees. We just sat here on the floor and watched and watched.

As soon as I am done here, she is going to put a bunch of pictures on her blog. It is just so fun to see her walking around composing all of her pictures! :)

The best buddies. They only get to see each other about once a year (if that), but these two pick up like they have never been apart. They have been friends since Collin was 10 months old. Hard to believe they will both be SIXTH graders next year. They are already talking about being room mates at Auburn one day.

We are now back in the hotel room, having just finished a supper of PB and J sandwiches on the floor. We are going to go to Worship at 7:00. The music is amazing. Hearing close to 3,000 men sing Praise and Worship songs is one of my favorite parts.
Tomorrow we are off for another adventure!
As you can tell, I renewed our Internet service again.
Just could not say no!

First Night In Dallas

We ate the Spaghetti Warehouse. It was really neat! The kids loved eating in the train. They had cheap kids meals! Bread, salad, spaghetti, drink and dessert for $3.99!!

They were more interested in chocolate ice cream then smiling for a picture.

Our hotel. We walked a mile to dinner and this was on our way home. We are up on the 19th floor!

Pictures from Kaitlynn's camera

Here we are at the Grand Canyon! The "Barfing Brood" as my mother affectionately named them. :)
Now before you yell at me in cyberspace, YES, I DID hand off my camera to a lady to take a family picture.
But as I have said before, I can't get to my pictures right now since I forgot the memory card reader.
This was the railing Tiff started to climb.
{rattling nerves sound effect here}

Kaitlynn took these next 2 pictures. I promised her I would give her credit.

This one needs an explanation. This is about 45 minutes after her first ever dose of Dramamine and about an hour after her usual 1:30 nap time, hence the red and glassy eyes. The fingers? Well, she has been a finger sucker since before she was born. Those two fingers on either hand. VeggieTales was on the DVD player and was hypnotising her into dreamland. The sticker? Well, that comes from Sam's side of the family. Apparently they used to wear stickers on their foreheads, usually Chiquita banana stickers. Nobody told her to do this with her Smokey sticker, she just did it. Sam saw it and said to get a picture for his parents to laugh at. Poppa and JuJu, this one is for you!

Another story I forgot to write about earlier. After Tiff was diagnosed, he asked me what STRAP was. I said strep was a bug you get in your throat. He thought for a minute, then said, "There was a beetle in the swimming pool last night."
I LOVE how literal they can be!
He told Daddy when we got out to the car that he had a beetle in his throat.
It will be so sad when they all outgrow this literal stage we have loved for years!

Go Carts

This was a BIG hit! Except for Tiffer, Sam said he was scared to death! He kept begging for Daddy to stop!

Collin loved it. He was wild! Drove as fast as the car would go and didn't care who he bumped into.

Kaitlynn was slow and cautious. Not speeding, not bumping. I just might allow her to get her drivers license when she turns 20.

Kaebrie waited patiently and cheered on her siblings every time they drove by!

On another note, I forgot to write about this earlier. Kaebrie has turned into a 3 year old back seat driver. She called out from her seat the other day, "Daddy, you just turned on a red light." or "Daddy, that light was yellow." I hope it ends up being her sister who teaches her the rules of the road instead of her oldest crazy driving brother!

Golfing!

Daddy gives a demonstration.

The poor couple who was wanting a nice date and got stuck behind the family of 6 took our picture for us. Yes, we did let them go in front of us. :)

Tiff's favorite thing was to hit the ball hard enough to land in the water whenever possible.

Ginnifer Paisley Smith

I have a new best friend. And it only took me about 5 minutes to fall head over heels in love with her. Where has she been for most of my life? Why did it take so long to make her a part of our family?


Sam came home from the BX at Kirtland AFB with a GPS!! I knew they were nice, but I had NO idea how this little computer could be so life changing. He had been looking for awhile, but they were costly. Now, the prices have come down a lot, and this was on clearance sale, and no tax on base, so it really wasn't expensive at all. After the first hour, she was worth every penny!

After the kids heard her talk for the first time, they wanted to name her. So they took the GPS initials, and hence the name. They call her Ginnifer. Every time she tells us something, Kaebrie pipes up with , "Thank you Ginnifer!"


After the first few minutes, Christopher spoke up said, "I have a question for Ginnifer.
How are you doing?"

It was SO funny, him thinking she was going to answer him. :)


We finished out time up in New Mexico with a fun night out to a mini-golf and go cart place. The kids had a ball.


Yesterday we drove to Wichita Falls, Texas and got there around dinner time. The base was full so we stayed at a Best Western. We did end up going to the base, to the hospital that is CLOSED on Sundays. We tried out a Baptist church this morning, then headed over to the closed ER for Tiff's ear and throat, only to be sent across town to a regional hospital. But it was good! All we had to do was tell Ginny to take us to Kell West Hospital and she directed us right there!


Acute right ear infection AND strep throat!?!?!?! That is crazy. I haven't heard of anyone having that that they play with. To make matters worse, the kids have been sharing drinks when we eat out to save money, so this might be the culprit of the fever Kaebrie had for 2 days. The nice nurse there gave us a full weeks worth of meds for Tiff and a prescription we had to go get filled (thanks again Ginny for helping us to find the nearest open pharmacy) that Kaebrie is getting. Pray the rest of us stay healthy!!!!


We were finally able to leave for Dallas around 2pm. Thankfully, it was only a 2+ hour drive, with Ginny telling us every turn, right to the front door of this gigantic hotel.

We are on the 19th floor with a gorgeous view of the city. We don't have to get in the car again until Thursday!!! YAY!!!

Having all of us in the same room is requiring much more patience then I think I am capable of by 5pm. That will be the toughest part of this week. The best part will be the reunion with old friends from all over the country.


We are here in Dallas for General Assembly. The second week of June every year, every Presbyterian pastor (PCA) and elders and their families of PCA churches all over the country meet. The location varies every year. We see friends we went to Seminary with and lived near and went to churches with, ect. It really is fun. Sam has meeting all week long, but we get to play and explore the city. I am not the tea-party flower arranging type, so I don't sign up for the women's events, we just do our own thing.


To have Internet access in the room, the hotel charges ten dollars a day. I convinced Sam that I HAD to have it tonight, HAD to blog and check blogs and my email, but this might be it until we arrive at the grandparents in Alabama on Thursday night.


I will try and post some pictures from Kaitlynn's camera after dinner. It is driving me nuts that I can't access my pictures!!!!


Thanks for following us along on our journey!

Mamma don't do no puke

Family vacations.
Always interesting, fun, colorful and...well....smelly?

We ended up out time at Zion and left early Thursday morning, setting out for an easy 2+ hour ride to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Easy.

That was the wrong word to have in mind. We hadn't gone 45 minutes, when from behind me Tiff screamed , " I AM GOING TO THROW UP!"

Now, in a much earlier post, I wrote about taking the barf bags from the Delta plane, and that is wasn't stealing because I paid a lot of money for those tickets! I am SO SO SO SO glad I took those heavy duty-seal able-portable little bags!

In a half second I grabbed one of of the glove box, and had it over Tiff's face before Sam could even pull over. Not one drop of puke in the new van! YAY MOMMY!

We got him cleaned up and settled, and off we went, again.

Our little Constipated Cutie kept crying about her tummy hurting. After 5 , yes FIVE stops to see if she could relieve her constipation and one wrong turn, we were on our way AGAIN, now well over and hour off schedule.

We get near the park, marveling at the beautiful snow and the 36 degree weather and she starts giving of that scared scream, so out pops another Delta bag, Sam pulls over again, and again, Delta saves the day.

Delta wasn't there when Kaitlynn proceeded to Christin her first trip to the Grand Canyon by leaving behind her breakfast on the bushes.

WHEW! ENOUGH!!!!!!!

It was then MANDATORY Dramamine infusion for any Smith under the age of 12. We spent about 10 minutes looking at the incredible canyon, but my nerves were frayed. The second we stepped outside the lodge onto the trail, AFTER a stern lecture to the kids about obeying in this dangerous place, Tiff proceeds to CLIMB THE SAFETY RAIL!!!!!!!!!

I yell..um..scream...um...encourage him to get down, and behind me, Sam is laughing hysterically (once he is down and safe).
Because this is what HE did to his mother years and years ago. Tiff is a mini-Sam. And Kay, I need some pointers on how Sam turned out so well and how you survived these years please!

We think it was altitude sickness that affected the kids. It came on way fast and disappeared quickly. We were at 9,000 feet, having traveled about 6,000 feet up in less than an hour.

Then it was 8 more hours into the car, through Arizona and some amazing canyons to New Mexico, where I am now writing in the library when I am supposed to be at the BX getting meds because now Tiff is saying his ear hurts.

They did SO well on the drive. Thank you for DVD players!!!!! There were only a few minor spats. Kaebrie told everyone to stay really quiet because her baby was asleep. Tiff looks at her, waits 5 seconds, then shoots her baby with his wooden gun.

She screams.

He laughs.

I try and figure out how much of their college savings are going to need to go to pay for therapy.

We didn't do any driving today. Staying 2 nights at the TLF's on base here. Old base housing they have converted into temporary lodging. Old base housing that is NICER then our base housing we live in on a permanent basis. {sigh}. I was able to get caught up on laundry and spread the kids out into different rooms and we all feel rested and less stressed.

I have 8 minutes left on my library timer. Sorry about no pictures again. I will try and get some on. I am hoping we have Internet at the hotel in Dallas for 5 days.

Tomorrow we drive all day to somewhere in Texas, can't remember at the moment, then make our Dallas destination on Sunday.

Please continue to pray for safety and no more throwing up!!!!!!!!!!!

Let the fun begin.....

Monday afternoon, everything was packed, the van was loaded. And loaded withOUT the soft top carrier. How great a packer am I? Gone for a month, with a family of 6, and everything loaded in the TRUNK! Now, I have to give a shout-out to the new van I guess. The trunk is HUGE and there is another compartment that lifts up behind the drivers seat for underneath storage as well. So with my amazing organizational packing and the great van, we made a GREAT team!!!

After supper, about 6:00, I said to Sam, "Why don't we just leave tonight instead of tomorrow morning." He said, "Sure, why not?" All we had to do was pick up his dry cleaning in town and we were good to go.

It was after 7pm Monday when we got on the road. We made it to Hill AFB in Salt Lake City in about 4 hours. We got checked in, after finding our way on an old outdated base map. We crashed, but didn't sleep all that well. It was pretty crowded. The beds were SMALL, so small. I shared with Kaitlynn, Sam shared with Tiff, Kaebrie had one of the blowup mattresses and Collin was on a pull out chair.

We then were able to make it Zion National Park yesterday right at the 3:00 check in time. Sam found the PERFECT little motel. Individual cottages with a view of the cliffs in every direction. It is gorgeous! Small, but gorgeous.

We let them swim yesterday afternoon, then took the (free) shuttle into the park, rode the (free) shuttle 45 minutes to the very end, then hiked the River Walk Trail. The sun was going down, the lighting was beautiful, and I had the best time just taking pictures and experimenting with the different controls on the camera. Some of them turned out so beautiful.

{I wish I could show you right now, but in our spontaneous early leave, I forgot the card the reader for the computer, so for now, the pictures are stuck in my camera.}

We slept better last night, getting to bed before 11 pm instead of after midnight like last night. Kaebrie woke early, but everyone else slept until 9. She cuddled with me and actually stayed quiet!

We took the car in today and drove through the famous tunnel and saw the arch, then puled off onto the side of the road and the boys went mountain climbing. Way higher then was comfortable for me to watch! Made for some awesome pictures, but whew, that was hard to watch. Then Sam left Kaitlynn and I in the park and took the rest back for a swim, and a MUCH needed nap for Kaebrie.

Kaitlynn and I rode the shuttle, got off at several different stops and just walked and talked and took pictures. I gave her a few more lessons on the camera and she had a great time creating her own pictures.
I will be able to load hers onto her blog shortly, as this computer will accept her camera card, so check out her site at
www.kaitlynnsphotographyworld.blogspot.com
soon for some actual pictures!

We got back before the MAJOR thunderstorm hit. The pool is closed because of the weather. And we are a bit antsy at the moment with all of us stuck in this one small room.
I am thankful for DVD players and MOVIES!!!!

I asked Kaebrie what she thought of all this, and do you know what she was MOST impressed with? The roly poly she found yesterday. :)

We leave early tomorrow so we can make it to the Grand Canyon before the sun gets to high in the sky and ruins the view and the pictures. We are going to the not-so-used North Rim, which is supposed to be the prettiest part, but it is harder to get to because you have to come to it from the north.

Zion is SPECTACULAR. Just gorgeous. If you have a chance to get out here, DO SO!
MUCH more later, when I can!
Please continue to pray for safe travels and getting along!
ADIOS!

Tomorrow, the adventure begins...........

 

Today will be a day to finish packing and cleaning and running out AGAIN for those last minute  items I keep forgetting.

I will blog when I am able to. I don't know what our Internet access will be in all these hotels across the country.

14 states and over 6,ooo miles.

WHEW!

I hope our 4 kids stay as happy as these 4 kids in this picture!

(But we know Mommy won't be the one reading a map!! )

:)