A quick trip

Last week I got to fly back to Iowa with Heidi to be part of some special events with my family.

Thursday Heidi and I flew 3 1/2 hours from Portland, OR to Minneapolis, MN. Mom and Dad came to pick us up from the airport. Mom was wise and brought Heidi fruit snacks and a baby doll. Her two favorite things. Who says you can't buy love? Then we hopped in the car and drove 3 hours back to good 'ol Cedar Falls, IA.

The next morning we got packed up again and drove 1 1/2 hours to Iowa City to meet up at my brother's house for a family lunch. My sister Steph came up with her family from Kansas City, my other sister Becca came in from Muscatine with her hubby and two week old baby. Amy lives in Iowa city as well, so she was there with her family and of course all four of my brothers, Mom, Dad and Grandma were there. The only ones missing were the rest of my family and my sister Elizabeth and her family. We had a great lunch and afternoon together. Then we got back in the car and drove another 1 1/2 hours down to Nauvoo, Illinois.

We stayed in a house down there for the night. The next morning my brother Joe got to go through the temple in preparation for his mission to Spain. We spent the rest of the day playing games and going on walks. Early Sunday morning we loaded up in the car again and drove 1 1/2 hours to Muscatine, IA. My sister Becca and Brother in law Matt were blessing their baby. After church we had a nice lunch at Matt's parent's house. Then back in the car again and we drove 1 1/2 hours back up to Iowa City. We stopped at my sister Amy's apartment for a while then finally drove 1 1/2 hours back up to Cedar Falls.

Monday was my last day there, so I took my brothers Ben and Jacob out of school at lunch time and we went and got ice cream and pizza (in that order). Joe is working at Little Caesars Pizza for now, so he hooked us up with a delicious supreme pizza. When it had almost been an hour my brothers started saying they needed to get back to school and they couldn't be late. At that moment I started wondering if we were truly related. Really? They didn't want to go anywhere else? They really wanted to get back to school ON TIME? So I brought them back, one minute early. I think I'm going to get my DNA tested. When Joe got home from work, he and my Dad drove Heidi and me the 3 hours back up to the airport in Minnesota. Then we got on the plane and flew the 3 1/2 hours back to Portland. My friend picked us up and after I brought him home, I took off to drive back down to Monmouth. It was midnight.

I decided I should stop and get something to eat to keep me awake. I went through the drive through at Jack in the Box. I'm not sure I've ever eaten there before. I ordered a pita thing, and some fries. Whatever it was that I was eating was very spicy, which ended up being a good thing because it kept me alert for quite a while. I turned on some good 'ol talk radio and tried to concentrate on what they were saying. I got home somehow. I don't actually remember driving there, but we made it. I brought Heidi inside, dumped her in her bed and collapsed into mine. I got to sleep at 2 am, just in time to wake up at 7 and get the girls out the door to school.