Spokane

Last Friday we were able to take a vacation to Spokane, Washington to see my brother and sister and their families. We were so excited to go and get out of the hot AZ weather, but we were not prepared for the freezing Spokane weather! The highs were in the 30's and 40's with lows in the teens. Plus a wind chill factor, so it felt much colder! Thank goodness my nephew had a coat that was too small for him that fit Derrick. His little hoodie wasn't quite enough.
We were able to get 2 stand-by tickets and save some money. Derrick and I were the "lucky" ones (ha ha) who got to fly stand-by while Emma and Jon took a non-stop flight at a reasonable hour. Derrick and I left for the airport at 5:15 Friday morning. My sister was kind enough to take us that early. (Thanks Jen) We made it to Salt Lake with no problems, but then the problems began. Our next chance of getting out of Salt Lake and to Spokane was at 7:45 pm. I quickly became a mess and was crying in the airport, not sure of what to do all day with a 3 year old who was tired and all of our luggage. Andrea to the rescue!! Jon's sister and her husband live in Orem and thank goodness she was not working that day and came and picked us up from the airport. It was an added bonus to get to spend the day with her. We went out to lunch, took Derrick for a ride on the train at the Provo Mall and then went back to her house and took a nap. Thank you Andrea and Blake! We love you guys! Back at the airport it was not looking good for us to get on the 7:45 flight which meant waiting until 9:30pm. But, luckily at the very last second we got on and they even helped us ask a guy to move seats so Derrick and I could sit together. All I felt was relief as the plane finally took off.
We stayed at my brother's house and the kids thought it was so fun to all sleep together in one giant bed. There were arms and legs flopped over each other, but it didn't seem to bother them! On Saturday the kids and I spent the day with my sister and her family while Jon went to the ASU football game with Jami. I thought he was crazy to go the an outside stadium and sit on metal bleachers. He froze! We went to a small train museum where Derrick could have spent all day watching the model train set. Then we went to a really cool park in Coeur d'Alene right on the lake. The kids played for a while and then looked for leaves. Emma was so excited to see fall leaves and apple trees. She has learned about Fall in school and doesn't quite understand why we don't have those things here!
Sunday we had family dinner at my sister's house. It was fun just to sit and visit with everyone!
Monday we went to a restaurant that was built in an actual old train car. Derrick was of course very excited! After breakfast we went to a farm that had pumpkin patches and apple orchards. Emma was so excited! She really wanted to pick and apple and pumpkin for her teacher, but luckily I was able to talk her out of it. I can just imagine squished pumpkin in her luggage, yuck! That was our last night there. I went to dinner with just my sister and then we just hung out for a little bit that night. Derrick and I had to catch the 6:15 am flight home so I tried to go to bed early. Getting home was much easier. We made our connecting flight and arrived in Phoenix about 15 minutes before Jon and Emma, so it all worked out.
We had a really fun trip and we are so glad we went. We did freeze a little, but thawed out quickly back at home where the temperature is suppose to be 101 tomorrow! One downfall is Emma came home with croup. I felt bad that she exposed all the other kids before we knew she had it. She is getting better, but I am not feeling so well. Gotta love flying on an airplane during flu season! But I am thankful it is not the flu that we have and that Emma has been off of school this week for Fall Break. I think we should be better by Monday. We are sorry we are missing Jon's stepsister's wedding this weekend. Jon is representing our family. We love you Sara!
Thanks Denmarks and Clarks for a really fun weekend! (So Jami, let's hear the rude comment on this one!)