quick trip

Last weekend we made a crazy whirlwind trip to California.  The plan was to leave Thursday, go to Disneyland on Friday, spend Saturday and most of Sunday with family, then come home Sunday evening.  Unfortunately there was just too much going on on Friday.  Nick had Cinderella rehearsals (more on that later), and our church was having a fundraiser to help pay for the various camps and activities for the year, and since we have a couple youth benefiting from said fundraiser, we felt like we should participate in that as well.  (also more on that later)

So we left ridiculously early the next morning. I believe we were on the road by 4 am.  Which amazingly enough was the time we planned on leaving, and I do believe that is a first that we that weren't at least an hour late getting on the road.

But we had a mission.  John's cousin Courtney was returning from an LDS mission to Argentina and her plane would be landing at a little after 11 am that morning.  We wanted to be there. 

Fortunately the fates were on our side, the traffic was relatively light, no major construction or accident holdups, and so we made it with time to spare.

It was a fun little family reunion.  John's sister Corrine flew in from Texas. Courtney's brother Jeff and his wife Melanie flew all the way across the country from Virginia.

Christopher was excited to see his favorite aunt Corrine.  He adores her. In fact he was pretty mad when we wouldn't leave on Friday.  We had the kids pack on Friday so we could throw the stuff in the car on Saturday, and was more than a little annoyed that he couldn't leave immediately to "Go see Corrine."

And it was so great to see Courtney.  Nothing changes you like leaving your family and everything you've ever known and traveling to a far off country for 18-24 months to teach the gospel and serve the people in the area.   In many ways she's still the same, but somehow taller, more confident, more mature, and more lovely than before.  Not that she wasn't before, just somehow more now.

We weren't able to fit in much else while we were there.  No amusement parks, no beach... But the kids did get to swim in the hotel pool while John and I napped.  (yes, Nick was promoted to "adult" status to fulfill the "adult supervision required" requirement. So sue me.)

It was a short but oh-so-sweet trip.  Hopefully John will be able to get some work in Southern California this summer and we can visit again when time isn't so much against us.