September travels

We started September off right by spending the weekend in Tucson with a bunch of the Marsh extended family. John and Lucina got a few rooms at a resort so that we could all meet up for the BYU game. Rory and I went down early with John and Lucina and while Stephen spent the day at work we played in the pool and had a blast. He made it that night just in time to catch the family dinner at Oregano's

 The next day we played and hung out while the boys went golfing and once again had a blast. John, Ashleigh, and Siena had arrived late in the night and Rory was so excited to have a play mate. That night John, Ashleigh, Stephen, and I went out to dinner at El Guero Canelos before making the way to the game. I had to include this picture of Stephen with the cup of churros and ice cream because is there a more beautiful sight in this world than the man you love holding a cup for churros and ice cream for you? 
It was an unexpected win for BYU and it ended up being so fun to be at the game. I saw that rare side of Stephen that only comes out when he's watching BYU sports. You know, the side of him that stands on the bench, turns to greet his public with a solemn face, and then proceeds to alternate between pounding his fist to his chest or raising it high in the air for his "people"? Yeah, that one. I was invisible to him all night and I'm not sure I have ever laughed more. Man, do I love this weirdo. And if you think I am exaggerating that screen shot taken from ESPN is about all the proof I need. 

It was a quick, but very fun, little escape. When we got back home we realized that Rory had picked up a new skill- she now stripped off her diaper before falling asleep for naps or bedtimes. How advanced, right? She must be ready for potty training or something you might think, but no, she just wakes up in a puddle of her own pee if we don't catch it soon enough. 

The next weekend Rory and I drove down to Redlands, CA to meet up with Courtney and her crew. We got there in the afternoon, and once Curtis was done with his time at the clinic for the day we made out way down to San Diego for my cousin Parker's wedding. It was a great excuse to be together again so soon after Kendall's wedding and it was especially awesome to not be in charge of anything this time! We took one picture! It was bliss. Having never been there before, I thought it was pretty cool to be in the San Diego temple. 

Before the reception, Parker and Kara held a ring ceremony for her family members that weren't able to join them in the temple. They asked my dad to officiate and he did a really lovely job. I hope that I got from him his love of the gospel and his love for others, though I do think I was blessed with my mom's filter instead of my dad's nonexistent one. ( He did such a lovely job on the ceremony that I won't document the way he offended the bride's mother at the rehearsal dinner, but just know it was hilarious.) 

Their reception was held in a botanical garden that evening which was just lovely. I spent most of the night trying to keep Rory from jumping in this pond and I was pretty successful. There was Olive Garden, dancing, and cake, so overall it was an extremely successful party. 

Everyone headed out the next day and I drove back with the Papenfi to Redlands to spend the week with them. I love any time I can get to hang with Courtney and this was no exception. Thankfully, Curtis's schedule as a fourth year med student is a little less insane so I even got to see him some of the time too! We spent a lot of time playing at the park, swimming, eating good food, and watching good shows. Oh, and also a lot of time trying to get Rory to NOT strip every time she slept, which as you can see I was not so successful at. 

Rory loved having pretend siblings for the week and even though she spent most of her time trying to fight them it was clear she was so obsessed with Quinn and Dean. She was so obsessed with Dean that after seeing him use the potty she decided she wanted to go on the toilet too. We spent our last few days there with her doing all her peeps in the potty, aside from during nap time when she'd strip down and pee in her bed. It was crazy. One time we were even at the park and she used the public toilets FIVE times, and she went every time! It was seriously crazy. 

Our last night in town we enjoyed some fancy grilled cheese and gourmet ice cream and it was such a blast. I really hope we get to live closer together someday because hanging out with my sister all the time is just the best. 

*Side story: I received a text from Stephen saying that he bought a tool from our neighbor and he needed me to venmo him $250 for it. I was so bugged. I had been saving up for his birthday present and to afford I was waking up early to teach classes the whole time that I was with the Papenfi. I just couldn't believe that he would buy some random tool that was that expensive without even thinking about it! I was so mad I even full on vented to my mom and sisters and fumed about it for a while. 

When Rory and I got home we chatted with Stephen for a little bit before he made the comment, "I think the closet is stinky again, can you go smell it?" (and yes, we have had stinky closet problems in the past) I opened the door to find brand new shelving that Stephen and my neighbor had built together! It was so gorgeous and such a shock. Stephen is not one for surprises like this, so it totally blew me out of the water. And then of course I felt terrible for being so mean. And then of course he told everyone how ticked I was and they all thought it was hilarious. But I'm the one with a brand new closet so ha ha ha. 

Where them Earls at?

As much as we were going to miss being at Grandma's and Poppop's, we were excited to have a visit from Taylor as soon as we got home! Since she has the summer off from teaching she decided to come visit us for a few days and it was a total blast. Rory loved all the attention and the adventuring. One of the things we were able to do on her visit was volunteer at Feed My Starving Children, which is a place that packs donated meals to ship to countries in need. It was so much fun and such a cool experience to get to do it together. We watched a lot of Rom Coms and ate a lot of good food, so it was overall an extremely successful visit. Now we just can't wait for her wedding in April!

After Taylor left town it was time for Rory and I to head to Moses Lake for some time with my family. This was one of Rory's very last flights as a lap child and can I get quick Hallelujah for that! I always take a picture for Stephen in the few minutes that she's being wonderful and I feel so happy about life and then everything slowly disintegrates to crap and by the time we land everyone is like, "Just get them off the plane!" But we did it. And we made it to Moses Lake safely. 

Rory loved being at Grammy and Grandpa's house and especially loved all of the cousins to play with, not to mention my mom's cat Joe, who sadly died during our visit of kitty Leukemia :(. What she loved most was chasing the boys around and trying to join in on whatever they were doing. Rory and Quinn have a tenuous friendship at best, but someday they are going to be a lot less interested in making each other miserable and boy, do I look forward to that day. 

Also, I had to include the picture of cupcakes I made for my cousin Tyler's birthday because they turned out so beautiful and so delicious. But sad story, we brought my perfect cupcakes to eat at Grandma's pool and the heat and the travel did not do them any favors so my once-beautiful cupcakes required bribery to even be tried. But really, they were exceptional. 

Before we left for the reunion we took the kids to the aquatic center for some old fashioned Moses Lake fun. I was so excited thinking Rory would just LOVE it, but it turns out they keep the water in the pools in Washington a lot colder than they do in Phoenix and she was NOT HAVING IT. I think of all my grown up experiences, watching my daughter play where I used to is by far the trippiest. 

The next day we headed out early to make our way to Steadman's Place in Idaho for our early family reunion. Poor planning on my part meant that I had NO IDEA it would be a 9 hour drive from Moses Lake, so needless to say I was under-prepared and totally crabby. Still, it was fun to travel with Courtney and her crew and the kids actually did a really good job. 

Steadman's Place is a family owned property with a giant water slide and a couple of other fun little amenities. We drove straight there for dinner after our drive and after the kids had played and slid down the slides a few times we went back to where we had stayed two years previous at the Albion retreat, while some others camped at Steadman's. 

The next day we all went back to Steadman's for more sliding and some matching family pictures. It was kind of a blustery day so I never tried out the water slide, but the kids all seemed to have a blast. Grandma Earl even set a record for being the oldest person to go on the water slide, with a little help from Brandon, and it was awesome. Just when I thought she couldn't get any cooler. 

I ended up ditching Rory with my mom so that I could drive a few hours down to Utah for my friend Andrea's wedding. I felt a little guilty leaving my mom with Rory until I found out that my dad organized a family volleyball tournament that evening so my mom and Jules were stuck watching all the kids while the rest of the adults played and then I felt REALLY guilty, because heaven knows I wouldn't have made the team.

 My drive down was absolutely lovely. I finished my audiobook, listened to the Mama Mia 2 soundtrack and drank Diet Coke, which is about all it takes for me to be happy. Andrea's wedding was in a cool little greenhouse venue and everything was so gorgeous. I also got to reconnect with another friend from my BYU days, Rachel. After the ceremony we enjoyed a nice little dinner and some speeches by the families, and then I made my way back to Idaho before they could whip out the ice cream in the hand made cart. 

As I headed back I found out they had closed most of the highway I needed to take due to wildfires, so I drove around crying while I panic called my mom, Stephen, and Courtney, until I finally realized that my best option was to take a longer route that added another hour to my drive. Thankfully, having finished my previous book I decided to start on my book group book for the month, Educated: A Memoir, and the book was so enthralling that by the time I pulled up at the Albion retreat I was wishing that my drive had been longer!

The last day was spent much the same as the first two, lots of chatting with cousins and generally trying to ignore our children. It was also the day of the famous cousin races. I didn't even come close in my age group (who knew Cassidy was so fast?!) but RORY WON THE TWO YEAR OLD DIVISION. I may never be a champion myself, but those who can't do, breed and I made me a winner! Stephen was insanely proud and said it was obviously due to her Marsh genes, which I guess with an Olympic runner in his side of the family that is a fair guess. But seriously, I was an absurd amount of proud for a race that involved the other two competitors running directly into each other and falling to the ground within two seconds of starting the race. 

People slowly started leaving so for our last day it was down to mostly our group and Doug's group and a few extras. We were able to be there when Isaac blessed baby Vi and that was a really special thing to witness. I love my extended family and I think more highly of myself because I am related to those people. 

I was supposed to fly out Sunday night after driving 9 hours back to Moses Lake, and then an extra 2-3 hours to get to the airport (I forget which one I was supposed to go to), but the thought of having Rory on my lap in an airplane seat after ALL that made me cry, so my parents kindly offered to get me a different return flight back and we got a few bonus days in Moses Lake with the other cousins sticking around. 

There was lots of cousin play time and a little dressing up. We got to go out on the boat, which Rory loved, and watch the cousins tube, which Rory wouldn't try. Best of all, we ended the week with scones at Grandma's and all was officially right in my world. Had Stephen been able to come along it would have been a perfect trip, but even without him it was pretty awesome.