Well, It took me forever, but I'm finally finishing up writing about our last day in California.
On Sunday, we were able to bless Deagan. I was sad that my dad and brothers couldn't be there to be in the circle, but I was grateful for my Brother-in -laws Tyler and Jacob, my father-in-law Ed, and Bryant's old bishop Dan Taylor were there. I hope that Deagan will always look up to these men, and the men in my family as good examples throughout his life. He is very blessed to have such great and amazing people in his life.
^My handsome boy in his blessing outfit!^
I can't say enough good things about Bryant's home ward. Really, I love everyone there, and I could feel the spirit there so strongly. Everyone is so welcoming and loving and accepting of you. I feel as if I know more people in that ward than I do in my own ward that I've been in for 18 years. Bryant and I sat outside for a bit between classes and we talked about how amazing this ward is, and how badly we wished we could go there every Sunday. Not to mention the building itself is beautiful. I hope we are back to visit again soon!
That afternoon, Jacob, Sally, their kids and Tyler went back to Sacramento, but not before we got some family photos.
^Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandkids! Sorry these are so dark.^
We enjoyed one last night in Mt. Shasta by going back to Lake Siskyou for a walk to the new bridge.
The next day, we took our time packing up and headed out mid-morning. It's always sad when we leave. As soon as we were out of town, I was ready to turn back and stay the rest of the summer (or forever...) Is it normal to feel homesick for a place you've never even lived? Because I was. The first few hours of our drive was spent talking about future plans and we made goals to someday move to Mt. Shasta. It's where we both feel we want to be. We know it may be a long time, and we will go wherever the jobs are (and I wouldn't mind doing a stint in San Diego or something if the opportunity arises) but Mt. Shasta is the ultimate goal.
Our drive home went about as smoothly as our drive to California. Both kids were great the whole way, except for a brief moment when they both decided to scream at the top of their lungs, just as the highway was shut down because of several brush fires. Deagan was hungry, and Savannah was throwing a fit because the sun was in her eyes, and she didn't want her sunglasses, she wanted Bryant's, but then his didn't fit so... you know... terrible twos and all...
Just as I had just about had it with screaming kids, the gas light came on. Of all things the gas light comes on while we are stuck at a dead stop in the middle of nowhere Nevada, while it's 100+ degrees out and I have a hungry newborn, and a pissed-off 2 year old. That's when we realized that people were driving up the shoulder and turning onto a cut-off that went to the opposite side of the highway. We knew there was a gas station about a mile back, so we followed suit. We asked a highway patrolman how long they thought the highway would be shut down, and he told us 45 minutes to an hour. So we headed on back to the gas station, fed Deagan, and let Savannah stretch her legs. After about 45 minutes, we got back on the highway. It was still stopped, but after about 10 minutes, it opened back up!
We had a few more set-backs thanks to several construction zones. Want to know what's worse than going 55 MPH on a one-lane construction zone? Getting stuck behind about a bazillion semis going 5 MPH through a one-lane construction zone... Those areas alone set us back about 3 hours. So needless to say, we ended up driving through the night again. We did pretty well, we both took turns napping or driving. The only time we both started to get drowsy was about the time we hit Tooele, which is too close to be worth stopping for the night. We were listening to a book on tape, and I started to zone. I didn't want to sleep, because I wanted to be awake to keep Bryant awake. So I shut the radio off, and made him answer about a million questions. And we began to plan our next trip to Disneyland (want to keep me talking? Ask me about all my favorite things at Disneyland, I'll chat your ear off AND keep you awake!) We both got a 2nd wind and made it home! Unfortunately, both our kids woke up at 5am...
We eventually all crashed in our bed a few hours later...
Well, Mt. Shasta you were good to us, and you are beautiful as always. I will miss you and I will miss you Ed and Robyn! Thank you for letting us take up your week!
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