Thanksgiving Recap - Part 2

Day 4/Friday:  Check out day.

Got off to a slightly tense start when Tami had a pregnancy scare. (Which started the night before)

No, not the kind where you’re scared you’re pregnant.  The kind where you’re pregnant and scared that something is wrong with the pregnancy.  Wes took her to Urgent Care and everything is okay for the time being.  The high altitude, dehydration and probably stress and overwork were causing some issues.  But there were some fervent prayers, a Priesthood blessing, and tears and the baby is okay and staying put.  Okay, now I’m crying again.  Moving on. 

This changed the plans a little and instead of going straight to Monterey, we went to Sam and Ad’s house for a driving break.  They have a super cool house on a beautiful piece of land in Nor Cal.  Plus, they’re into preparedness so it was cool to see their awesome crawl space filled with food and water and talk to Adrienne about how she has prepared her family for just about anything.  For one thing, they have a huge garden bursting with fresh food.  They also have this super cool wood burning stove.  It heats most of their downstairs PLUS you can COOK on it.   Tami and I were both staring at it enviously and thinking how much different life could have been after the earthquake if we’d had a wood burning stove for warmth and cooking purposes.

It's definitely going on my "dream house ideas" pin board.

After spending the afternoon and evening at Sam's, we hopped back in the car and headed to Monterey.

Wes just finished "school" in Monterey.  He learned Spanish at the Defense Language Institute to prepare him for his next assignment in Argentina.  They leave in January and we're a little (a lot) bit heart-broken that they wont be just up the (relative) street from us anymore.

We're hoping to go visit them there next year though, so that is a small consolation.  We also get to see them one more time on their way out of town so we're not too filled with despair.

Day 5/Saturday:  We took our time getting up and ready and headed to Monterey Bay Aquarium.  I've been here a few times before and have great memories of my visits.  I hope my kids will now too.

Camille trying out Max's wheel chair

Waiting for the shark show to start

Coincidently, I also ran into Claudia, my dad's wife, with a few of her kids and grandkids!  They live in Clovis but were in town to visit the aquarium too.

The new Sea Horse exhibit was amazing!

The Jelly Fish exhibit is always a crowd pleaser...

And now the boy/girl thing has official become "awkward".

I love Sea Turtles...

Baby Gray checking out the baby grays.

Gabe stayed in this position for quite awhile...

It was SUPER crowded, but we managed to have a great time regardless.  We put Tami in a wheel chair, Max in a wheel chair, (he twisted his ankle the night before and REALLY wanted a wheel chair--whether or not he needed it is debatable.) and Gray in a stroller and stormed our way through the whole place.  

It was a fun day and we were glad we braved the crowds.  (I don't know if Wes and Tami were since they have season passes and can go when it's not crowded...)

Day 6/Sunday:  Time for our fun to come to an end.  We had to drive home.  We ditched out on church so we could get on the road and drove all day getting home after 9p.m.

It was a great trip and we're so glad we did it!
Thank you Tami and Wes (and Sam and Adrienne) for your generosity in sharing your Timeshare/Holiday/Family Time/and Home.
You guys are the best!  We love you!!!

This year, I'm thankful for UBER FAMILY!!!