On the road again

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On Tuesday, we put off leaving as long as we could in the morning. We had great visit with the Gees, more than worth the treacherous drive north.

We travelled from Logan to Vernal, UT. Vernal's not on the way to anything. It's not really close to anything. And, apart from the big dinosaur in the city center holding an Easter egg basket and wearing a set of floppy bunny ears, there's really not that much to see here. However, back in the early stages of planning, Vernal, Utah ranked somewhere above the Smithsonian on our list of places to see as we zoomed back and forth across the country. Vernal is where Julie's mom was raised, so there was a family history component to the visit, but it is also where our good friends the Picards live. Julie and I got to know the Picards while we were in Moscow, ID. They were one of those mentoring families that was a few years ahead of us and really showed us what our family could be like down the road. Being around them was always a hopeful experience. Whenever I felt overwhelmed by by what the future held for our little family, looking at the Picards made it seemed something to look forward to.

We hadn't seen them since we left Moscow, and in that time they've had another child, sent two of their kids off on missions and made several moves around the country, and, despite the changes in both our families, within seconds of walking through their front door, it was as if we had never been apart. They're still a family that shows us what there is to look forward to and the stresses of my children as missionaries and teenagers seem less intimidating.

James pretty much assumes that if there are kids in the house he must be related to them somehow, so he took to them like family, Elizabeth got on famously with Miranda and Lucy and, once we broke out the Nerf guns, D.J. and Liam became fast friends (nothing brings people together like little soft foam bullets).

Now, it would have been great to see Sara and E.J., but with them on missions it meant Julie and I got to take a break from the air mattress. Thank you, thank you, thank you.