Junction

This past week has been a very eventful week. On Tuesday Morning the kids and I  left for Junction Utah with Grandma and Grandpa to stay in the Courthouse that was built in 1903. It is a huge building with 8 rooms a huge greatroom, big kitchen and a plenty of lawn. After many setbacks it only took us 8 hours to get there. (It was a 5 hour trip, flat tires, cars overheating, construction on the freeway) Finally Tuesday early evening we made it to the courthouse and settled in. That night there was a hoe-down at the park and we all went and played. The park was only 2 and a half blocks from the courthouse so it was nice to be able to walk or trailer the kids down there. After such a long drive up no one had any desire to get back in a vehicle and carseats.

Tuesday night we met Olyvia and the Lindgren family. They have 9 kids like us but where ours stop theirs begin. Olyvia is the oldest and she is 17. It was nice to get to know some of the people that live around there. Everyone was so nice and it was a totally different life thatn we have. It seems like here in the city everything is always so rushed and has a deadline and theres never enough time in the day to get what you want to done. There its complete opposite. Everything is so laid back and quiet. No one is too rushed to stop and chat, everyone is so much nicer and calm and trustworthy. It definately makes me wonder why in the world we live here.

Wednesday we played in the park, had slip and slides, made some necklaces, played some games and just hung out. On wednesday night there was a movie in the park. We went out and set up our blankets and waited for the movie. As time went on more and more clouds rolled in. We waited hoping it would pass in time to watch the movie. We had brought our umbrellas and tarp just in case and as it started sprinkling we covered our blankets and sat under the umbrellas. As it got harder and harder we realized it was time that we better head back to the courthouse. We got all our stuff and the kids on the trailer and covered us all with the tarp and drove the 2 blocks back. It was a fun adventure for the older kids and a bit traumatic for the little ones. In the chaos of the moment all the younger kids were confused and crying. We made it back to the courthouse and brought everything in that needed to be out of the rain. We put a movie on in the greatroom instead and relaxed the rest of the evening. Around 11pm that night Victor finally made it up to the courthouse too.

Olyvia's float for the parade. She came down to the courthouse to give all the kids a ride

Thursday we unloaded all the 4 wheelers and played around on them for most of the day. Thursday evening was the Buckaroo Rodeo. My kids didn't want to participate but many of the cousins did. They rode on a sheep, a calf, chased chickens, and roped face bulls. Our "city kids" (which is what everyone kept calling us) did pretty well. The came out with 2 chickens, 2 ropes, and a $10 prize for getting the tag off of the calf.  Everyone was suprised that the city kids did so well and they said "you don't act like city folk". That night wa sat around the fire with marshmallows and smores till bedtime. Every night when we went to bed it took only seconds for the kids to fall asleep. After playing ALL DAY everyday they have been sleeping like logs.

Gabi and Sonnet. Only a month apart and Best Friends.

Friday morning we got everyone up and dressed an had family pictures put on the lawn. We were hoping to get out earlier to have better light but with 42 people you get what you get. Many people went out and explored nearby sites but we had no desire to  buckle kids in car seats and go for a drive. They were perfectly content walking to the general store and picking out a candy. We relaxed and took a nap instead of roaming the mountains. That afternoon we started making sigms for our parade float. We made huge posters that said spears family reunion and had some kids paint it and put handprints. They had a good time painting, I even have a few ruined outfits to prove it. Friday night was a real rodeo but we had decided that the kids wouldn't sit to watch it. When Bentlee took a nap that evening Victor and I went out on a trail ride for close to an hour. It was nice to get out for a while and enjoy the scenery. We even saw a snake and ran it over on the road. 

Saturday was one of the busier days. At 6:00 am I went with some of my siblings to run a 5k. I have been running the last couple of weeks and thought I would do fine but when it came down too it I just couldn't breathe. Here in vegas its like 2000 elevation. Up there we were at 6000 something. Kindle and I were able to run a  block or two then walk the next block. We finished though... It was funny, on the walk down there Kim says "if you had fun, you won" and jordan told her that was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. But on the walk home he says, "what was that little jingle you said earlier, I think it will make me feel better" because none of us won in our age groups.

After the race we grabbed breakfast on the way home, they had a free breakfast while the parade was getting ready. Then we went back and got our kids ready for the parade. Since Olyvia was miss paiute county and had her sash and crown all the little girls got the idea to make our own royalty. We got paper and made a sash and crown for them all to wear in the parade. The kids loved being in the parade and throwing candy to all of the kids that were watching.

When the parade was over there was a "midway" in the park. Absolutely nothing like what we are used to but they had 4 booths and 4 blow up things. But in a town with population of 175 you cant expect much. We had a great time though just hanging out and enjoying the day. After maybe an hour of hot humidity it cooled off and was a beautiful day to play outside. We put Victor and Bentlee down for a nap and the kids and I went and explored some more. We walked up to the rodeo grounds and saw the horses and cows. Cyrus says "mom, some cows have earings, does that mean they are girl cows?"  It was cute. But they all had tags for the different owners. Saturday evening we made some more smores and started packing up a little. We packed up the trailer with 4 wheelers and extra food and Decided that we were going to leave that night. We were going to leave early Sunday morning anyway so we decided it would just be better to get halfway home that night so we didn't have to travel quite as long on sunday because Victor had to work.

None of us wanted to go back to the heat and chaos of vegas. We all enjoyed the relaxed laid back life that everyone in Junction seemed to have. Maybe one day we will make it out of the hustle and Bustle of a huge city and be able to relax in a quieter cooler spot.