Reunions ... Funerals ... Mechanics ... and cash!

(written Saturday, 7/18/09) I am currently sandwiched between my two sisters (and one brother-in-law) as I teach them how to blog. I set up blogs for them (Brandy's is called Flock of Slagles and Cyndi's is called 5Days...2Many). They are having fun - or at least they seem to be. I'll wait and see if they are able to keep it up when I am not there. My parents are on the love seat in Brandy's living room heckling us as we type away. We took the SD card out of Mom's camera and found that she hasn't taken any pictures off since she bought it ... several years ago. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to have memory cards greater than about 512MB - just to force them to take the pictures off the camera on occasion. If this were rolls of film, there would be an entire attic full of undeveloped rolls. What is the point? My sister (politely reading over my shoulder) tells me that if the memory card did get too full, Mom would probably be more likely to just buy a new camera rather than empty the old one. I can't really dispute her because her old camera (with full memory card) managed to appear as Robert's birthday present this year. Hmmmmm

This weekend past weekend we ended up driving to Utah and spent Thursday through Saturday at the Slagle Mansion. We had previously decided not to attend the Layton family reunion as part of our dedication to paying for everything with cash only. We did have a bit of an emergency fund, but we again decided that reunions did not qualify as emergencies. Then with timing that can only be described as amazing, Grandpa Layton passed away. The reunion was being held in honor of his 93rd birthday and I heard several relatives say that he personally arranged it at the end to ensure maximum participation. It certainly changed our outlook. While a reunion is not an emergency, a funeral is. So we looked at what we had and made the committment to go ... and still only spend cash. Byron talked to Papa about doing some maintenance work on the Durango (which is overdue) while we were there and we headed out late Wednesday night (after staying up all night Tuesday for the Harry Potter movie ... I was not much help driving)

We made it to Provo around 10am on Thursday morning and had breakfast at Grandma Layton's home. The kids were very good (especially for having just spent 12 hours in the car. The drive was horrible for us because the "new" wheels had a terrible vibration - my back was killing me! We were going to hang out in Provo while Byron found a place to have the wheels balanced, but there were too many kids around for Grandma to take a nap, so Banae, Grandpa, and I took all of the kids to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. This is where I realized I forgot my camera. We had a great time despite the fact that it was over 100 degrees - in the shade. Bryce thought the animals were lame because they were all asleep or otherwise trying to stay cool. I told him that they animals were thinking that we were mental for walking around and being so active when it was so hot - he did not disagree. While we were at the zoo, Byron discovered that one of the new wheels had picked up a screw at some point and someone had filled it with slime which was causing the vibration. Once that was taken care of, Byron was back to loving his 20-inch wheels.

Friday morning we got up and hurried back down to Provo for Grandpa Layton's funeral. I am soooo glad that we were able to be there for the service. As usual, my children just made the experience. We had already had trouble with the whole blended family dynamic because Josh really wanted to hang out with Bryce and Bryce really didn't want anything to do with any of the babies. At the funeral, Josh decided that he wanted to hold Bryce's hand (we were inside the building by then), and of course Bryce wasn't interested. Due to a lack of sleep and a general 4-yr old-ness, Josh had a total meltdown that he didn't fully recover from until lunch. Ginny also decided that she needed Daddy and only Daddy, so when she asked to go potty and Mommy took her instead of Daddy, we took care to head to the bathroom furthest from the chapel so as not to interupt the service. Luckily, the intercom in that bathroom was in excellent working condition so I heard as much as could be expected. After the service we decided to follow the procession to the graveside. Originally, I was going to send Byron and older kids since I just couldn't see the babies actually holding still or acting reverent in any way shape or form. However, I was so frustrated with all children in general by this point, we decided it would be better to stick together. Unfortunately, I was definitely wearing the wrong shoes for a grassy cemetary. Although LuAnn said I was smokin hot (long story) - I really think that aerrating a lawn with suede is really overkill. After the dedication, everyone hung around and visited which was surprisingly nice considering the surroundings. I love looking at headstones. The kids love jumping on headstones - and I was not the only mother trying to convince her children that the funny markings in the rocks were not meant to be stood upon. I did see a neat idea - someone had a marble bench put up AS a headstone ... that's what I want, something that is meant to be sat or stood upon - note to self ....

Grandma Layton's ward put together a wonderful lunch for the family. Then we had FAMILY PICTURES. I love pictures - my kids & husband do not. I don't understand how I can have incredibly cute - even cheesy - kids who turn into monsters in front of the camera. It is just wrong. They took about 4 kazillion (or so it seemed) and here is what they termed the best.

After the whole family took pictures, our family stuck around to get a family group shot of our own. I would have loved to have an individual family picture too, but Robert wasn't with us, Bryce & Tess would have rather been boiled in oil, and the little ones were not too far behind them. Still, it was nice to get as much of the group together as was available. Here is our family (only missing Byron's sister Blendi (and her boys Breck & Dane - and Breck's little girls Kobbi Kai and Paisley) and my son Robert) ... maybe I'll try to photoshop them in anyway.

Saturday was a nice day. I really didn't do much of anything. I took care of my little ones (and Brandy's) while she took Brian to breakfast and to the airport for a fun trip to China (remember you promised me pearls this time Brian). I swear, that man brings back the prettiest jewelry for Brandy - who doesn't appreciate it. My turn!!!!! Of course, on the flip side, I have all of the new appliances that Brandy really wishes Brian would bring home - so I really can't complain too much. Back to Saturday ... Byron and Papa spent the day working on the Durango. They did the work at Bob's house and at the base so I didn't get to see them and the "forgot" to take pictures. I am told, however, that Byron was right into the engine bay pulling out the back spark plugs and he got plenty dirty. Sorry Grandma, I think we are just going to have to take their word for it this time. They managed to get cleaned up before I saw them. The car, however, is working really well ... so somebody did something! They changed the spark plugs (all sixteen of them), replaced the front brake pads, put new shocks on, and changed the rear differential oil. All in all, it sounds like they had fun! While they were working on that, I decided to have Cyndi cut Ginny's hair into an A-line bob to match Natalie's. Can we say cute????? We got a "Mimi & me" picture too. Doesn't Ginny look like Mimi? I still want to know how I managed to get my brother as a son (Robert) and my mother as a daughter ... someone has a bizarre sense of humor!

We decided to travel home on Saturday night rather than Sunday to avoid traffic, travelling on the Sabbath, travelling while the kids were awake, AND triple digit temperatures on the engine. So with lots of hugs, we set out. We didn't leave fast enought for Brandy to get in an invitation for Josh to stay. This time, I told him to go ahead and stay ... she managed to talk her way out by telling him that he needed to go home to get the rest of his clothing and furniture. One of these days Aunt Brandy ....

We made it home without incident thanks to Jim Dale's narrating talent. We listened to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (again). Unfortunately, Ben threw up a couple of times. He didn't seem sick, but he definitely didn't want to eat anything and was content to just hang out in front of the TV. We found out later that Tess was also sick on Saturday, so a bug of some sort ... no one else got sick and we have finally caught up on sleep and the laundry. It was fun, and having the extra day made all the difference. And finally, after tabulating all receipts and records, we did manage to keep our committment to paying only cash. We passed up some great "deals" we might otherwise have purchased, didn't eat as much garbage, and exercised some long overdue self control. I think Grandpa Layton would be proud of us ...