If we're in the desert, where are the kangaroos?

For all my good intentions, this sure has taken a while to update. So here goes nothing.

First, my apologies to all those in Utah who we didn't see during our trip at Thanksgiving. I always think I have a ton of time and next thing I know we're leaving the next day. So maybe we'll catch you in the Spring.

We had a great week in Utah for Thanksgiving. The weather the first couple of days, was just like home - warm and windy. Apparently, the weather was a little behind in the news of our coming, but quickly caught up and turned bitter cold as soon as it heard we were around. It never fails, bitter cold in the winter - blazing hot in the summer. We're going to throw in a trip at Spring Break - that should be interesting.

We can thank Shelby for our title this time. That was her question after we hit Mojave on the way. Our kids had a lot of good material this trip. Brennan was relieved that we would not have to be concerned with dehydration on this vacation, just hypothermia. (Update: Brennan learned how to treat hypothermia at his last Scout meeting, whew!!) He was also amazed at people who can draw on Etch-a-Sketches, because he can barely do a rendering of the Ogden Utah Temple! (???) In the meantime, Scott and I somehow always get a hankering for a Panguitch with a side of Kanab, somewhere between Cedar City and St. George.

We managed to throw in ice skating, movies, shopping (I only bought soup), the U of U game, oh and Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun! Tori, of course, was a whiz at ice skating. I managed to give myself a good bump on the head. Shelby was very persistent, falling at least 100 times, but never gave up.

Last, but not least was our fun 18 hour trip home, which included 120 miles in 5 hours and a 40 minute wait to get off of the freeway in Baker and another 20 minute wait for the bathroom. That was after the 30 minute wait for the bathroom in Jean, NV, where the attendant insisted on mopping the floor, while the line was out the door. Don't forget the 1 1/2 hour wait just before Barstow - where we got to see a Medivac land on the overpass and about 18 ambulances. However, we learned that we can get from Barstow to Santa Maria in less than 4 hours. We will not travel home on Sunday again, but it was fun to try.

That will conclude today's session. I have a lot more to say, but will save it for later. Thanks for reading! (My apologies to our family who have already heard or were there for all of this!)