To Grandmother's house we went!

It's official. Summer is finally here!

We just got back from our first road trip, to visit Grandma, Grandpa, and Jason's brother, Jeremey, and his wife, Tara, and their two boys, Ethan and Dallas.

We got the girls' report cards in the mail. They did very well.

Malia read over 800 books her first grade year! Makayla did well on her state testing. Malia will be in 2nd grade in the fall, and Makayla will be in 5th grade! Yikes!!

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Thank you for a fun time Grandma and Grandpa!

We got to Pocatello just in time for bed on Friday night.

Saturday was a little too cold for what we had planned, not to mention Malia was nursing a hurt ankle, and my stomach was very upset, so we played a lot of fun games, and later in the afternoon headed to American Falls.

It was fun to catch up with Marvin, Georgia, Trysta, and her cute kids, Rayanne and Michael. I was silly and left the camera in the glove box! When we stopped at a pharmacy on the way to see them, the key would not come out of the ignition!

We spent a good chunk of today getting that taken care of. I believe it's the neutral safety switch that was faulty in our car, so it didn't acknowledge that the car is in park. As a result, the key became locked in the ignition. The car ran fine, and eventually Jason had to take the car key off the ring. We used the remote to lock and unlock the car, with the key in the ignition, and the clock still on. It was, as my good friend would say, "quite joyful" :)! Naturally, you can't get just the switch, you have to get an entirely new mechanism, which includes a new shifter and is a pretty large affair. Including labor cost once the part comes, and the diagnostics today, it will be over $400 to replace! Oh yeah! Ahhh...But now I can get the key out of the ignition! Halleluah! Until the part comes, I get to put my finger in this opening on the top of the steering wheel to get the car out of park. Yes! A definite testimony of how by small and simple things great things are brought to pass!

Back to vacation, a much happier topic. Sunday we went up to Idaho Falls to visit great-grandma Jex. We went to sacrament meeting with her. We also had a delicious lunch, went on a fun walk to see horses and a helicopter at the hospital, and fed ducks and walked around the temple. It was a very fun way to spend Father's Day. That night while we were walking around G&G's neighborhood Makayla and the kids really enjoyed looking at fliers for houses for sale. When we found some in our price range, they got so excited imagining living close to one set of grandparents.

Mom Hatt and I agree that in Kingwood, Texas, where Jeremey and Tara live we would find the size homes we would like for significantly lower prices than in Grants Pass. :)


Lava Hot Springs was fun. It'll be fun to go once Jared is tall enough to go on the water slides. Jared was cute and tried convincing us he could stand on his tiptoes and be tall enough this trip. The girls were great rock wall climbers, and they looked so small as they freefell into the pool after they reached the top. It was fun to see Derek be Grandma and Grandpa's little buddy.

Tuesday Dad Hatt and Jason went to Salt Lake to pick up Jer, Tara, Ethan and Dallas. The kids had a hard time waiting patienly to play with some of their cousins. We haven't seen them for about 5 years! Tara and I were both pregnant at Snowbird the last time we saw each other! I was pregnant with Jared, and Tara was pregnant with Dallas! The kids played so well together, and became quick buddies. The time went by too quickly, but we loved every minute of it!!

I could go on, but I need to be good, and work on my talk for Sunday!