4th of July 2016

Posted by Chandra July 06, 2016

4th of July 2016

This year was all about family, friends, fireworks....

and falls, fractures, and freedom!

Our plan was to drive up to Utah on Thursday after tanner arrived home from work. On Tuesday Tanner was working late (until 11pm) and I texted him that I had a weird feeling. Like something was going to happen. I felt like, if something were to happen tomorrow, would I have any regrets today? The feeling made me want to double down on my scripture study and prayers, show my family more love and affection, serve more, and make sure I was being the best daughter of God I could be. Turns out that was the spirit calling to me.

That night at around 3am my mom tripped on a step at the cottage and fell. My dad called 911 and she was brought to Utah Valley Hospital where it was determined that she fractured her hip. She didn't hit her head and had no other bumps or bruises. Her hip truly broke her fall. But it was very traumatic. My dad didn't want us to worry so he didn't call any of us (the 5 of us kids were still at our prospective homes- my parents had traveled to Utah before all of us) But the neighbor who lives across from the cottage called Carole the next morning and asked if everything was ok. He alerted her that there were ambulances at the property the night before. So she called my dad and then called Jon and Jon sent a "shout out" to all of the sisters. That morning (Wednesday) I had decided to pack and get ready just in case Tanner could leave earlier than anticipated. At around 10:30am I read the text from my brother, called Tanner, and he arranged to leave early so we could drive to Utah right away. We finished packing and preparing for our Utah trip and hit the road!

We got to Provo around midnight and checked into the Marriott. The babies had been asleep in the car so when we got up to our hotel room they were rested and ready to play! But Tanner and i were exhausted! It was a rough night but we survived. Tanner went to the hospital the next morning and gave my mom a blessing. He stayed with her until her surgery. I took the kids swimming and tried not to worry too much about my mom. Around lunch time Tanner came with food and we switched so I could be with my dad while my mom was in surgery. My dad hadn't really had anything to eat. I could tell he was nervous but he was being so supportive of my mom. I asked McKenna to bring him a smoothie the day before and she truly was an angel. That tiny act of service meant more to me than she'll ever know. But I took my dad to the cafeteria and he was able to eat a little bit. We talked to the surgeon and everything went really well. My mom had to get a total hip replacement. She was pretty loopy and in a lot of pain when they wheeled her back to her room. I was able to stop by my office and see my work peeps who I miss so much and love forever! They are the salt of the earth. Betty had some good advice for my mom since she's had hip surgeries in the past. Jon was amazing and looked so handsome. Scott was too cool for school and Kenna is so cute with her little baby bump! And The good news is that Angeluis were in town too so we were able to spend the afternoon with them!

It's so amazing how good friends are there for you when you need them most. They really are the best. They provided such a sweet service to us by just spending time with us and being so loving and supportive. We took the kids to the park and let them play at the splash pad. Then we got Two Jack's Pizza for dinner and went swimming at the hotel. It was so fun being together and little Nico is so cute! It was the first time I was able to meet their newest baby boy!

We went to bed and slept great that night. We all slept in each day which was nice.

Friday my mom was doing much better. I stopped in to see my mom and Tanner went to Costco for WAY too many fireworks. I got to stop by my work again and see Mark! He was so cute with Rayleigh! I love that guy. We walked around the bazaar and soaked up every fun Utah moment. The babies were not super excited about the lack of sleep but I'm so proud of my little family. Ray was like a celebrity at the hotel. Everyone commented on the cute little girl who loves to swim. She said hi to everyone we passed. Jack loved to walk around the hotel lobby and the front desk staff thought he was adorable. Parker was amazing and continually took one for the team. I know this 4th of July wasn't quite what we were expecting but we all made sacrifices and I hope we all came out of it with a lot of fun memories. Friday night was "roof top concert" night and we could hear it from our room! Tanner took Parker down to watch the National Parks and Parker was thrilled to have attended his first concert! They stood by a bunch of Studio C guys which was cool! The concert was awesome and really made for an epic night!

On Saturday Tanner and I took the kids to Waffle Love for breakfast and then ran some errands. By this time Jon and Cami had made their way to Utah and Kari and Josi were on their way. I bought my mom some clothes to wear at the rehab center. Tanner was amazing through that whole ordeal and made sure she was discharged to the best facility. He knew the administrator at this building and got my mom set up at a really nice place in Provo. She left the hospital on Saturday afternoon. We were able to visit her and Tanner answered all of my parents questions. Tanner has been invaluable through this whole experience! My mom was able to walk more and is easing off of pain killers.

That night we had an epic firework show put on by Tanner at the church parking lot. He put a lot of thought into a great show! We were all enjoying it (Rayleigh the most...) when all of a sudden a firework tipped over and shot straight at us! Then a mean old neighbor started yelling at us over the fence and called the cops on us! We all tired to apologize and calm him down but he was so belligerent and rude! Tanner was furious and embarrassed but we all had his back. He tried so hard to create a fun firework memory for us. We cleaned up and packed up the rest of the fireworks. The cops showed up and let us know we were doing nothing illegal and apologized to US for that rude old man. Tanner "name dropped" his missionary companion who is now a police officer in Pleasant Grove. It's always nice to make connections! Everyone loved the fireworks while they lasted. It was a bummer we had to stop.

Sunday we all slept in like always and had to kind of rush to get ready for our fun adventure! Angeluis came over to watch our kids so we could go zip lining in Sundance! Everyone had made plans to go but when my mom fell and got hurt I kinda didn't think it was a priority anymore. But everyone was still excited to go so Tanner and I decided we should go too. We went about a half an hour before Jon, Laura, Cort, max, Kari, Tavian, and my cousins Brady and Andrew. It was the BEST date. We really needed that. Something about being in the mountains is therapeutic and exhilarating. And being together with Tanner was just what I needed. The lift ride up the mountain was so beautiful. I'm usually such a wuss when it comes to action packed adventure but I really wanted to zip line and I LOVED it! At one point I was going so fast and had the wind behind me so my brake didn't work and I slammed into the giant spring. But it was all good! We had an amazing time and I can't thank Angel and Luis enough for helping us make that happen.

When we got back to the hotel Jack took a nap. It was the first real nap he'd had in days so I took Ray to the lobby and let her run all around so it would be quiet in the hotel room. Parker just played on the kindle. Ray loved to sit in the dining room and play with the salt shakers. Tanner came down eventually and played with us. After a couple of hours we went back to the room and Jack was still asleep! Then Ray fell asleep! We had a bunch of sleepy heads! But finally they woke up and we drove back up to Sundance to have a BBQ with everyone at the cottage. We brought cake and ice cream up for Kari's birthday and sang to her. She was so touched! Then we all went on a little hike and the kids played on the zip line! It was so fun!!!!!! Ray loved being in nature! And Parker loved being with his cousins! That night we tried to set off the rest of the fireworks but another one blew up the wrong way so we ended early again. This time we went to a different church parking lot and the neighbors were friendlier. They helped set up and clean up and enjoyed the show with us! Utah is the best.

Monday was the 4th of July and I was so bummed when I realized we'd slept through the parade! And all we had to do was walk over one block! Dang! But the hotel was handing out Popsicles and snacks which was so sweet. We were able to visit my mom again and then we went to my Aunt Joann's for our family reunion. It was so good to see my cousins and Aunt Kaylynne and Uncle Dick and hear all about our family. My Grandpa Bullock was one of 10 kids! The Losee house at the river bottoms is so beautiful. The kids loved playing in all of the toy cars and running around the property. We had fried chicken like always and then went to the Christensen's. Sari is pregnant with twins and I was so anxious to see her! Tanner and I loved reconnecting with everyone and the kids loved playing. The 4th of July is my favorite summer day. It's just non stop fun. But we had to hit the road so that we could be back in time for Parkers first day of school! July 5th!!!

We packed up and saw my mom one last time and then we hit the road. Fireworks were going all all over the valley and we drove away. The kids slept on and off. It was funny because at around 3am they were just AWAKE. Crazy. Tanner drove the entire way and we got home around 5:45am. Our fastest drive every with only one quick stop in St. George. I made all the kids go back to bed for a few hours and went to bed myself. But Tanner is a machine and went to work!!! ON NO SLEEP! Parker was a few hours late to his first day but was so happy to go to school! He's going to have a blast this year!

It was a very hot drive through the desert and poor Cami's AC went out on her van!

We had lots of tricks to keep the kids happy in the car, including these glow sticks for when it got dark!

We had the pool to ourselves on Thursday

I took my Dad to the cafeteria for lunch while my mom was in surgery. He's always so positive and happy.

Carole has been right by my Mom's side through much of this ordeal. True friends are a priceless blessing. This is my mom after surgery with her amazing doctor Brady Barker.

Jack fell asleep on Tanner when he was at the pool with the kids

My Mom's new bionic hip!

More swimming after the park and pizza with Angeluis!

Rayleigh and Mark. I'm so sad I didn't get pictures with everyone else!

$500 worth of fireworks. When we have more kids Tanner is going to have to come up with a new strategy if he wants to keep up this grand of a show!

Parker really want to ride these carnival rides but I told him no way because we have Disneyland passes! ha ha I'm a mean mom....

This was a shot taken from the concert on Friday night... I bet if you look really closely and squint your eyes you can spot Tanner and Parker there in the front!

I'm sad that this is the ONLY family picture I got during this entire holiday weekend..... I'll treasure it forever!

The babies were so excited to run all over the parking lot! They spent a lot of time strapped into the car....

Ray would scream, "Wooo hooooo! Fireworks! Fireworks! Yay!!!!!"

My Dad didn't stay too long so he could go back down the mountain and be there with my mom

I'm so excited to have Josi move closer soon!!!!!

We are quite the group!!!!! Make way for the Bullock clan!!!!

Tav and Max were old enough to zip line and had a blast on that adventure! They also took our hike to the next level with their off roading escapades!