Weekend with Dad

During General Conference weekend, Russell had to work in Springdale. Instead of staying home, we made a mini vacation out of it. Since Russell was going to be the only one at the fire station, we stayed at the fire station with him the whole weekend. It was a lot of fun because it was something totally out of the ordinary.

The Rockville/Springdale fire station was out home for the next three days.


The first thing Russell had to do when he got to work was check off the ambulance and make sure all the supplies were stocked and ready for an emergency. Emily got to help him.

The next morning, we got up and got ready for the day. There were only showers at the fire station so we gave Colby a bath in the sink! He thought that was pretty fun and was grabbing at everything her could reach. Afterward, we watched the first session of General Conference.

In between sessions, we packed a lunch and headed to the park.

As soon as we got to the park, Russell got paged out to a call. While he was gone saving a life, Emily, Colby and I enjoyed our hot dogs and then went for a walk in the park. Emily and I played "Pooh Sticks" on the bridge and I think her stick won every time. Colby just loved being outside. He is an outdoors kid.

At 2:00, we headed back to the station to watch the second session of Conference. When we got to the station, however, the doors were all locked up so we couldn't get in! Russell was still on his call and in the middle of the transport and he had the keys. To also top it off, I left my cell phone inside the station so it could get charged, so I had no phone to call Russell and get the code for the combination door either. There was no way to get in so we got back in the truck and drove around to do some window shopping at all the gift shops in Springdale and find a pay phone. (Seriously, a pay phone...they actually still have those things around! If you can believe that...) We did find a pay phone as well as a bathroom because Emily had to go. We called Russell and of course he didn't answer because he is in the middle of a transport so we just hung out in the truck and I listened to Conference on the radio while Emily colored in her notebook. So it wasn't all bad. I finally did get hold of Russell and he was 10-15 minutes outside of Springdale so by the time we got back to the station, he was getting there too.

That night, while Russell went to Priesthood Session, we played toys, watched Dora, and I finally finished Colby's crib bumper pads! (pictures coming in the next post).

During the Sunday morning session of Conference, a deer walked right out of the trees passed the windows of the station:

It was pretty cool to watch. Russell and Emily were even able to go outside and stand a few yards away from it and take these pictures. The deer was really skinny and small so I don't think it was very old. Later that day about 3 more deer came walking out of the trees near the station.

In between the Sunday session, we headed to another park. This time Russell didn't get a call and was able to stay with us the whole time.

These two yahoos really liked this bouncy teeter-totter. Then Emily saw the slides and was off running to them.

Emily loves slides and can go down them all day. Colby didn't know what to think about his first slide experience but I know he will love them too in time. Emily took him down for his first slide ride and she thought she was so big. Then I took him down for his second ride. I swear they used to make slides a lot bigger when I was younger. It was a small fit but I made it down the slide with Colby. After sliding for awhile, it was time to hit the swings.

Colby loved the swings. He liked the wind in his face and the whole rocking motion. He laughed the whole time. This is also his first time on the swings. Now that he is older and big enough for swings, we will have to go to the parks more often. I also need to have Russell hook up the baby swing onto our swing set so he can swing in our back yard.

Russell realized that his pager had a dead battery so we headed back to the fire station to switch it out. By then it was time for the last session of Conference so we just stayed and watched it. Conference was so great this year I thought. Well it is great every time but this time a lot of the talks really hit me and had great messages. I probably say this every time I watch Conference but it is true, it happens every time I listen to the prophet and apostles speak.

I think it was Elder Oaks that said in a previous talk that if you are struggling with something, pray earnestly about it and then listen to General Conference and you will get an answer to your prayer. I really took this to heart and started praying. I have been struggling lately with being stressed out and overwhelmed with everything I had to do. Between two kids, a house to keep up, working two part-time jobs one outside the home and one at home, and about a million other projects I have either started or want to start, I was finding myself not having enough time for anything. Not to mention having a ton of things to do at work due to tax extension deadlines. I made a "To-Do List" a few weeks ago of all the things I needed to do before Christmas and I filled up a whole page! I just looked at it and shook my head. So I had been praying to know how I was going to get everything done and still have time for my kids and husband. I put my faith in Elder Oaks and really listened to the General Conference talks and do you know what, I got my answer. I actually knew the answer all along but I just needed the brethren to pound it even further in to my head. I realized that I can only do so much and that I needed to find out where my priorities were. I needed to put my family first and worry more about them than these silly projects. I don't have to be super mom that makes everything from scratch. It is okay to buy a Halloween costume instead of making it. It is okay to just sit down and play Peek-A-Boo with my kids instead of constantly be cleaning something. The dishes can wait sometimes. I also realized that the reason my life has become hectic is because I have let my scripture reading fall by the wayside. I need to start reading my scriptures again. I have redone my "To-Do List" and re-prioritized and I feel much better now. There were some great talks on the importance of scripture study, talks on putting first things first, and even a great one on the blessing of children. My children truly are a blessing in my life and I cannot imagine life without them so I need to focus more on them than my silly projects. I am so grateful for my answered prayer. It is funny, I knew this all along but I never realized it.

Anyway I just had to share for posterity purposes. Back to our weekend. After the final session of Conference, we packed up some hot dogs and took a trip up to Kolob Mountain. Russell was supposed to be off work at 6:00 that night but the co-worker that was supposed to come in suddenly quit so the shift needed to be covered. We decided we could stay for one more night and then drive home in the morning so I could go to work. Russell did have his captain cover for a couple hours though so we could take our annual trip up to Kolob to see the changing leaves.

I love seeing the leaves change color. It is my favorite part of Fall. We were probably about a week too early though because most of the leaves were still green. We did see a lot of yellows, oranges, and even red leaves and there were very pretty. It was starting to get dark so most of my pictures didn't turn our very well but the mental pictures are still great.

We drove up to the Reservoir and cooked our hot dogs for dinner. This has been our tradition for a few years now and we love it. It was completely dark by the time our dogs cooked so we ate by the romantic glow of our truck's cargo light. It was great. Colby looked so dang cute in his jacket hood. I just wanted to kiss his chubby cheeks!

After eating and freezing our desert rat butts off, we headed back to Springdale and the fire station. The next morning we headed for home. It was a really fun weekend and I am glad we got to spend it with Russell. We just might have to do it again next time he works a couple days in a row. Russell said he had a good time too and he had always wanted to bring his family to the fire station and stay.