highest highs and lowest lows

Does it seem as if I've fallen off the side of the Earth?  If so, it's because I pretty much have.  I've been down to Oklahoma and over to Utah and then to California all since Christmas, hence the lack of blog posts.  Hopefully I'll have a big ol' uber-post to fill y'all in soon.  In the meantime, however, here's 10 highs and lows from our Utah/California trip:

Highlights

1-Getting to meet my newest (and only Lifferth) nephew, Taiven, Isaac's (Spence's little brother) bouncing baby boy.  It's more then a little funny to see what a "Lifferth Cousin" looks like (pssst...it's a heck of a lot like my kids with a heavy dose of Baby Mama Kate mixed in).

2-Welcoming home Kyle (another little brother) from his lds mission to Croatia.  He did an absolutely fab job on his talk at his sacrament meeting homecoming (which, by the way, are alive and kickin' in small-town Utah).

3-Trying out those G carinessa tops that everyone has been raving about.  Love, love, love, love, looooove them.

4-Meeting Kim's cute new-ish flame, Bounce Back Ben (thank you, Eric, for the nickname along with all the others you so liberally bestow).  Despite what it might seem, I promise Spencer really does like him too...he just likes to play the mean older brother/devil's advocate.

5-Seeing 12 completely different states in one shebang. (in the west too...which are the big ones!)

Lowlights

1-Having to spend 52+ hours in the car while seeing the 12 aforementioned states and dealing with kids adjusting to the 3 different time zones in them.

2-Oak trying out his 2 brand-spankin'-new teeth while nursing.  often.  much screeching ensued.

3-Dealing with an earache, teething, and pinkeye all on the same kid (Oak again), all at the same time.

4-Having the fuzz show up at a big ol' family photo shoot.  Oddly, the police appearance had absolutely nothing to do with my jailbird brother-in-law.  Instead, it had quite a bit to do with a crotchety old man yelling at us and then calling 911 because a bunch of hoodlums (us) were harassing senior citizens (him).

5-Having to sit in a stalled elevator for 20 minutes on the Tower of Terror ride at Disneyland/California Adventures.  This time, however, it didn't have absolutely nothing to do with my jailbird brother-in-law.

Well, faithful followers, that's all you're getting tonight.  Stay tuned for an update coming sometime in the very near future.

(and by that I mean after I do the laundry)

ps-don't be expecting any pictures from my Oklahoma trip in my next post.  Obviously, from the extreeeeme lack of pictures from my side of the family, despite the frequency of which I see them, one can safely surmise I hate them.  If y'all have forgotten what they all look like or just require further proof that they actually exist, feel free to check out our recent family photo shoot here.