Pre and Post CASVAR

So over the weekend we headed to Star Valley for CASVAR (read the post below!), but we had some adventures on the way there and at Grandma and Grandpa Heiner's, both before and after the big ride.

One thing I like about traveling is that the car usually lulls the boys to sleep. So during our travels Joe and I usually get some "alone" time. We were having a good drive that afternoon. Ephraim had fallen asleep and Jacob was having a good time "pretending" that he was asleep. He was even making snoring noises for our benefit (in between giggling fits). Check out this face.

What a faker!
Then we stopped at the Kirkham's house for a potty break before starting the second half of our trip. I was surprised when little Ephraim did not instantly fall asleep again in the car. I could tell he was SO tired. As we drove through Mink Creek and down towards Ovid on the other side Ephraim started whimpering. I should have known something was up. Instead I told him, "Just close your eyes and go to sleep, buddy".

Then I heard it... the sound that is every parent's nightmare, especially in the car... the squishy sound of a burp that is more than a little juicy.

"STOP THE CAR!" I told Joe, just as Ephraim started to throw up.
I had forgotten that a one year old can't exactly say, "Mommy, Daddy, I don't feel so good!"

Luckily the vomit was mostly contained to Ephraim, his clothes and the carseat. Unfortunately it was the nasty, milky-smelling, chunky kind that makes you gag when you breathe (or look at it).

I got Ephraim out of his seat and started to take his clothes off while Joe dealt with the seat. Fortunately we had stopped in front of a lumber business, and they had a bathroom and lots of paper towels. I also had a plastic sack handy to put the yucky clothes in, which was definitely a good thing!

I got Ephraim's face, arms and legs all cleaned up in the restroom and returned to the car. Joe got the car seat as clean and dry as he could get it, and I was impressed that he had done so well with it (even when he told me later that he gagged a couple of times).

It was then I realized that all Ephraim's spare clothes were packed in the trunk... the trunk that had a bike rack and two bikes strapped to it. So there was no way we were going to get to his spare clothes, but I didn't want to just strap him to his soggy car seat in just his diaper.

Luckily Joe had thrown an extra t-shirt in the back seat last-minute, so Ephraim got to wear it the rest of the way.

He fell asleep nearly instantly and slept until we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house. He was fine the rest of the weekend, so apparently it was just a bout of carsickness. Just look at this picture of the boys in their matching pj's and you can see that both the boys had a great time.

Aren't they so cute?

There was also a bit of excitement the night before the ride. My dad noticed that one of the hills to the east of the house had caught fire.


He called the fire department and they sent some firetrucks and firemen out to see what they could do. If you look closely at this next photo (click on it!) you can see the men on the hill and just how far they had managed to put the fire out.

Jacob was watching all of this out the window and was even more excited when they sent out the helicopter later that evening:

The helicopter dropped some firemen off at the top of the ridge and then dropped it's bucket and started relaying water from a nearby pond to the fire. It was pretty neat to watch.


It turns out the fire was started by some kids who were careless with fireworks, so it's a good thing they managed to get it put out so quickly and without any damage to the houses at the bottom of the hill.

So that was the Pre-CASVAR excitement. The boys seemed to do fine spending the day with Grandma and Grandpa. We heard that Ephraim took a bath and then when they got him out and got him dressed he took a second bath fully clothed! He sure does enjoy the water, silly boy!

There wasn't much excitement post CASVAR because we were too tired! Joe and I did make it to the temple dedication for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple on Sunday morning, which I really enjoyed. Then it was all we could do Sunday afternoon to pack the car and drive home. Ephraim was watching our every move... he didn't want us to leave without him again!

It was a LONG drive home. Luckily it was also and uneventful drive home!