Kaitlyn's Kamping Kirthday K-Adventure

So every time one of my children has a birthday, I go through this whole decision process. It drives me crazy! When I was a kid, my Mother always insisted we had family-only birthday parties. Now I know why. They're simpler, stress free, and less expensive. I also think it creates a nice, intimate feeling. I've done both, but I would rather keep it in the family.

This year we decided to go camping at a campground my mother used to camp at with her family (Patagonia State Park). I went on FamilyFun.com and found this great cake! It's a camping birthday cake. The kids thought it was "COOL", and I was very happy that it actually turned out.



This is what it looked liked after transporting it there.



We all had a good laugh!

We arrived at the campground in the evening, after Aaron got off work (He's in crunch time right now with hiring, so he can't take off any time from now through early March-- that's o.k., more time off when the baby comes). It was great because there were lots of campers around, and we found an awesome site! I made dinner, while Aaron pitched the tent. That seemed to work out just right. It was a cold night, probably in the 30's, but we all kept fairly warm with our coats and mounds of blankets. We realized we didn't have any propane for breakfast in the morning, so we planned on getting up early to get some in Nogales, AZ.

The kids woke up hungry and cold, so we loaded everyone up, and headed to Nogales. It was interesting. We were all fascinated with how "Mexican" everything looked. Then Morgan had this great idea..."Let's drive to the border and check it out!" So Aaron saw the signs that pointed toward Mexico and turned the car around. We were driving through Nogales, just checking everything out, when all of a sudden we saw that we were on a one-way road driving into MEXICO!!! This is what we saw:




TRINA: "Aaron, turn around!!!"
AARON: "I can't."
TRINA: "What do we do?" (now that we're in Mexico)
AARON: "I don't know".

You have to realize, that Aaron ALWAYS knows what to do. Even if he doesn't really, he has the ability to make it SOUND like he knows what to do. I take great comfort in this.

So, when I REALLY needed him to know what to do, he didn't. I thought, "GREAT"! We were both panicking by now, and I mean REALLY freaking out. You see we didn't have any passports, birth certificates, or anything (well, besides our D.L.'s)! I had recently heard that you have to have a passport to get back in to the U.S.

I saw a sign that looked like a police station, so I told Aaron, "Maybe we should pull in there." We did and I started to tell the Mexican policeman our plight, and I realized he doesn't speak English! It's times like these, that I really wish I would have served a mission in South America, or at least kept up with my Spanish over the years. Somehow, we were both able to figure out what the other was saying, and he basically said we could drive a little further and turn around. When we did, we found ourselves in this long line, waiting to go through the American border checkpoint. We had plenty of time to let our imaginations run, and trust me I had already resigned myself to think that we may be living on the streets of Mexico with all six of our children for years, completely destitute! So we decided to say a family prayer to ask Heavenly Father to please touch the guard's heart to let us through. We waited and waited...and I told the kids, "Whatever you do, don't stop praying!" I have a strong belief that God hears and answers children's prayers!

So we were finally next in line, and then there was a guard change. This added another five minutes to our already long wait. The guard however, was so nice and understanding-- and it turns out that he lives in our neighborhood! Aaron mentioned that maybe Heavenly Father answered our prayers by switching the guards. I think he might be right. All I know is that our prayers truly were answered, and I have never been more grateful to live in America than I was last Saturday! We made sure to say a prayer of thanks, and now that it is over with, we can laugh! I wish we would have done better during the moment, and had taken Elder Wirthlin's advice to "learn to laugh"-- but for now, I think we'll continue to have to work on that one.

We went back to camp and had a wonderful party. Here's a few pics:









All was going well until the wind picked up, and we had this major gush that completely ripped the fly off of our tent! It is now history. I'm so bummed! I loved that tent, and now I'm wondering when I'll ever want to spend the money to get a new one. What a weird trip!