The Great Wolf Lodge and Dinner at La Margarita

We completed our Wednesday, March 27th adventure with a trip to the Souvenir Shop for items to remember our incredible water adventure.  We also enjoyed a dinner in Irving, Texas with Uncle Bobby and Aunt Laura.  We traveled to La Margarita.  The food was delicious.  It was everything from chips and salsa, fajitas and shrimp pesto burritos.  It was interesting to travel to all of the areas surrounding the large city of Dallas, Texas.  Thanks to Uncle Bobby and Aunt Laura, we had a fabulous time!

The Great Wolf Lodge

We woke up ready for another day at the Great Wolf Lodge on Wednesday, March 27.  It was a time of firsts for many of our kids.  Since it had been years since Dave and I had been on water slides, we urged our kids to help our courageous hearts.  We had a great time and even picked a few favorite slides including The Howling Tornado where you felt like Dorothy on the Wizard of  Oz spinning down a dark tube, The River Canyon run a five-person tube slide where you were hoping to remain inside the tube and probably the favorite for all of us was the Wave pool where you enjoyed warm water and waves crashing and knocking you over to the ground like the ocean.  We enjoyed our resort room with delicious snacks and simple lunches prepared by Aunt Laura.  Uncle Bobby and Aunt Laura returned each evening with something tasty for dinner.  We probably acted like wolves as we were starving from the constant swimming.  

Gallman Family Trip to the South

Our family began an adventure to visit the southern part of the United States.  Many of our children had never been on an airplane.  After the most difficult part was complete (packing), we traveled to Salt Lake International Airport.  The exciting part was that we were to leave at BEDTIME and land later than midnight.  The flight was great and then the real adventure began.  We rented a suburban from a rental car company and determined that we needed GPS to navigate our lengthy journey.  Unfortunately at 1:00 am, our travels in Dallas became difficult.  Dallas was under construction and the GPS thought we should travel one way, but detours made it almost impossible to find our way.  Let's just say, "recalculating" became forever embedded in our mind and ears.  Thank goodness for Uncle Bobby and his help via cell phone, we arrived at 1:30 am at Uncle Bobby and Aunt Laura's house.  Though we were tired, it was so nice to be welcomed with open arms.  We immediately loved their southern ways and their pronunciation of "Coton" aka Colton.  It seems that the letter "l" was dropped to sound so different and charming.  We enjoyed a wonderful night's rest in the softest beds EVER.  

San Antonio and Sea World Adventure

On Thursday, March 28th, we left for San Antonio from Dallas.  Somehow getting eight people going in the same direction anywhere is always an adventure.  We loved the churches of every size and type and the Christian Rock Radio where there was certainly Praise to the Lord.  We drove straight to Sea World in San Antonio and arrived at lunch time.  The shows were fantastic including The Cannery Caper, One Ocean and Azul.  Jacob got his hand stuck in roller game and we had to break the game to get his hand out.  Samantha's fear of fast rides and heights stopped her from jumping on the Steel Eel and Great White.  

The Last Leg of Our Journey

On Tuesday, April 2nd, we left Crystal Springs, Mississippi after a trip past the Gallman Cementary, Copiah Academy (local private school) and the Gallman gas station.

We traveled to Vicksburg, Mississippi where we drove around the Civil War Park.  It was incredible to imagine the life of war and how this place was so preserved that there were still markings where the canons once stood.  It truly allowed the history books to come alive for all of us.  We also had a great view of the massive Mississippi River.

We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Walnut Hills Restaurant where we had fried catfish and delicious salads and desserts.  We loved the beautiful pink azaleas that were in full bloom.  When we looked back at all the experiences thus far, we were amazed at the variety and relationships that can never be forgotten.  Each leg of our journey had something that forever changed our spirits and taught us about the scripture in Matthew Chapter 6.  "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  We learned how important our families are to us.  We treasure each Aunt, Uncle, Grandparent and are grateful for all the sacrifices that they have made to help us enjoy "THE GOOD LIFE."

We traveled back to Dallas, Texas and ate Aunt Laura's delicious cooking including potatoes, salad and glazed salmon.  All in all, we couldn't have planned a better experience and will take this trip into our hearts as a wonderful memory to last a lifetime.  Thanks to ALL who helped and loved our family!

Fishing on Lake Copiah

Monday, April 1st, we found ourselves enjoying the mist and fog on beautiful Lake Copiah.

It was truly something that we had never before experienced.  Our kids explored and searched for spider webs, old sticks and threw rocks in the lake.  It was our own "On Golden Pond" experience.  Dave and I even sat on the front porch and watched the entire adventure.  It couldn't have been more relaxing.  After a breakfast of donuts, cereal and milk, we connected with Uncle Larry and Aunt Linda and traveled to the Old Crystal Springs Cemetary to pay our respects to Grandpa Hubert, Grandma Mary and many others who had passed on.  It was a special time to watch our children clean up the graves and learn about their family history.

It is always interesting to learn about your family and all the good that they do for the world.  After the cemetary and catching a few green lizards, it was off to The Red Barn to buy crickets (for fishing) and also some crawfish.  We also stopped to see Dave's childhood home which is now trashed and visit the Webbs (dear friends from long ago).  Dave remembered running into the light pole that you can see in front of his house.

Lastly, we went back to Copiah Lake armed with live crickets and fishing poles (thanks to Aunt Linda and Uncle Larry).  We spent the rest of the afternoon eating crawfish while sitting in the dirt, fishing and talking to each other.  Our kids didn't want to quit.  In fact, Uncle Larry was a great sport as just as he sat down to enjoy some crawfish, one of our kids asked for help with their fishing pole.  We caught several fish and watched as Callie, Jacob and Colton played with them in the bucket as if they were going to be pets.  It was definitely something we had never done before.

We ended our day with a trip to Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Gwen's house for spaghetti dinner.  We also tried chicken hearts for the first time and delicious butter beans.  We even videoed the wrong house trying to capture Grandpa Hubert's trailer, but then finally found the right one.  Our Callie made friends with Alleigh (Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Gwen's granddaughter) who could have been twins in the life before this one.  We enjoyed some special memories together and got to see pictures of the cruise that some of the Gallman siblings took together.  We'll never forget this time and we were so grateful that we took this amazing trip.  In fact, sometimes we want a trip to end, but in this case we truly wanted it to last forever.

Easter Sunday in Crystal Springs, Mississippi

Easter Sunday, March 31, we woke early to attend church services.  Though fatigued from our travels, we were amazed to gaze at the beautiful green trees and wooded areas.  We enjoyed a great meeting with a small group of saints.  All wanted to know who the guy was in the church who had "all those kids".  It was fun to travel back in time and interact with such a wonderful group of people.  Our children loved hearing about their "daddy" and his childhood memories.

We then went to visit a few friends.  We ate some delicious banana pudding and the smells of southern food.  We even learned about pigeons and saw how they are raised.

Finally we met up with many of the extended Gallman family relatives to enjoy an Easter Celebration.  The food was beyond mouth-watering.  The company was even greater.  We ate fried chicken, collard greens, salads, butter beans, layered cakes and everything in between.  We loved each and every bite and and we're so grateful to all the work of each member of our extended family to make this such a memorable event.  Our lunch was even equipped with a thunderstorm and rain that was typical of Mississippi weather.  Our children, outfitted in their Sunday clothes, danced and played in the rain.  We had never seen something like this, but it was definitely a memory searching for easter eggs in the rain.  

We videoed most of the adventure including a large spider web, beautiful Lake Copiah (where we stayed) and Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Gwen and their children and Uncle Larry and Aunt Linda and their kids as well as many others who were there to unite together on such a special day.  We can't thank them enough for their truly SOUTHERN hospitality and welcoming arms to our family.

Adventure through Lousiana

On Saturday, March 30, we left the Battleship Texas and began a long journey towards Mississippi.  Unfortunately, we discovered that we had misplaced a bottle of insulin.  Due to the holiday weekend with Easter fast approaching, we sensed the urgency to find a pharmacy somewhere in Louisiana.  Because we were very unfamiliar with the area and relying solely on GPS and faith, we were very unprepared for the effort it would take to find the critical medicine.  We traveled towards Lafayette, LA and stopped at various Walgreens for directions.  The locals really didn't know their city as well as we would have hoped so after several directions to Walgreens and Rite Aid, the hours were passing quickly by.  It was now 10:00 pm and kids were starving and Colton's blood sugar was rising rapidly without the much needed insulin.  Finally we found a local pharmacy and they helped us to get the insulin which cost us $300.  Yes, the insurance wouldn't pay for it because we had recently filled within their window of time.  To add to our adventure, we determined to find a place to eat.  We stopped at a local chinese place and they acted as if we were ghosts.  We then found a fast food restaurant called Raisin' Cane's Chicken.  Although the sauce was spicy, the chicken and fries were delicious.  I think at this point in our journey, we could have eaten cardboard and been satisfied.

After filling up with gas and food, we continued to travel towards Mississippi on Highway 55.  We knew with the dark of night, fear of the swamps, car trouble, alligators or whatever our imagination might drum up, that we had to drive north quickly.  We were also so tired from the normal travels of this particular day.  We drove quickly north and drove into the small town of Crystal Springs, Mississippi.  Arriving at 3:00 am, waking relatives to pick up a key to the small cabin where we were staying.  We so thankful to Aunt Linda and Uncle Larry in allowing us to wake them to greet us and help us find our way.  We felt into beds exhausted but grateful for the safety and protection on this adventurous journey.

Visiting Houston Texas

On March 29th we went to Houston, Texas.  After a long day of driving, we stayed in a Residence Inn.  The people below us didn't want ANY noise so it was a long night.  We did eat some delicious food at an italian restaurant called Russo's New York Pizzeria.  Not only were the pizzas very yummy, but we had great salads and desserts that melted in all of our mouths.  After dinner, laundry was a priority so our evening activities consisted of folding laundry and watching The Little Engine that Could on the IPAD.  It was an adventure.

Then Saturday, March 30th we stopped for a quick visit with Dave's Uncle.  Then we traveled by ferry across the Houston Ship Channel.  David could find the parking brake when we were about to leave the ferry so it was a rather funny experience searching for the parking brake with cars waiting behind us.  The Battleship Texas was incredible.  We all enjoyed the experience of touring the very large ship.  Of course, the history was fascinating, but the knowledge that we were on a ship that many relatives had also traveled on was rather emotional.  Some in our family were terrified of the closed spaces under the ship while others had difficulty with the heights and wind at the top of the ship.  It truly was an adventure.