Our road trip plans

Everyone is excited to start this road trip. 2 moms and 7 kids in a 12 passenger van

An hour or so after we started driving, we got pulled over for speeding. But, the cop had compassion on us and didn’t give us a ticket.

We were able to make it to Four Corners

We made it to the Grand Canyon

Horseshoe Bend was free to see and worth the short “hike” to get there

Family Reunion at the Alton Lodge in Southern Utah; where 8 out of the 9 Poulson siblings attended. In total we had about 65 people at this reunion.

Grandkids and great-grandkids that attended the family reunion

Bryce Canyon…pictures can’t capture the complete beauty

Woke up early to see the Balloon Festival in Provo

Grateful to see this flag wave on the 4th of July

We were able to attend Stadium of Fire where One Republic played and then watched a great firework show

I drove up to Logan, Utah to pick up my sister and we stopped at Gossner Diary where we got some delicious long term shelf life milk that all the kids love

About 15 minutes away from Gossner Dairy is the Pepperidge Farm Factory & Thrift Store where we got the “oops” goldfish which are $2 for 2 pounds

I drove up to Heber to see a good friend from Texas and have our kids play together for a day and a half

My sisters and I said good-bye to our brother and headed off towards California

Stretching our legs and exploring the Salt Flats on our drive west

My sister-in-law and husband invited us to stay the night at their condo in Lake Tahoe and go tubing with their boat. We all had a blast!

Movie morning at 8am! The Incredibles and Ant-Man & Wasp were the reason for the early morning since all other times were sold out

I went with my mom to take in the recyclables that had been accumulating for a year. We decided to split the profit between ALL the grandkids that were in California. They all got $10 to spend however they wanted (everyone got something at the Dollar Store).

Field Trip to Sutter’s Fort

We drove by the Sacramento capital building

Family night watching the musical play “Newsies” at the Music Circus

Another field trip. This time to Alcatraz island

Hanging out at the Botanical Gardens in San Francisco

Stopped near the Golden Gate Bridge to get a photo

We had a girls morning of pedicures

For the 5 days that we were at my parent’s place, lunch/dinner time looked like this. Cousins all sitting together.

As we were leaving California to head back toward Texas, we decided to drive through Yosemite

We did a small hike in Yosemite to see the Giant Sequoia trees

We made it to our aunt & uncle’s home where our other aunt & uncle also came by to see us and hang out. The kids were happy to see their cousins again.

We made it safely home and logged in 5627 miles in 19 days!

Swimming with whale sharks

Five minute hike to Tumalog Falls

Canyoneering – where you hike through nature and jump off waterfalls

Scuba diving in Moalboal where we swam with sardine bait balls

We stopped by Pro Foods factory and bought a bunch of dried fruit

The married couple are happy and in love.

Relaxing at Plantation Bay Resort

Shooting Range at Plantation Bay

Somebody may have gotten the Emperor’s massage

Instead of staying at the airport for 8 hours, we booked a tour guide through Viator.com and got Nancy who we were very happy with.

Our first stop was to the National Taiwan Museum

228 Peace Memorial Monument

Our friend told us about Mango Ice and it was so yummy

Lanterns in front of Songshan Ciyou Temple

Songshan Ciyou Temple

We bought a new home and moved into it on March 31

In April, I got to go to Utah for one of my mission companion’s wedding.

The beginning of May, Matt’s sister got married in California.

Towards the end of May, Matt & Tia flew to Utah for the sealing of close friends we met in the Philippines.

There was a really good airfare deal, so a lot of our family came to visit us. We made a trip to Waco to visit the Magnolia Silos.

In June we had a family reunion for the Limary side of the family in Las Vegas. Nearly all of the siblings and grandkids attended.

While in Vegas, we were able to attend the wedding of my brother Robbie.

Right after we got back from Vegas, Kalani and I went to a church girls camp for a week.

Beginning of August, my 17 year old brother passed away. All of the siblings and spouses were able to attend the funeral in California.

The end of August, Matt & I took a trip to Florida to scuba dive and visit with close friends that we had met in the Philippines.

We got hit with Hurricane Harvey in August. So most weekends in September were spent “mucking” homes as we raced to tear out sheet rock, carpet, cabinets, etc, before mold could set in.

Halloween was a wet evening, but the cousins got together to trick-or-treat (despite the downpour) and got a lot of candy.

Mom & Dad Farley visited us in November.

We had a full house for Thanksgiving that we hosted.

Kalani was in a lot of plays this year. Fiddler on the Roof, Little Women, Cinderella & Macbeth to name a few.

When it snows in Texas it is worth staying up until midnight for a snowball fight.

At the start of 2016 we were still living in the Philippines and we had to say good-bye to our helpers.

We had a long flight to get back to the states. This was Blake’s first time to the USA.

I was able to be reunited with my two sisters and aunt. It is so nice that we all live near each other.

Kalani sprained her ankle at a friend’s house while jumping on the trampoline. Now she sprains it often.

Matt and I flew back to the Philippines to attend his co-worker’s wedding.

We got a black-headed python for a pet.

Limary parents came to visit in March.

9 weeks after our belongings were packed up in the Philippines, we received them at our home in the US.

Farley parents came to visit in April.

In May we were able to attend the University of Southern California graduation for my brother.

After the graduation, we spent a day at Disneyland.

Kalani was in the play “Suessical Jr.” She has since been in “Annie jr.” where she played Ms. Hanigan and “Elf jr.” where she was a police officer.

In June while my brother was visiting, we took a trip to Waco to visit the Magnolia Silos.

In June Kalani was able to attend Girls Camp for our church and she loved it.

In July we had a family reunion for my mom’s side of the family in Utah.

In August we went to Turkey for a few days.

After Turkey we flew down to South Africa to visit friends.

In September we got a cat.

Kalani played 3 seasons of volleyball at the YMCA.

The kids had a great time dressing up for Halloween and going Trick-or-Treating with their cousins through the neighborhood.

Kalani plays the trombone in a homeschool orchestra.

We ended the year visiting family in California for Christmas. It is an added bonus when your uncle is Santa!

We stayed at Tuningi Lodge since they allow babies/toddlers. Other lodges would only take children six years old or older.

Reception center. The chandlers are made with porcupine needles.

Open-air kids center where there were movies, toys, and Wi-Fi.

Our large villa was amazing and very relaxing.

From the bathtub in our master bathroom suite Mason spotted an elephant outside grazing.

One night all of the guests had dinner outside near the watering hole.

The staff at Tuningi sang and danced for us during the BBQ.

Blake and Tia watching an elephant pass by our lodge.

Baboons were seen from our lodge. We were told a couple days before we arrived a bunch of baboons entered a guest’s room and stole some things.

From the lodge swimming pool we found some impalas.

One of the highlights on each safari for the kids was to stop in the bush and have a snack.

Zebras grazing

Giraffes finding some food.

Hyenas sleeping on the airstrip

We were lucky enough to find the most elusive of the big five on our first day: Leopard.

It was sweet to see this baby elephant with its mother.

African Water Buffalo

White Rhinos are pretty massive. We were told that a rhino horn is worth $300,000-$500,000 each.

This male lion didn’t want anyone taking his meal.

Our Rangers tracked paw prints and then came upon this lioness with her cubs.

Cheetah brothers blend in perfectly to their habitat. Only one cheetah wears a tracking collar since these two are always together.

This pack of African Wild Dogs have learned to use the electric fence that separates South Africa and Botswana to their advantage when hunting.

An elephant saying goodbye to another day.