I'm headed home!
We've got all our stuff in the car, and we're ready to go.

Not that I don't like sharing a bed with 2 other girls, not that I don't like cottoning hugged by dozens of old strangers--excuse me, friends-- not that I don't like answering the same questions 5 times a day, not that I don't like dying in the sun. . . I'm sure all of this will be good practice for if I ever go crazy and decide to run for President or something. But I am very excited to be heading home. If you're actually reading this, you could pray a) that we don't hit any more large mammals, b) that we make good time, and c) that we get home safely.

Announcing the winner of the biannual Kokora Family Invitational Pinochle Tournament:
Rachel Albert!
The youngest rookie in the tournament, 10-year-old Rachel overthrew professional Vegas dealer and three time champ Pat Korkora, winning full bragging rights for the next year. She wishes to thank her family and Shelly Brown for their excellent coaching.

Yesterday we went to a Six Flags amusement park outside of Denver. We were there for 11 hours, the first 8 of which were really packed, and then it rained. Being Bellinhamsters, that didn't phase us, but it was amazing how the park emptied. We persevered, and it really paid off, because for the last hours after the rain died down we had the whole park to ourselves. Today I'm really hoarse from screaming my fool head off on roller-coaster rides, and I woke up at 10.30. But is was *so* worth it!

Today is my kid brother John's birthday. You should all send him a card.

Hey guys. What are y'all up to? I've missed hearing from you. Carla, it is possible that you've been updating but we just don't know about it because something went horribly wrong and we have yet to hear about 'the first leg of you trip'?

I've been enjoying vacation, I stayed up bowling with Isaac and Anna until midnight, and then woke up at noon. lol. Life is good. Today is the day that my mom's entire family gets together for their annual pinochle tournament, and it's pretty dull around here when you're the only person with more than one digit in his age not playing. I thought it would be a good time to check all my friends blogs and see what they're up to. . .

Oh, the blogger spell checker also doesn't accept the word "blogs." But since I am the only one who uses it anymore, who cares, right? I'm not really this bitter, I think I'm just tired and going into sugar withdrawal.

I'm making the most of having something to talk about. . . I figure for the rest of summer I may not have anything to say. (Don't you all wish.)
So today I visited my old church, and got hugged by a lot of strangers who remember me when I was a baby. That's always a little scary, but I figure it's good practice for when I own half the world and everyone's sucking up to me. :-)
Oh, I met Stacie Orrico's personal assistant, Anna, at lunch, and that was neat. She's from WA too, but moved here to be with our old friend Isaac, who's also a budding musician. Nice girl, hope it works out for them.
I'm trying to think of how to answer the "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question, cuz I'm really sick of having every single stinking relative and old friend ask me. My latest answer is, "Do you mean before or after world domination?" but I'd appreciate any new ideas before Carla starts copying me. . . Post a comment.

Afterthoughts:
1. Does anyone out there know how to put up pictures??? It's driving me crazy not being able to!
2. I'm soooo sorry for the stupid screen name!!! The people I'm staying with don't have IM, and I can't change it!
4. I do allow comments on my post! You don't have to be a blogger. Just say hi! Please!
3. The deer we hit is totally dead, so justice has been served. . .

we're really here! After 30+ hours of driving through 90 degree weather-read it and weep, Bellinghamsters- we're finally at my Aunt Jamey's house. I'm typing this up on her laptop, which is tough, the keyboard is tiny. . .
So, by 6 am, the car was packed, the rooms were clean, and we were ready to go. Or so I thought. But first we had to move out. You see, whenever we go to CO, my moms best friend Renate and her husband have our carpets cleaned, so the place can air out before we come home and my moms allergies aren't effected. Don't we have *awesome* friends? But to make this easier on them, we moved all the furniture onto the porch, kitchen floor, bathroom floors, any thing without carpet. Our house looks like a warzone wherever there's tile, and really empty everywhere else. But finally, by 9 am, we were ready to go.

Washington and Idaho went by pretty fast. Its amazing, as soon as you get on the other side of the Cascade mountains, Washington becomes a desert. Then we drove into Montana, unkowing what fate would put in our way.

What fate put in our way turned out to be a deer. We hit the stupid animal as it swerved into us, taking out our left headlight completely. But since there's pretty much nothing in Montana, especially at midnight, we cruised on.

Did I say there's nothing in Montana? I take that back, there's really nothing in Wyoming. Carla, you would love it! There's nothing but grass, horses, and we saw a few cowboys, prairie dogs, and every single stinking station played nothing but COUNTRY MUSIC!! It was awful. And hot. My brother and had a huge waterfight in the backseat even Natalie would be impressed with. ;-)

But we're now in Lakewood, a suburb of Denver. It's amazing what happened to my old state, it's grown so much. There are neighborhoods crammed in everywhere! And the traffic is worse than in Seattle. It was kinda scary, cuz since our headlight was out, the turnsignals didn't work either, so merging was dangerous.

It's really gonna be hot, mid to high 90s until Thursday! LOL, and me the only one who can't tan. . . Oh, I'm also surrounded by my mom's family. Remember in Ohio how my grandpa didn't know about the baby?--I can finally go public: THE BABY!--well imagine that for every one of my relatives down here. Now everybody knows. I know, she's nuts for not telling, but doesn't 8 kids kinda qualify you as a looney already?

Thanks all of you for blogging--hey did you know the spellcheckers, even on blogger.com don't have that word?--and e-mailing. Love you all, please keep praying for me, and keep in touch!
Lydia

Ok, so I couldn't stay away. Yes, true confession, this is my third, count em, third attempt at blogging. I'd start, but then, let's face it, it just became like another homework assignment. But now all my friends have blogs, and I'm like, Hey, I was *so* there first. And then, after reading what they posted, I was like, Wait, that's writing? I can do that! So forget the stressing about legible writing, since it's officially summer I don't care about whether or not you can read this, or even if you bother to at all.

Summer! I'm so glad school's over! I just want to let my brain rot! Well, that and memorize James, and Romans. And work on my German. And pick up some Dutch. And learn some piano. Ok, so maybe I'm a bit too ambitious for my own good, but except for memorizing and reading I'm not going to think at all until after I come back from CO.

We're actually finally going! I'm so psyched. I haven’t seen all my friends and family down there in over TWO YEARS! This includes my mom’s entire family; my dad’s father, stepmother and brother; and all our old friends from church. I can’t wait to see my cousins, to enjoy the actual heat, and go up into the Rockies.

They say half the fun is getting there, but we’re road tripping. That means a 30-hour nonstop haul with my 6 sibs, none of whom are in diapers this year--which is a pleasant first; my mom, who’s 7 months pregnant; and my dad our fearless leader. And all our junk. And my dads bike. Oh, it’s also supposed to be 85 degrees with thundershowers most of the way through Montana and Wyoming, which beats last year, when it was 95, but will still be hot! But my sibs travel pretty well, and I’m not driving yet, so we should get there ok.

My mom’s just came back, and I’m supposed to be packed. Keep you posted.