A Visit to the Motherland

Jon's family is in West Virginia. Mine is in Arizona. But, like most Mormons, our roots (meaning aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc.) are in Utah. Unfortunately, we haven't made it out to Utah since before Seth was even thought about.

So when Jon's work had openings for him to fly out to scenic Dugway and test for a week, we jumped at it. The per diem they gave him was enough to pay for my flight and have money left over. So, with a 10 month old baby in tow, we headed across the country.

May 10, 2009
We had a direct flight, which was fabulous. Seth wasn't too bad. We did try to drug him at one point, but it only knocked him out for 20 minutes. He did remarkably well, all things considered, until the hotel room that night. I'm not sure if it was sheer exhaustion or just being in the same room with us, but the kid was up every hour or so, wanting his pacifier. It was a short night for all of us.

May 11, 2009
Jon had to leave super early. Of course, Seth was up as soon as we were, so we all went down for a (NOT) free breakfast ($10 per person!!). After he left for a grueling few days of 3pm to 3am testing, Seth & I went back to sleep. In fact, we slept so well that we missed my grandparents' three phone calls, despite the phone being right next to my head. Luckily they still managed to find us and shuttle us up to Roy.

Seth had a blast at their house. He ate like a champ (bread and cheese, specifically) and was immensely entertained by Grandpa's antics with Leighton's remote controlled cars. I've never seen the kid more excited in my life! In fact, one car with bright lights got him so excited that I thought he was going to fall over. Instead, he burst into tears. A little too much stimulation...

Seth & I made a quick visit to see my cousins the Noyes in Sunset. I haven't seen my cousin Matt since I got married (I moved away, then he went to Iraq). I got to meet his 3 year old son Kyle, who is going to give his parents a run for their money. Seth had a good time hanging out with Chantry, Scott & Katrina's little guy who's just a month younger than Seth (even though Seth looks like he could eat him for dinner and still have room for dessert). It was so good to see everyone again.

May 12, 2009
Grandpa Bud was kind enough to haul me & Seth up to Logan to stay with the Mikesell grandparents for a few days. The Mikesells had never met Seth before, so I was really excited to see them. They loved him, of course. He was such a happy kid the entire time we were there.

Seth also got to meet my cousin Amber for the first time. If I hadn't been there to stop her, Amber would have taken him home with her. She came to see him every day we were there. He was fascinated by her jewelry--it took him a few minutes to work up the nerve to actually touch it.

May 13, 2009
Seth slept pretty well there--only up once at night, which is amazing for a little person who's used to sleeping in his own crib. He and the Mikesells were on the same schedule--early to bed, early to rise.

Grandma Danice was his training coach while we were there. She had him cruising all around the couches and sofa by the time we left. She was trying hard to get a "mama" out of the kid, but to no avail. He did, however, say "boo", which is Amber's nickname. Punk. He would have been content to spend his entire day shuffling from sofa to couch to table if we'd let him.

Until, that is, he found his very favorite activity--riding with Grandpa on the mower. We thought the noise would put him off. Wrong. He was the most relaxed kid--just lounging there in Grandpa's arms. When the lawn was all mowed, I went to pick him up so Grandpa could put the mower away. He wouldn't even lift his arms for me--he wanted to stay with Grandpa. And since Grandpa's a big softie, he took Seth for a ride up the street on the mower, just to make him happy. Seth watched carefully as Grandpa put the mower in the shed. Any time we approached it after that, he would whine and reach for it. He knew where that mower was and he wanted a ride, dang it.

That night we headed to Garth and Linda's for a delicious dinner. I don't know who had more fun: Seth watching the boys run through the house all evening, the boys; who spent the evening entertaining Seth, or Linda who had Seth in her arms the entire time we were there. Watching their boys made me excited to watch Seth grow up--he'll be a handful, but so much fun.

May 14, 2009
Our last day in Logan. Seth & I went out to see Grandpa's garden. While we were there, Grandpa happened to pull out the mower to refill the tank. Well, Seth was pretty sure he needed another ride, so off they went. What a good Great Grandpa Seth has.

Sadly, we had to leave. We packed everything up, said goodbye to Amber, and headed down the canyon listening to Johnny Cash (Seth is a big fan). The Mikesells dropped us off at the Carnahans where Seth got to hang out with a bunch of people--Aunt Kenna, Uncle Mike, and cousins Leighton and Cameron. He was pretty fascinated by Mike's glasses and Kenna's mouth.

We cousins had a good time introducing Seth to Grandma's player piano. As kids we used to turn it on and dance around to "South Pacific" or "The Lightning Bug". Seth was a little overwhelmed, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it next time we're there.

May 15, 2009

Aunt Kenna spent the night so she could enjoy the cuteness of Seth in the morning. And he did not disappoint. We had a good time hanging out together and even got a visit from cousin Tami Noyes. It's strange to see us all growing up--I guess I still see us as the little monsters running around the Mikesell's yard pestering each other (and my dad, usually).

As Grandma noticed later, we forgot to take any pictures with the Carnahan grandparents. :( But Seth sure had a good time with them. He is one spoiled little man.

Jon called that afternoon to let us know that he was done with work. We said a huge thank-you to the Carnahans and headed to Salt Lake. Seth was so excited to see his daddy again.

We were able to stop by and see Grandma Blood for a little while. She loved Seth and he kept walking up to her and patting her legs. We're not sure she'll remember him, but at least we can tell him that he met her.

After some crazy driving trying to find a restaurant, Jon & I treated Kenna to dinner at Tepanyaki. Seth loved banging on his high chair almost as much as he loved it when the chefs would start up the giant fireballs. We ate until we were stuffed, said goodbye to Kenna, and headed to Aunt Marie's.

We had a good visit with her and spent a long time talking (we were hoping Gary would make it home before we left, but to no avail). Seth blew out his diaper, but was really good until just before we left. We pushed him too hard and boy, did he make us pay. Let's just say it was a long, long night.

May 16, 2009
We enjoyed our free (for real this time) breakfast, visited with Grandpa Carnahan (who dropped off the cell phone charger I'd left at their house), and headed to the airport. To make a very, very long story short, Seth was a monster on our first flight. He was exhausted and couldn't sleep. I am very, very sorry for everyone who sat near us.

The second leg was much better. There was an open seat, so Seth had lots of room to play. By the time we got home we were all exhausted and Jon swore he'd never fly with Seth again. I think he's backed down from that oath by now. Maybe.

I'm so glad we were able to go visit. It's so hard to be so far away from our families. I hope we're able to make it out there again--I want Seth to have memories with our families in Utah.