In my (almost) 26 years of life, I've only lived in Utah for not quite 10 years, including several months as a baby and my three years at BYU. Tucson is 'home', Maryland is 'home' now, too. But my roots in Utah run really deep. I don't know if it was because my childhood was spent there or because (with the exception of one aunt and my immediate family) my ENTIRE family lives there, but Utah will always be 'home', too. Although it really is weird to call someplace 'home' when you haven't actually called it 'home' since you were eleven...
Our last trip to Utah was when Seth was still a baby. Considering we added a new little one to the family and that Seth was so much bigger (in height if not weight--that kid was a CHUBBSTER as a baby), we decided it was time to go again.
Amazingly enough, both kids did fantastically on our flights from Philadelphia to Chicago and then Chicago to Salt Lake. Guess all my stressing/praying paid off! In Salt Lake we rented ourselves a minivan just for Aaron and Timmy. Even with satellite radio, power doors and a backing-up camera, I still missed our Odyssey. I love my van.
We booked our trip long before we realized that 1) it would be Easter Sunday and 2) that my brother-in-law Brian would be graduating that week and that my family would come up from Tucson to see him. So we got to spend Easter Sunday with ALL of my family! It was lovely.
Well, maybe Marah didn't think it was so lovely. At least not when Seth woke up at 5am to play with her...
My kids were adorably matching for Easter. Mom bought Seth's sweet outfit, and Catherine wore one of my old dresses. I tried to make her a matching bow, but it turns out I suck at bow making. Kind of like I suck at scrapbooking and all other crafty things. Good thing Kenna got that talent!
Speaking of Kenna, my kids weren't the only ones who were all matchy-matchy for Easter:
I love imagining the look on Jon's face if I had suggested we color coordinate for Easter Sunday...
We enjoyed a lovely musical program at the Carnahan's ward. Or at least I enjoyed it until Seth wet his pants in the middle of it. Thank heaven that was really the only big accident he had--he even started napping in underwear while we were there!
After church we managed to get all the Carnahans together for a picture. I can't even remember the last time we pulled that one off.
And yes, the front row was reserved for unmarried grandchildren. We've got to shame them into matrimony somehow...
Then, of course, there was the Easter egg hunt. And since Seth is the only grandchild capable of actually hunting (Catherine was just not up to it at 2.5 months), he was spoiled completely rotten.
Aunt Marah is a fantastic basket holder.
Two buckets: one for Seth, one for Catherine.
But since Catherine is not quite up for candy yet, guess who gets to eat it all?
Yep.
Of course, it wouldn't be Easter without egg dying! Seth was less than thrilled since Marah & I did all the actual dying, but he was happy to eat the results!
Monday we headed to Provo to meet up with our old friend Lynda (and to eat some fabulous Korean food) and to meet Kenna's horses. Of course, I failed to get pictures of either of those things.
We ended the day with some delicious shrimp scampi (made by yours truly) and fresh pineapple (carefully selected by Aaron). Oh, and by watching some chubby freshman wheel himself across the parking lot in an office chair during a rainstorm. Oh, BYU...
The next few days were spent in Roy with my grandparents, just relaxing, as well as visiting Mindy & Nathan, some old friends from Iowa. We also took Seth to the Hill AFB Museum, thinking he would love seeing all the airplanes.
Actually, all he cared about was playing in the Children's Center. Specifically, playing with this ping pong ball and blow dryer. So really we could have just stayed at home and done exactly the same thing, but whatever.
Then we made the mistake of trying to take him to Chickfila for lunch. He refused to eat, so we didn't let him play in the playplace. Which led to the BIGGEST meltdown I have ever seen him perform. RIDICULOUS. Thank heaven he's only tried it that one time--I have no idea what I would do if he pulled stunts like that more often.
After a much needed nap, we took him to the park and let him play. He loved playing with Leighton's old RC cars--guess we know what to get for his 'happy birthday'...
Friday we did our craziest adventure--driving 5 hours to Winnemucca, Nevada to see Jon's sister Elizabeth and her husband, Kade. Want to know what there is to do in Winnemucca? Well, you can drive a tractor:
Or you can shoot squirrels.
From inside a Suburban.
Or you can see how many Bloods you can fit on one four-wheeler (I think Jon could have climbed on, too).
And that's pretty much it. (Just kidding! I'm sure there's got to be some cows to tip somewhere, too). And for those of you who are disgusted with us for shooting innocent little squirrels (Mom & Kenna), know that they were eating the alfalfa fields and that they quickly get out of hand if you don't work to keep their numbers down. Shooting them is probably not the most efficient method, but it works. And yes, I shot a squirrel. Two, actually.
Sunday we headed to Elizabeth's ward Sacrament Meeting before we made the drive back to Salt Lake. Catherine looked stunning in her dress from Grandma Cathy:
And yes, those socks really are the same color. Weird lighting.
And this is what happens when you leave your camera laying around where Aaron can get it:
Pretty sure he wasn't quite that happy after spending 5 hours in the backseat of a minivan with Catherine next to him (actually, for a girl who hates her car seat, she did pretty darn good). Although, come to think of it, Aaron pretty much just slept through everything. Timmy, on the other hand, had a pretty long drive. We're trying to make sure Jon's brothers never have children.
Monday morning Jon flew home, leaving me and Marah alone with the kids. I was definitely nervous about surviving without him, but Marah was awesome.
Tuesday we headed up to Logan to visit my Mikesell grandparents. We only had a couple of days with them, but we loved every minute of it. Catherine loved being held:
Seth loved following Grandpa around and mooching treats whenever possible. Unfortunately, he refused to ride with Grandpa on the lawnmower like he did when we visited two years ago. Can't wait for this wimpy phase to be over...
And I loved getting a chance to just relax! Turns out if you're tired enough, you really can sleep with a grunting little baby right next to you (don't worry--she was tightly swaddled and can't roll over yet):
We managed to see Aunt Pam, Amber (along with her new husband and amazing house), Garth & Linda's family, and Matt & Chelsea's family. Not too shabby for how short of a time we had with them! But I guess you have to grasp every opportunity when you don't know when you'll be out there again...
Before I knew it, it was time to head back home. We said goodbye and a big thank you to the Carnahans:
(Want to know why Catherine is called The Princess? Check out her pose in this shot.)
Then it was off to the airport for another round of flights. Once again, both kids did amazingly well.
Catherine was happy as could be:
I could have done without the poo-splosion she shared with me mid-flight, but at least she didn't scream!
And Seth? Well, he spent a good chunk of the flight doing this:
Poor tired little man!
We made it home safely and haven't had a chance to slow down since (as you can tell by the fact that this post is over a month late). We are so grateful for our wonderful family. Thank you for letting us come mooch off you and mess up your schedules with our little monkeys. We love you all and can't wait to see you again!
