All pictures have been stolen from my mom & sister's Facebook since I didn't take a single picture that week.
We survived a LONG flight across the country with only minimal stress (meaning we managed to forget one entire suitcase and Seth didn't sleep a wink), then survived the 90 minute drive from Phoenix to Tucson (why can't fares into Tucson be cheaper?), then survived having Seth sleep in the same room with us (he was on the floor by our bed since he's too big for a pack and play now). Despite being up WAY past his Maryland bedtime, Seth never adjusted to the 2 hour time change. Either Jon or I was up every morning at 6 am with the monster...
Seth's big boy bed
We definitely packed a lot into the one week we were there. Seth was, of course, totally spoiled and got to open some gifts as soon as we got there. Sunday clothes? Not so exciting. But rockets?
Those are VERY exciting.
And what would the holidays be without family pictures during church?
Seth's photoshopped head
This is the one we're sending out in our family Christmas letter.
And this picture is why I'm instigating a ban on more pregnant Megan pictures. Yikes.
The week's big project was carpet removal/installation. After 13 years of kids and pets (but mostly pets) my dad gave my mom new carpet for her birthday/Christmas gift. They got a great deal, part of which involved us removing the carpet and padding.
Here I am getting in trouble with my mom for helping move the couch outside.
Dad & Brian pull up the carpet
What it looked like underneath. You'd think we lived by the beach!
What your house looks like when you have to get everything off the carpet.
Where you sit when all the chairs are lost in the piles. Good thing ceramic tile is so comfortable...
During the day it was easier to find somewhere to sit--the couches on the back porch!
We tried to convince Dad to put them out front as a permanent lawn ornament, but he wasn't impressed with the idea.
Did I mention it was 60-70 degrees while we were there? So, so nice...
Seth has his own method of couch sitting.
Of course, we had our traditional dinner at Macayo's (oh, good Mexican food, how I miss you!) and Seth was just as obnoxious as we expected him to be. I think he ate every single sugar packet on the table. You people who take your toddlers to restaurants are either very lucky or insane.
After Macayo's was Mom's 50th birthday party which Walmart tried to ruin by messing up the photo order for her scrapbook. Sometimes it's a good thing that pregnancy makes me more assertive (or irritable, depending on how you want to look at it). I got everything straightened out and then made Marah demand that they fix her messed-up order, too.
Seth had a great time at Grandpa & Grandma's. There was so much to do! There were animals to torment:
And there was Grandpa, who needed Seth's help a lot.
How could Grandpa possibly try to nap without blankets, pacifiers, and a book to read? Silly Grandpa!
And how could Grandpa try to take a bath without all the bath toys (including some rocks from the plant pictured)? Good thing Seth was there to help.
Carpet was installed the day before Thanksgiving. Jon, Marah, Kenna, Brian & I headed to Honeybee Canyon in hopes that we would get out of baseboard cleaning after the carpet was installed (didn't work--we came back too soon).
Brian the conqueror.
Jon the slightly less impressive conqueror.
Meg the ticked off because Jon wouldn't let her climb anything.
I'm still waiting for Marah to put up the video of how long it takes Kenna to jump off a 7 foot wall into a sand bank. What was it? 8 minutes? And then I'm waiting for Kenna to put up the video of how long it took Marah to jump off the same wall. 9 minutes? My sisters are so tough. (Once again, Jon wouldn't let me participate. Boo.)
We spent the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful new carpet, which Seth decided to initiate with a blow-out diaper the next morning. He hasn't had a blow out since he was a year old, but decides to pull one on Grandma's new carpet...
We didn't really take any pictures of Thanksgiving dinner, but we did get some good ones of our post-Thanksgiving Christmas gift exchange.
Beth is so glad that Jon & I have awesome taste in Christmas gifts. She wanted sweatpants and got a Snuggie instead. A camo Snuggie, no less...
And after the Christmas party came the surprise bridal shower for Kenna and Brian who are getting married December 18th. Jon is so glad he wasn't around for my bridal shower after Brian was forced to pose with these:
Welcome to the family, Brian!
Because of cheap fares, we had to fly home the day after Thanksgiving. But don't worry--we managed to take more pictures that morning.
Four generations (see? NO MORE PREGNANCY PICTURES!)
An hour before we needed to leave for the airport, I got a call from my good friend Hilary saying that she was in town and wanted to see me. Not only that, but she had Kristina, my first roommate from BYU (who ended up marrying a Tucson boy) with her. We managed to squeeze in a half-hour visit while Jon loaded the truck. Then Alicia showed up five minutes before we needed to leave. We have got to coordinate this better next time!
Kristina, Meg, Alicia & Hilary (not the best picture, sorry)
We managed to make it to the airport on time, and Seth had to say goodbye to his aunts and Grandma.
Obviously he was very broken up about the situation.
He did get confused as we went through security, wondering why Grandma, Aunt Marah & Aunt Bubba weren't coming. But then he got distracted by the X ray and we made it through without incident. Of course, once we got on the plane we realized we had forgotten his blankets and pacifiers. So yes, another sleepless flight. Thank heaven for portable DVD players!
Our time with family always goes so fast--good thing I'll get to see them all next weekend for the wedding!
