Playing Catchup

Mitch asked if I could write a short summary of Jenna’s and my two weeks away and while a two week summary isn’t very short, here it goes!

Jenna and I up and left Jarom on July 15 to go to Utah to see some old friends, grand parents, my new niece, and my parents. It was a fun filled, very busy trip. Thankfully, Jenna is such a seasoned flier that she was well behaved on all of the flights. She even managed to sleep a little bit which was great for her. Not so great for me. Anyone who has ever flown with a child on their lap knows that it is impossible to do anything other than hold the child. Even when they are asleep. You can’t move or read or anything because they are crushing your arms and making them fall asleep. So the first flight, Jenna had her own seat and we were in a bulk head seat so she had plenty of room to sit and walk around so it wasn’t so bad. Unfortunately, that flight was only an hour long. The second flight was three and a half hours long. Jenna had to sit on my lap and I tried to keep her occupied. She slept for about an hour and I stared at the seat in front of me. Most boring thing ever. We sat next to some really nice Japanese people who didn’t speak a lick of English, but Jenna and them managed to become best friends and they played the last hour of that flight. It was really nice of them.

Jenna learned how to avoid saying prayers at Nate's house

We finally arrived in SLC and were greeted by Gramma Nancy. It was fantastic to see her and Jenna even remembered who she was and sat with her while I got my luggage. Once we got everything loaded in the car, we drove all around Salt Lake looking for a Mr. Mac store where Grandpa Bruce had dropped some pants off at to get altered. We went to the wrong one and then ended up having to drive 30 minutes to the right one. It was awesome. Then we made a very important stop at Café Rio where I was able to indulge a craving I have had since I left Utah. Nothing is better than their pork salad. So good. After a few more stops, we finally made it home where Jenna and I crashed pretty early. The next day we were able to go on a walk with one of my old roommates who lives like half a mile from my in laws new house. It was so fun to see her. The rest of that week was spent seeing friends and family, going out to eat, and shopping. Three of my favorite things! I was able to go to roommate dinner with four of my six old college roommates. We are all married with kids now so it was completely different and so much fun to see everyone. After that we went over to my Aunt’s house who lives in Cedar Hills and hung out with her and her family for a few hours.

The roommates

Fun in a diaper at Mandy's house

Sunday we went to my in-law’s new ward. My father-in-law is the new mission president of the Salt Lake City mission, which is why they are now in Utah, instead of Delaware. Anyway, President Monson is in their home ward and was apparently in attendance the week before. I was so bummed I missed him! But they have a nice ward and Jenna enjoyed playing with Gramma. That night we went to the Soulier’s house for dinner. They are old friends of Jarom’s family who used to live in Delaware. The food was delicious and Jenna was so good. She kept her self occupied by pulling all of their books off the shelf and leafing through all of their novels. She is so advanced. Another special treat, President Hinckley’s son was in attendance at that dinner and I got to sit by him. It was awesome. He is super nice and funny and sounds just like our late prophet. A little eerie, but still super cool.

Yay for shoes!

Boo for bonnets!

Monday was really low key because Jenna and I needed to catch up on some sleep and laundry and I don’t really remember what we did on Tuesday, but I am sure it was super fun. Oh, Tuesday night, I did go to a couponing class at my friend Amanda’s house. I am hooked! I haven’t actually started couponing yet because I just subscribed to the magazine, but I am so excited to save so much money! So, send all unwanted coupons my way, please. I will keep you posted on my success (or lack there of!).

Jenna went from uninterested in baby Eva to very upset with baby Eva

Wednesday morning Jenna and I packed everything up to drive up to Rexburg, Idaho. The Winns were nice enough to let me borrow a car for the week so we could drive up and see my new niece, Eva Rose, and also my brother graduated from BYU Idaho. My parents had flown in for the special occasion also, so it was one big party. My sister in law was nice enough to have her baby the day before we arrived so we drove to the hospital first to see them. Baby Eva is super cute and we made Jenna and her matching cousin bracelets. Jenna loves hers and brings it to me to put on every day. That night we stayed with my parents in their hotel room. It was absolutely terrible. My parents snore like you wouldn’t believe. Jenna couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t sleep and we both cried a lot that night. I considered throwing in the towel and driving home the next day because neither of us could sleep, but I found better sleeping arrangements at my brother’s house. We were able to stay in his extra bedroom and with a box fan going, we couldn’t hear the new baby cry and night and they couldn’t hear Jenna moving around and it worked out perfectly. We were able to spend the rest of the week golfing and shopping and eating and hanging out. I love spending time with my family and always have so much fun.

Celebrating Lixi-style after making a putt

Jenna thought her second cousin Olivia was hirarious

Sadly the week had to end and on Sunday night we packed up yet again and drove back to Salt Lake. Jenna slept for about half of it and then I gave her a pen and a coloring book for the last part. When we arrived in SLC, she had pen all over herself. Hardly a mark on the paper. I guess that is what I get for letting her color unsupervised. It kept her busy though! Our last couple days were spent hanging out with Gramma and Grandpa, eating more Café Rio, and seeing some extended family down in Provo. I love Provo. It must be all the good memories I have of living there, but every time I drive into Provo, I feel like I am home. We also made a trip to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point with my Aunt and her five kids. It was great because her kids love Jenna and they pretty much followed her around the whole morning so I actually go to relax and read about dinosaurs. It was a very fun and educational experience. Wednesday night I left Jenna with Gramma again and I drove to the airport to pick up my friend who was in my program with me at BYU. We seem to have the same travel schedule and she was in New Hampshire the entire time I was in Utah. She came home the night before I left so I borrowed a car again and drove her to her house in Heber. It was fun drive and we got to chat and catch up. We got to Heber and went out to eat with her husband and had a fun night talking. I made it home by 11 p.m. to find Jenna had woken up. So we hung out together and packed up all our stuff. I mentioned we went shopping and we had quite a few extra things with us. Jenna has a whole new shoe wardrobe and we got about ten pounds worth of baby bows between the two grandmas so we were stuffed to the brim. All in all, it was a most fantastic trip and the only thing that could have made it better was if Jarom was able to join us. But I guess someone has to work to support all of my traveling and playing! It’s a rough life I live, but someone’s gotta do it! Thanks to all grandparents and friends who made the trip super fun!