We were so lucky to be able to take a week and visit Marcella's family in Moore, Oklahoma. We are so grateful to have such good people for neighbors and coworkers who were willing to help us take a break to visit our family.
We flew out on Wednesday, August 11th. We had a short flight from Salt Lake to Denver. Lydia was really good for the most part. I was really nervous from the moment we sat down. The woman in our row did not seem thrilled one little bit to be sitting next to a couple with a child. As we sat there, she would roll her eyes and sigh/groan every time a child on the plane would start crying. I was so glad that Lydia kept quiet for the most part! I finally got the courage up to strike a conversation with her and that definitely loosened things up! As we got off the plane however, she STORMED out of the plane and up the jetway, there was another family that commented about how she was still mad about something. There must have been something that had happened before we even got on the plane because I'm positive that Lydia's noises were not enough to cause her to be that perturbed. I learned a great lesson in this. We do not always know people's circumstances. It is important for us to be Christlike and show people love and compassion, and make an effort to share Christ's love with everyone.
We stopped in Denver in perfect time for lunch. We got on our next flight to Oklahoma where Lydia quickly fell asleep and slept the whole way there...which was wonderful! I even got to sleep; pretty much the whole way too!
The kids loved gathering around our tiny ipod and watching movies.
That night we enjoyed being together with family and reuniting. The kids got some fun things from Grandma and Grandpa and Garrett got to open his birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa.
And she adored Kaleb!
Thursday we spent some time outside at the Splash Pad. It was so much fun. Lydia was a little nervous about it and wouldn't hardly leave my side...which turned out to be the story of the her life the whole time we were there pretty much....But we had a fun time. I was so mad that I forgot my camera. I need to get a copy of the ones on my parents camera.
We went home and made Pizza's for dinner. We all watched "How to Train Your Dragon" and had pizza and pop.
He is such a handsome little boy. He was being so content. Marcella kept saying that he was a little guy that needed lots of attention. I now know what she meant...haha! He's pretty demanding.
Grandpa is the best! Spaceship (Bean Bag) rides!
Friday we got to attend the temple in Oklahoma City! It was wonderful! I realized about 15 minutes before we left that I had not brought my recommend! I called my neighbor, got the stake president's phone number, called him, went to the temple, they called him, after about 10 minutes of waiting, they came back and asked for some I.D.! I didn't have on single piece of I.D. on me! Chris vouched for me and they called it good, thank goodness. We had such a relaxing time serving in the temple together. We then took advantage of having no children with us and went out for dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was splendid. The babysitter was a silly young woman in Marcella's ward and we were grateful to her willingness to watch five crazy little kids including a pretty cranky 4 month old baby. Lisa and Andy and their little girl Peyton joined us later.
He made me take another one.
On Saturday, we went to the earliest showing of Toy Story 3. My mom was so kind to stay home with Kaleb, Lydia and Peyton. It was kind of funny, my dad was concerned about getting a good seat so we left the house at 9:30 a.m. Our showing didn't start until 11:30 a.m.! We got there and the movie theater wasn't even open yet!! haha it was pretty funny. There was a Sonic with a playground just across the parking lot and we passed the time there. It really worked out great. I LOVED the movie. I was somewhat embarrassed as I found myself almost bawling in the end. I could just relate to the story and the whole growing up and growing out of things that I loved so much as a young girl. It is a difficult thing to have to move on. But the movie recognized that it was a good thing too, and I loved that. What a cute show.
We then went home for lunch and naps, and then got together and drove about twenty minutes to a Play Zone. We were so disappointed when we were told that we couldn't go in because there was a private party going on! So we ended up just having to drive all the way back home. But it was fine. Chris and I were scheduled to make dinner that night and we got everything for the recipe except for one ingredient; cilantro, which added quite a bit of the flavor. I drove around with Lisa forever trying to find a store (we really shouldn't have tried to go about Oklahoma alone with only a gps to guide us....), once we finally found one, they were all out of Cilantro! We went home and Brian told us he would go out and get some for us. He returned with Parsley....oh well! We just made it without the cilantro.
This was a precious moment.
Marcella with her cute new haircut! Love it!
We had a Family Home Evening about the Armor of God. We made Armor with the kids. It was a lot of fun. I love these pictures. Especially the ones of their "tough" faces.
We went to church with Marcella on sunday. Lydia went with Peyton to nursery. Lisa
checked on them a few times and each time she said that Lydia seemed ok. But when we
went to get them at the end of church, the nursery said to Lisa, "She was so good. She did just
fine." Then she turned to me and said, "Lydia cried the wh
ole time." she corrected herself and said not the WHOLE time, but I knew what she meant.
Lydia all of a sudden has a new fear of leaving mommy's side. It's flattering, but oh so frustrating.
We went home, had lunch, and started a big game of Shanghi after the kids went down for
nap. It was really fun. I actually won, now that I think about it.
:) Mom and Dad made some yummy sunday dinner; roast, potatoes, corn, and mango.
Mom's cooking is always best...Marcella's comes in at a close second! :)
Yummy Macaroni and Cheese! This picture of Lydia watching the TV is funny. We watched home videos on Sunday night. It was fun. I just want to point out Natalie on the screen...HAHA what are the chances that I'd snap the picture at this very second in the film. heeehee!
They also enjoyed our new laptop. Natalie and Lydia were having fun playing on, under and around the table.
Remember being little?
We went to breakfast the next morning with Lisa's family. We ate at IHOP. It was fun, although the girls weren't exactly cooperative, but we still had an enjoyable time. Chris wasn't very happy when I spilled my whole glass of ice water right into his lap!
Our Friends' Breakfast. We had so much fun getting to see Lisa and her family! It was fun to get to know Andy and Peyton better. They are such a great example to us. I am so grateful that they took the time to drive all the way to come see us.
Our Friends' Breakfast. We had so much fun getting to see Lisa and her family! It was fun to get to know Andy and Peyton better. They are such a great example to us. I am so grateful that they took the time to drive all the way to come see us.
This one's kinda funny. The girls were hugging until we snapped the picture. Then they decided to have enough of each other.
Lydia was terrified of this horse at first. I got on with her (not sitting, just straddling) and then she loved it after that.
Natalie was so cute playing Old Maid. I knew exactly where to put the Old Maid card when I got it because she drew the far left card from my hand EVERY time! haha
Garrett-7, Hannah-5 almost 6, Lydia-18 mo., Natalie-3 almost 4
We got ready to take my parents to the airport. Chris volunteered to stay with the kids so that I could go and see my parents off. I love the small sweet gestures of a loving husband, they are what builds our marriage from day to day.
I just love these two people. What would I do without such great Parents!?
We had a Family Home Evening about the Armor of God. We made Armor with the kids. It was a lot of fun. I love these pictures. Especially the ones of their "tough" faces.
We got to spend some time playing in the library with the kids while Marcella and Kaleb were at
a Doctor's appointment.
We had a lot of fun. I loved watching Natalie sit and "read" herself stories. It was adorable.
We went to another Splash Pad and had a lot of fun with the kids. Garrett and Hannah both got fifty cents for getting dumped by the bucket 10 times.
Lydia absolutely adored Kaleb, but was not too fond of Natalie.
It wasn't until the last couple of days that Lydia and Natalie finally starting getting along so great together. It was so happy to see them finally getting along and playing well together.
The night before we had to leave, I got to go shopping with Marcella for her kids' back to school equipment! It was so fun. We picked out backpacks and notebooks, markers and crayons, socks and underwear....so many memories and feelings entered my heart and mind.
Garrett got a Star Wars backpack and Hannah got a Princess one. We also got to go with them to meet their teachers on Tuesday night. That was fun too. It made me really anxious about Lydia growing up and going off to school! What an exciting thing for them! Thursday morning we got to see Garrett off for his first day of First Grade. Then we left for the airport.
What a fun and enjoyable trip! It was great. I am so grateful for family and their generosity and hospitality toward us.
Through the hustle of the morning, we forgot to pay any attention to Lydia's diaper. By the time we reached the airport, she was quite ready for a new one. We got to the gate and just as I was getting the things together to take her to the bathroom, she peed again and it went straight through the diaper and all over Chris's lap!! It looked just as though he had peed his pants. Luckily Brian had given Chris a pair of shorts that would only fit in his carry on so he had a change of pants to put on.
All giggles on the airplane. (This wasn't during the turbulence, however...she was definitely on my lap and I was in my seatbelt)
It was a pretty short trip back home and Lydia slept through a lot of it once again. We ran into some turbulence on the way from Denver to Salt Lake. While I was hanging on for dear life, Lydia was gigglin! She thought it was so fun! I guess she won't be taking after her mama when it comes to roller coasters.
We got back to our car and were reminded of its broken passenger side window. BUMMER! The machines inside just weren't working and it was stuck down. It had been a very stormy day and we didn't want to risk getting poured on on the drive home. So we stayed and waited up in Bountiful for quite a while, hoping that one of Matt's coworkers could fix it for us. We had a softball game that we were really trying to make it to that evening. Needless to say, our window is STILL broken and we DID NOT make it to our softball game. It was lose lose, except for the all important fact that I fell in love with my husband once again as I watched him; he was so determined to figure out how to fix the darn window on his own. When we finally decided to give up on the window and just go home, the jeep wouldn't start!! What luck? Turns out it just needed a jump start and we were on our way home after a long eventful journey.
The End. :)
1 comment:
What a wonderful Trip that was. It was so good to have you there. We love you all and miss you already!! We neeeed you guys :)
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