the best of times

May 15-17
Our visit to Utah (once we arrived) was so much fun. The first couple days were a bit of a blur as I adjusted to the time change and overcame one of the worst head-colds ever. We (me, the boys, and Abi) hung out and spent most of our time at Abi's dance rehearsals and working on some last minute school projects.

May 18-20

On Wednesday evening I picked up my sister, Ashely, and her 2 girls from the airport. I didn't realize that they had built a new airport in St. George so here I was waiting at the old one wondering why it looked deserted until I saw the sign saying the airport was closed permanently. I felt really dumb but luckily found the new one; with some help. Later that evening my sister Megan also arrived in town.

The next day my momma and Gooey drove down to take me and the boys to Las Vegas. Before heading out we went to Abi's school to see her 5th Grade Patriotic Program where she sang in a special group solo and then afterwards we all had lunch together. We ordered our food and sat down but for some reason Braden decided not to eat with the rest of us (he was in a bad mood; don't know why though).

While we were in Vegas we visited the DI and the 99 Cent Store (per Braden's request). The boys got to pick out a special toy at each place thanks to Grammy. Braden got this stuffed alligator (yes I washed it before letting him play with it) and Carter picked out a little toy car from the DI and both boys got golf clubs and putters at the 99 Cent Store. They were thrilled! We also treated ourselves to a molto squisito lunch at an Italian restaurant.

 Carter fell asleep on the way there but after 

waking up ate more than the rest of us!

May 21-22
Saturday morning the rest of the gang met us in Vegas. The boys were really excited to finally be spending some time with their cousins. Gooey gave us girls a real treat and stayed behind at the condo with the kids while all the girls went shopping!

The kids watch Tangled while Tay had a nap. 

Not sure what K was thinking about this part of the show.

When we got home from shopping we swam and swam and swam! I was really impressed with Carter's swimming abilities in the pool. Braden is a confident swimmer as long as he has a life jacket but Carter, although he loves the water, gets a little clingy. At first he was nervous but as time went on he got more and more confident to the point that he could swim by himself without too much help.

 Carter's favorite thing to do was climb in and out of the pool.

 Eventually his confidence allowed him to jump in!

 My little Fishy!

Braden practiced swimming without his life jacket. He did not like it at all! He did really well, but I think it was a little scary for him.

He was definitely much more comfortable in his life vest. He wore it all the time and wouldn't take it off. Even while playing on the sidelines with his new friend.

Braden was quite the dare devil, so long as his vest was on. He learned a lot of new tricks including:

Standing on Grammy's shoulders with no hands

and then jumping off!

 And doing flips and backwards jumps into the pool!

 He was very proud of himself.

We left Vegas on Sunday but as part of our drive home we took a little detour to see the Hoover Dam. I remember going there as a kid and thinking it was really cool. It still was and much more grand than I remember it. It was really windy and the boys were tired so I was worried that they wouldn't appreciate it, but they both thought it was NEAT!

 Looking out on Lake Mead on our drive to the Dam.

This is the state line marker in the middle of the bridge. Carter and I are on the Arizona side while Bo, Pappy and Brady were in Nevada. Crazy to think we could be in two places at once!

 This picture doesn't do this bridge justice. It it just HUGE! 

I am amazed that they can build these kind of things; Crazy!

May 23-24
I was sad to have to say goodbye to my momma after the quick Vegas trip but was really excited to spend some time with my sisters. We did some shopping and Ashley talked me into being her first victim of her new Body Pump Class that she has been training to teach. It was almost brutal! The best part was having her almost bust up laughing at how atrocious my form was. Too bad I don't live closer to her so she can fix my body...maybe one day. We also spent some time listening to a Veggie Tales CD of Abi's and goofing off. We even started a new bedtime routine by playing the "Roll-Over" game on the bed. From oldest to youngest we would take our turns steam-rolling over each other while singing the song "...and the little one said, Roll-over. Roll-over..." 

 When it got to Carter he would roll the opposite direction into the middle of the bed!

We then would say prayers together and then share a family Hug and Kiss.

May 25-26

Tuesday evening meant saying goodbye to Megan, Ashley, K and Tay. It was sad to have them all go. But it also meant that we would see my Dad and Heidi soon. Their trip was supposed to go until much later in the week but everyone on the ship got really sick and Heidi who only 7 months ago had a kidney transplant had to get off immediately. It was a really serious situation. Heidi later told me that had the ship made port in the US it would have been quarantined! As much as I hated knowing their trip was ruined I was excited because that meant I got to spend more time with them. We did a lot of swimming and then on Thursday Heidi had to spend a whole day in the hospital getting fluids so my dad and I took the boys to have a "Jack" day. We went to Jumping Jacks and then out to lunch at Jack in the Box!

 Carter wasn't sure about going down by himself so Brother helped.

 I didn't pack any socks for the boys because I knew it was going to be warm so we had to borrow socks from Abi to wear. I did find a good size for Braden and I thought I did for Carter but one of the socks was really big. It worked but he did have to keep pulling them up so they wouldn't fall off!

We had so much fun with everyone on this trip. Lots of good talks, good fun, and tons of silliness (my favorite!) This trip was especially great because I feel like I got some real quality time with each person. Normally I dread the thought of having my time with my family end, but I felt like I had such quality time with them that I was okay saying goodbye and I was ready to go home. Although, little did I know that we would be facing troubles with our flights again. But that is for another day...

it was the best of times; it was the worst of times

My parents decided to take a cruise through Europe and asked if I would come out and babysit Abi, my little sister, while they were gone. Really it was a no brainer... A free trip out to visit my family?! I'm there! Unfortunately I didn't realize how trying getting there would be or coming back home for that matter.
Our flight took us to JFK and then on to Las Vegas where we would then drive to St. George (that's where my Daddy and Heidi live). We made it to the airport just fine and our flight to JFK was really uneventful. The boys were very well behaved and I had no one sitting next to me or behind me. It was almost like I was all by myself. We got off the plane and after some difficulty finding where I was supposed to go to catch our connecting flight we made it to the gate with just enough time to grab some dinner and board the plane.
We had to sit on the tarmac for a while before it was our turn to take off. The boys were restless and had eaten their dinner so I let them watch the TV provided on the plane until we got in the air. I wanted them to wait until we got in the air so I could turn on a movie because the only show on for kids was Sponge Bob, and I hate Sponge Bob. At the time I was upset about it, but later it turned into a HUGE blessing.
After 30 plus minutes we finally took off and were in the air. There was some turbulence and I got a little anxious but tried my best to stay calm until the smell of burning plastic filled the plane. I was getting nauseous and the anxiety really started to kick in full force. Everyone on the plane were asking each other "can you smell that?" "what is it?" And the flight attendants started walking back and forth, up and down the isle and talking in whispers near the lavatory. Now I was really freaking out. One of the passengers a few rows behind me stopped one of the attendants but got no answer to what was going on, only the assurance that they would let them know as soon as they did and it wasn't something to be too concerned over. Shortly after that the Pilot came on over the PA and explained that they were aware of the smell of burning plastic and that they were doing everything to alleviate the problem. Not much later from that announcement the Pilot came back on to share that they thought the problem might be coming from one of the AC units on the plane and that they had turned it off. The smell persisted so the Pilot had the passengers feel with their hands different parts of the plane for heat. First under the chairs, near the windows and under the overhead cargo bins. No one felt heat. We were then informed that we were turning around to make an emergency landing back at JFK and that others on the ground had been informed of the situation. We were repeatedly reassured that we would be okay, but my anxiety was through the roof and I was sure that a panic attac was just moments away. I looked over at my two boys, who the whole time continued to watch their show occasionally complaining that they couldn't hear it because of the Pilots interruptions, and did my best to tell them that we were going back to the airport because the plane needed to be fixed. It took everything in me not to cry or allow my voice to crack, all the while envisioning the worst that could happen and replaying the scene from Titanic where the mother was softly telling her children a bedtime story knowing soon that her children would never wake to see another day. I think I said a million prayers during that hour in the air and as we neared the ground for landing I started to feel calmer. As we came in to land it was the most unreal experience. We hit the ground and the bakes came on and the plane stopped faster than I ever thought possible. I looked out the window to see several fire and emergency vehicles chasing us down to where we stopped. We were not allowed off the plane, instead we had to sit waiting for the okay from the fire chief. The engines and AC units were turned off. We were hot. We were still scared. We were still not sure what was going to come next.

Eventually, we were given the okay that there was not a fire on the plane but we were going to have to go back to the terminal and wait for a new plane. We had to wait for 45 minutes until we could be towed back to the gate. I was relieved to be off the plane, very shook up, and tired knowing how much later we would be getting in to Vegas. I nearly let Heidi find me a plane back to Pittsburgh but since no flight existed I figured we would wait it out. We did get on a new plane and our same Pilot and Crew safely got us to Vegas. I was even more relieved when we finally landed and then seeing my dad at the baggage claim made my fears disappear. We had made it. We were on our way to a great week... at least until it was time to come back home...

tee time

After school one day Braden asked me if we could "do something fun today." After asking what he wanted to do he came up with an the idea to go golfing. Braden loves to do anything Daddy is doing so this was a great opportunity for our family to do something together! Just behind our house there is a little family owned golfing range. They have an "on-your-honor" policy to pay for your pre-filled bucket. We all shared a large bucket but we probably got 2 large buckets worth because as soon as either Braden or Carter hit their ball, because it didn't go far, they would just walk out and gather them up and hit them again.

The club Braden is using is one that Kam shortened to play with on his mission. It never did make it to Spain but Braden sure loves it. Too bad it's now too short for him. Maybe we'll have to get him some clubs for Christmas or his next birthday!

Braden does a pretty good job with most of his shots.
Especially now that he watches the ball!

Carter used a little plastic club I found at the dollar store. He had a hard time figuring out how to hold the club just right for hitting but with a little help from Dad he was swinging pretty good.

Nice follow through!

best day ever!

I can definitely say that this year was one of the best Mother's Day's ever! It all started earlier in the week with a special Mother's day program at Braden's school. The program was wonderful. Braden smiled the whole time, sang the loudest, did all the actions and the best part...He looked at ME the whole time. It almost felt like I was the only mom in the room and he was singing just for me! During the performance he flashed me the "I love you" sign and at the end of one song, because he was singing so loudly, he held the end note a little long and had a solo moment! 

After the program, all the kids handed out a special mother's day present (a cow cookie jar) and the school had a special lunch for us to eat.

 He has green eyes (just like me), a blue smile, the sun and a flower 

(in yellow because that's my favorite color) 

and Blue earwax coming out of his ears.

 On the back Braden drew me a blue sky and green grass 

because blue skies make me happy.

Braden also answered a few questions about me for Mother's Day:

My mom has tanish-brown hair and green eyes.

My mom is 85 years old.

My mom is prettiest when she curls her hair for church.

My mom helps me comb my hair.

My mom likes to play with me.

My mom makes me happy when she tickles me and I giggle.

My mom is funny when she forgets things.

When I'm at school, my mom hangs out with Carter.

And this is why I love my mom!

Mother's Day Sunday was also really special. I woke up with a special breakfast-in-bed of a fruit smoothie and toast. Kam wrote me a very special letter and they got me some awesome hand lotion! After church we had a quick lunch and then went to the park to enjoy the awesome weather!

The Boys picked me flowers...my favorite...dandelions!

Carter, while climbing up to go down the big slide 

got stuck and couldn't get up or down.

flying on the swing

Carter was being a lion.

 

After leaving the Park we headed back to the house where Kam made us a yummy steak dinner!

The day was perfect. I got to spend it with the ones I love the most and I felt spoiled the whole day.

Thanks Kam, Brady and Cart...you all make me happier than I thought I could be!