Out of all the time I was able to spend in Utah, spending time with my family was the very best. It was my favorite.
I especially loved that I got a break from holding Marco all the time.
And Lily sure loved all the attention that she received from Grammy and Papa.
Not only that, she got away with murder at their house.
She played with all the toys and left them out everywhere.
She was able to play the piano as loud as she wanted...
She at ice-cream every night, stayed up way past her bedtime, and watched so much TV. She loved all the spoiled attention that she received. And I was grateful that she received so much attention. In fact, Lily felt so secure and safe that for three Sundays in a row she fell asleep in Grammys arms. I never realized how difficult 1:00 church would be because it's right during the hours of nap time. When kids are ornery, I have found myself complaining about my church being at 9:00 or 11:00, but after spending three weeks doing 1:00, I'm not going to complain anymore because I have it easy in comparison with the 1:00 time.
And while we were in Utah we relished in eating at our favorite restaurants (Cafe Rio, In and Out, Blue Lemon, MOA Cafe, Zupas, and JDawgs).
And while we were in Utah, we experienced many firsts...
Marco tried eating for the first time.
It was the first time I found my name on a "Share a Coke." Normally I find really bizarre names, because all the normal names have been purchased. But I lucked out and found my name for "first time ever." Unfortunately, I forgot it and left it in Utah. Sad face.
It was the first time I got to go for a ride in my Grandpa Dunham's vintage 1930s car. There is no air conditioning, no seat belts, no horn, and no blinkers. The blinker situation was interesting - every time Grandpa had to turn the car, he stuck his hand out the window to indicate to the other cars that he was going to turn. He drove down from Salt Lake, and while the normal drive takes 30-40 minutes, driving at low speeds in this car took about 90-120 minutes to make the journey down. That's about three to four times as long!
While I was in Utah, I also decided to change things up a bit and get my hair cut! I took off 16 inches and immediately fell in love with the lightweight, breeziness of my new hairstyle. (However, it has been quite a difficult adjustment in North Carolina with the crazy insane humidity.)
Saying Good-Bye is never fun. Father's Day occurred while we were in Utah, and Michal had to travel home immediately following sacrament meeting. I felt so bad that his Father's Day was a trip back to North Carolina instead of spending more time with Lily and Marco.
Michal was sure sad to go, but I have to give this husband of mine huge props. When I came home, after being apart from him for about ten days, he had the whole house cleaned top to bottom, and the yard front to back. Everything on my (my) to-do list was completed and I was able to relax and recuperate from the flight and traveling back home. Not only that, but I had TWO dozen roses waiting for me on my nightstand and some Lilies in the kitchen the next morning.
While Daddy was away we decided to go and do things that he wouldn't have enjoyed doing or didn't really need to be present for. Our first stop was to see Nana Dunham.
I had never considered my Nana "old." Even though she is 105 years old, she's pretty put together. But this trip, she showed me that she is really starting to age and her memory isn't as sharp as it used to be. She had a hard time remembering me (not Michal though) and my children. I have to cut her some slack though because she has a lot of people to keep track of.
2 children
10 grandchildren
26 great-grandchildren
13 (almost 14) great-great grandchildren
(plus all the spouses which haven't been counted).
Later that evening, we decided to have 'Family Home Evening' in the park. And let me tell you, Lily was in heaven. She did not want to leave.
She was so hesitant to go down the slides, but she kept marching up there and acting like she was going to slide on down. She tried tricking Grammy into going down with her, but Grammy didn't fall for her tricks.
Unfortunately, I did!
And while we were in Utah, we went on lots and lots and lots of walks. Some were at the crack of dawn, others at evening time. There is just one thing that North Carolina lacks, the beauty of Utah's Mother Nature. The sunsets are stunning and breathtaking, the mountains majestic, and everything else in between is beautiful.
(This particular picture was taken on a 3 minute walk from my house).
Right now Utah is in a drought and there are water restrictions imposed on houses. You can only water your lawn twice a week before the hours of 10 am or after 6 pm. When my parents days were opened up, we took full advantage of "watering"... and a little bit of playing in the water.
The days we couldn't play in the water, we hijacked the Sirrine's new swimming pool and kept cool from the dry summer heat.
Here's a cool story, while I was in Utah - I got photos taken at FotoFly studios. I was sharing the photos with my parents and asking them to help me select some favorites. After looking at all the photos, my mom went upstairs and pulled this photo out of a scrapbook.
It's an old photo of my Dad when he was about a year old. I think that he is the mirrored image of Marco.
Before we left, we were able to see my brother Sam a handful of times. Lily loves playing with Mad-din. They both enjoy the same things and it was so fun to watch them play together.
Saying good-bye to Michal was a piece of cake compared to saying Adieu to my parents. I knew I would see Michal in a little over a week. I don't know the next time I'll get to see my parents. I hate good-byes, and it doesn't make it any easier when my mom cries!
I was the most nervous for my flight home. I was so so so nervous for what to do when Lily needed go to to the bathroom, or I needed to change Marco's diaper. Luckily, I sat by an angel on the flight back home. I crawled over her 5 times on our 3.5 hour flight. And she was totally cool about it. She held Marco when I needed to get Lily under control, or held Lily when I needed to nurse Marco. Lily was a little restless because I didn't have anything there to entertain her. I was over-prepared with snacks and changes of clothes... and I thought I was prepared with my iPad and having enough shows for her to watch. But when we got in our seats, I immediately pulled out the iPad and it was dead. I about cried. What was I going to do? How was I going to handle this? Luckily, my angel came to my rescue and not only did she help me with my kids, but we had great conversation the whole way to Charlotte. She even shed further light and knowledge on subjects that have really been bothering me lately. I think it was a divine blessing I sat next to her and truly hope that all Moms get someone like Jenny to share a flight with when they are husbandless and have children to handle.
Overall, our trip to Utah was:
wonderful
busy
fun
exhausting
adventurous
and
lovely.
Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come and crash at your place. I love spending time with you and can't wait until I find a great deal on airfare so I can come back and spend some quality time with you.
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