Utah fun! (with photos galore!)

Hey, everyone. We came back from Utah on Monday evening and since then I have been too busy to go through my photos and blog. Now that it's nap time, I have the chance! We had a really fun time visiting Tony's brother, grandparents, father and stepmother in Utah. Ruth was great on both plane trips and kept her cool for most of the trip. She had a great time visiting her family. Here are some pictures from each day:

Friday

We arrived on Friday morning and headed up to Perry with Tony's brother to visit Grandma and Grandpa Wayman. Ruth played with the toys there and then Grandpa Wayman let her ride on his scooter chair. It was super cute!




Grandma Wayman also made us lunch, and Ruth ran around and explored. She loved chasing their dog, Sweetie.



We were so glad we went to see them!


We then went down to Mt. Pleasant to check into our hotel room and visit Tony's parents.


They had a stuffed dog and a Disney princess chair waiting for Ruth, and she loved them both!


We went and got some pizza, and then headed back to our room for some R&R.

Saturday
On Saturday, we did some running around. We grabbed some breakfast and then went up to Provo to get some Jamba Juice!!! I LOVE Jamba Juice!! If only I had hundreds of thousands of dollars, I would totally open up a franchise here in Omaha. Ruth enjoyed sharing with her Grandpa.


I also got the chance to meet up with my old roommate, Suzy! I haven't seen her in a few years, and it was great to talk for a few minutes. Suzy and friends also bought Ruthie a hot-pink teddy bear, which she loves.



After making stops at the Deseret Book and the sporting goods store, we went back to Mt. Pleasant. Uncle Mike got Ruth a hat that says "Cute as a Button Buck." She actually wore it when we went out on an errand yesterday.



Ruth and I went back to the room for some quiet time, and the boys went shooting (and forgot to take photos of it). We then hung out and went to dinner, and then went back to our room for the night. Tony, Mike and I played a game of Settlers of Catan, and it was awesome.

Sunday
On Sunday morning we got dressed and headed over to Dad and Diane's, where Tony made everyone a delicious batch of Danish pancakes. We enjoyed time together before church. Ruth's Grandpa let her play on his drums, and she LOVED them.





Ruth and I missed sacrament meeting because she was napping, but we were able to have a snack and catch Dad's lesson on missionary work during second hour.



We then went back to Dad and Diane's to hang out and have dinner. Dad and Diane made some delicious bison, we played another round of Settlers of Catan, and Tony and Mike were able to express their brotherly love. :)




Monday
Our trip quickly came to a close, and on Monday morning we went out to breakfast before driving up to the airport. Here is Ruth saying her farewells to her Grandma and Grandpa Gardner:



We had a great trip, but it was exhausting! Ruth wouldn't sleep on the plane on Monday, so she crashed in the car on the way home from the airport at about 5:30 and didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning! We are still recovering.

I only wish we could have stayed longer! Thank you, Dad, Diane and Mike for the fun time! We love you and are grateful for you!

-Meredith

Off to Utah

We're all packed up and getting ready to head to bed! We're catching a 6 a.m. flight to Utah tomorrow to visit Tony's parents, grandparents and brother, and it will be a true adventure.

It is amazing how much stuff you have to pack when you're traveling with a baby/toddler, and taking car seats and whatnot makes everything more complicated. We're only taking carry-on bags because the airline we are flying with (Delta) charges $20 per checked bag each way (LAME). I was amazed that Ruth's stuff almost filled up a whole carry-on bag. Diapers and wipes take up so much room! Even though she has a lot of stuff, I was able to cram everything we need for our four-day trip into two carry-on bags and a backpack. That's toys, snacks, shoes, clothes, hats, mittens, toiletries -- everything. We will also be lugging around winter coats and our car seat, which we hope to check at the gate. Our plan is to hook the car seat (we still have its original bag, luckily) on to one of the carry-on bags. Then, one of us will wear the backpack and carry Ruth, and the other will pull the two carry-on bags with the car seat attached. We'll see if it works!!!

Our game plan for the tomorrow is this:

-Arrive in Salt Lake at 7:45 a.m. and get picked up by Tony's brother, Mike
-Go grab some breakfast
-Go up to visit Tony's grandparents
-Drive down to Mt. Pleasant to have a fun weekend with Tony's parents

Tomorrow will be a long day with the flight and the driving. I got a children's book about traveling in airplanes from the library for Ruth, and we've been reading that over the last few days. I also talked to her before she went to bed about how we would be getting up early to go fly on an airplane. Hopefully she will be somewhat familiar with what's going on, but who knows how much has sunk in. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping there will be an open seat on the plane so we can bring on her car seat. I think she would definitely sleep through most of the flight if we're able to do that. I'm anxious to see how well she travels on a plane.

We're all geared up for a great trip, and we're looking forward to seeing friends and family! We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and let you all know how it went when we get back on Monday!

-Meredith