Flying to Utah and Back

Well, we did it.

The hours of preparation and research and worry must have worked because we had a great trip over Memorial Day week (and plane ride, I might add).  It started off a bit rocky as our flight left at 7:00 Sunday morning from Baltimore which is an hour from our house.  We left at 5:15 am which was half an hour later than we should have left.  We ended up being the last ones to board but it actually worked out as they gave me a seat in the back ALL TO MYSElF.  I want to emphasize just how rare but how wonderful it was to have a seat ALL TO MYSELF.  Can you tell just how much I enjoyed that?

(I know I looked drugged here but really I was just tired.)

Thanks to all of your sweet suggestions, I knew that we would be able to check in our car seat and other baby stuff with our luggage with no problems.  Unfortunately, however, we still had to carry everything to the rental car agency.

But it worked out great so I have no complaints.

Now I didn’t tell you before, but the whole reason for the trip out west was to show off our new son to his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and friends.  Basically we just visited everyone that we could.

We went to Tooele which is where the CPA grew up.

We stayed at the home of the CPA’s parents who are just the sweetest in laws ever.

And boy do they love their new grandson!

They love him almost as much as his auntie does who, incidentally, flew all the way from California just so she could meet him.

He loved her too, probably because she made him laugh and laugh.

He even got to meet one of his brothers who lives nearby in Ogden.

While we were in town, I drove into Salt Lake to visit my special friend “A” who stays in contact with me even though we only get to hang out once a year.

And since we had flown all the way across the country, it only made sense to make the five hour drive up to Boise, Idaho to visit with my brother and his sweet family.

Unfortunately, traveling with a baby isn’t as easy (or as short) as traveling without, so our five hour trip quickly turned into eight hours.  But it was worth it.

We took the scenic route through the salt flats and out into the Nevada desert.

There wasn’t a lot around except for this “tree.”

Not sure what that was all about, but it broke up the scenery anyway.

Then there was Wendover in all its glory.

Let me just say that if you’ve never been, you’re not missing much.

We finally arrived in Meridian, just outside of Boise.  It was so good to see those guys!

We had a great time working on craft projects with the kids and eating my sister-in-law’s fantastic dinner.

I got a real kick seeing my little brother holding Henry.  What a great father he turned out to be and now he’ll be a great uncle too!

It was an awesome visit and Boise seemed like a cool city, but alas, our time was short and we had to leave.

So we hit the road headed for Salt Lake.  This time we took a different route; it was much greener.

We made it back in time for a nice dinner with friends in Salt Lake (no pics unfortunately) and even visited the girlfriend of the CPA’s youngest son before heading back to Tooele.

By the time we got back, our trip was mostly over.

We did go by the cemetery where a lot of his family is buried.  Because it was Memorial day, beautiful flowers and keepsakes were on every grave.

And we spent the rest of our time visiting with aunts, uncles, and cousins who had come by to say hello and to meet the newest addition to the family.

Henry had a ball and especially loved seeing his aunties.

Four months old and he already has a way with the ladies.  One of these smiles,

and he has them wrapped around his little finger.

It was a great visit on so many levels.  Henry got to ride in his first airplane, his mom and dad got to get away for a week and visit with loved ones, and the family finally got to meet our little guy.

It was absolutely wonderful.

What did you do during your Memorial Day weekend/week?