Home Sweet Home!

How wonderful it is to be home! We had a great trip, but nothing can replace home. Our plane rides were very eventful. On the way to Denver our flight was delayed. This left me with virtually no time to make my connecting flight to SLC. I literally sprinted pushing the stoller and carrying the bags from B23 to B85! Ben enjoyed the ride. Thank goodness for my kickboxing and boot camp classes or I don't know if I would have been able to do it. We ran right on to the plane. For the most part, Ben and Kate did well on the planes. Kate played constant peek a boo with anyone who would or would not play back. On the way into Denver I thought we were going to die. Literally. I even wondered if they would make David go into the hospital the next day if his entire family died. The plane dropped several times. My stomach dropped worse than all the rides at 6 flags. I had to hold on to Kate for dear life and Ben was not pleased. The lady sitting next to me told me she flies all the time and she has never been on a ride that scary before. We were lucky to keep everything down. On the way home our flight was delayed in Denver. I pushed Ben and Kate around for nearly 4 hours. We arrived home at 2:30 am! Please remind me to never fly alone with my kids with a layover, no matter how much cheaper the tickets may be. I was also lucky enough to get caught in a massive traffic jam on I-15. It took me nearly 3 hours to get from Draper to Bountiful. A semi with a 210,000 pound tank rolled causing I-15 to close. During the middle of it Ben asked, "Are we in Oklahoma yet?" It sure felt like it. Despite all the wonderful traveling, we still enjoyed our trip and would do it again. My family had a great reunion. Ben absolutely loved playing with the 27 cousins that were there. He woke up very early every morning in excitement and was quite disappointed when his cousins were still asleep. He was often too busy to remember that he was now potty trained. I resorted to making him wear a diaper on multiple occasions. One of Ben's highlights was seeing a snake catch a mouse and literally strangling it to death. It was actually pretty cool. Not for the mouse though. It was so fun to see nearly my entire family, whom I don't get to see very often. My oldest male nephew Ryan, who was like a little brother to me in Minnesota, received his LDS mission call to Nicaragua shortly after we all returned home. We all made guesses at the reunion, but no one guessed it. Less than 12 hours after returning from Utah I repacked our bags and we headed to Dallas for a get together with David's family. We went to the Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark. It was a lot of fun, despite the firealarm that evacuated the hotel at 1 am one night. They have a great ride called the howling tornado. It was so fun, especially in the dark. We recommend the lodge to everyone. I believe it is a chain so maybe there is one near you. We are very blessed to have such great families and I can indeed say I enjoy spending time with both sides. We will miss our Oklahoma and Texas family when we move to Baltimore next year. Here is my top eight list of why I am greatful to be home sweet home!

8. We are now healthy. We all got pink eye and a nasty cough/cold. Kate's poor little nose was never without green snot and she even got another ear infection, despite her tubes.
7. Not having to live out of a suitcase and doing constant laundry.
6. I missed my kickboxing and boot camp classes. I feel like I am heavier and older without them.
5. My contacts. When I got pink eye I threw away my infected contacts. I saved my last pair for Dallas and ended up getting them switched with Davids and he threw them away. Yes, it was my fault. I had to wear my glasses the entire two weeks and still am until I can get some more.
4. Ben once again remembering that he really is potty trained.
3. Not having to sleep in the same room as my kids! It was difficult to keep Kate asleep and then hide from her if she did wake up. Ben kicks and enjoys waking up his sister!
2. Kate's bath chair. She is a maniac in the tub. It was literally impossible to bathe her by myself without her chair. Especially since her ears are not suppose to get wet with her tubes.
1. David. It was so hard to be away for so long without him. I salute single parents everywhere. It's tough.

I will add a slide show of the trip soon!