The First Few Days in Utah......

Before I start in on our Utah trip, I was awarded a fun blog award by my friend, Emily! I was best friends with Emily in 1st and 2nd grade when I lived in West Jordan!  I moved away and we stayed in contact for a few years but then lost touch.  I found her on facebook about two years ago and it has been so much fun to reconnect! Her blog is Party of Five and she seriously has three of the cutest little munchkins!  Thanks Emily!

The rules are:
1-include the blog award photo in your post
2-thank the person who awarded you....Thanks, Emily!
3-Nominate three other people and let them know you have done so
         Hmmm.....this was a toughie!  I have so many fun blogs that I follow!
         1-The Real McCoys- Melissa is Rick's cousin.  She just recently started her blogs and it is amazing!  She has an amazing gift for writing and tells stories in the most interesting and hilarious ways!  So glad you started blogging, Melissa! Oh, she also has three ADORABLE kids as well :)
         2-Spilling the Bees- Carly is my sister-in-law.  Her blog is so much fun to read.  She has been going through the very difficult in vitro process and her blog has been so uplifting for me as she shares her experiences.  I think my niece is pretty darn cute as well :)
         3- Journey of No End- Daysha is my sister-in-law, and is married to my brother, Easton.  She is new to the blogging world as well and I have loved seeing all the fun and adventurous things they have been up to.  She is a singer and dancer, performing at Tuacahn right now and Easton is a football player at Southern Utah University.  She also posts lots of fun gluten free recipes, which I happen to like :)

4-Give seven random things about yourself
         I feel like I share a lot on my blog, maybe too much, so I don't know if these are all new to everyone, but I'll try to be creative :)
         1- I am a very schedulized (is that a word?!) person.  I get anxiety if I don't know what I'm doing and when I'm doing it.  My babies are on a tight schedule, I have things planned months in advance, and I am always checking the time.....I like to know what time things are happening.  OCD maybe?
         2- I am addicted to sugar.  If I get a craving and I don't have any treats in the house, I bust open a bag of chocolate chips.  Shameful, I know.
         3- My new favorite store is H&M.  I'm obsessed.  Luckily, it isn't too expensive :)
         4- I love MAC lipstick.  This is ALL Carly's fault.  I have never been a named-brand makeup person.  Have always just bought stuff from the grocery stores. Until one day about three years ago Carly introduced me to the wonderful world of MAC and I have never gone back....with lipstick at least.  I still buy drug store concealer, mascara, etc.  But I am, and forever will be, addicted to MAC lipstick.
         5- I am terrified of spiders. I know its irrational....they are just tiny little things....but I hate them.
         6- I am very particular about how the toys get put away.  Every toy goes in a certain place.  Even if it looks like chaos, it is organized chaos.  I hate it when Rick puts the toys away because he just throws them all in the toy cupboard.  When he does it, I go back over and redo it :)  I almost have Daci completely trained on where each toy goes :)  OCD again.
         7- I just got called to be a Relief Society instructor.  This was always the calling I swore I couldn't do.  I am terrified of public speaking and I also am not very confident that I know the gospel well enough to teach it to a bunch of women who are much more experienced in the gospel than I am.  I had my first lesson last week and I think it went pretty well, although Rick almost killed me the whole four days I spent preparing the lesson.  Lets just say, I was an emotional wreck :)

Thanks again, EmilY! I had a lot of fun doing this!


Okay, on to our Utah trip!
The morning of our flight Daci couldn't contain her excitement.  So much so that the question, "Is it time to go to Hootah yet!?" got pretty old, pretty fast.  We weren't leaving for the airport until 3:30pm.  We got a great deal with Southwest but we had to leave at 6:30pm, have a layover in Vegas and wouldn't land in Utah until 11:30pm (which is 12:30am our time).  I was pretty nervous since the babies usually go down at 6:30pm.  I knew they would either sleep, or they would freak out because they were so tired but couldn't sleep.  The first leg of the flight to Vegas was interesting.  All three of them were wide awake and restless.  The last 45 minutes they both cried....that was fun.  Daci was wide awake and wired and didn't sleep at all either.  Once we got to Vegas we were all exhausted!  We had to wait there for about 45 mins.  We decided to grab a Jamba Juice on our way to the next gate.  Across from Jamba was a huge, open and empty area.  Daci started running in circles and giggling her head off.  Oh boy, made me really nervous for the next flight!  Luckily, all that running wore her out and she tuckered right out when we got on the next flight.  Unfortunately, Liv didn't sleep at all and Street only slept the last 20 mins before we landed.  Luckily though, they didn't cry on that flight.  All in all a very exhausting experience and I would never recommend a layover with a three year old and seven month old twins, BUT it was nice to get such a great deal on tickets :)

She had her backpack on for a whole hour before it was actually time to leave :)

Dac and Liv before the flight

About to board!

We were a SIGHT to see!

During our layover....Liv's face says it all.  We were pooped!

Daci during the layover, running around in circles like a crazy person!

Rick snapped a pic of Liv and I on the second flight

And Dac was snuggled up asleep next to me

Fred and Penny were so nice to pick us up at midnight! Daci was SO excited to see them at the airport! She was now wide awake and didn't stop talking :)  Once we got to the house we had our first order of business.....presents from yia yia!  She gave her a new princess dress and a tricycle!  She was so excited and had a really hard time going to bed.  At 2am we finally forced her there :)

New dress and gloves!

Cinderella

Riding the tricycle

The first morning:

We went to visit Yia Yia and Papou at their school.  Doesn't Penny have the cutest little reading corner in her room EVER!?  I love it!  My kids loved it too!  They loved the bright rug and soft fluffy pillows around it. We went to lunch at Costa Vida too!  YUM!  Oh how I have missed Costa and Cafe! We were pushing nap time by the time lunch was over and the babies were throwing a royal screaming fit in the car! Daci had her first experience with sitting right next to the twins when both of them were screaming in the car (we have a van so she sits in the back and doesn't have to sit RIGHT next to them), she didn't like it very much :)

Penny's cute reading corner

Cuddling on the rug

Daci really wanted to play "school", she was excited to sit in a school desk and color :)

Street and Liv chillin in the reading corner

The whole gang

Babies enjoying their Yia Yia (and her fun necklace!)

Daci and Papou reading together

Daci on the way home while both babies were screaming :)

That night we had a BBQ with my family and Rick's family.  So fun to have everyone together!

Daci and Sophie

Sam and his cute girlfriend, Jordan with the babies

Liv and Soph

Penny and Street

The two grandmas with the babies

Daci seeing Grandma for the first time

Grandpa and Street

Grandpa hugging Daci for the first time

Street and Grandma

Yia Yia and Daci eating at her little table

Daci trying to sneak up on the deer in the backyard

Nervously running away when the deer started to run :)

Grandpa playing Daci's favorite song ("Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye) while Daci sings along

Daci and Dawson

The next day we went out to Springville to help my mom get the house ready for Tannon to come home!  We made signs and tied yellow ribbons in the tree.

Daci really wanted to help tie the bows :)

Liv had so much fun crawling around on the lawn while we worked (Street was still sleeping)

So proud of her bow :)

Working on her sign for Tannon

The cute door :)

That night Rick and I went on a double date with Fred and Penny to In-N-Out!  Mmmmmm....then Rick and I went to see a movie.  So fun to go on a date!

The next day we played at the "barn park".  Its just the little swing set in the neighbor's yard.  They are so nice to let us play over there and Daci absolutely LOVES it.  We still aren't sure why she named it the "barn park" over a year ago but the name has stuck :)

Dad doing tricks on the tramp

The babies watching dad's show

Daci on the tramp....can you believe that incredible view!?

Street in the swing

That evening we picked Tannon up from the airport!  Next post will have many RM pics :) Stay tuned!