Our Trip to Utah

My grandma passed away on May 1, so we all took a quick trip down to Utah for the funeral. Although it was for a sad event (and a joyous celebration of a lovely, long life), we made the best of our time with family.

Who knew SeaTac airport had a little play land? Rachel loved climbing and sliding on the toys, especially the slide and the airplane.

We went to feed watermelon rinds to the local horse and colt. The kids were very intrigued.

We also made a point to visit with Andrew's elderly grosseltern, Oma and Opa.

The bottom two pictures are after the funeral, where we got a picture of all of Grandma's grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Quite a legacy!

I will miss my Grandma, but I know I will see her again. And, as one friend said to my mom, "Look at the great lengths she went to so that you could have all your kids with you on Mother's Day!" And look at how wonderful it was for all Grandpa's grandchildren to be with him for this day.

Progenitors

I figured I better finish up our Utah trip today since I am going back to Utah with Rachel in about three days. I really wanted to get this done sooner, but oh well. Let me tell you, getting a smart phone and an iPad has completely killed my motivation to turn on the computer and therefore killed my ability to blog.

Great Grandparents


Rachel meeting Great Grandma. My Grandma had a stroke a few years ago and can't really talk, except for things like, "I... llloove... you..." and "Con... grat... u... la... tions." It is pretty difficult to string the words together and some words she just can't get out. Grandma loved holding Rachel. Grandma kept cooing and saying, "Oh... oh..." It was so so sweet. I am really glad that they got to meet.


Rachel with Great Grandpa.


Four generations of baby girls. :) I love this picture. (I finally see it---I do look like my mom!)


Hanging out with Inge Oma and Inge Opa. "Inge" is actually Oma's name, but all the other great-grandchildren call them that. Rachel's middle name, Eleonore, is Oma's first name. She also just loved to hold the baby. Let me tell you, Rachel got smothered in German love.




Opa has Alzheimer's or something, and the first time they met Rachel, Oma did not let him hold her. I could tell he wanted to. So when we visited them again, I asked him if he would like to hold the baby. He did. And he kept saying, "It is good for us to hold the baby." I thought it was so sweet that even though he has no idea what is going on or who anyone is, he felt that holding a sweet infant was an important thing.


Opa's young pictures look just like Andrew, so that is what he will look like when he is old.

Aunts and Uncles

Everyone likes holding Rachel because she is so dang cute. But here are some pictures of her being especially cute with her aunts and uncles.


Vegging with Uncle Daniel.


Laughing at Tante Hannah.


Skyping with Uncle Matt.

And so on and so forth.

Grandparents

These people adore Rachel.


Grandpa and Rachel on Christmas morning. The red-eye makes her look like Rudolf the Possessed Reindeer.


Merry Christmas Rachel and Grandma!


I guess my Dad really likes to hold Rachel in this position.


Talking with Grandma.


Oma and Rachel.


Laughing at her silly Opa.


Reading Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? with Oma.


Relaxing with Opa.


The cutest picture EVER! Rachel smiling and talking to Oma during Relief Society.

Conclusion

Rachel was well-loved by her progenitors.

Nothing Like a Cousin

Rachel only has one cousin.

His name is Nigel.


That's Nigel.

Nigel and Rachel met for the first time before Christmas.

Rachel was thrilled.


Andrew had a lot of fun throwing Nigel around. You can't throw around a two-month-old baby.

For the most part, Nigel could care less about Rachel. And Rachel could care less about him.


Nigel was interested in Grandma's toys and his Aunt Leslie.

But when their mommies forced them to sit by each other, Nigel and Rachel really hit it off.


This must go on my wall.


Sitting with Grandpa.


Nigel looked away from his drum for a minute to look at the little person.

I was always amazed at how big a difference six months made! Maybe someday they will be friends. Or, more likely, they will torture each other. It was a fun holiday spent with a cousin!

We Survived!

We survived our road trip to Utah and back. It was so fun. I will post more about it later.

Right now, I'm trying to clean up some messes and spending Andrew's hard-earned money on large appliances. Until then, enjoy this cute picture from my phone of two, slightly possessed-looking babies enjoying their first Christmas. What cousin love.

The Only Pictures on My Phone

Pretty much the only pictures on my phone are of Rachel. How can I help it when she is so darn cute?


Wearing her cute gingerbread outfit from Grandpa.


On a walk with mom and she is actually awake! It didn't last too much longer. Usually she zonks right out when I put her in the Ergo Baby (which we love). Also, I look like a dork and have my eyes closed.


"I'm awake!" Even in the car. Such pretty, big, blue eyes.


First trip to Cabela's and trying out fishing poles with dad. She is wearing her little elf outfit from Oma.


I accidentally captured one of her first conscious smiles!


A beautiful girl who is finally happy again. Hooray for modern medicine! (more on this later)


The tail end of a smile. She is so cute. Her mohawk and mullet are both getting longer.

And, because all the other pictures on my phone are of him that Melanie sent to me, here is my adorable nephew, Nigel.

He also has big, blue eyes. I'm so excited for them to "meet" (Nigel whacking Rachel in the face) at Christmas time.

So many baby pictures. Being a mom is interesting, to say the least.

Have you realized that parents are like 20 times the size of their babies?

Aunt Sarah Fest!

I went to Utah two weeks ago and it was nice. I will post more about that later, but for now, you need to know that I chilled with my nephew Nigel for a day. I finally become an aunt and then I move away. You'd think I didn't appreciate aunt-dom. But I do.


I think Nigel was happy to see me! Well, I'll pretend. Usually he stared at me like this:


"Who in the heck is this crazy woman?!?!"

Nigel with Grandma:


Resting with Aunt Sarah and sitting on his cousin:


Whenever Nigel was on the floor, Sparky was very interested in him.

Sparky isn't very good at holding still for the camera.

Taking a nap in Grandma's cold house. I probably took a nap, too. Also, I was considerate and turned off my flash so I wouldn't wake him.


Going to a family party with that crazy lady again.


It was cold at Grandma's house. Melanie did not pack any PJs for Nigel. So, he got to wear some of his cousin's girl pants.



Cute girl pants, little man.

In the morning, still while wearing the girl pants, Nigel got to go on a lovely walk with Aunt Sarah and Sparky.


Sparky actually did pretty well not getting in the way of the stroller and was happy to go on a long long walk. Me too. I love going on walks. I love walking the dog. I love pushing strollers on a walk. Walking is just a good thing. And this walk was good, too. Nigel slept most of the time. And then one of the back wheels fell off the stroller. Yeah... so it wasn't locked in place. Ha ha. Good thing we were close to Grandma's house and we could call her and she came to save us.

And we had a great time together before Nigel went to Ephraim and I went to Logan.


I am a good aunt, even though I'm usually at a distance. :)

And Baby Is...

The poll is over! Four people voted for boy, eight people voted for girl, one person voted for boy manbearpig, no one voted for girl manbearpig, two people voted for a twin surprise, and five people voted for a platypus. Well, from the ultrasound, we learned a few things.

There is definitely only ONE baby in there. Sorry those who voted for twin surprise.

Baby sleeping in the fetal position. Only one baby.

The baby does not have a beaver tail and a bill. Sorry to those who voted for platypus.

The baby also does not have a snout. Definitely not a manbearpig of the boy or girl variety.

Baby's profile. No snout or bill.

Nigel screaming "MY COUSIN IS A MANBEARPIG!!!"

This only leaves us with a boy or a girl. Crazy crazy.

The ultrasound tech called the baby a stinker, scallawag, and booger because it was stubborn about not letting the tech look at its heart.

And that means we are going to have a sweet, sassy, little booger of a girl!

Even though you look creepy right now, little girl, we still love you.

Andrew is incredibly happy and gloating that he was right and I am really excited about our little girl!