Utah: Life Elevated

For months we had been looking forward to a quick trip to Utah for Jon's brother Jeremy's wedding on May 31st. After several discussions and a few life-altering decisions (more to be discussed at a later time), we decided to turn our quick trip into a vacation and go for Memorial Weekend to spend a little time with the Kays and then spend the rest of the week in Spanish Fork with the Phelpses. It was a much-needed trip, and minus a few small hiccups--like the water in Spanish Fork being shut off due to construction and a night where Jon had to sleep upstairs while I slept downstairs due to a little miscommunication about where the mattresses needed to go--exactly the kind of vacation we needed.

Jon drove almost the entire way to Syracuse the Friday before Memorial Day. That left me time to crochet a piece of Twizler's Pull 'n Peel and feed Netty all the fruit snacks she could handle.

When we arrived in Syracuse, Netty was so excited to play outside with HoneyGram.

Netty loved the rocks at HoneyGram & Papa's house.

Utah was HOT! We were grateful for air conditioning and the swimming pool--even though the water was still freezing!

On Memorial Day my parents invited family and friends over for a barbecue. Netty was tired and somewhat crabby through the day, but she did enjoy all the different foods.

"What am I eating again?"

After spending so much time on the grass at the barbecue, Netty decided grass isn't evil. In fact, now she loves it, and screams when we try to take her inside.

We are so grateful for Netty's car seat that she tolerates a million times more than her infant seat. We are also grateful for our minivan. Not only does Netty appreciate being able to see out the window, but it came in handy on a few occasions through the course of the week when instead of having to take two cars, we were all able to fit in our van.

We were able to visit my cousin and his wife and brand new baby, Samuel, in the hospital. It was so fun to hold a new baby again! It made me super excited to see Atticus!

The girls hogged the baby most of the time, but Jon did get a little turn.

Netty wasn't so sure about Baby Sam and kept her distance.

While in Spanish Fork we spent an afternoon playing at the park with Jon's five youngest siblings and his older sister and her family. Marianne (14) took Netty down the slide a few times, and Netty loved it.

It's kind of hard to see because we were back so far, but here is Jon's brother Jeremy's ring ceremony. Jeremy and his wife Cassie were married on May 31st in the Salt Lake Temple, and they had a ring ceremony that evening before the reception at a park in Orem. The weather was beautiful, but I felt a little like we were in Rexburg with how windy it was!

After a long day of wedding festivities, we were beat. We didn't get home until well after Netty's usual bedtime, and she had only slept a total of 30 or 40 minutes the entire day. Of course after Netty's bath, jammies, and bottle, she was completely wired. She kept bouncing against a big ball all around the living room. Finally she fell on her back on the floor next to Jon's youngest brother, Tyler (7). When we took her downstairs she dive bombed her bed and slept more soundly than ever.

All week we were trying to get Netty to walk on her own. She has been so stubborn about it. Finally, Stephanie was able to coax her into taking a few steps on Sunday.

She still won't take more than a few steps at a time. I hope that someday very soon she'll realize that yes, she can walk, and that she'll just take off on her own.

Her treat for walking was a Popsicle. And she ate the entire thing without help.

This is "Life Elevated!"