Feb/March trip to Utah

We are currently flying home from Utah. This was a somewhat impromptu trip but definitely worthwhile. After my sister-in-law Kristen, lost the twins, I was pretty low. In addition I felt so far away from my family and needed some extra support. The day we found out that the second twin, Josephine Diana, had died Jason called me and said that he felt that I needed to take a trip to Utah and be with family. He was planning to go out over the 27th of February for his friend’s wedding and suggested that I join him and get some family time and start healing. I hadn’t planned on going to the wedding because of my work and the fact that I was in limbo waiting for my dad’s surgery but quickly changed my mind. It was the perfect idea! I immediately talked to my boss and he gave me the okay. I then called my dad and asked if there was any way he could get permission from his doctor to leave Los Angeles for just a few days and meet us out in Utah so I could see them. Then I left a message for my brother, Marc, and asked when his daughter was getting baptized (my niece Kira has been taking the discussions and has decided to be baptized). Later that night Marc called me and said that Kira picked the 27th of February to be baptized – the exact same weekend we were going to be there without realizing that we were going to be there. Then a few days later my dad announced that his doctor gave him permission to go to St. George for a couple of days so he would be there too. Then my eldest brother, Marlowe, announced that he would make the trip to in order to be there with the family and support Kira. Athena would take some days off of work and meet us there too! So all of the sudden we had a family reunion scheduled. Thanks Jason for being such a wonderful husband and giving me time with my family.

Dad and his girls
On Tuesday night we flew out to visit family. Wednesday we spent the day visiting with Jason’s family and meeting our gorgeous new niece, Haley Sue. She is adorable! We also got to visit with our other nieces and nephews on Jason’s side of the family. Then on Thursday I spent the morning with my sister, Athena, and Jason went and played racquetball with his brother Micah. Then I went and saw my niece, Emma’s, school program and then spent time with Athena’s kids. Then Jason and I made a mad dash into Salt Lake to visit with his old boss’s boss, Wendy. Wendy just recently adopted a baby girl and we had the opportunity to see both her and her beautiful new daughter. It was wonderful to talk with her and hear about her adoption experience. It really confirmed to both Jason and I that the right child will come to us at the right time. Things work out for a reason and we just have to be patient and wait (although that is definetly not easy). After a great dinner at the Cheesecake factory we rushed over to Desert Star Playhouse to see my brother Bryan in their current production. It was fun to see him performing and he did a great job as always. It was also fun for Diana to catch up with old friends from her days of performing. As soon as the curtain went down on Bryan’s show we all piled into the car and started to drive down to St. George, Utah.
We arrived in St. George around 1:30 in the morning. We were all so tired from both a busy day and a long drive in the middle of the night. We got to the hotel and met up with Diana’s parents. We talked to them for a while and caught up on everything before finally climbing into bed around 2:30 am. So it wasn’t fun when our phone started ringing at 7:30 am with a phone call from Blockbuster saying that our movies were overdue…whoops! We decided that we might as well get up and start the day. We all went to breakfast and met up with Diana’s brother, Marc and 2 of his kids, Skye & Cody. It was a fun morning. Then Marc and Jason went shopping (Best Buy – of course) and Diana, mom, and Skye went shopping on their own. Dad and Bryan headed back to the hotel. We all met up a little later and watched the Olympics and caught up on everything that was happening in our lives. Marc brought over his 11 year old daughter Kira as soon as school let out and we went shopping again – this time to get stuff for a big family dinner. Around 4 pm Dad and Jason went to pick up Diana’s other brother, Marlowe, from the airport. He was flying in from Seattle. Then around 7 the final member of the family arrived in St. George – Athena and her family. The rest of Marc’s family (minus Ashley who didn’t get there until the middle of the night) all met at the hotel in Jason and Diana’s room and we had a great evening of visiting and laughing, and talking and eating. The younger kids went down to the pool and went swimming. It was wonderful! Although we were only together for a little while it was the perfect evening. I’m always amazed at how great it feels to spend time with my family. No matter how long it’s been since we’ve seen one another we all feel right at home with one another the minute we get together. It was a night that I will always hold dear to my heart.

Beautiful St. George in the winter
The next morning we all met for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and celebrated my brother Marc’s birthday. We managed to thoroughly embarrass him by singing happy birthday! Then we all headed over to the church for Kira’s baptism. My brother’s family has not been active in the church and since they moved to St. George, Utah their 11 year old daughter, Kira, started showing interest in the church. She started to take the missionary discussions and decided that she wanted to be baptized. That was the reason that all of us went down to St. George – to support her in her decision. It was a beautiful baptism and it was especially neat to have the whole family there supporting Kira in her decision. She has a beautiful testimony and I am so happy for her. Marc and his family seem very happy with her decision also and are making progress themselves in the church.

Diana's family
Immediately after the baptism we took some pictures but then we had to leave. Everyone else stayed there in St. George until that evening except for us. We had another exciting event to attend to. We drove back to SLC and got back in time for the wedding of one of Jason’s good friends from High School. Jason has a great group of friends and it amazes me how close they all are even after so many years. They all became friends in junior high school and have somehow managed to stay great friends after all these years. Everyone supports one another and get together all the time. When one of them gets married the entire group immediately pulls them in and makes them feel as if they’ve always been a part of the group. It is a wonderful thing and I’m glad that we have them as friends. Well the last of the group was married on Saturday evening and we had the chance to be there to celebrate that day with her. Christina and Alan were married in a beautiful ceremony at the Eldridge House in Bountiful, Utah. Following the wedding ceremony was a beautiful reception in which we had the opportunity to visit with so many people we know and love. Christina looked beautiful and so happy. We welcome Alan into the “group” and wish them a lifetime of happiness.

Alan and Christina's wedding
Sunday morning was another busy day…things never slow down when we go out to Utah. We had breakfast with Athena’s family and then said our goodbyes. Then we went and visited Jason’s grandmother in Farmington and said our hello’s and goodbyes. Then we went back to Jason’s parents house and watched the USA/Canada gold medal hockey game. It was awesome! Until the USA lost in overtime – oh, well – it was good while it lasted! Then we started cooking some favorites for dinner and had Jason’s whole family (except for his sister’s family in Kansas) over for dinner and visiting. We said our goodbye’s at the end of the evening to the family. But wait – the night’s not over yet. We had a visit from some good friends, Mike and Kim Palmer, and were able to ooh and aah over their new son, Tate. We also saw their adorable older son, Barrett, too. Just as a disclaimer to all our friends that we didn’t see this trip – we apologize but as you can tell things were way too crazy and busy and we barely saw the back of our eye’s on this trip let alone all our good friends! We did think of you and wish that we could have visited with you…next time!

Jason and new baby Haley Sue
Monday morning we packed up and then went for a fun lunch with some of Jason’s siblings to Wingers (love those wings). Then we said goodbye to the little nieces and then headed to the airport. It was a long exhausting week but totally worth it. We had such a wonderful visit with both our families and wouldn’t have it any other way. Although it makes me homesick to leave them all behind. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get a baby and can go back to Utah soon to show off our own little one soon.