...And We're Back

I hate that it's been so long since I've posted, I totally feel out of the blogging loop! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Just thought I'd do a little recap of our 3 week Christmas vacation which we spent in Logan, Utah with Shawn's family...

Snowed In...In Vegas?

On December 16th we started our day at 3:30 am finished last minute packing and headed out the door to catch our flight. We had three different flights that day, Baltimore to Atlanta, Atlanta to Vegas, and then finally Vegas to Salt Lake (which makes for a LONG travel day)...but we only made it to Vegas. Victoria did GREAT on the first two flights, and I learned how to change poopy diapers on my lap while sitting on top of the toilet seat on an airplane (gross, I know...only one of the planes had tiny little changing tables in their bathrooms..and don't forget how bad those little bathrooms smell!) But really Victoria was no problem at all, people were even complimenting on what a good baby she was after the flights!...So we made it to Vegas, even on the plane, and it starts snowing...? Snowing in Vegas! What the? The Pilot talks to us and tells us he is sure we will be on our way soon, they just have to de-ice the plane. Well, it never snows in Vegas, so the guys didn't even know how to de-ice the plane...they tried, and ran out of the fluid they used to de-ice. We had already waited FOREVER for them to de-ice the plane and for the snow to let up a little. They had to go back to refill the de-icing truck, and we waited...on the plane, engines off, in stuffy, hot, smelly recycled air. Meanwhile the snow lets up and it's raining a little, we can actually see the strip from our window now. The pilot is still confident that we will make it to Salt Lake. The de-icing truck never showed back up, and our window of decent weather closed. The snow picked up and dumped on Vegas. The most snow they've had in 30 years. So AFTER 3 and half hours of sitting on the plane the pilot terminates the flight! Oh but don't worry, our flight wasn't the only one canceled...the airport was a MESS! Roads were closed, luggage everywhere, a mom even offered to pay me $100 for baby formula, because she didn't pack extra for her baby! To top it off, Delta wouldn't get our luggage off the plane. Thank goodness we had the car seat and stroller and Victoria's bag with us. After a couple of hours of trying to get a rental car(some places wanted over $300 for a vehicle) and figuring out what to do, I was about to burst into tears and have a breakdown...it would have been different if we didn't have a 3 month old with us (she was an angel the whole time)! We ended up spending the night with Shawn's old mission companion and his wife, who live 10 minutes from the airport in Vegas. Another blessing from Shawn serving his mission all those years ago! We were so grateful for the Mursets who provided us with everything (remember we had nothing), it was way better than any hotel stay! The next morning we hit the road in our rental and drove to Salt Lake where we met up with Shawn's parents and his brother and wife who had flown in that day. And by some miracle our luggage was there waiting for us. So finally we had made it to Logan, Utah. Just a side note, Delta is horrible, we've had nothing but trouble with them and the worst customer service...they don't even have pre-boarding for families with children (we asked every flight and were denied every time!)!

The rest of our trip was great and I will tell about the three weeks by the collages below!

         *click for larger view

All of Shawn's siblings and family got to meet Victoria for the first time. It was awsome seeing their faces light up every time they saw her. We had a blast playing family games of poker, attending family parties in Malad, and having babysitters (okay, that part made me a little anxious, but Shawn and I enjoyed a nice sushi dinner together)!
Christmas morning was so fun with a baby! Victoria was spoiled with tons of gifts and CUTE clothes! And once again Shawn out did himself by surprising me with THE beautiful Canon Rebel xsi! I was shocked...I thought I was getting a shirt from gap! But, as our luck would have it, the flash bulb went out while I was snapping some beautiful shots of our baby so we had to send back the camera...my new one will be here tomorrow!!! This camera takes amazing pictures, I can't believe the difference! I love it, and I love my husband for the fabulous surprise!
As most of you know, Shawn lives for Skiing! He got some good ski days in because a couple of huge snow storms! Thank goodness for that, or I would be hearing about it for the rest of the year!
My Sister was able to make it down to Logan in between snow storms, I was so happy her and the kids were able to come. Finally the cousins got to meet and have a cousin sleep over! It was so cute to watch them together! We were just missing Harlyn...who was born on Christmas morning to my brother and his wife, Jeana!
My parents and little brother came up from California to their second home (across from the Logan Temple) the day after Christmas and had planned to stay a few days, but because things were kind of rocky with my brother's baby girl they decided to go back. I was sad to have only had a day with them (I didn't even get a pic with my dad in it) but they needed to be home. My "little" brother Newt was kinda happy to cut the trip short though, he had plans with the girlfriend.

After saying our goodbyes and wishing safety to Shawn's dad as he left for Iraq (this is his 2nd time over there) we were on our way back home to Maryland...and we almost made it home without any trouble. But, as our luck goes, our luggage came off the plane smelling like fish, and Shawn kind of forgot where he parked the car. So after running up and down the parking lot at the airport, in freezing cold, pouring rain, we finally found the car, payed our ridiculously high parking bill and made it home!