E's Western Tour the Trilogy: Las Vegas

Bright and early Tuesday morning my sister, Elisa, picked me and E up to head down to Las Vegas. The original plan was that she and I would drive down with all four kids, but she had something come up the week before and was able to leave N and M with our parents. So it was me, Elisa, E and S!

On the way down we made a couple of stops. The first was in Cedar City because Elisa had her 6 week post-birth follow-up. While she went to her appointment E and I had a nice visit with my Uncle Scott and cousin Melissa. I briefly saw my cousins Alex and Ashton, but only as they were heading out. Melissa held and talked with E for a little bit and we talked about how excited she was for the soon arrival of a little sister and her soon departure to a mission in London, England. Uncle Scott tried sharing his Otter Pop with E and at first she seemed interested, but then she realized it was cold and not milk!

Right as we were about to get back out on the road, our cousin Simon walked up the driveway with some of his wife's family. I was so excited to see him as it had been a few years and I thought I wasn't going to get the chance. We went back inside and chatted for a few minutes and he graciously shared a donut with us!

We stopped again in St. George to introduce E to her Uncle Trevor. He had a work trip in St. George that took him away from SLC last minute. He had been working nights, so we woke him up in the middle of his night.

When we first arrived in Vegas we headed over to Gary and Haley's house to pick up N and M. They were very happy to see Elisa and although they were interested in cousin E, they were cautious of getting too close to Aunt Kara. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out at Mama and Papa K's house. 

N really loved E

Wednesday was Kaleb's big day...graduation! I can't believe my youngest brother is no longer in high school; my parents are empty nesters now. Matthew and I were recently talking about how Kaleb had just turned twelve a week after week got married and Matthew remembers driving him to the church for his Deacon ordination interview. Time flies.

S and E hanging out before getting ready for Uncle Kaleb's Graduation

A car full of babies!

Even though there were hundreds of kids, we were able to spot Kaleb as he entered the arena and although he was surrounded by friends he was willing to look, smile, wave and twerk at us. E decided she was hungry just before Kaleb walked across the stage so I wasn't able to get a picture, but it was far away anyway so it wouldn't have been that great of a photo (I really want another lens that has a bigger zoom).

Who can spot the Kaleb?

After the ceremony we navigated the crowds, found Kaleb and took a few group shots. We then headed out for a celebratory meal at one of our favorite spots, Macayo's . As usual the food was great and as is becoming more usual, E had a blow out. I seriously can't take that girl anywhere! 

At home we enjoyed a movie or two. We also tried to get a few shots of all the grandkids and here are a few of the results:

Thursday was another chill day. We slept in a bit and Elisa actually got a picture of N, S and E where none of them were crying! Then we had a girls lunch with Elisa, Katie, Haley, Bella and me. The babies came too, but they actually slept for us!

After lunch, Elisa and I headed over to Grandma Kofford's house to introduce her to some of her newest great-grandchildren, E and S. Grandma was so happy to hold them. She kept swapping back and forth between the two. Elisa also helped N bounce E on Grandma's big ball. It was a nice visit.

The rest of the night consisted of E hanging out with her aunts and uncles, being called Elephante (and endearing nickname that Uncle Jonathan and Jordan gave her), having her cheeks mocked and being compared to a Cabbage Patch doll. She had a good time and they wore her out! I spent the night packing up our bags and preparing for our early flight to Seattle. I was again pleasantly surprised when I was able to visit shortly with my cousin Kevin before heading to bed. (He flew in from California to go through the Temple with his sister Melissa. I didn't think he was arriving until Friday.)

Elisa thought that E looked like a Cabbage Patch. I was a little skeptical, but then she pulled up a picture and they were making the same face!

Me, Kevin and a sleeping E

E's Western Tour the Trilogy: Salt Lake City

We truly do have a phenomenal traveler on our hands. E has gone many places in her short life, but this was her first time flying! I was a little nervous because I was going at it alone because Matthew had classes and couldn't get away, but she did great! I fed her right before boarding our first flight and she slept most of the way. The only exception was right after the plane took off and she decided to fill her drawers. And as usual these days she leaked a bit, but nothing like the blowouts in Boston or at church! I had to remove her pants, but the onsie got away without a stain. Unfortunately, our first flight was on a small plane and there wasn't a changing table in the extra small bathroom, so I had to improvise using the toilet seat. I closed the lid and placed the changing pad on it. E fussed a little, I imagine because it wasn't the most comfortable spot, but she soon nestled into the Moby wrap off to dream land!

After boarding the second flight I was sure E would be hungry so I attempted to feed her, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She fell back asleep before take off. I tried to feed her a few more times throughout the flight, but each time she got angry and then fell back asleep. I think flying made her drowsy.

When we arrived in SLC, Parental Units Cynda and Steve picked us up. We had lunch, then Steve went to work and the girls took a nap. E woke up from her nap very unhappy, she finally realized she was beyond hungry!

Steve came home from work early because he had an allergy attack and had no medication at work. Cynda and I teased that he just wanted to spend more time with the baby and although that might have been true, soon I could tell that he really had been hit hard by the allergy bug.

E playing with an old rattle

For dinner we enjoyed Steve's yummy burgers and then headed over to the Taylor's to introduce E to some of her cousins and Aunt Liz and Uncle Zac. Matthew was pretty sad about not being able to see the reactions of our loved ones when they were first introduced to E so I tried to capture the moments for him. I don't think we realized how hard it would be for him stay home while we visited so many of our friends and family.

I didn't get a great photo of it unfortunately, but when E sat in Madeleine's lap she immediately lit up and gave her one of her biggest smiles!

Saturday morning we headed to the last soccer game of the season for James and Madeleine. James was goalie and did a great job! Madeleine's team was pretty small compared to the team they were up against, but they seemed to have fun anyway. Funny story: while Madeleine's team was warming up I overheard one of the girls on her team say to her mom, "Watch how far I can kick this ball." She then began to run from about midfield (their field was probably 200 feet long) and she kept running and running and running until about 5, maybe 10 feet from the goal and kicked the ball in. Steve and I started to laugh hysterically. There was a possibility that she was trying to kick a ball that was closer to her to begin with, but right before she got there another kid kicked it away, but I'd say that this story ended in just the right way!

After enjoying the games, Steve headed to work and Cynda, E and I headed to the grocery store to pick up a few items for our get together that evening. When we got back to the Bowen Homestead I realized that although I strapped E into her carseat, I failed to strap her carseat to the car! I am so accustomed to just popping it into the base I forgot to strap it down. I'm glad it was only a few blocks and nothing bad happened. And you can bet I was extra vigilant for the rest of the trip.

Grandma helping E clean up before meeting her guests!

That afternoon and evening we had the pleasure of having several of our friends and some family over to catch up and meet E! We had some yummy food and good laughs. I still don't feel like I had enough time with all of them. One of the biggest things I miss about Utah is our friends and family. Sometimes I wish I could just transport them to wherever I am.

Left: Julia introduce her son J to E.  Right: Anthony Woolf and Laura with E.

Cousin David and E

Matt Meldrum and E

Left: The Andersons and E.  Right: The Humphreys with me and E.

Kirsten and David with E 

Keyra, E and I

Left: Daniela and Ranfis with E.  Right: Daniela, E and I with Bean being a creeper!

The Quimbys and E

Left: The Passeys, E and I.  Right: The Linder-people with their newest member S.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. I went to church with the parental units and then the Taylors and Pete and Step joined us for dinner. After everyone left, the Parental Units and I stayed up and played a few favorite games including Ripple and Phase 10 Dice.

Meeting Uncle Pete and Aunt Steph

Spencer finally decided it would be okay to hold E

Monday morning Steve took Cynda in for her shoulder surgery so E and I hung out at the house and packed for our journey to Las Vegas. That afternoon when they returned I borrowed their motor vehicle to stop and visit a few graduate school friends as well as join the old Friendship Branch for FHE. It was especially nice to introduce E to all her "great grandparents."

E took over the entire bed

Left: Crystal and E.  Right: Jillian and E

Kelly and E

"Great Grandma" Gennevieve rocking E to sleep

Annette, Nancy, Mike, Dorothy (100 years old), Gennevieve, E, Frank and me

It was a wonderful time in Utah and as usual it didn't feel long enough and we didn't see enough of our friends or family. Tomorrow we head to Las Vegas!