Our Life

Ok, I feel kind of foolish posting about this now that it's almost Valentine's Day... geesh! Where did the time go?! But I figured that I might as well get caught up with my blog...

I didn't get a lot of pictures from Thanksgiving, but I still want to tell you about it. My brothers and their little families decided to come down to our house for Thanksgiving. We had a blast! We were all crammed into our three bedroom town-home, but it was fun! We took down the craft table in the "miscellaneous" room, and Joe, Kimberly, and their daughter, Alisa slept in there. We had Elora and Max come into our bedroom, and they slept on the floor. So that Scott and Jen's two girls could sleep in the kid's room. Scott and Jen slept downstairs on the living room floor.

When everyone arrived the kids were being so funny! Here's Max and Kalissa giving kisses.... "kissing cousins!!!" They're about four months apart in age.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with all of us, plus my uncle Seth, Aunt Shelli, cousins -Taylor and Danielle and a few of her friends. Plus, my Grandma 'A' and my cousin Melody and her husband and her two little kids. We decided to have dinner in the relief society room at the church but I didn't get any pictures of the occasion. We had a TON of food and even more dessert! It was fun though...

Since Scott and I had each-other's family to give Christmas gifts to, we decided to open them up early. Here's Kalissa enjoying her new pretend toys to take care of baby.

Here's Travis and Max opening their gift of matchbox cars. I love how they are so easily pleased. :)

Kalissa's cute grin...

Group picture! Just ignore the jammies...

I have lots of blogs I need to make, but have fallen behind, right now I want to update on our harrowing tales... (Beware, long story ahead...)

Well, we made it to Virginia to see my parents for Christmas. We're going to be here for over two weeks, and boy am I glad for that because our trip out here was quite the adventure.... (Heh... that's a nice word for it...) The whole thing only took 46 hours...

We left St. George on Friday at about 11 am St. George time and didn't make it to my parents house until today(Sunday) at 10:45 Eastern time (8:45 mountain). We drove down to Vegas to Travis' Aunt's and Uncles house. (And on the drive there, Elora kept saying "this is taking too long!" "Let's get on the big plane" Boy, did she have no idea what "too long" really was...

We got to Vegas, to Pam's house, then followed them to the airport so we could leave our car at their house. We got to the airport at about 1:00pm Vegas time, got all our stuff together (Two big checked suitcases, Elora's carseat, Max's carseat, three backpacks(one with a laptop in it), one little duffel bag and one medium sized carry-on suitcase, a stroller, a diaper bag, and a purse), We checked in, checked our two big suitcases and Elora's carseat, and made our way slowly to security. (Max kept wanting to push the stroller which had the carseat and a couple of bags strapped to it.) Wound our way through security, put ALL our stuff on the security belt (all 8-10 bins full) had to take off all our shoes which Elora was throwing a fit over because she didn't want to walk in her socks. We were holding up the line, people were getting annoyed that they were behind us and trying to pass us up, finally got through the metal detector then had to put all our shoes on and collect and put all our stuff back together all while holding up the line again, and Elora's still throwing fits about her shoes, and Max is crying for Daddy. So we finally get our stuff together and I grab mine and Elora's shoes and walk up ahead a little so we can find a place to get out of the way and put on our shoes. Elora cries even more because she doesn't want to walk in just her socks. So we get our shoes on and Elora is sort of calmed down now and we make our way throught the airport slowly to our terminal (Through trams and escalators and elevators with our kids and stuff...) We get there, and it's about 2 something Vegas time, and they're already boarding the plane (so much for boarding first to get the kids settled...) We really need potty breaks so we hurry and go and I grab some sandwiches for our lunch and hurry on board. We gate check the stroller and load everything else onto the plane, and of course we're near the back and everybody else has almost all boarded the plane. This is where Max starts having a fit and decides that he doesn't want to board the plane and doesn't want to walk. Somehow we get him on, screaming the whole way... We apologize to everyone around us... We get in our seats, and fasten the carseat in the seat, Max is crying because he doesn't want to get in his seat, and Elora is crying because she wanted the window seat but it's airline policy that the carseat gets the window seat. We get our luggage stowed away, and sit down and get everyone situated sort of... there is still crying off and on from both kids.... We finally leave at about 2:30 Vegas time, get some food in, everybody is sort of happy. The plane ride was relatively smooth, luckily I had plenty for the kids to do. Travis gets out his laptop for the kids to watch a movie...it's a no-go... Something happened to the laptop during security, he can't even turn it on all the way, so the movie is out... grrrreat......

Luckily the kids were mostly ok, Max kept remembering that he should be upset so he'd cry a little bit off and on throughout the whole flight. It's about a four hour flight, we get to Atlanta at about 9pm -ish Eastern time. We find out that our flight to DC has been cancelled and that we should go talk to the customer service people at gate C17, crap... we're in D... so we hop(not really...) a few moving walkways and escalators and elevator, all with all of our stuff (remember how much we had...) and our kids... We get to the gate, stand in line to see what we need to do. We finally talk to them, "Oh, you need to hurry to gate C8" So we run... sort of... We tried to get Elora to run, and then she got upset and just stopped in the middle of all the people, we get her going, and get to the gate. They've already boarded most everybody, and people are trying to fly standby... We find out that our flight has been cancelled but they had already booked us on this flight that was going to DC even with the bad weather. So they said, "oh you already have spots on this plane" so we board, go through the whole crying process and getting to the back of the plane and apologizing to those around us again. Get settled, we leave at about I don't know, 10 something eastern time. The kids settle down more quickly, and this flight goes much smoother. It's about a 2 hour flight. We get to DC at 12 something am eastern time. We landed in the snow, it's a miracle we even made it. The kids were all excited that it was snowing.

We get all our stuff once again, and make our way through the airport to baggage claim, luckily all our checked bags come through fine, YAY! Then we made our way outside to a little covered area, so it's not snowing on us, but it's still cold. We stand in line for a Taxi, the guy says it could be an hour for a taxi. We wait a little while, but none are showing up. People are even trying to call the taxis and no one's answering. It's too late for a shuttle, the metro would take us further away from the hotel than we already are, and it closes in 10 minutes anyway. So we decide to go inside and decide what we want to do. I go and talk to another lady that was trying a limo service and thought they had an SVU coming, but it wasn't showing up. While standing there at the door we both see this lone Super Shuttle pull up across the street, so we both run over there in the snow, and ask if we can get a ride. YES! So I hurry inside to tell Travis to come now, get our luggage and kids, and go back in the snow and get in our vehicle.

He takes us to our hotel that we already had reserved 2 miles away, and we pay our $44 dollars for the ride, there was reallly nothing else we could do...

We get checked in, and lug our luggage through the elevator up to the sixth floor. We all go to SLEEP in our nice and comfy beds at about 2:00am eastern time.

The next morning, we get up at 10am eastern time, get dressed and go down and eat breakfast (not free...) and relax a bit. Our original plan was to go to Mount Vernon after my parents picked us up, but there was no way they were driving in the snow, and there was no way that we would go to Mount Vernon in the snow. So we were deciding whether we wanted to stay in the hotel another night, or take a train to Charlottesville to be picked up there. We decide to go get a train, because I wanted to get to my parents as soon as possible, and I didn't want to possibly get stuck at the hotel for one or possibly two more nights... So this is where it really gets interesting... I book our train tickets at 12:30pm eastern, we check out. We find out that the last hotel shuttle going to the metro station leaves at 1:00, but then find out that the metro is closing down, so the hotel agent tries to get us a cab which is next to impossible in the snow... But then, we find out that the metro IS working in the direction that we want to go. We load all of our stuff and kids into the shuttle and get to the metro station.

We get our transit passes, $1.35 each adult and the kids are free, I think we can handle that...We get in and master the art of the escalator with kids and lots of stuff. And wait for the metro, and find out that actually the metro is only going two stops away. We call our hotel agent, and she said that we'd probably have a better chance at getting a cab at that stop, so we proceed to wait for the metro. It finally comes, we get all in and the kids like this ride. And then we get to that stop and then keep going! They are allowing metros to go through! YIPPEE!! So we get off at our connection, go up the escalator with all our stuff and kids, get to our platform, and then Elora starts holding herself and announces she needs to go potty, now??? So Elora and I go up one more set of escalators, go potty, and come back down, luckily our metro hadn't come yet... So then we wait, and the crowds are heavier at this station. It finally comes and we squeeze ourselves and allllll our stuff onto the metro train with lots of people already on it. Travis barely fits the last bag through the door while it's closing. Three stops down, we get off at union station. Join the crowds and go up the escalator and oh good i can see an elevator! We make our way to the ticket stalls at Union Station, we collect our tickets, and so far, our train says "on time" HA!

It's about 3:00pm eastern time. We put our stuff down, get some pizza, and wait. We find out that our train is delayed, we should've left at 4:00, but don't board until 4:30. Luckily we got to board before everyone else. A worker saw us and took pity on us and brought us back through to board the train before anyone else. We get on, and get all our luggage situated. The train is nice, like airline seats but with more leg room and a little wider seats. We wait an hour, get some hot chocolate (Had to be like the Polar Express, right?) and some food from the snack car, and eat and wait. They tell us that we're having switch problems and may be a while... We wait longer, then they tell us that the track we're on most likely won't work, and we'll have to get on the other train coming a little later. So we wait... The kids are fine and comfortable, and Elora even goes to sleep. We finally find out that yes, our train is cancelled, so we gather up all our stuff(UGH!) and switch trains, but it already had its regular scheduled people on there too, so there were people standing, and we found a spot at a dining car spot with a table and squeezed our stuff in where it could fit, and we fit ourselves on one bench on one side of the table. This is about 8ishpm, and we're sitting across from some very nice older people. We wait about two hours, and find out that it's going to be even longer, they need a new diesel engine to go, and we have to wait for one, so a bunch of people got off, including the people across from us. They were only going to go a little ways, and they went to find another ride.

We now have more breathing room, but then we wait...The kids start to get restless and tired...(duh!) and a very nice lady (an angel, really...) lets us borrow her laptop so the kids can watch movies, yay! Max falls asleep during the movie, and Elora happily watches and colors on her coloring book. She finally goes to sleep at about 2:00ish am, and we FINALLY start moving at 3:30 am Sunday morning, YAY!!!!! 11 and a half hours later than planned. We call my Mom so they start getting ready to come get us at the station, it's an hour and a half drive in good weather.... but it ends up taking them 2 hours and 40 minutes with the roads the way they are. We pull up to the Charlottesville station at about 6:30am. The kids are still asleep, so Travis tries to put our luggage together, he gets off the train into knee deep snow, and makes a path for everyone else to the get to the actual station about 200 ft away...He has some of our luggage. Then I get out with the kids who start screaming the minute they woke up, we had to get coats on. I get off the train, Elora won't walk, I can't get anywhere in the snow, and they're both crying. Travis comes to my aid, and takes the kids to where our one suitcase is sitting, and leaves them there with some kind people. We both go back for the rest of our luggage while a bunch of other people are trying to get off the train. We finally are able to get everything off the train, and then come to our children who are wet and freezing.

So the nice people offer a ride in their warm vehicle to get the rest of the 100-200ft to the actual station. So we get in and get all our stuff in, and huddled together, and we sit and wait... Max fell asleep on Travis' lap, and Elora fell asleep on her chair. My parents finally drive up at 8:45 am! Hallelujah! The sun was up and the sky was clear -great for the drive home. It takes us about 2 hours to get home, we mostly slept the whole way. We pull into my parent's house at 10:45am eastern time. 46 hours!

We are glad to be here and safe and sound. It still feels like home, all of the same furniture is just in a new place. And I LOVE all my Mom's Christmas decorations and tree. Now we can settle in and get ready for Christmas with my family, I'm so excited! And yes, the trip was worth it, or at least, I told my Dad that I would let him know in two weeks. :)