And after...

Our Second Week in Utah

Sunday. Because all my siblings were in town Dan and I stayed out in Em and Ben's camping trailer until everyone was gone. Sunday we went to church with Em and Ben and then headed over to Mom and Dad's for dinner and playing with cousins.

(Andrew, Tess, Dan, and Ella)

 (Ken, Evan and Jacob)

(The TWO Abby's. They played great together taking turns tossing and kicking the ball. They were really fun to watch.)

(Bekah swinging Abby)

 (Bekah playing ring-around-rosie with the Abby's. Bekah was so good with those two girls!)

Then the sickness hit.  On our way back to Em and Ben's camper we stopped at a pharmacy for more Benedryl for Abby and when I came out of the store Jake was getting out of the car, crying, and then vomited. His head was pounding. Dan ran back in and got him some Gatorade. I figured Jake was dehydrated from all his hard playing and sweating and hoped this wasn't another flu bug. We gave him some Motrin, a blessing and he went right to sleep. I sat up with Abby who coughed and coughed all night long. 

Monday. Dan left first thing in the morning to go skiing and then stay in SLC for business. He had planned this ski day for weeks and was meeting up with two friends. I didn't want Dan commuting so he got a hotel in SLC. When I went into Emily's house that morning I found out all her kids were sick and staying home from school. Fevers, coughs, runny noses and some vomiting. Jacob was fine, thankfully. So, the kids and I spent as much time out back playing. 

That afternoon I noticed that I was having a lot of braxton hicks. I thought 25 weeks was a bit early but they have come earlier with each pregnancy so I wasn't too concerned. Then they started to hurt. They were full on contractions. We went to bed early that night.  

Ken, Steve, Mom and Dad were all sick. Chuck and Kim planned to stay and skii with their kids Monday and Tuesday. On the last run of the day Monday Bekah fell and broke her wrist. 

Tuesday morning I took Tess to get her hard cast on. She did great. She picked out the color that is sooo Tess. Girl Camo! It is bright and colorful. The cast goes even further up her thigh. (Bathroom trips are tricky.) She and I split a Jamba juice and headed back to Emily's. Tuesday afternoon we all went to a movie at the dollar theater. Note to self, don't take ABBY to a movie any time soon!!! 

Tuesday I monitored my contractions. They were very obvious and painful. At first they just came after I lifted Tess. Then they came with lifting Abby, going up stairs, or just exerting any energy. When I had 5 within an hour I called and spoke with my doctor in Maryland.  Having 5 contractions in an hour is okay but 6 is not. I was told to completely lay on my left side and hydrate. I explained the situation with Tess, how she couldn't put any weight on her leg, needed help up and down, in the bathroom ect. and Dan on business! I was told to do as little as possible. My sister Emily did a lot of lifting Tess after that.

Here are a few pictures from Tuesday and Wednesday playing at Emily and Ben's house:

Jacob loved jumping on the trampoline!

 This is where Tess spent most of her time outside!

 Ella is the sweetest, cutest tom-boy ever! She loves animals and wanted to show me some of their chickens, and they have a ton!

 Ella teaching Jake how to feed the horses.

And that was pretty much the week. The kids and I spent another night in Em and Ben's camper and then joined Dan in SLC for Wednesday night. Friday night Dan finished up in SLC and made it down in time to go to Ruby River with Em, Ben, Aimee, Dad and I.

Saturday morning Dan kept his promise and took the kids on the Rex Lee Run!

Then off to play Put-Put with Aunt Aimee. Dan tried so hard to make the trip fun for the kids when he could. And Aunt Aimee, she brings fun to any situation!!! 

Saturday Dan stayed with Mom and the kids while the rest of us went to see Stephanie's new play. Sunday we went to sacrament meeting and then took the rest of the day just relaxing. I was still have contractions. Monday we packed and then got on our flight that left SLC at 11:59 P.M. We dosed all the kids with dramamine. Jake slept. Tess slept on the floor at Dan and Abby's feet for the entire first flight. Abby wouldn't sleep at all. She threw up and wanted me instead of Dan, who was seated next to her. The last 30 minutes of our second flight into Baltimore she fell asleep on me. We made it home Tuesday morning, March 20th, at about 1:30 P.M. and slept!

And that was our crazy Utah trip. We are happy to be home but really wish the vacation had gone more like we had planned. We had anticipated the trip so much and a lot on our to do list (rock climbing, campfire and s'mores in the canyon, hikes, Park City rides ect.) so it was disappointing that we couldn't do very many of them.  But we were there for Liz and visited with family we love and miss so much. That was what was most important! 

Besides, life is what happens when you are busy planning for it right!

The Wedding Day

Saturday, March 10th, was a perfect day for Liz and Kent, or so I thought!

Aimee, Emily and I helped Lizzie get ready Saturday morning. I was on make-up duty, Emily touched up Lizzie's hair, and Aimee did her nails.

She looked gorgeous and was completely excited! Once she left for the temple I quickly finished getting ready and all the kids. The sealing was at 1030 a.m. and we arrived surprisingly on time at 10. It was so fun to see all my Aunts and Uncles! We whispered quietly until the temple worker took us up to the sealing room, which happened to be the same one Dan and I were sealed in. The room was packed so the men had to stand lining the walls. I got to sit directly under one of the mirrors next to Emily and Aimee so we had a clear shot of the bride! The temple president, Pres. Ed Pinegar is an old family friend (Peterson and Breinholt) and was able to perform the sealing. He gave them some wise counsel, had us all chuckling softly, and brought tears as he spoke of those who were present but couldn't be seen. It was such a happy sealing, which fit Liz's personality perfectly.

After the sealing was over I headed back to the brides room to help Liz get into her big dress and touch up make up. When Kent saw her in that dress his reaction was awesome. She looked gorgeous!
Then I headed outside, where the weather was gorgeous. However, my girls were having serious melt downs. And so that ended the happy blissful morning for me. Tess was in a lot of pain and very tired. She lasted through one group picture and was done. She refused to be in any other group shots. Abby followed suit. Even candy couldn't bribe a smile.

I only took a few pictures that day, since my focus needed to shift to my girls. But when I get some of the professional ones I"ll repost a bunch.

We managed to get the girls to sit for one picture with Aunt Liz and Uncle Kent.

 Our most recent family picture.

After the main photo shoot was done we left to get some lunch and head back to Provo to help mom get ready for the reception. After taking an hour and a half to change the kids cloths, eat, and make bathroom stops the kids kids fell asleep within 5 minutes of our drive back. But then Abby started coughing and threw up. No more sleeping.

We made it back to Mom and Dad's with just enough time to change the kids back into their wedding cloths and head to the reception. Good thing my Mom had lots of help from everyone else that day!

The Reception at the Springville Art Museum

Mom catered a light dinner and program before the reception started for those closest to the bride and groom. Mom took care of all the food for this as well as the reception. Emily, Aimee, and Mom made hundreds of cookies ( I made a couple dozen when I got there) at Lizzie's milk and cookies request. And then there was yummy cheesecake from the cheese cake factory. Lizzie really wanted to be able to include everyone and just party! So of course there was music! I had talked up all the fun we would have dancing at the reception for weeks with my kids, we even had rehearsals at home:). The dancing was Jakes favorite part of the day. He rocked out on the dance floor all night long! He got so very sweaty! Tess did the best she could but was ready to go home the moment it all started! And Abby, just ran around the place all night. Dan and I had our hands full just chasing Abby around and trying to keep Tess happy. I, once again, didn't have a chance to take pictures so they will be posted later.

(Dan took this picture of Abby, making faces at him, one of the many times we caught her leaving the museum front doors.)

Liz and Kent stood in a line to greet people and than joined us on the dance floor for about 15 minutes. They cut their cake and were on their merry way. I don't think the day could have been better for Lizzie! 

Before the break...

Our first week in Utah

We have anxiously been counting down the days for our Utah trip for Lizzie's wedding. Dan's work travel fell right inbetween the weekend of the wedding so I would be able to stay out in Utah longer (16 days!) and he wouldn't need to take any vacation. Perfect! The day finally came. The kids were so excited to get on the airplane and they did great. We dropped Dan off at a hotel by the airport there in SLC since he had about 6 hours to sleep and then returned to the airport to head north to Washington for the week.

Monday March 5th Uncle Steve decided to take the day off so he and Tate could just hang out with us! Abby adores "baby Tate" and asked to play with him every day of our trip! 

 After spending the morning recouping from late travel we went to the park to enjoy the great weather.

 Abby wouldn't leave the leftover snow piles alone. She doesn't listen to a thing I say these days, so, I decided just to take her picture!

It was fun to spend the day with Mom, Steve and baby Tate (who has the cutest side smile)! 

Tuesday we spent time with Aimee in SLC. First we visited her in her element, her classroom.
We met her kindergarten kids as they were packing up for the day. Aimee bought some really fun toys that the kids could take a part and put back together...Jake was in heaven when he got his turn to drill.  We spent an hour in her classroom and then headed out to her playground.

When Abby saw this playground she was in awe! She told me it was "beautiful"! It is an amazing playground! It has a real merry-go-round, teeter-totter, huge slide, two different sized rock walls, and really fun spinning and climbing equipment. The story behind it is even better! My sister is amazing and put her heart and soul into fundraising so that the kids at JMS could actually have a playground rather than a parking lot to play in!

Of course Aimee jumped right in and played along side them! The kids raced from one fun play equipment to the next squealing with delight!

After playing hard at school we picked up dinner and spent a couple hours at Aimee's house. The kids watched a show while Mom and I helped Aimee with the wedding video for Liz and Kent. It was a really fun night.

Wednesday. The morning we flew out to Utah I found out that my young women's president from when I lived in New York had just lost her husband. Bro. Neilson was a Pediatrician in Orem. Within one week time he came down with a staff infection that led to a stroke and killed him leaving behind his wife and four young kids. What a horrible crazy tragedy! The funeral was on Wednesday morning in Orem so I attended with Mom and Dad.
Liz drove up from Albuquerque that day.

Thursday was the last day in Provo and Mom had a long list of things to be done, plus we had all the last minute fun plans with Liz. When my sweet sister Emily volunteered to watch my kids that afternoon so I could be more helpful to mom and Liz, I happily accepted. Emily has a really fun big backyard. They have a "playground" as Abby puts it, trampoline, horses, chickens, dogs, a four-wheeler and tons of room to run and play (all fenced in)! My kids LOVE to play at her house. The weather was perfect  so the kids could just play outside. I had a great time running errands and ended up back at Mom and Dads home right before dinner when Emily brought my kids came.

Ella came hurrying into the house telling me Tess got hurt and won't stop crying. Emily carried her in and I quickly found out she hurt her knee on the trampoline. She wouldn't put any weight on her leg and it was clear to me that sweet Tess wasn't being dramatic, it really hurt. I thought/hoped maybe she had bruised it or twisted her leg wrong since I couldn't see any swelling. I elevated her knee, gave her Motrin, and kept ice on it. Dad went to pick up Dan at the airport so I could stay with Tess and get her to bed. She was up that night about every 2 hours crying out in pain.

Friday morning Dan and I decided we needed to take her to the doctor before we left for Manti. We opted to try to get an appointment with a Pediatrician rather than head to the ER to try to save some money. I made the appointment and Dan took Tess, with Jacob, to see Dr. Olsen while I went with my sisters to get Lizzie's hair done. I kept in touch with Dan throughout the morning. Dr. Olsen thought it was broken. He had an x-ray done and paiged a Pediatric Radiologist from the hospital across the street to take a look at the x-ray as well. The two doctors then told Dan to take Tess back to Provo to a Sports Medicine clinic for their opinion. Poor Tess was in a lot of pain! It broke my heart! I met up with Dan at the Sports Medicine clinic and held Tess while they put a temporary cast on her for the weekend while the swelling went down.  The cast went from her toes all the way up her thigh. The doctors told us that when Tess landed from being double bounced on the trampoline her leg didn't bend and her femur and tibia knocked together. She had a hairline fracture on her tibia, just below her knee, that went up to her growth plate. We picked up a wheelchair for her and headed back to the house. I immediately left to fill her prescription for tylenol with codeine and find some skirts for her to wear for the rest of the trip.

On a lighter note; here are some pictures of Lizzie getting her hair done by a good friend of hers...

Friday, late afternoon, we drove to Manti. Following our family tradition, Mom and Dad rented a Bed & Breakfast for the family to stay in the night before the wedding. It was really nice to have some time with Lizzie and not have to get up early to drive to Manti!

First things first, pedicure time. Aimee is the pro! 

Tess and her pretty blue toes to match Aunt Liz!

And then onto the surprise Marriage Survival Kit, of course!!!
Emily put it all together and we all took turns presenting.

Emily started off by handing her a cookbook she had put together titled "The Road to Kent's Heart".

 Dad thought of giving her a calculator and Motrin for budgeting/finances.

 A candy reminder to keep the humor and laughter going...

 Two tubes of toothpaste that can be squished any which way they individually desire...

 Duck-tape to help unify them as a couple!

Band-Aids to remind them to say I'm sorry, to fix injuries quickly.

 Activity book/games to remind them to play and do date nights.

 A calendar to remind them to coordinate their schedules.
(We all had fun filling up the calendar with reminders to do FHE, date nights, send birthday gifts, save for a trip to D.C. ect.)

Lastly, Lizzie read aloud the advice Emily had collected from each of the nieces and nephews for Liz and Kent. Such as:  

"Don't kiss EVER AGAIN!" --Evan

"Cook yummy food, not rotten food, like my mom did once"--Dean

For Kent "Bring her a necklace" --Bryn

"Spoil your kids but don't have bratty kids"-- Ella

"Remember we love you" --Tess

"Buy him his cloths, because he probably will not." --Bekah

"Always have breakfast with Kent." --Elise