Oh Utah!

I really love Utah! I miss the mountains, the houses, the temples, the churches, the brightness, the friends, the radio stations, and especially my family! Although I miss it oodles and oodles, I find myself grateful for the growth I am able to have because I don’t live in the middle of LDS culture anymore. Visiting makes me so grateful for how I grew up and convinces me again and again that Utah is the place I want to end up; but it also helps me see how wonderful an experience living in Albuquerque is. I feel myself stretching and becoming better because a lot of things are harder for me here.

Sean, Brett and I went to Utah for a quick extended weekend and had a marvelous time. You may find it shocking but I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I usually do. While we were there Sean was able to get a consultation for Lasik which is tentatively scheduled for June 11, so exciting! We were able to spend some time with my grandparents which was wonderful. It is so hard to see their health declining so rapidly! We saw my wonderful friend Whitney and her hubby and baby (one of the events I didn’t get any pictures of). We saw my beautiful sister and her hubby, Sam and Jared. And of course Brett got to spend some quality time with his cousin Kaity and also the puppy dog Elroy! We attended an Eagle court of honor for my cousin Colton. We ate our Christmas dinner that we never got around to eating in December, which somehow tasted better in February=) We had a delicious breakfast with Uncle Brian. We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory, Kneaders, and had chocolate Dunford doughnuts (THANKS SAM!) And of course we got to spend some wonderful time (not nearly enough) with my amazing parents. I hate not living so close to them! Brett loves his Grandma and Grandpa Z, which we called his TV grandparents because he always sees them on Skype.

Brett really liked watching the airplanes and trucks at the airport! He was a great sport on both plane rides. When we left last Wednesday, he did great with both Sean and I. On Sunday night Sean had to fly back for finals week and we opted for me to leave Monday morning since it was $80 cheaper. Flying alone with a baby is a lot of work but Brett did great. A really nice guy named Josh even switched seats with us so we could sit in the fancy first class. They brought our drinks in glasses and offered us muffins and fruit (none of which I ate since I was holding a baby). There were blankets and pillows and water bottles and lots more leg room. It was funny though since I was sitting with all the business men in suits who were discussing corporate meetings while I breastfed and tried to keep Brett quiet. It was pretty funny=)

Sean, Kaity, and Brett all enjoyed playing the piano.

Brett and I were posing with a cardboard box frame=)

We love snuggling to Grandma Z!

Oh so tired!

Jared and Sean sit next to my grandpa in the Eagle’s nest.

This is the face Brett would make every time Elroy came in his sight! And Elroy was a great sport=)