We're back. We made it. Our flight on the way home is not one I would like to repeat. Why? Because we left the babies bottles in my parents fridge (so no bottles until we got to Houston), our portable DVD player batteries were both dead, everyone was sleep deprived and all the kids let the passengers around us know about it, and my glasses broke. (We were searching on the plane for the missing lens and we found it on the Jetway. I said "We" but it was really Ross I was holding both babies until they brought us our stroller and then the whole world was a blur to me so Ross had to look for my lens. Good news is we found it. It just needs a new screw.)
Our trip was fun and exhausting. Thrilling and stressful. Exciting events crammed into days and something I'm glad I did not miss. I am going to write it up like a logbook. (I remember the time well because the entire trip my watch was an hour ahead. I don't remember how to change the time without looking up the instructions online. It's pretty complicated of pushing button B twice, then D while holding B and then C... anway, so I didn't worry about it. We have a new slang word we like to use: "Whatevs.")
Thursday, November 24th
2am -- Finished making copies of the wedding DVD and fell into bed.
4am -- Up, rushing to get myself and everyone ready
4:45am -- Leaving for the airport. We didn't check any bags. This was the first trip we have ever packed so light. We had two small suitcases, one duffel bag and four backpacks (Ross's bag, the diaper bag and Allen and Abby's bags). It was cute because the night before Ross had written up a packing list for Allen and Abby with a check box. It included things like: blanket, one toy, stuffed animal, 4 books, candy... and the kids packed it themselves and Ross checked it at the end.
6:05am -- Plane leaves Dallas
8:30am -- Arrive in Denver
9:59am -- Arrive in Salt Lake. Darren and Jolynn and their 8 kids as well as Annette, Caleb and Hyrum came to pick us up. We loaded up in the 15 passenger van as well as Darren's white car.
11:50am -- Arrived at the church building in Layton for the big Thanksgiving Feast. We spent the next 7 hours at the building eating, visiting and catching up with everyone, playing basketball, playing Lightning, making hair bows for the wedding, looking at ads for Black Friday shopping, eating again, looking through jewelry from Grandma, the boys wearing their matching shirts (with their names on) and playing soccer together, having our own Thanksgiving parade, watching skits by Patrick and Cameron, listening to singing performances by Maylin, Sydney and Celeste, hearing the fire alarm sound and covering our ears, eating pie!, taking down and cleaning up.\
8pm -- Stopping at Mom's to raid our box in the closet of things we didn't have to pack.
8:20pm -- Going to the Layton Park to enjoy the Christmas lights. It was Darren's family, Mom, us and Amy and Jake. Ashley and Kelland went home and Annette was staying at Brent's.
10:20pm -- Arrived at Darren's house in West Jordan for a sleepover. Got the kids situated, got ready for bed and visited with Darren and Jolynn, discussing Black Friday shopping and catching up on their family.
12:30am -- Went to bed. (Ahem, and that would be 1:30am Dallas time and I went to bed at 2am the night before).
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| Here is cute Jane sitting across the aisle from me. |
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On the way to Denver our flight was half empty.
Ross took both babies for part of the flight and they enjoyed standing up and crawling around the extra space. |
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Allen and Abby enjoyed Jungle Book.
Abby liked the cheese and crackers from the flight attendent. |
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Thanksgiving Feast
We sat by Jake and Amy.
Jane got a high chair and Emma ate in the stroller. |
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| Abby sitting with Uncle Darren and cousins. |
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Another table -- Brent and his friend Pablo. Caleb and Hyrum
You can see the LONG serving table behind them.
The pies (I didn't count how many but there were probably 15) had their own table. |
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| The guys, with their blue shirts, playing soccer. |
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| Jolynn with some of the young kids -- Hyrum, Christian and Michael. |
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The Thanksgiving Parade.
Grandpa Schmidt started the fun with the kazoo and tamborine. |
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Joshua had fun with the cymbal.
He was really interested with the babies and nice to them. |
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| All the grandkids born in 2010: Claire, Hyrum, Jane and Emma. |
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As Amy says, "It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the pilgrim people."
My mom used these cut-out decorations every year from the time we were little.
They date back to when my mom taught school.
I haven't seen them in years, but right when I entered the room and saw them, I knew Amy was right. |
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| The grandkids are making Thanksgiving headbands. |
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| The men are taking a pie break after some sport playing. |
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Jane is all wrapped up at the lights.
She's keeping Grandma warm. |
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| Emma's all wrapped up at the lights and keeping Daddy warm. |
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Here is our group.
It wouldn't be Christmas without visiting the Layton park and seeing dinosaurs, bears, monkeys, a mermaid and other critters aglow. |
Friday, November 25th
7:15am -- Up to get ready for a Christmas parade.
8:40am -- Packed up our stuff. Since our family of 6 couldn't go in the same car Allen and Abby were farmed out to other cars the whole trip. They rode with the "Utah cousins" is what they call it or Darren's 8 kids, which they LOVE to hang out with. They play well together and blend in with them. Ross and I rode in a separate car with the twins. We found the Valley Fair mall and then the parade route.
9:15am -- We got some free hot chocolate. (Abby spilled hers down the front of her -- on her coat and pants. I'm not sure she is used to "hot" chocolate. I only make warm chocolate because I've burned my tongue too many times).The parade made it to us. We were at the end of the route. It was chillier than what we are used to for Dallas. We saw Maylin and Sydney in their dancing group. We saw a few other dancing/singing groups, Kung Fu Panda, Santa Claus and we got a whole pile of free Cheetos.
9:45am -- We packed up to drive to Layton. Allen had big tears rolling down his eyes. He wasn't ready to leave his cousins. He wanted to go back to their house and play and go in their hot tub. But that wasn't the plan. After Darren and Jolynn agreed it was okay for them to take Allen and Abby for the day (we'd get them back at the wedding dinner that night in Roy), they loaded up and left. Ross took the twins to my parent's house in Layton. I made sure I had a change of clothes and my Temple Recommend and I rode in the back of my parents car. My mom and I changed in the back and then worked on the temple quilt as my dad drove.
10:15am --We met up with Amy and Ashley at an exit off Legacy Highway.
10:30am -- Mom and us four girls headed up to the Bountiful Temple after we met up with Annette at a gas station in Bountiful. When we got near the entrance Ashley realized her recommend was in her purse which he left in the car. She ran back. Annette realized Caleb still had her recommend (they had gone to an early session together that morning already) so she called him and he turned around.
11am -- We stood inside the entrance to get out of the cold. Ashley and Annette saw some people that they knew. We visited.
11:15am -- Annette got her recommend and we went inside. We barely missed the 11:30am session so we did the one at noon. We ate in the cafeteria afterward. We really enjoyed our sisters outing.
3pm -- We got to my parents house to meet antsy husbands. Our plans were off two hours and we hadn't done the pedicures yet. We ran to Walmart for pedicures to find the place closed. While we were there we picked up wedding cake supplies and I bought a gift for Amy. Since she was there I asked her to pick something out. My plan was to buy her Tupperware as a funny joke. When I got married Ross and I opened about 5 different sets of Tupperware. Every time we opened it Amy would say, "you can never have enough Tupperware." It's funny that we still quote her when we use our Tupperware but I asked what she needed instead or what she had registered for that she hadn't gotten. She pick out some glasses and we bought some nail polish to go home and have our own pedicure party.
6pm -- Wedding dinner in Roy hosted by Jake's family.
8:30pm -- Went back to my parents house. Got all the kids ready and into bed.
9:30pm -- Amy came over I helped her run some errands (buying flowers at the store, dropping off pictures at the church and checking in with the decorators, picking up breadsticks, seeing Amy's new place and helping her find items (in her piles of boxes) to pack for her honeymoon to Hawaii.
12am -- Washed my hair so it would dry and I could put curlers in it to have nice hair for the next day.
1am -- Eating leftover Thanksgiving pie and talking to Annette, who was putting together the wedding cake. She asked that I stay up and keep her company because she didn't know if she could stay awake.
2am -- Went to bed. It wasn't long ago that I went to bed at this same time.
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| Grandpa and Allen and waving at Sydney and Maylin. |
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| It started sprinkling right as the parade started. We tried to cover our hair, especially me. Wet hair doesn't look well at wedding events. |
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| Since Ross was holding Jane, Abby took a seat in the stroller. |
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| Dad and Ross and Jane waiting for more of the parade. There were lots of big breaks in it. |
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| Darren let us borrow a hat for Jane. |
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| Ross is staying warm with two babies. |
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Santa riding in a carriage.
Ross and I went on a carriage ride for our one-year anniversary. |
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| Allen surrounded by cousins -- Celeste, Maylin and Sydney. |
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This is how I found Jane when it was time to get her ready for the dinner that night.
My parents borrowed a Pack 'n' Play from a friend and it was a "travel crib" size.
I'd never seen one that small. |
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Here is the wedding cake at 1:30AM.
Annette made this. She has a side business of making wedding cakes.
I stayed up to give Annette some company so she could stay awake.
I ate yummy apple and cherry pie from Thanksgiving while we chatted. |
Saturday, November 27th
7am -- Up, getting ready, Ross helping all the kids get their Sunday clothes on (good thing I laid it out the night before) while I fix my hair and curl Abby's hair.
8:30am -- We all left to the temple and it was earlier than we planned because the bride was in one of the cars. Allen rode with my parents and Amy and the our stroller and the big wedding dress in the trunk -- they forgot Jake's Tux. Lucky that we have cell phones and Ashley could stop and bring it with her) and Abby rode between the twins. It was a cold morning. Darren's car wouldn't start for about 5 minutes and it was at the end of the driveway and into the street. Caused a little panic, but then it worked.
9:30am -- We arrived, we parked and we got into the Youth Waiting Room at the Salt Lake Temple. We met the Collins (my parents home teacher) that came to watch the 15 grandkids during the ceremony. Five of the 15 were under age 2, but Darren's older kids were really good helpers with everyone. Mom had given me labels to put their names on them.
10-11am -- We enjoyed being in the temple together. It was such a beautiful ceremony and it was an unforgettable experience being inside with all the members of my immediate family. Darren was the first one of us to get married (that was 14 years ago) and Amy was the last. That was the key moment of the trip -- I will never forget it.
11:15am -- Pictures outside. It was cold, and as usual, it was hard to organize all the people for poses.
1pm -- Met at Chuck-A-Rama in Salt Lake for a Schmidt Family lunch to celebrate. We got a call from my parents that pictures weren't quite done. Darren started a game of tag in an open parking lot area. We talked and smelled some good food while we waited. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet (I don't think did the whole trip) and my tummy was ready for food!
2pm -- My parents, my aunt and cousin and the bride and groom arrived. Of course, buffet-style meals are hard with young kids, especially because they aren't tall enough to see all the selections and you have help them individually. By the time I dished Allen, helped Abby, changed Emma, I was on my first plate when some of our group was on dessert. Some people finished and left when I was finally eating my second plate. Buffet meals aren't the best with kids. (It's not relaxing to me and it takes me twice as long to eat.) Fast food? Yep.
3:45pm -- Arrived back in Layton. Looking at the clock and realizing there really isn't time for naps or a break since we need to make it back to the church for pictures at 5pm.
4pm -- Ran over to the church to help Annette with flowers for the cake. The cake was starting to tip and look more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But Amy likes Italy, right?
4:40pm -- Caleb drove me home so I could change and help Ross get all the kids dressed. We were finding all the wedding clothes for everyone (royal blue and black). Darren's family was there too. Everyone was wondering where the cumberbuns and bow ties were for the boys. The men were struggling with their tuxedo pieces. And no one was answering their cell phones at the church.
5:10pm -- Driving over to the church. Allen and Abby in Darren's van, the twins with Ross and me and my parents in their car. Halfway down the street our car's headlight go out. Then the engine dies and Ross pulls over. We were at the end of the road, luckily not blocking any driveway or any intersection. I tried to jump out to flag down Darren but I couldn't get the door open, my shoe fell out and my nylon snag got worse. My parents were behind them and I was able to stop them. (I still am so glad I stopped them. I don't know what we would have done because it was family picture time, no one was answering their phones and we could have been stranded for a while). Two brothers-in-law, Caleb and Kelland, came to the rescue. It was double rescue party that needed to infant car seats and room for two adults.
5:30pm -- We made it to the church. We got our flowers. Abby got her napkin basket. We parked our stroller and we rounded up our kids for our family picture, wondering why guests were arriving 30 minutes early. "Someone should go lock the door?"
6-8:30pm -- The reception had a continous and very-long-line-down-the-entire-hallway kind of crowd. There was good food (chicken salad sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit, veggies, parfaits and desserts), but not enough seating for people. Ross and Kelland started adding more chairs. We worried about the cake and if we should do the cutting... but the people in line didn't like that idea. I talked with people, showed off the twins (who mostly hung out in their double stroller), ate some food, said hi to others, wondered about moving the wedding video player so more people could view it while they waited 30 minutes in line, checked the tables to see if we could clear any to make more space, helped my kids find the "movie room" in the nursery that had a video playing and toys for the grandkids (the wedding babysitters never showed up so Jolynn and Judith and later Aunt Janet and Sheila helped in the nursery), while other grandkids opened doors to greet people, passed out napkins, cleared plates and took the wedding gifts.
9pm -- Sampled the cake, had a family prayer, saw them preparing the laterns (familiar with
Tangled? It was the same -- floating laterns that you release and go for 3 miles) and due to our family not fitting in two cars, rushed home to take the first load of kids home and ready for bed while people watched the twins in the nursery. Got everyone in bed, crashed on the bed for 10 minutes and then started shoving stuff in our bags for a 7:45am flight the next morning.
12:30am -- My parents got home after a final cleaning of the building. We visited (now that Thanksgiving and the wedding was over we could finally sit and talk) about how everything went.
1am -- Went to bed.
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Jake and Amy
The happy couple! |
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| Most of the grandkids got in except for the five babies. |
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I got to stand to stand by them.
Luckily my mom let me borrow her coat and I found a scarf in the closet. |
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| Mom and Jolynn with four of the boys. |
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| My two brothers -- Brent and Darren |
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| Me, my parents, the bride and groom and four other siblings. |
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| Six kids in my family. |
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My parents and Amy.
I liked the little bow on the side of her dress. |
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We stopped at the waterfall on the way back to the car.
Notice the cute bag I'm carrying.
It was a handmade birthday gift from Ashley. |
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| Annette and the cake. |
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| Ross in tuxedo with two babies! |
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| Darren, Jolynn and their 8 kids. |
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| Ross and I at the wedding party. |
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The babies did a lot of hanging out in the stroller.
Later they had fun playing in the nursery and Cousin Claire enjoyed hanging out in the stroller. |
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Hyrum and Caleb
All the young boys had matching bow ties and cumberbuns. |
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| That is a new necklace from my Grandma Erickson. |
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| The photographer left so I managed to take some cutting-the-cake pictures. |
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| Sisters! |
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| Mom and Sisters. |
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| We had fun!! |
Sunday, November 27th
6am -- Loaded in two cars for the airport. Couldn't find one of the babies fleece blankets. I bet it was in left in another car from when we got rescued before the reception. (We found out later we did.)
6:45am -- Checking in. Security with four kids is not fun, especially when you don't check any bags. It helped a lot that Allen and Abby didn't have to take their shoes off.
7:45am -- Ross told me he forgot to take the babies bottles out of the fridge. Allen and Abby, who were so helpful/cooperative/well-behaved (I was told that by many people), decided they were finally overtired decided to poke and bother each other. Our DVD players (that we thought were charged) didn't work. The babies didn't appreciate the fact that they had to sip milk from a milk carton, especially Emma who let the whole flight know she didn't like that.
11:45am -- (10:45 Utah time, we gained an hour) Arrived in Houston. We rode a train to terminal A. It brought back memories of riding the Metro in DC.
12pm -- Loaded on a mini plane. Our suitcases and stroller checked at the gate. We had a system of one person taking both babies and the diaper bag and one person carrying the other bags. Ross struggled getting our three bags on the plane to Houston. This time those items were checked so it was easier. The flight attendant saw me alone with the babies and Allen and Abby and got really worried. She lightened up when she saw my husband behind collapsing the stroller. Situating on a plane with twin toddlers is not easy. Lots of juggling, lots of looks (we most of really put on a show and I'm sure people weren't being critical, they were just curious) and lots of noise from our row. On the mini plane from Denver to SLC all infants have to ride on the right side of the plane because the extra air bag is only on the right side. So much for assigned seats, right? Luckily two people moved so our family could make a quadrant of two in front and two in behind in the back corner.
2:30pm -- We taxied in Houston for a long time. The "mosquito hum" in the propeller plane put Allen and Abby to sleep. We also waited in a line to take off. And when we landed at DFW we also coasted for a while. Both babies were screaming at the end. I thought I was doing great wearing glasses (my eyes burned too bad from lack of sleep from all the days before) with having a lap child and sometimes two if Ross needed both hands for something. Then at the end, while I stood up and we waited for the people in the aisle to move, Emma swiped and caught me off guard. Ross noticed a lens was missing and went back to check after we got all our people and stuff at the Jetway. They actually wouldn't let him back on to look (the people were going to) but luckily it was on the Jetway. After it happened, I walked up the blurred aisle and trying to not move (with twins in arms, right?) so if it was on my coat, or down the front of my dress I could find it. I walked out of the airport in a complete blur. I couldn't read any signs and it gave me a headache. I kept my eyes closed, and since I didn't have an active baby on my lap I fell asleep on the way home.
5pm -- A little bit of unpacking.
6pm -- The babies went to bed. Emma was actually falling asleep while chewing her dinner.
7pm -- After the kids got ready for bed, Ross put the Christmas tree together while I laminated our Thankful hands and started to gather up the Thanksgiving decorations.
8:15pm -- I went to bed last night when Ross left for home teaching. It's colder here than I thought so I even found our electric blanket. I was up at 9:30pm with a low blood sugar and then up again at 2am to feed Jane.
This morning when I went to wake Allen for school, he couldn't open his eyes. One of puffy and covered with discharged. Pink Eye! Perfect. I loaded up four kids to pick up Catherine Sawaya at the airport. I called the doctor and found out we don't need to make an appointment for pink eye, they just call in a prescription. Great. Still waiting for that. While the kids watch PBS kids (I don't want the kids playing and touching everything) and the babies sleep I'm going to see if I can straighten the house and put things away. The kids wanted to decorate the tree for Family Home Evening. I think I'm going to bed again tonight at 8pm.
Note to family in Utah: Even though it was short and events were crammed in, we had a great time and look forward to getting together again. Congratulations to Amy and Jake! We love you all (29) and miss you already!
