Utah

When we were done in Arizona we decided we just hadn't had enough of the car yet. ;) So we went home via Utah. We got in the car around 8:30 at night and drove the 10 or 11 hours up to Utah through the night. It wasn't the funnest, but really wasn't bad. We never heard from Tatum, she slept the entire time, so I guess that was a plus. 

Our first stop was Rex and Jennifer's (Brennan's dad and step mom). We wasted no time since we didn't have a lot it and headed to the Dinosaur Museum that morning. Tatum was a little shy and clingy at first but she got better by the end.

Grandma Jennifer definitely won some points by building giant towers with Tatum.

Besides that first play room the museum was a little over Tatum's head but we still had a great time.

I figured she would love this sand and water area with buried dinosaurs but she was just being too shy and scared. She cried when Brennan made her touch the sand haha. But after the room cleared out (it was pretty packed when we got there) she did play for awhile.

After the museum we went to get some lunch at Chili's and see Jentri. Later that afternoon we walked across the street to visit Brennan's grandparents. His Grandpa just got the shingles vaccine and was told to keep his distance from kids. I think he was pretty disappointed to not be able to interact with the kids more. His Grandma held Declan, though, and received a nice amount of vomit on her lap in return. And she gave Tatum a copy of a book she illustrated and Tatum still will open it to the back and point to her picture and say "Grandma". There were lots of new people for Tatum to meet and lots of new grandmas, I'm sure it must be confusing.

Photo cred on this one goes to Tatum. :) She thought it was pretty neat to take pictures of everyone in the room.

The next day we spent some time with Nathan and his family and went to Libbie's soccer game. On Thursday we headed up to Salt Lake. I took the kids to the children's museum with Marci, Wyatt and Finn while Brennan worked. Tatum and Wyatt played incredibly well together. It was nice to not have to worry about her pushing! Although...I guess I have to take that back. She did attempt to push Finn a few times but luckily he was able to hold his own.

After the museum we hung out at Caleb and Marci's house for the rest of the day. Brennan went out with Tatum and the boys for a snowball fight in the fresh snow.

Gavin was pretty cute with Declan. He kept hanging around wherever he was and I was pretty sure he wanted to hold him. I think I even heard him ask once but it was so loud I couldn't tell if that's what he had said and he didn't hear me ask him. Finally, just before bed he got his chance. Of course when we asked he had to act like he really didn't care one way or the other. ;) It was pretty cute.

On Friday Brennan and I ran a few errands and then just hung around at Nathan and Stacy's house. Tatum thought she and Claire were best buds. Claire was good to humor her.

And Brennan was good at helping to wind up Jaren. :) Here they are waiting for some toy to fall off the ceiling that they threw up there. I'm scared for life around our house when Declan is older.

Speaking of Declan,  here's the cutie himself. Is there anything cuter than baby yawn pictures?

Or smiles?

Friday night all of the adults (plus Tyce and Declan) got to out for dinner. Libbie was nice enough to watch Tatum for us in addition to her four brothers and sisters. We went to a place in downtown Provo called Station 22. They are known for their chicken and waffles and that's what I got. It was delicious! And thanks to Marci we got a rare group shot!

Saturday brought the whole reason for our detour through Utah. Nathan and Stacy's adoption of Tyce was finalized, so they were able to have him sealed to them in the temple. It was great to be able to be there on such an important day for their family. I had never been to a family sealing like that and it was a neat experience. And we are so happy to have Tyce in our family forever now! Congratulations to their family! Pretty good looking bunch.

Saturday night brought wind and snow to Utah and Wyoming so we delayed our departure by a few hours. A few times. We ended up leaving Sunday morning around 8. The goodbye was no easier than it has ever been. Why do we all live so far apart again? I couldn't tell you. The first few hours of our drive were slow and scary. And there were a few more scary hours later on. Luckily dad was willing to drive during all the scary times and we made it home safe and sound. But it definitely felt like the longest drive of my life. Mostly due to the fact that this little guy decided he had had enough of the car. Little stinker.

Unfortunately, we did not arrive home to find our home safe and sound. We had bitter cold temps while we were gone and some crazy wind. The door between our house and garage blew open which may or may not have contributed to breaking our water heater. So at 4 in the morning we were welcomed home by soaking carpet and no hot water to shower and bathe in. It was a long week as we worked to figure out what to do. We finally decided it wasn't salvageable and figured out exactly which water heater we needed to get. Brennan went to pick it up with Tatum while Declan and I went to a baby shower. Turns out it was too long for our van so he had to tie the back down. And then the power steering went out. So we drove 30 miles home with a very pricey water heater sticking out the back, bitterly cold winds whipping through our car, and no power steering. It was quite a drive. But we (slash my dad) got it installed and have never been more grateful for hot water. We also got our van fixed. It was a long and stressful first week home. Not quite how we pictured it. But isn't that how life usually goes? We just got our water bill from the time we were gone so now we know the full extent of the damage and can work on getting over it. :)