CALIFORN-I-A!!!

Hallelujah! We finally made it back to California! We have been talking for years (I kid you not) about making a trip to San Diego and Los Angeles to visit Andrew's family that lives on that side of the country. We had more frequent flier miles to burn and were still trying to decide if we should take the time and one day - surprise! We got a wedding invitation from our good friend Sam Woodard who was going to be getting married in the San Diego Temple. That tipped the scales and by that night, Andrew had our tickets booked and all other necessary arrangements made for our trip.

We left early in the morning on Thursday, February 28th to catch our flight. Amazingly I was able to pack all of my stuff and Madeleine's in one bag - a fact I am very proud of! Our flight was near perfection flying from Atlanta to San Diego - beautiful clear skies and the plane was definitely not full so we had a row to ourselves and a nice seat in the middle for Madeleine to play. She was terrific on that flight - slept for half of it and played the other half. We made it into San Diego, picked up our rental car and were anxious to make it to our first stop - In-N-Out Burgers. We stuffed our tummies and drove to Andrew's Aunt Janice's house in Vista. Andrew's Uncle Morris is the mayor of Vista and could not be any nicer - the politician stereotypes do not apply here! They were ready to receive us with open arms - we had a fabulous dinner (Andrew's aunts are seriously excellent cooks!) and I headed to Enrichment with Aunt Janice where I learned how to make jewelry with Sister Schlack (I loved her name :).

Friday we went to Oceanside to see the beach. Unfortunately it was not the sunny California weather we expected. It was overcast and chilly. However, that didn't stop the surfers - I think we counted 13 die hards out catching waves - what a blast it was to watch them perform! We walked on the pier and had another yummy burgers and fries meal at Ruby's at the end of the pier, it was delicious and definitely a unique spot!

Saturday was filled with the wedding. We had to be down at the temple at 10 AM for an 11 AM sealing because we needed to give instruction to Sam's brother who would be watching Madeleine in the waiting room. By the time they finally got the sealing (sealings are LDS temple weddings) done, we didn't make it out of the temple until 1:30 - it had to have been the longest wedding I have EVER been to. I felt so sorry for Sam's brother - I guess Madeleine had been a little fussy so when we came back he said, "I'm never babysitting ever again!". Whoops! It was another overcast, chilly day, but we were able to get some pictures in front of the San Diego Temple - which I might add is breathtaking especially when you are driving down the highway and see it pop-up, it is magnificent! Then on to the bridal luncheon and to the reception - by the end of the day we were exhausted, but we were so happy to be able to be there for Sam's special day.

Sunday we went to church with Andrew's aunt and uncle. I loved their ward, tons of old people with great names - like Snodgras - another favorite. It was fun to meet all the friendly Californians, but we were ready to get home for our feast! Aunt Janice had prepared quite the spread for us - roast beef, roast vegetables, homeade rolls, salad with a homeade vinegarette, fresh cooked green beans, homeade applesauce, and homeade mashed potatoes (am I forgetting anything?) - disgusting that I remember the food. To digress, I saw the funniest thing on SNL a couple of weeks ago, it said - The Food Network, it's like porn for fat people. This cracked me up because I am a Food Network junkie! As someone at church put it today - I am a foodie :) - I like that. Back on topic, Andrew's cousin and his wife and kids came down to spend the day with us - it was so much fun! Tommy and his wife Julie and kids were so much fun to get to know. Julie started making jewelry about 5 years ago and has now been featured on the red carpet and has some of her pieces worn on the Gene Simmons Show and The Millionaires Matchmakers Club (she's featured in the credits) it was cool to learn how she did it - I love success stories! They have a little Maddy too, so Maddy and Maddy were buds! I had to put Madeleine down for a nap and it was killing the girls, they kept wanting me to wake her up - not a prayer. We were so grateful for Aunt Janice and Uncle Morris and all they did for us, they had us poshed out at their house and had shown us such a great time. It was hard to pry ourselves away and head to our next destination - Aunt Laura's house.

Aunt Laura's house is fabulous, it is the perfect homey home. You feel so welcome while you are there it is great! That Sunday all her kids that live in Calfornia and their spouses and families came down for dinner and were anxiously waiting our arrival. We called after we left Aunt Janice's and said we were on our way; they were very happy and decided to hang around and wait for us to arrive. We were so glad they did! We got to see Andrew's cousin Jeffrey and his wife Alison and their cute boys and Jennifer and her husband Craig and kids as well as Jon and Janna. There was so much commotion and I loved it, we felt right at home. We spent some time catching up until we were all pooped and the kids were cranky and called it a night.

Monday we lazily got up, I walked with Aunt Laura, and then she made us a delicous breakfast of eggs, grits and bacon (I'm telling you, it is the life in California). Later we got packed up and drove to Jennifer's house to hang out. After another trip to In-N-Out, we put the kiddies down to nap and kept on chatting and Jennifer graciously gave me a trim. Can I say again how much I loved Andrew's cousins? I thought it was so funny because she mentioned that she will do lots of "weaves" for people - coming from Georgia, a weave means something totally different than it does in California. I had so much fun haning out with Jennifer, it made me really sad that we live so far apart. After the girls got up from their nap we went out looking at houses and it made me very thankful to live in Georgia where I can afford a home - I don't know how they do it there. We came home and made dinner and Janna and her guy friend came over and we talked and laughed until late.

Tuesday I was beginning to feel the repurcussions of my trip, I started to feel a little tired, but I wasn't going to let it get me down (yet). Andrew's Aunt Ginger and Uncle David came over, and it was so great to see them and to catch up. We wanted to see more of Aunt Ginger, but she was quite the busy-bee and had a ton of stuff going on that week so this is the only day we got to spend with her. If you know Andrew, he has problems staying still and was itching to get out of the house - I was exhausted and didn't want to go anywhere so he left me and went to his heaven on earth - REI. After a nice nap, Andrew came home and we spent a much deserved evening in watching TV and laughing with Janna and Jon. Janna was such a sweetheart and gave up her room so we had a nice place to rest our heads at the end of the day.

We were supposed to come home on Wednesday, but we decided we don't make it out this way very often (once a decade, maybe) so we decided to extend our trip a couple of days and changed our return to Friday. Andrew's mother and my grandfather grew up in Seal Beach and Long Beach and we wanted to scout out the areas where our family lived. We found the street where Andrew's mom lived about the time she met Andrew's dad. It was neat to see the area and spend time close to where she lived. Next we went to Long Beach and I was so looking forward to seeing where my grandfather lived. He was born in 1911 and moved to Long Beach before he was even a year old. What's even cooler is that he lived just a block off the ocean (man, I wish we owned that property today!), so we got to drive the street that he grew up on, the house is no longer there and the properties are so much closer together - but it was so fun. We also journeyed to the high school he went to. He attended the first year the school was opened in 1925 and it is still standing today - I took lots of pictures, and I was so excited to see where he learned. We then made our way back to Aunt Laura's because Jennifer was ready to show us the sights of downtown LA, Santa Monica and Malibu. We go to see the Los Angeles Temple where Andrew's parents were sealed, we drove up the coast to Malibu and up on Pepperdine's campus (which is to die for, incredible views - I have no idea how people learn in such a setting) - the campus is guarded by a gate but Jennifer sweet-talked the guard by saying, "We're totally from Georgia", hmmmm - not exactly southern dialect but the guard was none the wiser and let us in -, then up to the Santa Monica Pier and walked a couple of blocks to another REI, and it was worth the trip because I found a Leonidas Chocolatier - I used to work for a Belium-based company which my dear friends there would send me these delicious Belgian treats and I couldn't believe that I could get them in the U.S. As celebrity-crazed as I can be (Andrew calls it my smut TV, I love Entertainment Tonight) I wanted to see a celebrity and drive down Rodeo Drive and see the Kodak Theatre and stars on the street. No luck on the celebrity front, but we did get to see all the ridiculously priced stores and see the theatre and stars. I can only imagine what a "star" must think when they get their star in front of a convenience store or junk shop - do they even care? We finally made it back - tired, but fulfilled!

Thursday I crashed! I picked up a nasty illness which knocked the wind out of me. I had a fever and spent the whole day in bed. I was popping the Mucinex and Tylenol as religiously as I could without OD'ing - it was pretty miserable. Andrew left with Madeleine so I could get some good sleep and Aunt Laura was wonderful in taking care of me, she made me some delicious soup that was just perfect. Andrew traveled up through the canyons and ended up taking fabulous pictures of the views up there. When he made it back, my fever was finally beginning to break. Aunt Laura made her famous chocolate chip cookies which I was able to enjoy and spent the rest of the night hanging out watching TV - I was just so thankful that I was finally out of bed!

Friday we packed up and made our way back to the airport. I was ready to get to my own house to finish my recuperation, but I knew we would miss being with our family. We truly had such a fabulous time, Aunt Laura works circles around us - I would put a dirty bottle on the counter, and before I could look twice it was clean again. We had so much fun visiting with so many great cousins, it's hard that we live so far away. Our flight back was not nearly as smooth as our flight out. We flew out of LAX, but on a packed plane. However, we did get to sit next to a struggling actor, so I was able to cure my celebrity quest a little, even if so far he is a no-namer. Madeleine had finally had it - I think that the time change and being out of her environment and the exhaustion of our trip finally compiled. She wasn't terrible by any means, but she did not want to sit for very long. Upon our descent into Atlanta we had nasty, and I mean NASTY turbulence. Luckily the pilot had just put the fasten seat belt light on so we were all in our seats. It was so bad, I didn't feel like I could securely hold Madeleine so I gave her to Andrew to bear hug. I have flown a good bit, and have never been scared until that moment, I was terrified! Fortunately we out flew it and were able to safely land. Afterwards, I asked the flight attendant how that measured up in the turbulence she had experienced to which she replied that was the worst she has ever had - made me feel a little less like a wimp. Apparently a Luftstansa plane flying about the same time and same area that night had to have a few of their passengers hospitalitized because of turbulence injuries - we were very fortunate.

We were so happy to make it home and again we are so grateful to our family to make our trip so fantastic! Sorry for such a long and for some a boring post - I'm glad I have the details recorded so I won't feel guilty on my lack of journal writing. Now we've got to start shedding our California lbs!

Teeth - Finally!

I was beginning to wonder when we might see those first two pearly whites. I would check every couple of days with my finger and nothing! I even took Madeleine with me to my teeth cleaning (my dentist's office is fabulous!) to have them check - nothing! The pediatrician has checked her - nothing! When her glands were developing she was a constant drool machine and people would say - oh, she's teething! I knew better - no teeth!

Finally, we were in the airport about to board our flight to San Diego when I mentioned to Andrew I hadn't checked for her teeth and wondered what the progress was - mind you there were absolutely no symptoms of teething to make me think there would be anything there - no fever, no fussiness, no drool, no biting everything in sight, but lo and behold, I felt two little pearly buds. If it is even possible, they make her look even cuter!

Much Ado About Nothing!

February has been a whirlwind for me - seriously, where did the month go? We house/baby sat for some friends of ours and I've come to the realization that 1) I can handle 4 kids (at least for a week) 2) That I really like the fact that my life is not super scheduled - I'll enjoy it while I can! and 3) I'm going to have to up my tooth-fairy-playing game, it is hard! I loved Andrew's idea about keeping the tooth in a plastic zip-loc bag or otherwise the chance of the "tooth-fairy" finding that tooth would have been hopeless! Valentine's Day was filled with making and decorating heart-shaped cookies with the Torrez's.

I also hosted my bunco group at my house this past week. I love bunco - no, let me rephrase - I LOVE Bunco! I play with a fabulous group of women who crack me up and provide a great outlet. Since everyone in our group is fabulous cooks (including you Denise - I haven't experienced it yet, but I know you have it in you!) - so for our "prizes" this month I made a Bunco cookbook that everyone got. It started off as such a grand idea, little did I grossly underestimate my powers of procrastination. There I was, an hour before everyone was to arrive, printing pages and stuffing books. Not to mention my 3 hours of sleep the night before compiling and printing all the darn recipes. All in all, I think they turned out pretty darn good - if I do say so myself!

Madeleine couldn't be more of a cutie - I can say this because genetically she doesn't share my genes. She has so much personality and life and the joy she has and continually brings to our home is endless! As Andrew would say, "She has personality out the wazoo". She and Andrew crack me up when they start "talking" together - she sure does love her daddy. She is just at the brink of being able to crawl. She gets on all 4's and rocks - not quite understanding the concept of one knee in front of the other. I know it will make her a happier girl to get where she wants, but I will be sad that she is growing up. She loves to play - especially with other babies/kids. Just today we went over to a friend's house and Madeleine was laughing so hard at the little boy, I have a feeling she's going to be a little flirt! She loves to eat all kinds of foods, in fact, she really hasn't disliked anything I've given her. However, on a sad note... we said goodbye to her swings. She has started to lean so far forward that she just about flips out of it. I bought her big swing at a garage sale 4 years ago when we were just trying to conceive. It sat in our house unused for so long, so it is kind of surreal that my baby is to big for it now, sniff, sniff - somehow I'll live! I have to say, I am incredibly grateful that she is a great sleeper. She normally goes to bed around 9 - rarely, and I mean rarely gets up in the middle of the night and usually wakes up around 8. She then is up for about an hour or two (remember, I don't keep a strict schedule) and then she is down for a 1-2 hour nap, up again for about another 2 hours and takes another 2 hour nap and occasionally takes an additional hour nap in the early evening. The Lord knew what he was doing when he blessed us with this wonderful child! She loves to say "Hi, Dadda" and loves to trill her tounge (kinda like rolling her r's). I can't believe she'll be 7 months old this week!

So I've finished the Twighlight books and now I'm ready for "Breaking Dawn" to come out (it is the next book in the series, release date 8/2/08). Seriously, if you are looking for a great read, I highly reccomend these books. Seriously, Stephenie Meyer knew just the perfect way to write an entirely entertaining book. Hmm, what to hold me off until August?

Family Photo Shoot

Well, we made it through! We ended up arriving at the studio 2o minutes late - the story goes like this (don't listen to what Andrew says, this is the absolute truth!). I wanted to have Madeleine's little white hair bow, last time I saw it, it was in her car seat. Andrew swore however that it was not - so I'm completely frantic running around the house trying to find that hair bow (I was just about to cancel the session, this hair bow was that important :), never could find it so I'm like "Fine, she'll just do without!". We get there and it's right where I thought it was, in the carseat! We didn't even end up using it because they were so packed, apparently they double-booked our time slot so they were trying to rush us through. Last time I went I was able to do an infinite number of wardrobe changes, this time they told me, okay this will be the last outfit, I was bummed. Andrew was not making it any better, he kept going, yep, that's right we're done. I finally put my foot down when we were doing the family pictures. The photographer only had us in one pose and then said, okay, you're done! Andrew says, "Great! We're done!" To which I retorted, "Oh no we're not!" I don't get my husband dragged to one of these places very often, we're doing another pose. They should be very happy with us with the money we spent there, I know they were trying to keep everybody happy who was waiting and I know it wasn't the "norm" for them to act that rushed or else I would be really annoyed. All said and done, the pictures turned out adorable, I was completely thrilled with the end result, especially the blessing pictures - those I will always cherish.

*Disclaimer* I told them I did not like the fake scene (anybody seen the Olan Mills e-mail?) She said she would just take a few - what a waste, I didn't like them and it took more of my 'precious' time :)

I've Been Tagged!

Thanks Heather for keeping me honest in my resolution!

Anyway, here's how this one works...

A. The rules of this game are posted at the beginning.

B. Each player answers the question about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, and then leaves a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog to get the directions.

What I was doing 10 years ago...

I was at Ricks College having the time of my life! My last post showed my mini roommate reunion while I was in Utah. The great thing about Rexburg, ID is that it is a bubble society, and you are literally in the middle of nowhere so you create your own fun. At our little "reunion" I was reminded of our virgin margarita parties, bonfires at the sanddunes, trips to the large metropolis of Idaho Falls and even larger Pocatello, pranks like the campus campout (we so largely convinced the student body of a campout on the campus that they had to make postings and announcements that there was no such thing!!!), dances (MORP, Inaugural Ball - for President Bednar, and Preference), all sorts of snow activites (tubing was my favorite!), and I was doing all this while taking 19 credits to graduate that spring! Such a crazy fun time with very fond memories.

5 Things on my "to-do" list today:

Since this is just before midnight my "plans" for tomorrow include:

1. Finish my marketing projects for Lorna's Bridal & Formalwear (my mom's modest formalwear shop). I've almost got my projects finalized, now time to work with the printer. We were having some software problems with the printer so hopefully they will be resolved tomorrow. I love being able to keep my marketing skills sharp while being home with Madeleine. This is my flyer I've designed... (feel free to pass this along to your friends :)

2. Get prepared for our family photo shoot. We have our appointment for Madeleine's 6 month pictures and I've coerced Andrew to come along so we can take a family photo. I'm beyond excited because he is not easy about pictures (I hear grumbling everytime the camera comes out - "Do we really have to have this photo to remember this experience?" - YES WE DO!!!). They are going to think I'm absolutely cuckoo because I'll have Madeleine's picture taken in both her sealing and her blessing dresses - every girl needs two - right?

3. Another step to prepare for the photo shoot is to get some much needed laundry done (Heather, I feel your pain!). I don't quite have 5 loads, but I'm learning that solid foods creates needs for more wardrobe changes (which translates into more laundry!).

4. Check on my book order. Anyone into the Twighlight Series? I picked up Twighlight by Stephanie Meyers at the Liahona on Friday and devoured it in one night! I haven't been a big reader lately because of Madeleine, but this one is such a guilty pleasure it's like mind candy. After completing it I jumped on Amazon and ordered the next 2 books in the series (the library had like 47 holds on the book - I wouldn't get it for weeks!). I'm anxious to start the next one so I need to see when it will be coming in.

5. My least favorite task for tomorrow that I've been putting off is to clean off the stairs. For some reason the stairs become a clutter trap at my house - I think it is because of it's close proximity to the door. I have a major mental block when it comes to keeping the clutter off the stairs, but I promised Andrew it would be done yesterday :).

3 of my bad habits:

1. Clutter - I have the hardest time getting rid of something if I think I could possibly use it at a later date.

2. Shopping - Madeleine has just fed my addiction. I love the treasure hunt.

3. Procrastination - I think I am the textbook example. My favorite memory on my procrastination was when I was in high school and I had the science teacher completely snowed over. When were supposed to turn in our science fair projects (I hate science and I avoided it like the plague), I had nothing! So I gave the teacher my excuse that I didn't like my original topic and she agreed to let me extend the due date for an additional month. Of course the very day before it was due I found myself up late at night finishing the project. This was right when word processing was becoming more popular so I typed my report with size 24pt font - double spaced. I ended up not getting docked for a late project, and even better - the teacher gave me EXTRA CREDIT for having more pages in the report than the other students!!!

Places I've Lived:
Stone Mountain, Lawrenceville, Loganville, & Athens, GA, Rexburg, ID, & Salt Lake City, UT

Things most people don't know about me:
I make weird faces in the mirror while getting ready - Elsa says I'm mad at myself :)

I love children's books - my favorites are: "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs", the Madeline books (big surprise), anything Dr. Seuss, the Little Miss and Little Mr. books, and the Sweet Pickles series.

I never completely finished my wedding thank yous - something I always regret (if you didn't get a thank you from me I really did appreciate your gift!)

We might be adopting another baby this summer - 2 babies under 12 months - come on I waited 4 years didn't I? Not a definite, so we'll wait and see what happens.

I tag:

Kerri, Anne, Kayleen, Kim, & Elsa

New Year's Resolution...

After enduring much "you need to update your blog more often" I have decided my New Year's Resolution will be to post updates more frequently - we'll see how that goes!

I really would have written sooner in the month, but I have just returned from being out of town where my computer access was very limited.

First, we had a wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve with our Opp Family at the Chinese restaurant and as unorthodox as that is it was an absolute blast! It's fun when no one has to worry about cooking or cleaning. We had the missionaries with us and one of the Elders is Alan Osmond's sons (from the Osmond Brothers) and no he wasn't on the Oprah special because he was on his mission (I hear that question a lot!). After dinner we got a guitar in his hands and man he could play! Then later on that night we got home and I spent until the wee hours of the morning wrapping presents. The next day we woke up and got Madeleine up (actually I believe she got us up). We said a little prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the birth of our Savior and Andrew went downstairs to turn on the Christmas lights and to see if Santa had come - HE DID! So Madeleine got to play with all the toys that Santa had brought her - a johnny jumper, a new piano, teddy bear, mirror, new bibs, a bunch of little rattles and plush toys and her big present - a Fisher Price Laugh and Learn House that she'll get to really enjoy over time. She acted so excited every time she got to play with a new toy - almost like she really knew what was going on (at least that's our story and we're sticking to it!!!). We then packed up all our other presents and headed over for a Mills Family Christmas celebration which included a yummy breakfast with dad's homeade biscuits, opening lots (and I mean LOTS) of presents, and watching several movies (my brother Ryan bought my parents a home theater projection system - it was awesome!). We thoroughly enjoyed this Christmas holiday.

We celebrated our five year wedding anniversary two days after Christmas by having Madeleine sealed to us as a family (A sealing is - An ordinance performed in the temple eternally uniting a husband and wife, or children and their parents - you can find out more at Mormon.org). It was such a special day! Who knew that five years previous our lives would have been blessed by that experience. Madeleine smiled the whole time, like she knew what was happening. Afterwards we celebrated at Andrew's parents with my Cafe Rio concoctions - everybody left stuffed!

Madeleine has been growing leaps and bounds and the most exciting thing is that she can sit! I just tried it one evening while wondering what she would do - she sat marvelously until she would teeter to one side and fall. That has been a big thing as she is able to sit and play with her toys and bounce a little as she does. She has also started to shake her head like no - it's pretty darn cute, but drives Andrew crazy! She loves to laugh and smile and is thankfully a very good-natured happy little girl. We're working on the solid foods and we've found she really likes carrots and squash she'll even eat the whole jar!

It has really felt like we've been gone most of the month of January - which we sort of have! We took a nice little vacation out west to Utah and Idaho to ski and visit family and friends. When we arrived in Salt Lake it was white with snow and cold! Andrew and I ended up taking separate flights - he let me take the direct flight with his Delta ff miles (so I could take Madeleine) and he took a Frontier flight with a connection through Denver. We arrived within a little over an hour of each other picked up our rental car and we were off! First stop was to drop off the skis to get tuned up and ready to go and then we went to lunch to - where else - Cafe Rio! I have to say my recipes are pretty darn close to the originals which made me pretty happy - it was good! We checked into our hotel and my old roommate Kim was in town visiting her family and stopped by with her cute little girl - Addy (yep, so there was Addy and Maddy). It was so fun to see her again.

That night we went to see Emily (Andrew's sister) and our nieces Gracie and Megan.

The next day we made the mistake of attempting to ski. It was absolutely a mess! Our first clue should have been when we couldn't drive up into the canyon because it required snow chains or 4 wheel drive so we attempted to take the bus up there. We waited over an hour for a bus to finally pick us up and we were packed in like sardines! We finally made it up the ski resort (we ski Alta) but the bus dropped us off at the wrong end so we had to take the wretched rope tow to the other side - I thought I was going to die! Oh and I should also mention that it was like an absolute BLIZZARD up there! After all that we ended up skiing down only once, the visibility was so bad you couldn't see but a few feet in front of you making it difficult to see if you are about to ski off a cliff, definitely not my favorite. As I was skiing down, I went off into a major snow bank and got completely buried!!! I thought I was just on top of the snow but as I tried to pry myself up, I was quite a bit deeper! Losing your skis in deep powder is quite exhausting and I was beat! We later learned that Alta got 25" of snow that day - no wonder!

Luckily Emily was able to watch Madeleine for us (Big thanks to Emily and Spencer) and even though we were the concerned parents, Madeleine was so happy to spend some time with her cousins she almost seemed disappointed when we came home she was having so much fun playing!

We decided the next day we were going to go up and see Temple Square. It is so beautiful there I absolutely love it and never seem to tire of it. Later that day we went swimming in the frigid indoor hotel hot tub, but it was still fun!

Then of course we had to do some shopping! Andrew loved the REI in Utah - quite a bit bigger then the one's we have in Georgia. Plus we were able to go to Deseret Book, get some Lion House rolls, go to Downeast Outfitters and hit a nice Old Navy Sale! Emily and Spencer took us to this really great BBQ place and somehow was able to convince the waitress that it was both Andrew's and Emily's birthdays for the mud pie (they said they were twins - big laugh!).

We also attempted skiing again and we hit the jackpot! It was gorgeous! Beautiful sunny skies with occaisional snow through the sun, fresh powder with some groomed trails we had such a nice day skiing.

That night we drove down to Orem and got to have a mini Ricks Reunion with my roommates and friends from my second year at Ricks. It was so fun to see everybody and to laugh at old pictures - thanks to all who took the time to attend and for they pictures and a big thanks to Melissa for hosting us and pulling it together!

We also got to spend some time with one of Andrew's old missionary companions Elder Perry and his family. We celebrated by going to (can you guess?) Cafe Rio!

Andrew then left to come back home to work and I ended up extending my trip and drove to Idaho to stay with my Aunt Susan who lives in Idaho Falls. Andrew was so worried about me on the drive up and I kept thinking - give me a break, I've lived out here for 3 years - I know how to drive in the snow! So I dropped him off at the airport and started my journey north. All was smooth sailing until I hit the Malad Pass - holy cow! It was a complete white out with drifting snow, I couldn't see past the hood of my car. I would be lying if I didn't say I was terrified! The speed limit was 75 mph and I was going like 30! Luckily I made it through and as I drove further north the roads were no longer a problem - I seriously thought I would be staying up there until spring! It was so much fun to stay with my Aunt Susan and to spend some time with her and my Aunt Sherry and to see and spend time with lots of cousins up there.

One thing I was really excited about was getting to go back to Rexburg to see the new temple. My trip just so happened to coincide with the open house of this new temple so we were able to go on a full tour - it was absolutely breathtaking. Right when I walked in to the chapel for the open house I ran in to a counselor from my old bishopric when I was up at Ricks (Brother Southerland) it was nice to see a familiar face and even after 10 years be recognized!

That same night we went to a restaurant I had always wanted to go to while I was at Ricks, The Loft (now the name has changed, but I was still very excited). All of my Aunt Susan's kids and their spouses (or significant others) and grandchildren and my Aunt Sherry and Uncle Will and my cousin Emily's little girl Bailey were all able to attend. It was so special to be able to spend an evening with family I don't get to see very often - I was so thankful that I was able to see everyone.

Also while I was in Idaho my old roommate Renae (from my 1st year at Ricks) came up with her little girl Marinn (who was adorable!). I hadn't seen Renae since Elsa's wedding 7 years ago.

That same day it snowed like 2 feet in Idaho Falls and I was to be leaving the next morning early - I was terrified! Luckily the Lord heard my prayers and I made it back down without incident - the Malad Pass wasn't even bad. I made it to the airport somehow was able to carry my four bags and push Madeleine in her stroller, amazingly I made it to our terminal. The flight home went without incident until we made it into Atlanta. I gate checked her stroller and car seat in Salt Lake and in Atlanta, unfortunately only the stroller showed up - I was livid! The airline gave us a crummy replacement and the witchy agent in baggage services said it should show up in five days (yea right!). I was tired and exhausted but very thankful to make it back home. I have to say, I was getting a little homesick. We will definitely miss our family and friends, Cafe Rio, and yummy Arctic Circle shakes! Thanks again to everyone who made it such a wonderful trip, we truly had a great time, definitely a good vacation to remember!