So this year we were able to take a trip back out to Utah together. Kellen hasn't been back since we moved to Michigan in June of 2007 (I've been back twice for 2 weddings and a baby), but we figured we probably won't have 16 days off together again for quite awhile. It was especially neat since we were able to take baby Shade with us. We were pretty apprehensive about travelling with him (especially since he started out hating his car seat), but he actually did amazingly well. He only got fussy a couple of times in the car, and only as we were getting close to our destination. And he even did really well meeting a bunch of new people and having a new environment almost every day. He was awesome!
TRIP MILESTONES
I wanted to start out with what Shade learned in the short 2 weeks we were gone. He had his first real laugh in Chicago with his uncle Derek. Neither Kellen nor I were there, but there were many witnesses :) He did give us some more laughs during the trip, once when I told hime it was time to go to sleep. We have yet to capture that on film. He also started smiling more and he started "talking," the day after Christmas at Kellen's dad's house. We have a short clip of one of his conversations:
(Note his shirt and the object above his head, total coincidence)
SHADE'S SMILES
We started out heading for Chicago on the eve of Dec. 19th after the big storm dropped 10" of snow in Michigan. Luckily, the roads were pretty well taken care of by then. We made it there with no problems and got a good night's sleep. Then, we left the next evening (Shade sleeps well at night so we figured it would be best to travel at night) for Salt Lake. The first few hours of travel were technically storm-free but there was a terrible wind that was blowing all of the newly fallen snow across the road often making it impossible to see where the lanes were supposed to be. Luckily, we made it without any trouble. In Nebraska we stopped for gas and it was -3 degrees with a 45mph wind. I got nervous then, that if our car were to break down, we could possible freeze to death within a matter of minutes. But again we made it to our destination without any trouble. Kellen and I switched off driving and went through about 4 Mountain Dews :)
Chicago Cousins
UTAH
When we first got into Salt Lake, the first thing we did was call up my sister Teresa and head out for some decent Mexican food, at the Blue Iguana. Cafe Rio was closed, but we hit that the next day with Kellen's two sisters Janica and Genessee.
Cafe Rio
Salt Lake City Temple
THE AFA'S
We spent the first couple of nights with Kellen's sister Janica Afa and her 3 kids. She recently had a baby in May who weighed barely under 4lbs and is now 7 months old and an adorable chubby baby. Her name is Anela. Then she has two older kids Gerry and Ariana. We got to spend Christmas Eve with them, which is when they celebrated their Christmas since Janica and her husband had to work on Christmas Day.
Shade & Anela
Presents
Laser Tag
Cousins
Gerry's Balloon
WILSON'S
We then got to spend Christmas with Kellen's dad, so Shade got to meet his Grandma and Grandpa Wilson. We wanted to leave to Ely on Saturday the 27th but ended up staying there until Sunday due to a snow storm that dropped over 6" of snow. I was hoping to get away from the snow. Crazy.
Grandma Wilson
Grandpa Wilson
Three Generations
Great Grandma & Grandpa Paul
Deceptive "Mad" Face
ELY, NEVADA
We made it to Ely again without any problems and stayed with my sister Cristi and her 3 boys, along with my brother Doug and his family and my sister Jenny and her boyfriend. We had a big Christmas dinner the first night we were there at my dad's house. My sister Pam and her fiance stayed with my dad. So other than Teresa's family and my mom, we were all there. It was pretty nice. While there, we got to see my dad's pig they are raising to eat (they already chopped up the beefalo they had), Shade got to see a real horse, dog, and cat, and we got to see my dad give a talk in church. The day we left was New Year's Eve. My littlest sister Pam got married that day. It was a cute and simple wedding. Their "reception" was a simple party at my dad's with lots of fun foods Cristi and Marc like to make for New Year's every year.
My dad's sister Cherise and her husband stopped by for the wedding on their way back to California after my cousin's wedding in Utah. She also has a son named Shadrach. He is older than me though. So we got ready to leave after everyone left to go to work or go swimming at a nearby hotel and realized we didn't have our keys! We spent almost an hour looking for those things, they just got covered by some half-empty plates of food in the normal chaos of the party. But it put us back about an hour and we didn't get back to Salt Lake until 3:00 am.
Granma & Grandpa Roundy
Pam's & Andy's "Wedding Cake"
Pam Learning about the Honeymoon
The Stocks-Wentworths
Cousins
Marcos & Samantha
Meeting a Horse
Taking out the Trash
Roundy Family
UTAH #2
The next morning we had plans to see Kellen's mom and older brother Jaime before we left to go back to Chicago. My grandparents were actually in Provo because of my cousin's wedding and my grandpa's son Mark was down visiting from Canada. We really wanted to see them and let them meet Shade, so we made the trip down there before we left as well. It was great to see them again, my dad's other sister Chirley and some of my Arnold cousins that I haven't seen for many years. After visiting with them for a few minutes we finally hit the road to Chicago. Only this time we forgot to take a nap before we went on the 24 hour trek...
Grandma & Grandpa Nikolaus
Uncle Jaime
Great Grandma & Grandpa Davis
Grandma & Shade
Arnold & Davis Cousins
WINTER QUARTERS
We were able to make an extra stop on our way home to visit the Temple at Winter Quarters. That is where many of the pioneers of the LDS Church beginning were driven to in the winter due to persecution and many died. The missionary of the Visitor's Center said they have almost 400 confirmed buriels and many that were not marked.
Pioneer Cemetary
Winter Quarter's Temple
THE FINAL LEG
We got to Chicago Friday night around 10pm local time and I went straight to bed. Kellen had to watch the U of U game first (they won!). We spent the afternoon with the Curtis' and then made the final stretch home. We got home about 11 pm our time. It was such a LOOOOOOONG trip and I think we actually ended up bringing home more stuff than we brought out there to give away (thanks everyone!). Anyway, even though I am glad to be home again, it was a WAY awesome trip, and I am glad that we were able to do this. With my upcoming schooling and our current finances, I don't know if we will be able to do this again for quite awhile. So we will try to keep up on our blog :)
We miss the Mountains!
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