Baby loving + Spring Break.

So much to cover, so little time.

It's been a long two weeks since I've been home, and here I am trying to capture the memories on my first day back. I'm pretty sure it will take a couple of days to complete, but no better time to start than the present, right?? I may as well start getting my pictures {endless pictures} added, then I can add my ever-so-brief commentary {wink}.

Sunday, March 11th.
I flew to SLC. I honestly can't remember the last time I traveled via airplane, so it almost felt like I never had before. Seriously. I was flying Southwest, and they had a new fandangled check-in process, which, if Billy-my-hero hadn't come into the airport with me, I might have NEVER figured out. I'm that dumb.

The main reason for my trip was to spend time with this little guy and his mama.

I may overload a bit on the pictures, here, but there's nothing closer to heaven than these new little souls. I can't help myself.

I had only been at Lex's house for an hour or two when I got a call from Lo. She was headed to the emergency room. She had been experiencing a myriad of crazy-sick symptoms and felt like she was going to die. Good thing her mamita was in town to give her comfort and support.

(She is NOT going to be happy that I posted this pic, but it's all I got. Don't worry, Shi, I can verify that hardly anyone will ever see this haha!)

After an IV and some anti-nausea meds, Lo was sent home with her ever-so-supportive husband. Thanks, Kody, for taking such good care of my girl!

I headed back to Lex and Jase's, where I got to sleep in this adorable room (don't worry, I didn't sleep in that adorable bed haha).

Monday, March 12th.

Mine and Bill's 30th wedding anniversary.
We celebrated via Facebook (as should EVERYONE haha),
and through a video call later that day.

Emmett's due date.

I just can't get enough.

(Think Erasure and the 1980's... that's what's going through my head right now.)

Tuesday, March 13th

Britt's birthday.
Austin had invited everyone over that evening. Since they had been sick over at their house, Lex, Jase, and Emmett elected to stay home. But that didn't stop us from dressing that baby up for a run to the store.

I, however, DID make the trip to Britt's to wish my lovely eldest daughter a happy birthday.

She was still feeling a bit under the weather, and couldn't even blow hard enough to get the candles out (plus she was trying to prevent the spread of those nasty germs).

Scarlett and her posse came to the rescue and blew them out.

Wednesday, March 14th

Bathtime for Emmett.
This granny isn't scared to put that boy in the bathtub.

Emmett enjoyed it, too, although he couldn't get completely submerged due to an intact umbi cord (which, btw, literally fell off within hours of his bath). 

Is this baby not delicious??

That evening was Mar's choir concert, which Bill {again} attended for both of us.

Thursday, March 15th

Grandma and Grandpa Great Goldsberry visit.
Afterwards they take me to a belated birthday lunch.

I need to mention that Lex has taken to mothering like a pro.
I'm so impressed.
It is such a joy to see my children become parents.

Friday, March 16th

Britt, Scarlett, and Ellis come for lunch.

Little Billy and Mauri make the long trip from Colorado.

Meeting cousin Ellis for the first time... he's looking like such a big guy all of a sudden haha.

And meeting Auntie M for the first time.

I think she's in love.

Snoozing with Little Billy is always fun, too.

Saturday, March 17th

St. Patrick's Day
(I didn't have a single green thing, but we're not Irish anyway haha)

Family Fun Day.

Since my original plan to get together at a park was thwarted by bad weather, we went bowling instead. Bill and I got a good laugh when we arrived at the bowling alley we had selected through a brief online search. It was rated fairly high, and seemed to be in the right proximity to Leatherby's (where we were going to eat afterwards). We realized that we had probably driven by that little bowling alley a million times in the years we lived in the West Valley/Kearns area. We had never really noticed it before. And trust me, it wasn't new. It was, however, the perfect place for our little family gathering, as it was very vintage (so cool, right?) and was not as busy and loud as the more modern bowling facilities we have frequented over the years.

Emmett stayed nice and cozy and out of reach in his covered car seat.

Ellis made the rounds, though!

Despite the big smile on Lo's face, she was still struggling with the crazy-sick. She was such a good sport to endure feeling like death so she could spend time with the fam.

Because Lo was still feeling crazy-sick, she and Kody bowed out of our Leatherby's stop.

This place was still just as crowded as ever, but I had been craving it for a long, long time. I could wait a few minutes for a table haha.

Scarlett ordered every child's dream ice cream... the bubble gum kind.

And Mar and I split this baby (and shared with everyone else at the table).

It was everything I had been craving AND SOME.


Sunday, March 18th
Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Great Goldsberry's.
Bill, Mar and I relocated to their house as well, since I had been feeling the onset of something ugly (like the crazy-sick), and didn't want it to spread to Lex, Jase, or Emmett.

I should have snapped a few more pictures, but it was a lovely, low-key evening where we all had time to relax and visit.

Monday, March 19th
Prom dress shopping with the sisters.
Little Billy babysits Emmett.

Since Mar was HOPING to get asked to Prom, I figured it would be a good time and place to shop for a dress or two. It was so fun to have Britt (and Scarlett/Ellis) and Lex come and help Mar look. We took TONS of pics that day, but this is the only dress I have on MY phone, so it's all you get. We ended up getting this one, plus another, since Mar felt there was a good chance she could get asked to two different proms.
(Update: she was asked to DC's prom this past Saturday. She's still crossing her fingers for CV's.)

Little Billy got to give Emmett his first bottle (which he took like a champ) and did such a great job caring for this precious babe. Once Jason got home from work, though, he was a bit of a baby-hog. Can't blame a dad for that, right??

Tuesday, March 20th
Jordan River Temple tour with Britt, Scarlett, and Ellis.
A drive to St. George.
Lots and lots of Hamilton.
Cove Fort.

I was so excited that we would be in Utah for the Jordan River Temple Open House.

Bill and I were in the Jordan River Temple district for the first 13 years of our marriage, so it is very likely our second most frequented temple. It felt like home for so many years. We even ran into some old, old friends from our Westpoint Ward duplex days. Wow. That was a blast from the past.

I loved going with Mauri and Scarlett and talking about the different rooms in the temple. It was beautiful.

After a quick lunch with Britt, Bill, Mar and I headed down south to St. George, listening to Hamilton (the clean version) per Mar's request, the entire way. (I will likely remember this trip as "the Hamilton trip," reminiscent of my Joseph-and-the-Amazing-Technicolor-Dreamcoat trips to CA when the kids were small.)

We decided to stop at Cove Fort, since it had been years since Bill and I had been there.

We enjoyed the movie and tour by our senior missionary guide, who had been serving there only a week. Bill and I decided it would be a lovely place to serve a mission.

Despite the smile on MY face, I, at this time, had been caught by the crazysickness and had been coughing up a lung for a day or two. I tried my best not to spread any germs, and tried diligently to NOT cough in the presence of others, but I was definitely feeling it.
I may or may not have cried a few tears of pity once we got back into the car and continued on to St. George.

Wednesday, March 21st

Zion's National Park Day.

We were hoping to have summer-like weather in St. George, but discovered that Wednesday was going to be the only good weather day, so we HAD to do Zion's that day.

We didn't leave until late morning. Had we planned our trip better, we would have arrived much earlier in the day. We waited in a long line for the shuttle as Bill and I reminisced about the last time we had visited the park 20 years before. No shuttle back then.

It was still as breathtaking as ever, though, despite the lengthy standing-room-only shuttle ride and the fact that I was STILL coughing up a lung, and Bill and Mar were both starting to feel the crazysickness coming on.

We selected an advanced hike. Don't ask me why. We did not, however, select the Angel's Landing hike due to the length, THANK HEAVENS. I may have died. As it was, I had to forego going to the top of this hike (can you see Bill and Mar in the pic below?) because I was feeling nauseous and light headed. Good call, I'd say. As I patiently waited on a ledge for Bill and Mar, my phone rang. It was Lex, asking a quick question about Emmett. I didn't have the help she needed, but I thought it was quite funny that I could receive her call high up on a ledge of a mountain in the heart of Zion's.

The good news: we I survived.

We were staying with a good friend of ours from the Legend Ward, who had so kindly offered to have us. Thanks, Sue Sue, you're the best!!


Thursday, March 22nd
Cedar City Temple Baptisms.
The worst Mexican food I've ever had.
The Family History Center.

Since the St. George Temple was closed for cleaning, we made the trip up north to the Cedar City Temple to do baptisms for some family names. I was excited to see this new temple, too!
It was a very VERY cold, blustery day... perfect for staying indoors.

Afterwards we drove back to St. George, changed, then went looking for food and fun. Don't ask my WHY we decided to go to this particular Mexican restaurant. I didn't even check for ratings, which is so not like me. We were just hungry, and Mexican sounded good. I was so so disappointed. Definitely learned a lesson there: Just because it's called The Green Iguana, and most of the Red/Blue/Green Iguana restaurants you have previously attended have been GOOD, doesn't mean it will be good.

Afterwards we went to the new Family History Center, per Sue Sue's suggestion. Britt had told us about a similar center that is in Lehi. It was fun and informative. We loved it.

Friday, March 23rd
Back through Zion's, on to Bryce Canyon.
A quick hike.
A long drive.
Stuck in Vail.

We headed home to Colorado on Friday because Bill and I planned to attend the temple with one of his co-workers, who was going through for her first time on Saturday. We decided to take our time, and take the scenic route back through Zion's and over to Bryce Canyon.

We ran into every kind of weather possible. Except for summer. We never found summer over this break haha.

We decided to do one of the shorter hikes in Bryce Canyon, just to make our $30 entrance fee worth it, AND to stretch our legs a bit before the long drive home. It also was breathtaking.

Once we were back on the road, our navigation took us on a long, lonely, double-lane back road FOR HOURS. I actually love those kinds of drives. We ran into these open range cows.

BUT, I think Bill was getting nervous that we were going to run out of gas before finding any sign of civilization, and I was dang hungry, since I had skipped breakfast that morning. FINALLY we made our way onto I-70 right before Green River, just in the nick of time for gas and food. After our quick stop, we were ready to rumble the rest of the way home... until we got to Vail.
The freeway had been closed just 30 minutes prior to our getting there due to treacherous driving conditions, so we were stuck. For 5 1/2 hours.
We went to Safeway.
We watched a movie in our car in the Safeway parking lot.

Then we drove to Walmart, and slept in the car for a couple of hours while the most ginormous snowflakes EVER kept falling. Finally, around 1:50am, we woke up, checked the local weather station, found out the freeway had opened back up, and got back on the road.

Saturday, March 24th
We pulled into our driveway around 4:30am.
Thanks, Billy-my-hero, for driving like a... hero {wink}.

Bill {heroically} got up at 8am to attend the temple that morning.
I did not.

I'm still trying to recover from the crazysickness.
Nae and Evie were sick all last week, too.
So much snot around here, I can't wait for it to stop.
Aaannnnndddd.... it's snowing.
Hello, Spring.

A big birthday + a baby.

I'd better at least get started on this post, or it might get lost in all the busyness. I don't have time to finish now, but maybe I can piecemeal it here and there and get it posted before I head back to UT in a few days. (That, btw, will be trip #3 so far this year.) I will try to keep the commentary to a minimum. 

Lunch with one of my besties, Marci.

Dream Pastries in Castle Rock. Yum.

I was just leaving for lunch when Lex called and said she was in the hospital and had her epidural. The baby was coming today!! I had told her for several weeks that I had hoped he'd come on my birthday... and he did! The best 50th Birthday gift a Gigi could get!

Bill and Nae worked all afternoon on dinner, and I was showered with beautiful flowers, thoughtful gifts, and kind birthday wishes from my amazing family and friends.

Scarlett performed a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday, which couldn't have been sweeter.

That evening Bill, Mar and I attended Legend's musical Into the Woods.

I was completely unfamiliar with this play. I think I had started watching it on DVD a while back (the star-studded one that came out a few years ago), and never made it through the first few scenes, so I didn't quite know what to expect. Can I just say it wasn't quite Les Miserables. And I may have slept through a scene or two (I was really, really tired). But the set was awesome. I'm not a huge fan of dissonance, which seemed to be the tone of most of the songs (no wonder I haven't heard them before), and we decided that the orchestra could have been louder to fill in for some of those off notes sung by some (or were they off? haha, with all the dissonance, I couldn't really tell). But Mar enjoyed seeing some of her old friends, and I learned I don't ever need to see Into the Woods again, so I'll call it a win.

Later that night we video chatted with the new baby and the rest of the fam while I opened my gift from the kids, 

Nae made the cake(s). It was a bit of a humorous experience as Bill had asked her to make two, just in case one didn't turn out. She had tried to put one in our {little} top oven, and soon we could smell burning cake (which smelled a lot like burnt marshmallows, so it could have been worse). The cake had risen so high it had bumped into the top burner. She pulled that cake out (not quite half-baked), and patiently waited for the cake in the bottom oven to be done. It overflowed it's pan a bit, but Lynnea had {smartly} put a cookie sheet underneath. That cake, however, was in a bundt pan, so I told her I didn't think it would come out very easily, since I usually have to cut an angel food cake off the pan with a knife. She then popped the less-than-half-baked cake into the bottom oven to see if it could be salvaged. Both cakes turned out perfectly. The cake in the bundt pan "pooped" itself right on out of the pan (Mar's words, not mine haha), and the half-baked cake turned out perfectly good, too. Thank you, my loves.

That night Bill and I decided to make a superfast trip to Utah (we couldn't stand not holding that new baby), leaving early Saturday, returning Sunday. We got to bed pretty late on Friday, so our planned 5am leave time got pushed back to 6 (6:30 in Syddall standard time), which meant we rode low and slow due to the crazy ski traffic. Luckily we had not turned off our trusty Google maps, which told us to bypass I-70 via highway 6 for a while, saving us an hour delay. We were still delayed by about 30 minutes overall, since other people use Google maps, too (dang), but it definitely could have been worse. The drive was through a beautiful canyon, which made it even more pleasant.

We drove straight to the hospital, and were shortly joined by the Greats.

I loved meeting this precious babe for the first time.

Welcome to the fam, Emmett James {kiss kiss}!

Congratualtions, Lex and Jase... he's perfect!

 (Photo cred Lex)

 (Photo cred Lex)

 (Photo cred Lex)

 (Photo cred Lex)

(Photo cred Lex)

We stopped by to see our other precious UT grandchildren for a bit that evening. Ellis is still wary of Bill and me, and he was ready for bed, so we only saw him momentarily (don't let this pleasant expression fool you... it was only a brief moment of distraction),

Here's what most of the shots look like:

(Ellis' "save me mom!" look haha)
And don't worry, Bill, Ellis isn't a fan of Gigi right now, either.
We'll win him over eventually. {wink}

Britt and Austin were headed out for the evening, so we hung out with the babysitters (LoKo) and Scarlett. Scarlett was the big winner of Candyland both times we played, then we read a story and snuggled before Bill and I made the trek to Bountiful where we stayed for the night.

The next day a big snow storm was forecasted, and it came as predicted, at least in the northern parts of the valley. I think my parents had a good 14+ inches...? Bill got up that morning and helped my dad shovel out, with heavy snow falling the entire time. We were worried about traveling home in such snowy weather, but after texting Britt, who said it wasn't bad at all at her end of the valley, we decided to make the long drive home, traveling south.

But not before one more stop by the hospital to see our new little guy.
We found him in a tanning bed, getting his bilirubin levels up.

Since I couldn't hold him, I had to snap a few feet pics... they are my favorite.

We love you, Emmett! 

The trip back was better than I expected. We only ran into a couple bouts of low visibility and snow, and we were driving late enough to have missed the massive traffic back-up that happens every Sunday night on I-70.

It was definitely a birthday to remember. And it's pretty cool that it will always be easy to remember Emmett's birthday AND how old he is (just subtract 50). I'll have to share my thoughts on actually TURNING 50 some other time.