My own mountain home . . .

Annie, James and I just returned from "my own mountain home", aka Utah. (On my mission, my companion and I would get ridiculously excited to watch Conference and catch a glimpse of Utah. In our excitement we always sang "Oh Ye Mountains High" on Conference morning before we studied.) It was a fantastic trip! I love going home at Christmas too, but Christmas has so many scheduled events that it's hard to enjoy some down time with family. Our next trip will also be packed with many events because we'll go just before my parents leave to Brazil for three years. This trip was fairly relaxing and really fun.

DISCLOSURE: This post will be long because it's serving as my journal of this trip - you may just want to scan the pictures.

I didn't know I was going until about two days before I left. My mother-in-law let me know that she had a friend who would be willing to let me use her JetBlue buddy passes if I wanted to come out. I REALLY did because my parents were speaking at Women's Conference and all of my siblings would be there. I had to muster up some courage to fly standby alone with two kids, but the desire to see family won out. Brad was SO supportive of me going, even though it meant he'd be alone for an undetermined about of time. He is the most wonderful husband!

I got on the first two flights easily. The first flight went fine. The layover was a bit tricky. Annie ran away from me while I was nursing James in the JFK airport. I had to recruit a stranger sitting near me to chase her down. Annie was quite pleased with herself for that little trick. She kept saying, "I ran away! She had to come find me." Stinker. Then on the flight from JFK to SLC (which lasted from 10 pm - 2:30 am NY time), Annie slept a grand total of 45 minutes and threw up twice. I only had one extra outfit for her, so we just had to wreak for a while at the end.

Brad's dad and brother met us at the airport and took us back to his house. We gave Annie a bath and washed the carseat cover, and then Annie was determined to stay up and read stories with Papa well into the night. I think she takes after her dad - he's also a night owl.

The next morning I got to attend the temple with Brad's brother, Christian. He was recently called to the South Africa, Johannesburg mission. It was SUCH a good experience. He is a great person. If all my parents missionaries are like Christian, they will have an easy time. After the temple we had a brunch back at Brad's parents' house. James met Grandma Fern for the first time. She's certain that he's a "Johnson baby" (her side of the family).

That night we went down to Provo. After dinner, I took James up to meet the Sandbergs. They were SO cute with him and with Annie! Annie absolutely loved playing with all her cousins. I think Susie was especially excited to have a fellow red head in the family. (The next day at the aquarium she came up to me and kept saying, "He's so cute. Baby James is just so cute.")

The next day I was at my parents for Easter Sunday. It was a great day. We had a great day at church and then had all the family come over for dinner. James got to meet the rest of his cousins and his great grandma and grandpa Winder. My siblings stayed the longest. We had a great conversation about the importance of mothering. It was so refreshing to hear both my sisters' and brothers' convictions about mothering.

On Monday we met up with Becky and Laura at the aquarium in Sandy. The kids loved playing together and seeing/touching the fish. Annie couldn't get enough of giving long hugs (pushing?). I wish we lived closer so we could do these kinds of outings all the time.

I went over to the Hunters' for the rest of the day. Probably my favorite part of the day was rollerblading with Alex and Preston. I loved rollerblading and I loved hanging out with my brothers-in-law.

Tuesday and Wednesday I got to catch up with some friends, hang out with my siblings, get a haircut, etc. James met his Aunt Elizabeth for the first time late Wednesday night when we went to pick her up at the airport.

Thursday was Women's Conference. My wonderful mother-in-law came to Provo to baby-sit the kids, so that I could hear my grandma Winder speak in the early afternoon, come home in between to feed James and then rush back to hear my parents. I'm so lucky to have such a kind mother-in-law!

My grandma and parents were fantastic! My grandma spoke on a panel with the past RS presidents and they all did a really nice job. My parents were the plenary session speakers on Thursday afternoon. They were FANTASTIC! My spoke about writing the RS history and what she'd learned from different RS women. One of the things she mentioned that I loved was that my grandma Winder sang in the home to bring the Spirit! My dad spoke about our great grandmother, Elizabeth Haven Barlow, who was a member of the first Relief Society and who lived to see it's 50th anniversary. He talked about her as a representative of the early RS sisters and what we can learn from them. He started his talk with the idea that the Lord's history of the world will be replete with good deeds done by Mother Eve's faithful daughters. I'm so grateful to come from parents that see men and women as equal contributors. I'm grateful to have married someone who sees things the same way. I came away feeling uplifted by their talks, but overwhelmed that I come from such a righteous heritage and feeling like I'm not living up to it in the way I should. I have amazing parents and grandparents and I want to be better and more faithful.

We rushed right from Women's Conference to a wedding of close friends. It was a second marriage for both and we are REALLY good friends with both families. This made it really fun to be there because we have so many mutual friends. Pete and Anne were there and consequently I barely saw James all night. Anne came and took him to her table and a little while later I saw that he'd fallen asleep in Pete's arms. :)

The next day I went to lunch at La Jolla Groves with my sisters and parents. It was delicious! Becky and I split mushroom ravioli in a tomato cream sauce and chicken crepes. Both were so good! My good friend Ashley came over that afternoon and I got to meet her new little boy Remy.

Friday night, my mom watched Annie so I could go to Jonathan's for his new book club. The food and the company were amazing! I loved getting to be with Jonathan, Laura, and Elizabeth in a social setting. I love my family!

On Saturday afternoon I headed up to Hunters' again. We had a relaxing day. I went to the mall with Mom, Brooke, and Anastasia. We picked out some cute hair accessories for Lisa. We came home and made that yummy chicken strawberry salad and had that and sweet potatoes for dinner. (I'm posting a lot about food - can you tell it's important to me?)

That night we went to Becky's to play games with my family. We had a rousing game of Pictionary. No kidding. We also got laughing because Elizabeth found out from Sam that the hospital had sent them a bill for . . . $100,000! Then at the end of the letter concluded with, "Please send the check today." Wow!

On Sunday Jonathan and Laura blessed Natalie. It was a beautiful blessing. My grandma Tanner was there and she bore such a powerful testimony of the Savior. I felt so blessed to witness that. We had a great dinner afterwards. Laura's mom made these orange rolls that were to die for. Yum!

I went to Hunters' after and fell asleep (it'd been a rough night). They were planning to take me to the airport, but it wasn't looking very promising for getting on the flight. I was missing Brad so much that I thought I'd try anyway. So I woke Annie up at 10:15 (yuck - red eyes!) and got to the airport. At the desk one lady was quite discouraging, but I told her I was going to try anyway. She told me I probably wouldn't get on and if I did, I wouldn't be able to sit by Annie. There was a man there too who thought my chances were okay, and that if I got on, I would be able to sit by Annie. As it turns out, he was also at the gate and he helped Annie and me to get the last two seats on the flight!!! She was a stinker again and pulled her first all nighter at the age of 2! I had no idea that 2 year olds even had the capability to stay up all night. She finally fell asleep 15 minutes before we landed and then slept the whole layover.

When we finally arrived home, I came home to a spotless house and notes from Brad about why he loves me! I have the best husband! He came back from school in the afternoon, so that I could sleep. What a gem! We're very happy to be reunited with him!