Back in Utah

So after what seemed like forever of not seeing family (with exception to grandmas' visits), we finally made a trip back to Utah. And like most of our trips, it was jam packed with things. We spent all the time with family so that Ellie could be reacquainted and Sammi could be introduced to everyone.
Part of the reason for our trip was the annual Watterson family reunion. This year it was in Ophir (an extremely small town further west than Cedar Fort. Grandma Bonnie was nice enough to let us borrow her motor home for the trip which was nice and rough for the same reason; the wind.

Ellie loved playing with all her cousins and 2nd cousins.

Millie, Ellie, and Becca painting rocks.

Becca and Ellie doing a cake walk.

Eating her cupcake.

Becca enjoying her cupcake.

Hayley really enjoying her cupcake.

There were crafts, activities (rock climbing, zip line and a movie), and the raffle. I made some hoodie towels for the raffle but forgot to take a picture. Trust me, they were very cute.

Since we were in Utah with family, we decided it would be best to bless Sammi with everyone around. Rob and Kris were kind enough to let us use their house for the whole shindig. Of course, I was terrible at taking pictures again (none with Ellie and Sammi or just Sammi wearing the dress).

Proud parents

Grandma and Grandpa Watterson

Grandma and Grandpa Gledhill

Sammi's great-grandma Bonnie

It was a perfect day and Sammi was such an angel. She was patient and happy with everyone passing her around.

We also drove downtown to see the new City Creek mall. That is a really fun place. I think the people who worked on it did a great job. The fountains are great. We also went out to dinner to celebrate Jake's and Stefanie's birthdays and spend some time with old friends. We celebrated my mom's birthday with Annie, Brian and their family (by seeing their new house, having dessert, and playing games).

Grandma and Poppy Gledhill took us to Tracy Aviary. They have done a lot of work around there and I think Ellie had a blast.

My dad catching a falcon as a helper.

This is how Ellie and Poppy measure up.

Poppy, Ellie, and Daddy walking through the Seven Canyons water fountain.

We really had a great time in Utah with family.

Grandma Connie's visit

Shortly after my mom left, Grandma Connie (Jake's mom) came out to visit. Ellie was so excited to be the center of attention again. She really misses (and so do we) being near family and spending time with grandmas.

Since the last time Grandma Connie came out we weren't able to give her the tour around town, I decided we'd better try to go a few places this time.

One day (and I totally forgot my camera), we drove up the canyon a bit. We went to Red Rocks and I still want to see a concert there some time. I would consider this a must see when visiting Colorado. We were able to walk around the visitors center and learn a bit about the area. Ellie tried to talk us into walking down all the stairs, luckily since they were setting up on the stage she decided it was ok if we didn't. After we took a drive over to a nature center and the Boettcher Mansion. We found some benches (but not the "X marks the spot" that Ellie wanted) to have lunch. We were able to walked around the nature center and finally, after my 3rd visit to the mansion, tour the inside. Ellie loved putting on the headphones to hear nature sounds and using the "noculars" to look for squirrels.

Connie and I decided that we are going to (one day when we have lots of money) have a Watterson event at the Boettcher Mansion where all the women dress up fancy and the Watterson men wear kilts with the Watterson Tartan. We talked a lot about what we would do if/when we have lots of money.

That weekend was a Colorado Watterson dinner weekend, and luckily for us, down in Colorado Springs. It gave us an even better excuse to travel down there and so Connie more.

We stopped at Garden of the Gods, another must see in Colorado. The day was a little dreary and rainy which make the pictures appear blurred.

Ellie and Grandma holding up the Balance Rock.

Grandma and her girls.

After we drove in to Manitou Springs. I took Connie to a few shops that I thought she would like. We looked at beads (since she makes bracelets and watches) and again thought of what we would buy with lots of money. Some of these beads were $3+.  We enjoyed the handmade soap place. She and Ellie also tasted some of the water (natural soda water). We actually saw a few people filling big jugs with the water.

Grandma's girls, Ellie showing off her new "Tangled" hair.

Grandma Connie also made us a delicious meal of Chicken Fried Chicken. So good. We loved having her here and were sad to see her go. Poor Ellie started thinking that Grandma's live at the airport and we can just go pick them up at anytime. Then she started talking about driving to the airport to visit Grandma.

Thanks for all your help and love Grandma Connie and Grandma Wendy. 

Grandma Wendy's visit

Most of my mom's visit this time wasn't so much of a vacation as it was to take care of me and my family (which I am so grateful for). And although we didn't do a lot of stuff, we did go out a few times.

Grandma was great at walking Ellie to the park to play so that I could have some time to relax. One day we drove to a nearby park that has a giant slide.

This slide is longer and steeper than this picture shows.

 Another day, we drove near the mountains (because Ellie had been asking to go for weeks). There is a "Point of Geological Interest" that I had wondered about for quite a while. Turns out, there are dinosaur foot prints along with some learning activities. So we stopped by to play, learn, and eat lunch.

Digging for dinosaur bones.

Look at me. I'm a squirrel.

It was so fun to have Grandma Wendy around but eventually she had to head home. Ellie was quite sad (as was I) when we dropped her off at the airport. Although Ellie was having a hard time understanding that Grandma was leaving on an airplane to head back to Utah. She told me to wait so Grandma could get back in the car or that we would see her when we got home. We love having Grandma around to help and to play with. 

Adventure at the Aquarium

After the accident, Jake's parents came out for a few days and then my mom came out for about a week. Because I didn't want visiting parents to come out just to take care of me and our place, I tried to do something fun. Unfortunately, Steve and Connie weren't able to stay long enough so they'll just have to come back to see the sights. We were able to take a quick visit to the Aquarium with my mom. 

Friendly turtle saying "Dude".

It would have been a better night had dinner not been so rough. We called ahead and were told there wasn't a wait but when we arrived there was a 15-20 minute wait that ended up being longer. Then it took forever to bring us our food. Luckily the fishes are so cool that we still had a great time.  

Look daddy. Fishy.

 

Amazing colors on these starfish and anemones.



Check out the multi-point starfish in the back.



Look at me.

 Yes, Ellie and her preggers mom crawled under to look through these bowls at some fish.


A big fish.

Grandma, see the turtle.



Oh, sharks!

DO-do, do-do, do-do...

 Watch out for the sneaky one in the back. Don't worry, the glass tank was something like 16" thick. 

I touch, mommy.

Ellie did touch one of the rays but it startled her so much because it flapped right as she touched it that once was enough. She really enjoyed watching them swim.

Busy October!!!

WARNING: This post is long with lots of picture but all of it happened in less than a 2 week period and if I didn't lump it all together, I would have never caught up.

In October, we had family come visit. Not just 1 or people like normal. This time Annie and Brian with their kids plus my parents and Grandma Bonnie all came out over fall break. Ellie was unbelievably excited for them to be coming.

One day, we went and hung out downtown. Annie's family actually made it to the US Mint tour. We missed it but still had fun looking through all the souvenirs. Within walking distance is the City and County Building as well as the Capitol Building. We decided to walk around inside the Capitol building.



Sitting on the steps of the Capitol.

The gold marker on the steps is one of the two newer indicators of the real "One Mile above Sea Level". Technology has changed the measurement twice since the original words were written.

Inside, the colors, architecture, and design were gorgeous. Completely different than what I was expecting having been inside Utah's State Capitol. Of course the kids just wanted to hurry and see everything.



Monkey Ellie climbed onto a bench and then into the molding all by herself.

We actually walked all the way to the top of the building to the dome. It was really fun to see things from a different perspective and learn about the history of Denver and the building. Ellie wasn't really into the building other than trying to jump up and down skinny stairs or wandering outside the protective tape to keep people inside the dome and not on the ledge.

Ellie loved having this fan blow into her face.

We continued walking around on the 16th Street Mall but mostly so we could go see the Big Blue Bear and a few other markers. After all this, we headed to the Museum of Nature and Science. We had so much fun. The current, visiting Dinosaur exhibit is so great. The life-like roaring dinosaur unnerved Ellie slightly but I think she was intrigued. They even took these fun pictures as you were leaving the exhibit. Loved it.

The next day we headed up the mountains to Georgetown and Idaho Springs. There was window shopping, playing with trains and dinner. 

Engine in Idaho Springs



Old water wheel decorated for Halloween.

Saturday we took of early for Colorado Springs to see Air Force Academy and to explore Cave of the Winds. The cave was really cool and they showed you all the fun formations, explained who the cave was discovered, and showed you how people used to enter the cave a long time ago.

We had such a fun time with them. It's always hard when family has to head back home and everyone has to return to regular life; working, studying, hanging out at home, etc. 

A few days later some friends, the Stephens, came over so we could carve pumpkins. 

Ellie loves sticking her hands inside to pull out the guts.

After helping with the yucky parts, Ellie and her friend Elena painted small pumpkins instead. They loved it.

Ellie actually wanted to sleep in the "dress" she was wearing that night.  

Our finished projects. Can you tell which one is Jake's?

At the end of that week, we had an impromptu trip home to Utah. Jake's grandpa had passed away.  Earlier in the year, his grandpa was diagnosed with cancer but had undergone surgery and chemo. Things looked good. At a check-up, they found the cancer had come back but had spread to vital parts.  They gave him around 6 months. A few days later, the nurse came in to check on grandpa and everything looked fine and an hour after that he was gone.

Friday, we jumped in the car after classes and drove home. Our only hold up was a semi that had been blown off the freeway near Walcott, WY. Passage was blocked for 30-45 minutes as they cleared the road. The next morning, we were again in the car heading to Bluebell for the funeral. It was a good service. Grandkids were encouraged to share their memories of Grandpa. After packing our sack lunches, provided by the wonderful Relief Society there, we again were driving. This time to Price for the burial. The graveside service was short but beautiful. Grandpa was a veteran so the local unit came by for a 21-shot salute and to present Grandma with her flag.



A beautiful coffin for a wonderful man.

Of course, family chatter and kids play after all the seriousness is over. 

Ellie and daddy having fun.

Ellie had to explore with the older kids and found one of her favorite things, dandelion puffs. She likes to blow them. This is such a cute picture. Can someone with photo editing capabilities volunteer to remove the boogers off her face? It was a little chilly, ok. 

 Sunday was a relaxing day, mostly. The kids decided they wanted to "help" Grandpa Steve with the leaves in his yard so the raked some and played some.

 Even Ellie and Becca tried to help.

 The big kids even got involved a little.

 In order to make the pile bigger, they found a wheel barrow to cart leaves from on side of the house to the other. Ellie only liked riding in it when the leaves weren't there.

After a nice family dinner and spending time with the Watterson's, we had to head home on Monday, which was also Halloween. (That's a lot of driving, if your keeping track).

The drive home was slightly more eventful than the drive to Utah.

About 20 miles west of Laramie, WY on I-80, I did something I never wanted to experience again. I am not sure what exactly happened. I have a very patchy memory of the event. I know we rolled and I have been told that the car rolled 4 times. I know several kind people stopped to help us.

We were taken from the crash site to a hospital in Laramie by ambulance. There we were assessed. Ellie, miraculously, was not hurt at all. She never complained about anything hurting and acts like herself (other than she was so happy and kind to the ER doctor but I imagine that was so Jake and I wouldn't have to worry about her). Jake was also released from that hospital. He left with a strained wrist, bruised lungs, some sort of rib problems, a bruised spleen, and quite a few bumps/scratches to the "money maker" (aka his face), including a broken nose. His Halloween picture looks totally realistic. :)

I, on the other hand, was cared for slightly differently. Being 16 weeks pregnant, I was immediately placed on bed rest. The doctors thought they saw slightly placental tears but there hasn't been any bleeding, cramping or anything and the heart rate looks fine and the baby was moving. No worries there. I also had some bruised lungs and an awesome seat belt "floor burn" on my shoulder and collar bone. The biggest problem was the partial collapsed lung. The ER wasn't set up to handle problems like that so I was flown to a trauma center here in Denver while Jake and Ellie waited for a wonderful friend/angel to come and pick them up.

Luckily, the trauma hospital was able to re-inflate my lung without putting in a chest tub and I was released from there after only a day and a half. Through this whole thing, our families and ward families have done so much to care for us and help us out. There were a few sisters at the Denver hospital within 20 minutes of my arrival. Jake's parents arrived at the hospital before Jake did.

Long story short, we are all ok. Our physical injuries are healing and we are feeling more blessed and watched out for more than ever. Someone was protecting us. We are so grateful for loving friends and family and all they do to help us. More importantly, we are grateful to the Lord for saving our lives and keeping every member of our family safe.

P.S. That's another Halloween Ellie really hasn't been able to go trick or treating. One day, I promise baby. I will make sure of that.