Utah Trip (*Read this one, Stacey, even though it has pictures!*)

I know it's been a week since I got home, but I've been a bit busy with a little thing called Christmas.  Oh, and Josh deciding he's never going to poop in the potty.  Ever.

But I digress.

I learned two things during my most recent trip: 1) Cole doesn't sleep on airplanes.  No matter what time it is.  And 2) There's no better babysitters than a set of grandparents.

My flight out left at 6:30am.  Which meant I had to leave home just after 4am.  I was up at 3am.  Josh woke up just as we passed through flight security, bright and refreshed.  While the flights weren't miserable, they would have been so much better had he slept!  (Okay, so he slept for about 20 minutes.  I don't think that really counts.)

But we finally got into SLC, tired, but happy to be there.  Once we got to Dad and Susie's house I checked in on my little brother, Kevin, who had gotten home from the hospital the day before.  See, Kevin apparently has the bones of an 89 year old woman; he had slipped on the ice the Sunday before and fractured his femur.  Okay, his health's not that bad.  I guess he fell on the curb at just the right angle for the fracture, poor guy.  One surgery and a couple of titanium screws later and he was fit as a fiddle. 

And by fit as a fiddle I mean crippled, drug addled, and pretty much helpless.  The perfect target for a six month old baby.

What, you didn't know?  Neither did Kevin.  Moms know that babies sense weakness and totally use it to their advantage.  Whenever Cole was with Kevin he'd poke and grab any sore spot on his body, like the incision in his leg or the sores in his mouth.  See that picture above?  Kevin's only smiling because Cole threatened him if he didn't.  Nice one, Cole.

That evening my grandma Roper came over to visit and meet her most recent great-grandchild.  Cole took to her right away and was cute and cuddly as a good bubby should be.

I know the second picture isn't that great.  I just think it's funny that Cole has the exact same face in it as the first one.  (Sort of a 'deer in headlights' look.)

That day we discovered that Cole really liked being underneath their tree.  He doesn't like my tree at home, but he loved theirs!  (But maybe that's a good thing...)  Whatever.  He sure was cute under there!

On Friday afternoon I went to have lunch with my old roommates Heather and Stacey.  Oh, and Stacey's fiance (husband-the-next-day) Bob.  But I'll admit I was mostly there to see the ladies.  (Sorry, Bob.)  It was great to be able to catch up and chat.

That evening the family crammed into Dad's car (even injured Kevin) and drove out to Tooele to visit my Grandpa John and Grandma Nancy. (My mom's dad and stepmom.)  We were able to visit for a bit and get a few pictures of Grandpa with his third great-grandchild.

Doesn't Susie look like she's sneaking behind us, ready to jump out and yell "Surprise!"? :)

Saturday was the wedding.  Stacey was sealed in the Oquirrh Mountain temple, and I have to say it was probably the best sealing I've ever been to.  I learned a lot and it was just such a happy occasion!  Here's the happy couple a bit after. 

They were happy because they had been inside the warm temple, not standing out in the freezing cold waiting for them for 20 minutes.  Which brings me to a very important question: Stacey, why in the world did you choose to get married in the middle of December?  What's wrong with October or May? I'm just sayin'... :)

And where they heck is your coat, young lady?  Oh well, I guess Stace was just too in luuuuv to need a coat.  Heather and I, on the other hand, would have needed coats whether or not our husbands were there.  It. Was. Cold.

That evening was Stacey's reception.  (Oh, and Bob's too, I guess.  Hi Bob!)  I got to visit with Heather and her cute little family for a while, when we were greeted with a wonderful surprise: another old roommate and friend, Mindi!  She and her family had been driving from Colorado to Washington, and had decided to 'crash' the reception since it was kinda on the way.  It was soooo fun to catch up and meet all of her four kiddos.  Mindi has a darling baby girl, Ruby, who is only a month or so older than Cole.  I got to hold and coo over her darling girlness for a while, and by the end of the evening Cole and Ruby's marriage had been arranged. :)  (Now to just get them to agree to it, right?)  It was a fun evening; too fun to remember to take pictures, in fact.  Just before leaving I remembered to snap just one.  (Hence me in the coat.  Classy.)

Now where was Cole during all this fun?  Livin' it up with Grandpa ElRay and Grandma Susie, of course.  He got showered with love and affection and more attention than he probably gets in an entire week.  (Poor picked on third child.)  Seriously, that kid has whined non-stop since we got home because he thinks he needs to be entertained All. The. Time.  Way to spoil, Grandpa and Grandma.  Here are a couple of highlights from Cole's day:

Getting drunk.

Okay, maybe that's just cream soda in a fancy bottle.  And he only got the last few drops.  But boy, was he in heaven!

He also got to go swimming:

Okay, bathtime.  But bathtime in Grandpa and Grandma's big pink tub is just as good as swimming!  (Just ask Spencer and Josh.)

Sunday was nice because I didn't have to worry about Primary at all.  And while I love my calling, it's nice to have a break from it every once in a while. :)

That evening we had a pre-Christmas meal, since all of my dad's kids were home.  (I forgot to mention that after Grandpa John's house we picked by other brother, Kyle, up from the airport.)  It was fun and yummy.  But the best part was that Dad and Susie gave me an early Christmas gift: Catherine Parr!  Now my collection is complete!  Awesome.

The next day we took a few pictures before Cole and I headed off to the airport.  Here are some of the best:

The three Roper children (Kyle, Maren, Kevin-the-injured)

Cole and I with my Dad.

Cole and his Uncle Kyle.  Probably the best picture of the trip!

Cole and his Grandma Susie.

Cole and his Uncle Kevin. (Cole: "Smile.  Or else."  Kevin: "Okay, okay!  Just don't hurt me again!")

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 5:00pm.  Thirty minutes and one de-iced plane later, and we finally took off.  I thought that since the flight was late Cole would sleep more.  Wrong.  And i also thought that we'd for sure miss our connecting flight in Denver since we only had a 32 minute layover.  Wrong again.  Because the flight in Denver was delayed for over and hour as we waited for 17 passengers to arrive from San Francisco.  (Apparently Frontier decided us waiting on the plane for an extra hour was cheaper than paying for new flights for those late people.)

I will say this: Cole was not bad.  He never screamed or cried uncontrollably.  But he also never slept. Ever.  He wriggled and whined and laughed and played.  But no sleep.  We landed in Indy at 12:30am.  He was wide awake as we waited for our suitcase.  Once I got it, I bundled him up, put on his hat, and covered the car seat with a blanket.  He was asleep by the time I got outside, 30 seconds later.  (Literally.)

I got home at 3am that morning.  I was really glad to be home, but also really glad I had gone.  Big thanks to Dad and Susie for letting me stay with them and for watching Cole so much.  And even bigger thanks to Lance, who took time off from work and stayed home with Spencer and Josh and had super 'fun' adventures of their own. (But that's a story for another time...)