Utah Trip April 2016: Part I - Allison meets her extended family

Normally I would blog based on what we did chronologically, but since Google photos now lets you add maps, text, and locations to your pictures, I've already got that part taken care of in my album (which you can view by clicking here). Instead I'm going to divide the post into two parts - family and adventures. We arrived in Kaysville around 4:00pm on Saturday, and thanks to the family gathering for Priesthood session, Allison immediately got to cuddle with grandpa and meet all of her uncles on Oscar's side.

Allison continued to receive grandparent affections the next day during General Conference. Granny even got to see Allison sit up for the first time. She signaled me, and I watched her hold it for about 5 seconds before falling back on the Boppy.

She had lots of fun playing with her cousin Mary. 

We took the kids out for cousin pictures, but the babies were a bit uncooperative. 

Allison calmed down when she could sit in big brother's lap. He was very sweet with her.

This picture turned out decent, though I wish you could see Allison's face. We got the babies calmed, but by then it was getting too challenging for Troy and Mary to stay in one place.

Tyler had had enough sitting still by then and needed to play in the sand. 

 Back inside Allison got to meet great-grandma Hatch. Both were delighted.

 She also got to have some snuggles with her auntie Emily and uncle Willy. Allison loved William's beard. It's so soft!

At my brother's house Allison got some good cuddles in with grandpa. The main reason we took this trip was so dad could finally meet her. We'd talked about him coming up here, but after factoring in hotel costs and such, we decided it'd be better if we just came down to Utah. Plus in Utah Allison was able to meet her aunts and uncles on Oscar's side, her cousins in West Jordan, and my friend Rachael.

And as an added bonus, she got to meet Oscar's aunt Kat and her daughters. I ran into Annie, the girl in the bottom left, at the Museum of Curiosity. Annie then found her mom, who found the rest of the girls, and they all got to meet their new cousin (once removed). 

We'd been having some nursing troubles in the previous weeks with rehearsals and performances keeping me from being around my baby as much. Add the 2 day road trip on top of that and I'd dried up so much Allison could empty me in a couple of minutes and scream for more. I'd tried giving her solids in the weeks before the trip, but she was only willing to eat a very small amount. I ended up pumping a lot to get my supply back up when we first got to Utah, which did work, but by then Allison was doing so well with solids that she no longer needed that much milk.

Tyler playing with the twins in Mike's backyard

My friend Anne from high school let us borrow a bouncer and an exersaucer, which were both very useful. She also let us borrow a crib mattress for Tyler. We set it up in a tent from Marcus and Martha and put it downstairs in Mike's family room. This gave Tyler the feel of having his own bedroom, which helped him get his naps. His Utah naps were typically much shorter than the naps he'd get here, but at least he got them.

Mike barbequed for us a few times, which is always super tasty. One night Tyler requested 2 hot dog buns for dinner, then the next day he ate 3 hot dogs and refused the buns.

On our last full day, we went to church in Bountiful to see the baby blessing of our new niece Emma Lee. On the way we were serenaded by Tyler with "I am a child of God, I am a child of garbage trucks, I am a child of dump trucks, I am a child of diggers, I am a child of bulldozers."

That evening Tyler got some cuddles with granny and play time with daddy while Allison had some good practice sitting up on grandpa.

I fell asleep on the couch while trying to remain a part of the conversation between Oscar and his mom. I look drugged!

And the next morning Allison got in some final cuddles with granny and grandpa before we took off for home. So much sweetness!