Utah Trippin' - April Edition

Gregg's brother, Ryan, happened to be in Salt Lake over Easter weekend for a quick (48 hours quick) last minute trip home to visit the fam before he heads off on new adventures in Belgium.  We rarely get to see him since he lives on the East coast, and it's likely the visits will be even rarer with him living in Europe, so we decided to head west for the weekend and spend some time with the Blanch Herd.  We left home on Friday afternoon, spent all day Saturday and half of Sunday with the family, and were back home in our beds Sunday night.  What a fun-filled (and car-filled) couple of days we had!

Pit stop in Green River for some, shall we say, "airing out".

I just couldn't resist!

After diaper and clothes were changed, Cal had
a little snack . . . 

. . . and then spent some time on the playground.

The swings were pretty great.

Utah is kinda pretty - even the "boring" part between
Green River and Price.

On Saturday morning we got to witness some
epic soccer matches - Dray, here, was a champ.

Right after Dray's game ended, we hurried over to
watch Kage in his 2nd game of the morning.  His team
dominated despite being tired from their earlier match
(which they also won).  And Kage even scored a goal!

Back home we went for a tasty Easter brunch.  We had to
sample the muffins before the meal started - they smelled
and tasted so good!

Easter egg hunt for the kiddies.  (Cohen was napping at
this point.)

She liked the eggs alright, but what was really cool was
 the crunchy bag!

Eggs for everyone!  (Cal was only sad during this exact
moment because her mean old mom tried to get a piece of
tinfoil from a reese's egg out of her mouth - the nerve!)

The boys shootin' the breeze.

Brothers - can you tell?  ;)

Waiting for our Trax train to take us downtown for dinner on
Saturday evening.

Dinner at Siegfried's (a German deli)
was the bomb!

The spread - Reuben sandwich, wienersnitzel, rotkohl,
sauerkraut, warm potato salad, borsch, and some pastries
for dessert.  We all shared bites to get the full experience.

Best Reuben sandwich EVER.

Snuggling with Uncle Ryan on the train ride home.

Sunday morning smiles.  We all went to church at Gregg's
sister Heather's ward where she happened to be
speaking . . . about families, no less.  Pretty neat.

Callie in her pretty purple Easter dress.

Getting ready to go home after lunch - saying goodbye to
cousin Melia.

The original Herd -
Heather, Gregg, Paul, Kim, Ryan and Laurel.

Another stop at the same park in Green River
for dinner on the way home.  This time we
were all bundled a bit more than two days
prior due to the wind and rain that came
through right as we stopped.

It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, but I'm so glad we went.  There's really nothing better than spending time with family!  And Callie was a most amazing traveller, to boot.  We are truly blessed!

Utah Trippin' - March Edition

For a week in March, Callie and I spent our days in Utah while Gregg was in Vermont for the NASJA conference.  We had a grand time visiting the grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins (both Cal's and mine), playing and chatting and eating with friends, and just being with people we love instead of home by ourselves.  We had a marvelous time!

Swinging on Grandma Elwood's new swing
- the first official swing for both the swing
and the swinger.

Tummy time - it was during this trip that she pushed herself
up to sitting from her tummy position for the first time!

Just being adorable, as usual.

Mmm . . . time for lunch.  Side note: see her little foot up on
the table?  Flexible baby, this one!

Playing with the favorite egg toy at Great
Grandma Elwood's house.

She was captivated, as many kiddos before
her have been, too.

Serious fun.

Meeting birthday buddy Daniel for the first time
(well, they met at church briefly, but this was their first
official play date) - and stealing all his cheerios.

She LOVED having a kid her size so close in proximity.

Moms and babies.  (It's been fun to share new mom
experiences - mostly via text and email - with my good
friend Sarah.)

My mom combed Cal's hair into a curl after
her bath one night.  It's getting quite long
up on top!

Hangin' with Auntie Mugs.

"Feed me!"

Cal and Ky selfie.

Mug and Cal selfie.

Aunties!

Grandpa and Grandpa E.

A delicious dinner with the Blanch Herd.

Tortilla soup and cornbread.  Mmm-hmm!

And they celebrated my birthday with me
with my favorite treat - strawberry shortcake!

Birthday presents!

Blanchard grandkids.

More tummy time.

At the airport with Grandma Blanchard -
they happened to be flying to Washington D. C.
with a layover in Denver on the same
flight at the same time as Cal and I.

It was so great to have Grandpa and Grandma there on the
plane to keep Cal and me company.

Lookin' out the window.

Back together again after a long week apart!

Pretty sunset on the drive home from the airport.