Our trip to Utah

We spent a LOOONG time in Utah. I'm still trying to decide if it was too long, too short, or just right. Was it long enough that it makes us glad to back in our own place alone? Was it long enough that it just made it really hard to leave again? Did we get sick of everyone? Did they get sick of us? Who knows. It was a fun trip and yet it is nice to be home again. Here's what we did:

I had a birthday with an awesome white cake. Gloriously, though, this very week I started eating chocolate again and James has slept 6 hour stretches both nights so hooray! Now I can eat chocolate again, just in time for me to be back home without chocolate treats everywhere I turn. (It was good weight control, though, because I actually lost weight this trip to Utah.)

I had a good helper to open presents, though he wasn't as thrilled with the gifts as I was.

We celebrated twice.

We went to the park on the days that were fine (and few and far between).

Isaac grew very attached to both grandmas and did everything with them. Like they would have to hold up his peanut butter sandwich for him to eat.

Classic James face--"What are you making me sit here for?"
Then it was Easter. We got to dye eggs.

And our fingers.

Then we got to search for the eggs with all our cousins. I looked for all the starburst and let Isaac have the chocolate eggs. Isaac was very obedient and only ate the candy when we told him he could have a piece. For a full month, the candy was in a basket, then in his recycle truck, then in a sand bucket, then in a bag, then back in the recycle truck, etc. Slowly diminishing piece by piece. When his cousin Eli came over a week after Easter, he points excitedly to the candy in Isaac's truck: "Look, candy!" Isaac's like--oh yeah, it's been there forever.

Somehow all the kids magically wore red/orange (except Kate).

Poor James was sleeping during the hunt.

Then we hunted again with the other side. Isaac did a good job finding all his blue eggs and James' orange eggs.

Oh, how I love this smiley boy! He is so sweet!

We celebrated Blake's birthday once

twice

three times. This was the first time in four years or so the triplets were all together for their birthday. Isn't it so sad they never get their own cake?

Isaac occasionally gave into sleep at Grandma K's house.

It snowed. More than once. This was May 3.

James and Isaac are such good pals. Fingers crossed it will always be like this. I love this picture because I swear James is almost as big as Isaac!

Blake played a lot of basketball, mostly waking up early on Fridays to play with his brother and Dad.

He played once with my handsome younger brother who is currently single...

And it got warm! Just in time for us to pack up our car and drive the miserable 20 hours back to Missouri. But this time Grandma Karen and Grandpa Kent drove with us and loved to have Isaac in their car. They played with stickers and read books and watched "The Little Engine that Could" twenty times. James was able to nap a little better in the car since the noise maker was gone. He also is older and more interested in toys so overall the drive went much much better than it did two months prior.

Bye Utah! Bye family! Come visit us!

P.S. Oh yeah, and a shout out to my awesome brother Chris, who surprised me by flying in from London to surprise me for my birthday. Umm, how awesome is that? Didn't get a picture, sadly, but he is just as handsome and single as my other brother up there.