Week In Utah

We spent a week in Utah with our families over Thanksgiving! It was great to see family! I didn't take as many photos as I usually do, but I did get some good ones and I guess I can fill in the rest with words. The week flew by, probably because we ended up doing a ton. Reagan spent the entire 8 days before asking to go see Grandma and Grandpa, so I think she was the most excited to leave.

She made sure her babies were all tucked in before we left. She has lots of babies. From left to right: Baby with Fluffy Hair, Regular Baby, Mickey, Bear, and Other Baby.

Here is my countdown of our TOP TEN reasons why our trip was great...and a few lowlights, I cannot forget those, they always make our trip unforgettable!!!

10. Light parade in Spanish Fork. Mel put a lot of work into this and it was so much fun. I love the feel of small town parades. The choo-choo train was especially impressive.

Some of the kids watching the light show.

Reagan, dad, and Grandma.Enjoying the lit up reindeer.

Mel made a fondue dinner, complete with a chocolate fountain for dipping and a cheese sauce as well. It was really tasty.

9. We got to see TWILIGHT! My sisters, mom, Caitlin, Matt, myself and Loni's flavor of the month, Drew, went to see it. Yes, in our group of 7, there were 2 guys present. I love it. We went to the gateway in Salt Lake, where seats are assigned so we didn't have to fight people for a good one. But then we realized that the Jazz game started at the same time, so we ended up going a little early anyways. We had great seats, and my sisters wore their Twilight/Paramore shirts to make it all festive. Afterwards, we all wanted ice cream, since it was like 20 degrees or something, so we headed to Haagen Das only to find it closed. As we stood outside, the guy working came out and asked if we wanted to come in and have some! Nice! We felt pretty special.

Oh yeah, I liked the movie, by the way. I had zero expectations of it, which helped, but I think they did a pretty good job of it. Basically all the girls liked it, and Matt didn't, but he is kind of a movie snob since he took a "film" class in college (haha, just kidding Matt...about the snob part). Drew didn't care for it either, but he didn't read the book, so his opinion doesn't really matter anyways, right?? :):)

8. Chuck E. Cheese's. They just opened one in Layton and it has probably been about 20 years since I have been to one, but it was really cool!! Reagan had a great time! She played air hockey with her cousins and they were so good to her!

7. Watching Reagan butter her bread at California Pizza Kitchen. This was an amazing highlight of the trip. She kept sticking her tongue out in concentration and had no idea she was doing it or that we were all watching her do it.

6. Hanging with the cousins. I wish I got more photos of all the cousins, but I didn't have the camera out 24/7 like I usually do. I have this amazing photo of Matt with his Schelin cousins building a fort in the Rasmussen basement, but I won't post it because of their blog being private.

Reagan walking to church hand-in-hand with Emma was about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

5. All the attention from everyone started to go to Reagan's head...and mine. I am using my sister Lindsey like crazy because I know that once she has her own kids, Reagan won't get as much attention from her. So I am using her while I can. When we are in town, Lindsey dresses Reagan, does her hair, buys her tutus, bathes her, feeds her, you name it. I love it. I take advantage. Thanks, Lindsey.

4. Shopping on Black Friday. We got some good stuff, but it wasn't anything like last year. I did find a toy for Reagan and some things for Matt. Our best shopping so far has been online. I am now kind of embarassed to say that I am a black Friday shopper given all the crazies out there, like those that didn't even care a Walmart worker got killed by the stampede. My goodness, have people totally lost their minds? All in the name of a $130 kitchen-aid. Puh-lease! Truth be told, I didn't start shopping until 9am, and by that time, the crazies are long gone from the big stores.

3. Deep fried turkey. I love this stuff. If you have never tried deep fried turkey, do. Your missing out. We had a great Thanksgiving and if Loni uploads her photos and sends them to me, then I can post some, because my camera was AWOL that day. We spend the morning at the Rasmussen's taking family photos. That was fun, except for Reagan being all uptight and stuff. We headed back for dinner at the Roundy's and I got to see my brother Lance, who has been back east since the end of August, completing FBI training!! What-up?! Isn't that the coolest? I have no idea how his wife does it back home, though, with three kids and no husband. I ate so much food I thought I was going to pop.

2. Discovery Gateway. We went to the Children's museum there and man, does that place rock. Mostly for kids, I guess, but it really is a great place. I think that Reagan could have easily spent the entire day there. I got quite a few photos of her here, but these are my favorites below. It was so interactive.

1. Cafe Rio/Costa Vida. I ate this food 3 times, three pork salads. It was so good.

LOWLIGHTS OF OUR TRIP:

1. My weight gain. Hands down the ultimate low point. I just can't help myself out there. There is food in abundance, everywhere, and given my current condition (32 weeks) all I want to do is eat and fat dog it. If you refer to number 1 above, then factor in all the turkey, pie, Thanksgiving, plus leftovers, also the cookies Lindsey and I baked, Mel's fondue dinner. Oh man, the list could go on and on. And just to prove it, I went to the doctor on Monday, the day after we got back and it was confirmed: I gained 9 lbs in the last 5 weeks! The doctor I saw is not a weight nazi like my normal nurse practitioner, but he did give me some tips. He also said the I had a bit of hypoglycemia from my diabetes test way back when and that maybe I should eat meals more frequently and lay off the sweets. So that has helped me some. By the way, supposedly hypoglycemia is the opposite of diabetes, so how is it such a bad thing??? I mean, I do know it is bad, but I can't really find the logic to explain it, so if you do know, enlighten me, will ya?

2. Watching BYU hand the Utes a win on a silver platter. I can't really talk about this one right now, it is still kind of painful.

3. Reagan's cough. She got sick while there and coughed till she was hoarse, but now she is all better. Nothing like a little California air to heal you up!

We are looking forward to seeing family 3 weeks from tomorrow. Yes, that is right, at 36 weeks, I will be in Utah. Nice, huh? I need to make sure that I know where the nearest hospital is, just in case...you never know.