Monday, March 30, 2009

Church with the Morrills

After doing "Lunchtime with the Morrills," it's only fitting that I continue the series. So, here's what church was like yesterday. Oh, and please excuse the blurry pictures. Apparently my lens was dirty. And it's a little bit scratched (Side note - I used to have the LG enV, then upgraded to the LG enV2 a couple months back. The enV had a lens cover, but the enV2 doesn't. It was the one change they made that didn't make sense to me, but I figured it wasn't a big deal. Within a couple weeks there was a big scratch right across it! Nice.).
David was so cute yesterday! I wanted him to wear a nice shirt, and he chose white over green. Then I showed him his nice pants, and he opted for his suit pants. And he said he wanted to wear his suit coat as well! And later I came in to find him trying to put on his tie! Then he came out to the living room and asked Dan if he looked like a missionary. What a big guy!

Ryan wore more what I expected David to - the bare minimum I expected - a nice shirt and pants. Here he is playing with the Quiet Book that I made about 5 years ago. I found it recently in my unpacking, so it had some novelty yesterday that helped keep him entertained.
My beautiful, beautiful girl. Her daddy got her dressed yesterday, doesn't she look nice? Here she is coloring...
...and here's her picture! Can't tell what it is? It's "The temple! Katy! Mommy! Daddy! David! Ryan! The temple!"

Here's Dan successfully sleeping while sitting upright. I don't know how he doesn't fall over!
In contrast, here I am sitting reverently. Except for all the picture taking. And what is up with my hair? Apparently I am in need of some professional help.
Oh, yeah. Dan got to take Ryan home to change his pants. So. Gross. I figured out the other day that he started potty training exactly half his life ago - 2 years 4 months. This is what starting too early does! Don't do it!
David decided to move down the row, and I assumed he was coloring. Except he's moved on from coloring. Now he writes stories!
In case you can't read kindergartner, here's the interpretation:
"Hi, I'm Joe. Here is my dog Blue. I hope we have fun." Then he started drawing Blue, but it was time to go to Primary before he finished.


So that's an exciting, fun filled Sacrament Meeting with our family! Don't you wish you were there?

Thursday, March 26, 2009

gotcha!

If you are reading this then you have been tagged! Go to the files where your photos are stored, open the fourth file and then post the fourth picture in that file explaining when and why it was taken. Get to it!!!


The fourth folder is some iPod photo cache, so I opened 2008 as the file where photos are, then the fourth folder (labeled Easter for some unknown reason...), then this is the fourth photo! It's from Jan 7th 08, and here's little 7 month old Katy tasting the Christmas lights. I took several pictures of her playing with the lights and this is the last one. I'm pretty sure that means I saw her put them in her mouth, hurried and took a picture, then took them out of her mouth. At least, I hope that's what it means!




Here's a bonus one! If I move the 2008 folder into "Past Years" like it belongs (I haven't gotten around to doing anything with photo organization since being back to our computer), the fourth folder is Katy. We don't have folders for the boys, just Katy. How long can we use the excuse that she's the baby? The fourth folder inside that is Katy's website, and this is the fourth photo from it. This is our trip to Disneyland, the day before Katy turned 5 months old. Apparently she was quite amazed by the shiny pole on the Carousel!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Lunchtime with the Morrills

Me: David, for lunch you have two options (I told him that before I told him the options so he wouldn't start whining when he didn't like the first option!). Would you like a peanut butter sandwich or leftover pizza?
David: Pizza
Me: 1 slice or 2?
David: 2 (he was looking at a book and not very eloquent)

Me: Katy, for lunch would you like a peanut butter sandwich or pizza?
Katy: Hot dog!
Me: No, you had hot dogs (2 of them!) yesterday AND the day before. You can have a sandwich or pizza.
Katy: Pizza. Hot dog. Sandwich.

I made her a sandwich. She asked for a hot dog again, but is currently eating her sandwich. By opening them and eating the peanut butter out of the middle. But she bites at it rather than licks, so she gets some bread, too. And she has two sippy cups because she needed chocolate milk AND water.

I didn't need to ask Ryan what he wanted. He'd been asking for peanut butter sandwiches since around 11. He eats two entire sandwiches every time I make them. He'd eat more if I let him. I think he'd be content to eat peanut butter & jam sandwiches for every meal. He'll eat honey, but jam is his real love. And the only jam I've ever found that he didn't like was the fancy (and expensive) stuff at a restaurant one time. Now if only he didn't touch things with his peanut butter hands!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Running!

After about a month off, I'm getting back into my routine of taking Molly for a jog every other day. Molly is VERY HAPPY about it! I went for my first post-break run last Monday, and the night before I turned on my Garmin to make sure the battery didn't need to be charged. Molly heard the sound of the watch turn on, and immediately started jumping around like the overgrown puppy that she is. And every morning (4 times now) she makes a ridiculous amount of noise as I try to hurry her out the door before she wakes up the children. She doesn't bark, she just wiggles around and wags her tail into everything. Then when we come back and I sit down to stretch, she expresses her gratitude by trying to full-body-cuddle with me at all times. It's simultaneously annoying and cute. I'm glad she enjoys it so much, because it helps me have motivation to get out the door!

I'm really happy to have my Garmin (a Christmas present from my parents!) to tell me my time & distance as I'm learning the area here. I'm experimenting with where I want to run. I have to go before Dan leaves for work, and it's rather dark, so I don't really want to end up somewhere with no houses or traffic. I imagine if someone tried to attack me that Molly would do a decent job of protecting me, but I'd rather not find out for sure. I found a pretty good long, straight sidewalk today, and there seemed to be quite a ways further after I turned around, so that's good. Last time I ended up running on the side of a fairly busy road and had to wait at an intersection. Don't want to do that again.

When I started running last summer it was with the ultimate intention of running far and fast. Now I'm not so sure. I would love to finish a marathon someday, but it'll probably have to be mostly walked. I'm feeling pretty happy with my shorter distances. I had been running 2 miles while living in Kent, and I'm building up to that again. My run last Monday was 1 mile, then I went a little further Wednesday and Saturday, and today was 1.5 miles. I know that's really short to most runners, but it feels good for me. It actually is a really great start to my day. It's enough to get me energized without then using all that energy for running. With all the long distance runners in my close & extended family I feel a little wimpy. But I feel really good after my runs, and I don't want to push myself too hard and have that go away. I'll probably keep extending my distance a little bit at a time. I'll just have to see how it goes, and try to listen to my body. No sense in stressing about it and taking away the benefit of running in the first place!

Friday, March 20, 2009

It's like herding cats...

...trying to get this place clean! I cleaned the dining area, then moved on to the kitchen. As you can see, the kitchen counter is nice and clean, with a few dishes drying next to the sink. The dining area, however, has been attacked by THE UNCLEANERS! Whyyyyyyyyy?!?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

You want me to eat THAT?!?

I wanted to do something green for St. Patty's Day dinner. And rather than thinking of things that are ALREADY green, I started thinking about things that would be easy to MAKE green. And here's what I came up with:

On the left is green hash browns (I put food coloring in the butter I melted in the pan before putting them in), the back plate is green pancakes, and...the front right? Green scrambled eggs! They looked so icky! But all that was left of this entire dinner was a little bit of pancake on Katy's and David's plates. So it must've tasted better than it looked!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

An Important Milestone!

(Katy is saying "Cheese," actually quite happy, not crying like this picture appears)

I'd like to announce that we just reached a very important milestone. I just took a shower while Katy was awake and free to wander the house, and nothing bad happened! For those of you that do not yet have children, this is a BIG deal!

When you have a tiny baby you only shower when the baby is asleep, being held by somebody you trust, or occasionally in a bouncy chair in the bathroom so you can check on them every few seconds. At least, this is my experience.

Then as they get older and don't sleep quite as much or sit in a bouncy chair quite as contentedly, it gets even harder. If you absolutely have to shower before naptime, you put them in an exersaucer or high chair. Without snacks, though, or you spend your entire shower worrying that they're choking on their cheerios. So you put them in front of the TV and hope they stay entertained for 10 minutes so you can fully wash yourself AND get dressed before they need you again.

Eventually, around a year or so, you don't worry so much about choking, so you take advantage of breakfast, snack, or (more often than you'd like) lunch time to get showered.

Today, with Katy being 21 1/2 months old, was the first time I took a shower without her in her bed or high chair! I turned on an episode of Little Einsteins and hoped for the best. And when I came back down, I found Katy sitting in the green chair, cuddled up with my blankey & hers, totally focused on the show! YAY!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

adjusting to life in Vancouver

The kids & I have been here for 9 1/2 days now, and are slowing getting settled here. The first couple days were mainly me letting the kids do whatever they want (the boys played A LOT of DS!) while I unpacked. I've made a lot of progress, and most of the stuff that is still in boxes is stuff that I'm not sure what to do with here. For example, we had our computer in an extra bedroom in our old house, on a nice big desk with lots of storage. Here we have it on a smaller desk, with no storage, stuck in the side of the living room. So I don't know what to do with all my files, papers (bills & receipts), and extra office supplies (mostly school supplies that I stock up on in the summer when they're on amazing sales so I don't have to pay full price when I need them in the winter). And in our old house I had a small desk in our bedroom with all my craft stuff for scrapbooking, bow making, etc. Dan decided it was broken (either he broke it or has a different view of broken than I do...) and left it on our front lawn in the "free" pile. So I don't know what to do with all that stuff either! And instead of a giant play room like in our old house, the kids' toys need to be in their bedrooms, so there are a lot still in boxes. But the main stuff we need to function here - dishes, toiletries, clothes, etc. - is all unpacked and organized. I wish I'd taken "before" pictures so I (and you) could appreciate how much work I've really done.

David had his first day of school last Friday (I didn't go in until Wednesday because of his nasty cough, then brought the paperwork back on Thursday, then he got to start on Friday), and he's adjusting great! He's been such a trooper with all these school changes. When I picked him up Friday, I asked how he liked his new school, and he told me it is the best! He started riding the bus on Monday, but we missed it in the morning. Oh, yeah, he's in AM Kindergarten here! He's been in PM at the other two, so this is quite different! They told me where the bus stop is, but not what time it would be, and I estimated a little late. Then I wasn't sure if he'd know to get on the bus after school, so I actually drove to the school to watch and make sure. I felt a little overprotective, but I would have been so worried waiting at the bus stop, wondering if he was still waiting at the school for me. So I watched him happily skip right on, then drove to the bus stop to wait for him. He rode the bus to and from on Tuesday with no problem, didn't have school yesterday for some reason, then got on again just fine this morning.

Oh, and I have to say, I am really pleased with the amount of homework he has here. In Utah he had a calendar with an activity for each day, and he was to pick 3 a week to do. But they were mostly silly easy things. In Kent he rarely had any. Here, he brought home a folder on Monday with a packet of reading, writing, and math homework due on Friday. For reading he has brought home a little book to read each evening. And either she hasn't heard him read or they're standard books, because he's flying through them with no problem at all. Then he has 4 spelling words to write 5 times each as well as 1 sentence for each word. Four afternoons for four words, so we've been working on one a day. Then he has two worksheets for "math," which are ridiculous in their simplicity. One is coloring different shapes different colors, the other is drawing the number of flowers it says to draw. So the homework is mostly really, really easy for him (the writing is a bit of a challenge), but at least he has some!

The morning thing is going to be different for us. I have had to set my alarm to make sure we're up and ready to go to the bus stop by 8:15. The last time I used an alarm clock with any regularity was when I was still at BYU, 5 years ago! Not that I haven't gotten up early, just that my alarm has been in the form of crying babies or calls of "Mommy?" from the next room. It's not fun to have to get up and going fairly early, but it is nice to be dressed and ready to take on the day at a decent time. Katy was actually still asleep when I took David to the bus today - his stop is just 3 townhouses away, so I feel comfortable leaving the little ones while I take him. So I came back, started cleaning the kitchen, then heard her crying for me. I went and got her, then sat with her on the futon in her room, and started reading stories. We snuggled & read for a while before she got down, went to her closet, and said "baby?" She was ready to play with her doll! It was so nice to spend that time with her while she started her day! It was nice to be awake and aware of the moment instead of struggling to wake up.

The set up here has the TV like 2 feet away from the computer monitor, so I'm having a hard time focusing on my post. Sesame Street is on to keep Katy occupied, but it's still hard for me to tune out. So I'm sorry if my ramblings aren't all that coherant!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

so sweet, and yet, so naughty

I don't know if it's just the recent move or Katy's upcoming 2nd birthday, but she's being a real stinker lately! I have a DI box in the corner of my room that I'm filling up as I'm unpacking, and she went through it and spread it around the room. Then she "helped" unpack some of the other boxes. Then I went into the bathroom to put something away, and she followed and got into things under the sink. And she has been throwing little tantrums whenever I try to get her to stop making a mess!

I finally decided to just leave my room until she is otherwise occupied (preferably asleep), and went to sit in the rocking chair in her room. I thought she might sit and cuddle with me since she was being cranky, but she immediately wiggled out of my arms. Then she found a book and asked me to read it to her. I finished, and she went to get another. And another. As long as I was reading to her she sat happily on my lap. It was really nice. I think we read about 6 books before I broke it by trying to take her picture!

And here's why I wanted a picture - I noticed that she was putting the finished books back on the shelf! The two standing on their ends & the big one sticking way out were all put there by Katy! I don't know if it's a boy/girl difference or just a personality difference, but the boys never ever have done that without being told to.

I wanted a picture of her standing by the books she had put away, but she said "No!" and sat down to look at the little books. I tried for a while to get a picture of her face, but this is all I could get. She refused to look for a picture. Nice.

Oh, and notice the necklaces? One is just one I bought for her, the other one she chose from Grandma Maughan's jewelry box. She loves to put it on. I think that would make Grandma happy.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Oh where, oh where have David's Pokemon cards gone?

Oh where, oh where can they be?

The boys got into Pokemon cards a couple months ago, and have quickly got quite a decent little collection. My sister, Hannah, gave them all of hers as their Christmas present, so many of them are old ones. They each have a binder with card holder pages in it full of lots of Pokemon cards.

David lost his!

Last Sunday afternoon when I was packing up their backpacks to take on the airplane, I noticed his wasn't in there. I texted Gayelinn to have him make sure it was ready, assuming it was over there.

It wasn't!

So I'm going to go through our week, trying to figure out where it could possibly be!


We got to Utah on Saturday 2/21, and the boys rode their bikes when we went to the Mechams' house, so his Pokemon cards stayed at our house. The next day we went back over for a little while in the afternoon, and the boys both brought their binders. David left his there that night. Monday we went back over, and David still didn't bring them home. Tuesday we didn't end up seeing them at all, so the cards were still at the Mechams' house. Wednesday we went over after school (David got to go to his old class for a day!), and this time he remembered to bring them home.

That is the last time we remember where they were.

Thursday morning the kids & I went to Nadine's house, and Ryan brought his but David didn't. Then we did a few things around the Provo area, then went home for Katy's nap. Thomas Low & Mason Smith came over to play while she was sleeping. Then when she woke up, they went home & we went over to the Mechams' house for a little while. Then all of us (Mechams & Morrills) went back to our house for a delicious dinner of canned chili & ravioli. Then they left and we went to get Dan from the airport, then home & to bed.

Friday morning we did things around the house to finish up getting ready for the move. Then we drove Dan to pick up the Uhaul. We spent the rest of the day loading the moving truck. David did some helping & some playing. He rode in the car to pick up dinner at Arctic Circle. So as far as I know/remember, the only times he left the house that day were riding in the car, not even getting out.

Saturday we said goodbye to Dan & Grandpa driving the Uhaul, then tried to finish getting ready to go. I know we went to the Mechams in the morning for a little while, then home for naptime, then back for dinner & to sleep. Other than that I think he spent the entire day at our house.

We spent Saturday night at the Mechams' house, then went to church Sunday morning, then he stayed at their house while I finished getting totally ready to go.


Unless he went to a friend's house that I don't remember, this is all he did. He was either at our house or the Mechams' house almost all of the time. It isn't at our house, unless it's stuck in a random closet that I didn't happen to look in or something. And David, Britner, and Mistelle all looked for it at the Mechams' house with no luck. And I'm pretty sure I checked the rental car well enough that I'd see a binder if it was there. I don't kow where else it could be! I wish we had been smart enough to put his name in it, in case somebody finds it and doesn't know whose it is!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Oh, What a Day We Had!

You know those movies where they show you a scene, then go back in time to show you how they got there? Well, this is one of those stories. Right now I'm at my parents' house, which is how I have internet and the ability to blog. Why am I at my parents' house? Let me tell you a story...

Saturday night we spent the night at Gayelinn's house. Our beds were all gone, things were in the process of being clean, and I didn't want the kids messing things up that I'd already cleaned (like peeing all over the clean toilet...Ryan!), so we stayed with my best friend. After the kids were asleep I went to the house and cleaned until after 1:00. I got almost everything done, just needing to finish throwing whatever I could into our suitcases, vacuum the living room once those suitcases were gone, and clean out the inside fridge. So Sunday morning we got up at the Mechams' house and got ready for church. It was bittersweet to go to our ward one last time. I even bore my testimony, which I'm almost positive I hadn't done since moving in 4.5 years ago! It was a little bit of a thank-you-mony, but I think I kept it relevent (thankful for how the Church is worldwide, so the Elders in Vancouver are helping unload the truck that the Elders in Eagle Mountain helped load up!).

So after Sacrament Meeting I took the kids to their classes, told their teachers that if the kids needed something to get Gayelinn, and went home to finish up. I did a really good thorough job of the fridge, and didn't get a chance to do anything else, because I needed to be back for Relief Society. Gayelinn was giving the lesson, and I couldn't miss that! So, after church I took the kids back to her house, changed their clothes, then left her to feed them while I finished at the house. It was 12:45 by then! I don't know why it took 45 minutes to come home and change clothes. So I hurried over to the house, changed the code on the garage (since our code had been our debit card pin and I didn't want people knowing that!), then packed and vacuumed. It was about 1:30 by this point, so I hurried and took pictures of every room in the house for nostalgia's sake.

I knew that my flight landed in Portland at 4:00 local time. Earlier in the week I had been trying to figure out my plan for Sunday, and tried to estimate what time it left. I knew our flight from LAX to SLC took about an hour and a half, and - here's my first major flaw in logic - I assumed SLC to PDX would be the same. The drive times are 9 hrs vs 13 hrs, so it was a stupid assumption. Anyhow, I guessed that my flight was leaving around 3:30 local time (since I would gain an hour, making that 2:30 Portland time). Not having internet all week, I never double checked, and I didn't have a chance to check in online. And, as the week progressed, I forgot that 3:30 was just a rough estimate, and started thinking it was the actual departure time. I knew it was about a 50 minute drive to the airport, and I'd need a couple minutes to drop off our rental car. I wanted to get there with plenty of time, so I wanted to leave at 1:00, giving 2.5 hours for the whole process. I knew that was a little more than I needed, so I wasn't too stressed about being a little late. I went back to the Mechams' house, picked up the kids, and had a teary goodbye with Gayelinn. Got on the road around 1:45.

I was on my way out of Eagle Mountain when I suddenly realized my error. I tried calling my mom & Dan to see if either of them knew what time my flight was leaving, but neither one answered. So I pulled over and got my backpack out of the trunk, and found the email from Southwest. When I saw what it said, my heart dropped. Our flight was due to leave at 3:00! So I got back in and drove like a maniac to the airport. Most of the time I was flying along around 85 mph, frantic to not miss our flight! I called Southwest to find out what would happen, and the nice lady didn't have much useful to say. There was one more flight to Portland that night, but not until 7:30, and it didn't look like there was room for us. So I was determined to make the 3:00 flight!

We got there around 2:40. At this point I was still feeling hopeful. I hurried and unloaded the car, piled the stroller high with suitcases & carseats, and nagged the kids along into the airport. David & Ryan were each wearing a backpack and pulling a heavy suitcase, but there was no other way! We finally make it over to Southwest...and there was a huge line. That's when I started to really lose hope. I kept watching a departure board that said our flight was boarding, and literally prayed that something minor would go wrong with the plane and they'd have to delay about a half hour!

I finally got to the front of the line, and it was 2:57 I believe. I said "We're supposed to be on a 3:00 flight, what can we do?" She said they could try to get us on a later flight. She looked, found the 7:30 flight, and that it was already overbooked by 3 people. So we could be put as stand-bys, wait four and a half hours, and still not get on. So I said "It says it's still boarding, is there any way we could still make the 3:00 flight?" She said "There are 137 passengers boarding. It is a totally full flight." I said "But we bought seats on that flight, why aren't they still available to us." And she got all snotty and mean about how when we weren't at the gate by 10 minutes prior that our seats were forefitted and they gave them to stand-bys. She was very accusatory and mean about it.

And that's when I started to come unglued. I'd been weepy all day bearing my Testimony, leaving our home of 4.5 years, and saying goodbye to Gayelinn. And I hadn't broken my fast at lunch like I meant to to give me strength for the traveling so I was running on no food. And it's been a stressful couple days, and I have a huge amount of work to do to set up a new household. So I started to cry. And freak out at her a little. I yelled at the mean lady "You think I did this on PURPOSE? I have 3 kids! Why are you being so MEAN?" And I think I kept going, but I was losing it and don't quite remember!

So a guy came over, and took us to another station, and tried to work something out for us. I was still crying but less angry, and starting to feel embarassed that I'd made a scene in front of all those people! He found the same information about the other Portland flight, then tried to find other ways we could possibly go through another city. Nothing. I told him we could fly to Seattle instead and stay at my parents' house, and he found a 7:15 flight with room on it. He reserved those seats for us, but didn't check us in yet. I wanted to make sure we didn't have any other option to get to Portland and my husband & new apartment. He said he thought Delta would be the only other one that went to Portland, and to try calling on a white phone.

So we walked around to the phone, I picked it up, and told the operator that I needed to find out if Delta had a flight that would work for me. I don't know if there's a way to call directly to the ticket agents, but she didn't do it if there is. She sent me to a recording that told me their corporate hours, then put me on hold. I sat there for almost 10 minutes before I started worrying that maybe I was sitting on hold for an office that was closed at 3:15 on a Sunday evening. So we set off to find the Delta counter.

Now, you have to understand how hard all this is physically. I had a double stroller with Katy in the front, and the back seat had 1 suitcase, and all 3 car/booster seats piled up really high so I had to lean around it to see where I was going. I had my purse on my shoulder and it kept falling off because it didn't occur to me to put it on before my heavy backpack, which I also was carrying. I was trying to push with one hand while carrying another suitcase in my other hand (I had to actually carry it rather than pull it because it didn't roll right at the angle I was able to pull it at while pushing the stroller, hoping to not run into anyone I couldn't see on the other side of my tower-o-carseats). Then each boy still had a backpack and big suitcase to pull. And I was wearing my jacket and incredibly hot, but not feeling able to take the time to take it off, and not sure where I'd put it anyways.

So we were trying to find Delta, and I was passing the security area. A really nice TSA lady (everybody today seemed either really nice or really mean...maybe it's just me...) asked if I was flying, and I told her I was trying to find a flight that would work for us. She took me over to a big arrival/departure board, and we found 2 Delta flights that evening. Okay, so I needed to go find out if there was room and how unreasonable the prices were. She told me that they were in another building and how to get there, then turned to help someone else. And I just stood there and started crumbling again! I was saying "I can't do this!" when she turned back to us, and volunteered to help us over there. And she even stayed while we waited in line, and helped us back to Southwest when Delta only had 1 seat between the two flights! She was an absolute angel to me, I don't know how I would have survived without her help!

Then we decided for sure to go with the Seattle flight, and were finally able to get rid of some of our stuff. Two nice ladies that had seen only the end of our miserable hour helped us bring our stuff to the x-ray, and we were able to get rid of the 2 booster seats and 4 suitcases. I still, however, had Katy's carseat. The 2 booster seats couldn't count as 1 bag like a lady on the phone had said, so that was our allotted 6 bags. So we were down to 1 carseat, the boys' and my backpacks, my purse, and the boys' pillows. Those were annoying, but since we were moving we needed them.

We made it through security really smoothly, thank goodness. It was 4:00 by then, and I couldn't have dealt with another ordeal!

I finally realized that I was starving, so we went to blow some money on airport food. All 3 children were set on Pizza Hut, so I got 3 meals (a little pizza, 3 breadsticks, and a drink) between the 4 of us. I made the boys share a drink and let Katy have her own, assuming they could handle it better than she could. They spilt rootbeer all over twice before I just threw it away! And Katy didn't drink much. And at the end we had exactly 1 pizza and 3 breadsticks left. I could have saved myself $7.99. But they did eat it cold on the airplane later, or I'd be really irritated.

While we were eating my phone battery died. I had seen that it was kind of low while working at the house earlier and charged it while I worked, then packed the charger. I assumed I packed it in my backpack like usual. I hadn't. So now I had a dead phone, 3 hours to kill in the airport with 3 children, and no way to communicate with anybody. Dan and I were trying to figure out when and how we would come from Seattle down to Vancouver. He wanted to pick us up and drive straight there, I wanted to stay the night at my parents' house, and he could either come meet us and take Monday off or I could just drive down Monday sometime (Side note - we thought it was absolutely perfect that he was able to take the Pacifica down to Portland right before we left for California so he could pick us up from the airport in it. So we have the Neon, and I hope I get to take all three children with me today!). Then my phone died before we fully decided.

Well, Salt Lake has a nice almost fully enclosed play area, so we went there to pass the time. My back was hurting from packing the moving truck, sleeping on a couch, then walking around the airport with my heavy backpack, so I laid down on the floor. And after a little while I FELL ASLEEP! I slept for about 20 minutes I think! When I woke up Katy was still playing with blocks and the boys were still playing with the DSs. I don't know what Divine intervention kept Katy playing happily rather than wandering out and getting lost, but I am very greatful! And when I woke up I felt in control again. Some food and a nap made a world of difference.

I wanted to find a pay phone to let Dan know everything was okay and finish making plans, so I checked how much change I had. I found 70 cents - 2 quarters and 4 nickels - (and quite a few pennies, which I'm pretty sure pay phones don't take) then went to find how much it would be. Oh yeah, and change Katy's diaper. After she was cleaned up (and I made sure the other 3 of us used the potty while we were there in the family bathroom) we found the pay phone. It took $1 for 4 minutes long distance. So I opened up my wallet again, and found another quarter and a dime! I don't know how I would have missed those the first time, it must have been a miracle. Such a small thing - 35 cents! - but it sure helped me right then!

From there on out it was a pretty normal experience. I was feeling like a normal adult again, and we only had another hour or so to wait. We went back to the play area for a little while, then to our gate. And there was at least 1 extra seat, because Katy got to sit in her carseat in her own seat! I've now flown alone with the children five times, and having Katy in her own seat made that one the easiest flight by far! David sat right in front of her. He was worried about sitting with strangers, but got to sit by a mom and her 18 month old daughter - not the most intimidating of strangers! He did a great job, and I'm really proud of him! Katy played with her toys, Ryan played on his DS, and even let me play on it a little!

My mom was waiting at the baggage claim when we got there, and she helped us get all our stuff out to the car! She and my dad both came, so he picked us up at the curb rather than having the trade off of having someone help with luggage meaning you have to walk farther to the car. We got all loaded up and on our way to Grandma & Grandpa's house!

Well, it certainly wasn't what we had planned, but it has been nice to have a relaxing morning before going down to tackle the job of unpacking. I'm doing some laundry and going to get the stuff we have here a bit organized. We'll head down his afternoon so we don't get there before Dan (he has the keys!). I'm anxious to get started on the house, but greatful for a little bit of a break right now!

And my mom is happy I will be taking my dog!