Trip to Baltimore

Last Thursday Rob and I flew to Baltimore for five days to see family.

It really was a lot of fun! We spent the first while at Greg and Kristin. It was great seeing them and Seth again. Since we arrived in the middle of the night we first saw Seth when he woke up Friday morning. We gave him his presents but he was much more interested in giving me presents! These presents consisted of random toys he had. We also read books together and he and Rob had a sword fight. He really is fond of Rob!

The funniest thing happened though. The whole time Seth was stinking up the place and I repeatedly asked him if he needed to use the bathroom. He kept saying no. At one point while we were sitting reading a few of his books, he jumped up and yelled, "I need the potty!" He ran downstairs, where his potty is usually kept, but it had been moved because that is where Rob and I were staying. He ran back upstairs and screamed, "Where's my potty?" I told him it's in the bathroom and once he went into the bathroom we didn't hear a sound for a while. After about 2 minutes we hear, "Rob, can you come wipe me?" I started to laugh so hard. Rob didn't mind at all though. But, as soon as Seth was clean, he ran out the bathroom. Rob was dying from the smell and so asked Seth what was to be done with the potty deposits. Seth shrugged and ran off. So, Rob tried to figure out how to remove the bottom part but in his attempt spilled poo and wee all over his arm. So funny!!!

Around 4pm Rob's paternal grandmother, known as Mawmaw, came to pick us up. We had the most delicious pot roast for dinner - it was incredible! That night it began to snow. Usually Baltimore doesn't get too much snow. Well, the next morning there was about a foot of snow on the ground. Jesse's family Christmas party was planned for Saturday but it got moved to Sunday afternoon. The blizzard continued and so we just hung out with Mawmaw - everyone was encouraged to stay at home and off the roads. By the evening there was 2,5 feet of snow on the ground. Rob went out in the middle of the afternoon and began shoveling the snow around his grandmother's car.

Finally on Sunday morning it had stopped snowing. Church throughout Maryland had been cancelled. So we went to Jesse's house to help out prepare for her Christmas party. I also looked after Anthony (Jesse's 3 month old baby) Between 1 and 2pm everyone started arriving. We had a delicious lunch (pork loin and stuffing) and then everyone handed out gifts. I continued to play with Anthony. What a good baby!! He didn't cry once.

That evening (Sunday night) we drove to Shrewsbury, PA

to stay the night with Mommom, Rob's maternal grandmother. That was fun. I was really quite tired though! The next day (Monday) we drove back to Maryland and visited with the mother of one of Rob's high school friends. His friend didn't make it from Connecticut because of the snow. We then went to Greg and Kristin's house. We chatted to Kristin and played with Seth. Greg came home from work around 6pm and we then went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory - I'd been wanting to go there for forever and finally we got to go. It was yummy! That night Mary (Kristin's mom) came over and brought us a gift for the baby, which was very kind of her.

Then on Tuesday morning we just hung out at the house, playing with Seth and chatting to Kristin. We did scripture study together. We waited for Rob to get out of the shower. When he came through to the living room Kristin said to Seth, who was sitting next to me: "Why don't you let Rob sit next to Nicky?" He said no. So Rob jokingly said, "That's ok, in a couple hours when we leave she'll be all mine." Seth then said, "No, she's mine!" Rob then replied, "She's mine!" Seth continued to say, "No! She is mine!" This went back and forth for a while which was amusing to all - even Seth thought it was funny. He then looked at Rob and said, "I'm going to keep her!!" We all started laughing. He is such a cute little boy! After scripture study he pretended to read and made up various verses in the scriptures which was really cute.

We then left and arrived back in Utah around 8pm. It was snowing....AGAIN! Rob hadn't shaved since we left Utah last week and was growing a beard. But, this morning he felt it was too irritating so he shaved it off.

Christmas in Baltimore, Maryland

On Friday the 19th I flew out of SLC to come to visit Greg, Kristin, and Seth in Baltimore. The flight was a little crazy. Just before we were about to take-off, the captain said that we would be experiencing some turbulance. Well, as we took off the plane was bouncing around in the air like a crazy chicken trying to fly. I began to feel sick and wondered if I'd survive, but fortunately I did. :)

It was awesome to see Greg again because I hadn't seen him since February. It was also cool to catch up with Kristin again. Seth is so cute: he was so excited to see me he ran round and round in circles, throwing toys around. I laughed so hard. At night we read stories together before he goes to bed, we sing, and then he says: "Tuddle me, Nittee. Tuddle me." The other day we were all just sitting in the lounge just doing our own thing and suddenly he says to everyone: "I yuv Nittee! I yuv her so much!" (yuv = how Seth pronounces love) I just smiled and told him I loved him back. He then said: "Nittee so pretty!" I couldn't believe he was saying these things. So cute!!!

Two days after I arrived we were going to church and as I walked out the front door, I didn't realize that there was a thin layer of ice everywhere, so I slipped and felt face foward down the stairs. I hurt my hand a little and was in shock so I just lay there for a moment. Kristin screamed to Greg to come and he came running out, slipping on the ice, he also fell down the stairs but his foot shot out and kicked me in the eye. So, within minutes my eye swelled up and by the next morning it was blue. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Poor Greg felt really bad.

Since I arrived all I heard from Seth was that he wanted a skateboard, so while in the toystore with Greg I bought him a skateboard for Christmas. I was so excited to give it to him. So, finally Christmas day came and I got to give him his gift. He was over the moon and gave me a big kiss. He has played on it all day every day since then. Definitely a good gift for him!

On Christmas, Kristin's family came over for brunch. In the afternoon we played UNO and Settler's of Catan. In the evening we went to Kristin's uncle's home (Mary's brother) for Christmas dinner - loads of Kristin's cousins were there.

The day after Christmas we and Kristin's family drove 4 hours to the Wisp resort. It was a long drive especially since Seth wasn't in a very good mood. :) When we got there we hired some snowboards and hit the slopes. Kristin's brothers, Nick and John, went immediately to the blue slopes but since I had never done it before I stuck to the bunny slope. But, eventually I felt like I had finally got it and so I fell less and enjoyed it more. I had some pretty spectacular falls though!! That night we went out to eat at the resort restaurant. The food was pretty good. Nick and I each ordered something, then cut it in half and swapped. That was cool! That night as I fell asleep I could feel my body still snowboarding.

The next day I woke up so stiff. I could hardly move properly. We went tubing for 2 hours - I loved it! At first I was a little nervous but really began to enjoy it. I could have done it for more than 2 hours. I kind of wanted to snowboard again, but my body was just too sore and tired. Instead we went a couple times on the snow coaster which was awesome. It went incredibly fast.

Today Kristin, Ray (Kristin's dad) and I went to Washington DC. That was a lot of fun! I really like that city - well, the part I saw, at least. It is just so pretty. I loved the architecture and all the memorials. So pretty! I definitely need to go back at some point and see more. I saw a lot but only really scratched the surface because you could spend weeks there and not get bored.

Another place Kristin took me too was Ellicott City. That was a small little historical town. I had the most amazing hot chocolate there!! Here is a picture of Seth and I in the little restaurant where we had hot chocolate.

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

This evening we went to Salt Lake City in order to go to Temple Square to see the lights they have displayed every Christmas. This is now the third time I've been to see the lights (2002, 2007, and 2008). They really are so pretty!

We went around like crazy people at first taking loads of photos which was fun. So, here are some of the photos we took.

Me, Rachel, and Candice

Candice, me, Marjorie, Lauren, and Rachel