Flying to Arizona

Sunday April 17th Blake drove the kiddos and I to Grand Island, Nebraska. Allegiant Air flies out of there to Arizona for really cheap. So I thought it would be a good idea to jump on and go visit Grandma and Grandpa in the nice warm Arizona sun! Blake couldn't get time off because of the program he is in and I didn't want to drive that far(17hrs.) by myself, so this is what I decided to do. Saturday was spent packing and getting everything ready. Sunday after church we finished packing and got in the car to drive there.

The airport was TINY! Maybe smaller than the Idaho Falls Airport. I like this though. The people who worked there were really nice and let Blake go through security with me. They also let me check all my bags for free. So we got 2 adults, 4 kids, a stroller, 2 car seats, and 2 bags through security, then waited. I think the kids asked every 2 minutes when we were going to get on the airplane to go to Grandma and Grandpa's. Blake bought a couple drinks to share, so we filled up their water bottles with them(Allegiant doesn't offer free drinks), changed diapers, went to the bathroom and said bye to dad. I checked Parker's carseat and stroller by the plane and we boarded. We had a whole row to ourselves, all 5 seats!

Things looked good. We took off and immediately the kids started asking for their drinks. I expected this. I had them wait a little while, then went to get their drinks. The lids weren't on very well and sprite had leaked all over our bag. All our notebooks and entertainment was sooo sticky. I think it took them a total of about 10 minutes to drink everything we brought. Then they proceeded to eat all of the candy. So about 20 minutes into the flight we were out of treats and drinks and very ready for the announcement that we could turn on portable electronic devices.

Finally, they made the announcement! I pulled out our portable DVD player and it was hot. Not a good sign. Sure enough, it hadn't been turned off when we were done charging it, so the battery was dead. That made for a long rest of the flight.

Parker has always slept in his car seat, but on the airplane I wanted Alissa to be in her car seat and immobile. I didn't know before we got on that there would be room for both. So Parker didn't sleep the whole flight. He won't fall asleep in my arms. A really nice lady behind us held him for a long time and was a huge help. The rest of the kids were normal kids the rest of the flight. Alissa jumped from seat to seat, pushed buttons, played with the people behind us, and the people in front of us and only screamed for the last 10 minutes when I held her while we were landing. Remi was a huge help and later told Grandma she was really tired on the airplane, but stayed awake to help me. Sweet girl! Broden is a good traveler. He can entertain himself for hours. When we had about 30 minutes left he fell asleep on the 2 seats on his side of the isle. He just laid down and went to sleep. That was nice.

Then the plane landed. I couldn't get Broden to wake up and didn't know how I was going to carry Parker, Broden and the car seat. I finally convinced Broden to walk to the stroller. When we got off the airplane I put Broden on top of the Stroller, where the drinks go, Alissa in the stroller and the carseat, with Parker in it on top of her. We walked inside and I realized it wasn't the huge Phoenix airport I thought we were flying into. I panicked for a minute, but luckily Grandma knew which airport to come to. We were SOOOO excited to see her! Except for Parker screaming half the time our 2 hour drive back to Grandma and Grandpa's house went smoothly.

Grandma had been in Utah with Kaydi and Garrett and Baby Gibson for 3 weeks and drove home just in time to grab us at the Airport on her way back home in Green Valley, Arizona. We were so grateful for her willingness to do so much for us so we could come visit. They even bought a new car so we could all fit! They say it is for whenever anyone comes to visit them, we just happened to be the first ones coming.

When we got to their house in Green Valley Remi said hi to Grandpa, then went to bed. Alissa, Broden and I got a tour of the house and yard and stayed up for a few more hours visiting. I think we went to bed around 1:00 am-3:00am our time! Poor grandpa must have been exhausted the next day at school. Broden had a blast with him though.

The rest of our trip should be coming soon...

And We're Headed to.....

We got our new assignment and we will be moving to Lakenheath Air Force Base in England!!! We are so excited. Overwhelmed, but excited. Our list was:

1. Tucson, Arizona
2. Upwood, England
3. Lakenheath, England
4. Spang-bitburg, Germany
5. Ramstein, Germany
6.Kadena, Japan
7. Tyndall, Florida

I have wanted to go foreign the whole time, but Blake was nervous. I was really fine going almost anywhere that doesn't snow! My brother served his mission in England and I think it will be so fun to tour over there and be able to travel to Germany, Spain and wherever else we want in Europe for relatively cheap! I also think our kids will have a great experience. We asked them where they wanted to go. We said by Grandma and Grandpa(Arizona),  the beach(Florida, or Castles and Princesses(England). They voted for castles and princesses. So when we found out yesterday I wanted to wait until we were at dinner to tell them. It was Remi's birthday yesterday and we found out also that our neighbors across the street will be going to England too. Remi and Broden are best friends with their kids, so they were really sad about leaving them. So I made a card for Remi that had a picture of her and Avery at the park by our house here in Omaha. Then it had a picture of them in front of a castle with a princess. We gave Remi the card(Ingersoll's were with us) and I explained it to Remi. Her and Avery were so cute! They screamed and hugged and were jumping up and down. I think they talked about living by castles and princesses the rest of the night.

New Baby

This will be short because I don't have much time, but I wanted everyone to know. Last week Blake and I had the opportunity to fly out to Utah for the birth of Garrett(Blake's brother) and Kaydi's baby. He was born on Thursday and has a Diaphragmatic Hernia. You can read more about everything that happened here. My amazing mom and niece were kind enough to stay with the kids while we were gone.

We knew baby Gibson was going to have health problems when he was born. Kaydi and Garrett found out at their 20 week ultrasound. I have been amazed by them ever since(Well I was before too). They have been so strong for each other and they are so close. It is hard to describe their relationship from my point of view, but I'll try. They seem so young to me:), but yet so mature. They still know how to laugh and have fun, and flirt with each other, but as they have gone through this huge trial they have become so mature. Their faith is so strong and many times throughout the weekend as so many family members were there to comfort them, they ended up comforting us instead. They are amazing. It was definitely a testimony building weekend as we united in support and prayers for Kaydi, Garrett and Gibson.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who made our trip possible. Everyone really came together to help us be there with Kaydi and Garrett. My dad stayed with my Grandpa, so my mom could come, Blake's parents helped out with a car so we would have a way around all weekend, my brothers helped babysit Parker so we could be with Kaydi and Garrett(he wasn't aloud in the room), they also watched him so we could go to conference, Blake's grandma fed us, there were so many people who made it possible. Thank you so much.