Natalie & Ryan: Intermission

When planning the trip to come out to Seattle, I was going to stay for two weeks and we were going to spend my first week packing and moving, use the weekend to drive to Wenatchee to see Grandma Griffin, and then use the second week to unpack and decorate. Our plans didn't quite go that way. My step sister (who got married in August) was finally going through the temple and was going to be sealed the weekend that fell right in the middle of the trip. There's a lot of backstory behind why I wanted (and felt that I needed) to be there to support her, so I decided to fly home for the weekend. I was able to finish packing and be there for my dad's move on Thursday, before I had to leave. The move went great. I'll always be on Team Movers! There's nothing like having other people lug boxes up stairs for you. Lilly and I waited and cleaned at the new place, while my dad directed and supervised loading at the old place.

I wasn't looking forward to adding two more flights to our agenda with our weekend flights, but I really lucked out. We were flying out Friday morning and flying back to Seattle Sunday morning. We got to the airport a tad earlier than I would have liked on Friday. And I only say that because Lilly has a max-out point for sitting still. I got her to sit in her chair for all of about 20 minutes before she wanted to run around. I followed her around the terminal and she ran from me and giggled. It was fun at first, and we succeeded in getting everyone laughing. But eventually I knew that I needed to get her settled down, and, you know, not leave all of our luggage unattended. That's when the real fun started. I had to trap her in the seat with me, otherwise she would wiggle out and go running off. She threw the world's biggest tantrum, and all I could think about was how all of the other people were probably thinking to themselves, "ugh, I do don't want to sit next to that lady on the plane." In my mind, I was hoping that having her throw the fit before the flight, would mean she would fall asleep during the flight. The 40 minutes of waiting for the flight were brutal, but, I was right, and she passed out literally the second the plane left the ground. On top of that, we had the row all to ourselves. It probably helped that everyone saw her during her pre-flight fit, and made mental note not to sit by us. :P

She woke up as we made our decent, since the pressure change hurts her ears, but she just sat in her seat and ate cookies with bear-bear until we landed. About a minute before we landed, she decided to wiggle behind me, and we played "squish the baby." It was just a silly game at the time, but as I think back on it, I realize it was a tiny miracle. The landing wasn't a hard landing, but it was one of those landings where the pilot slams on the breaks and everyone fights the urge to go flying into the seat in front of them. If Lilly hadn't been climbing on my back, I would have just let her sit in the seat, and she literally would have bashed into the seat in front of her. I'll make a point of holding onto her from now on. I'm glad I didn't have to learn my lesson the hard way.

Once we were back in Utah, I started to crash. I've been beyond exhausted this entire trip. I somehow managed to push Lilly in her stroller, pull my suitcase, and carry the carseat on my back while we searched for Ryan. Then we met up with Kevin, so that he and Jan could look after Lilly for the weekend. We had lots of temple events to go to, and I thought it would be too hard to be constantly trying to find someone to look after her for a few hours here and there. And, let's just be honest, I needed a break...

Anyway, the weekend was quick and great. We went through the temple with Tami and Sway as they both received their endowments. That was really special. It always makes me think back to when I went through the temple. We got home at about 9, and all I could think about was how excited I was to be back in my own bed. Unfortunately, I had nightmares all night, and didn't sleep at all. I woke up more tired than I was when I went to bed. The sealing was at 3, and we had to leave at 1:30, so I planned to use the morning to do laundry and clean up the house. I only managed to accomplish getting one load of laundry started, before Ryan demanded I get back in bed and take it easy. I "took it easy" all the way up until we were to leave. Yay me!

The sealing was great! This was the first sealing of someone else's that I'd been to. Again, all I could think about was my wedding day, and how getting to say "yes" was the most powerful moment that I can remember ever having. I was so happy for Tami and Sway. After the sealing, we took a few pictures and then Ryan ran up to Layton to have some time with Lilly. I opted to stay home, since I still had lots of laundry and packing to do. I rode home with my mom, Jeff, Jack, and Susie. We stopped at Village Inn for dinner, and had a blast talking about their wedding plans...Once I was home, I only had about an hour of cleaning and getting caught up before Ryan and Lilly came home. See what I mean? The weekend was QUICK!

She is such a good helper! She would take anything I handed her, and chuck it right into the box. I texted this video to my mom and told her that she needed to add Lilly to her payroll as one of her movers.