Utah Trip - Part 1  

Posted by Amber

We took a two-week vacation back home to Utah at the end of July into August. It was a lot of fun and gave us something to look forward to. We also decided shortly before our trip that we weren't going to extend Matt's contract in Peru if the opportunity presented itself. (They still don't know what they're going to do with the office down here. Waiting on Cuba still, or something.) I'm glad we made a decision because it changed how we handled our trip. Example - we took a couple of suitcases worth of stuff to leave in Utah. We also bought a car to use on our trip, and then we'll have it to use in a few months when we move back.

 Anyway, we flew out in the wee hours of Tuesday, July 21st. Poor Henlie caught some sort of tummy bug or something (probably from Sebastian's birthday party, or maybe from church. Who knows?) She threw up a couple times and had serious diarrhea all day. She finally passed out on the couch that night. (Matt and I didn't sleep since we had to leave around 10 or 10:30 to go to the airport anyway.)

Our little sickie sleeping on the couch.

 We left for the airport earlier than I thought we needed to, but it actually worked out well. Even though our travel agent had added Andrew as a lap ticket, it either didn't really get paid or it didn't register as getting paid on LAN's end, so Matt had to do some running around to pay for it. We were still well on time, even with that extra waiting. This was good because we also had to fill out some extra papers since Matt has been working here. They require you have all of your taxes up-to-date before leaving the country, but apparently you still have to fill out other papers too. So we hung out while Matt did that.
 Andrew's first plane ride!

 Henlie loves to play with her headphones :)
Not so much wearing them to watch TV though lol

Sleepy Henlie

The flight was fairly uneventful. I did end up changing Henlie, and since there was a line, one of the flight attendants led me to the bathroom at the front to use the changing table in there. LAN is pretty nice, but that changing table was terrible. It didn't lay flat. Now, Henlie is pretty tall being a toddler, so it's not like she fits well anyway, but add a 30 degree angle or so, and how am I supposed to change her? She was a little traumatized by the experience. Later when I needed to change Andrew, Matt had gotten up to use the restroom, so we had an extra seat, and I just opted to change him on that seat (with my changing pad down!) Of course, some attendants walk by and are all, "You need to change him in a bathroom!" I was like, "Yeah, okay...but I'm halfway through cleaning a poopy butt and I'm not putting that back on just to walk him up there and use the angled changing table...." Okay, I didn't say all of that part to them, but I just finished changing him and was done. Easy-peasey.

Andrew waiting at LAX.

When we got to LA, we got to go through customs. It was pretty fancy. They have kiosks for US and Canadian citizens to use where you scan your passport and then it takes a photo of you. It expedites the process. I rather enjoyed being able to read all of the signs when we got there :) Our flight to Salt Lake was also uneventful. I read on my Kindle a little, and all four of us ended up taking naps.
 Sleepy Matt and Henlie

Sleepy Andrew. Pretty sure I took this after waking from my own nap :)

When we got to Salt Lake, Kayla and Carrie came to pick us up. Grandma was super excited to see Henlie and meet Andrew. We collected our bags and put Andrew in the car seat for the first time ever. We sent some of our luggage and Henlie home with Grandma while the rest of us stopped by a car dealership in Salt Lake with Kayla to check on a car. Unfortunately, it had already sold and they just hadn't updated their website. So we headed back to Payson not too far behind Mom.
Grandma excited to see Henlie!



 So I was going to put Andrew in the car seat to leave....and I got scolded haha
Grandma had to hold him first!

Andrew's first time in a car seat. Look how big he is!

It seems I caught Henlie's tummy bug. My stomach started hurting some on the flight to Salt Lake, and I wasn't feeling well while we looked at cars. I rode most of the way home from Salt Lake with my head down. Unfortunately, about five minutes from home, I had to throw up. :( I unbuckled and tried to slide over to the window, but I didn't make it :( I spent the rest of the evening lying on Carrie's couch feeling and, I'm sure, looking like death. Let me just tell you, throwing up (a lot, my poor abs) and the diarrhea (it seems I got more throwing up and less diarrhea than Henlie, but I still ended up with both) makes you very weak and dehydrated. This makes it very difficult to feed your baby when you're nursing. Fortunately, there were lots of people to hold him, and we also brought the last of his premature formula as a "just in case." We eventually gave poor Andrew a bottle, and he did much better. 
We did give out gifts since most everyone was there Tuesday night.
Jason, McKade, and Devan in their chollos/mask.

 I still wasn't 100% on Wednesday and spent most of the day in bed. I did make it down the hall to visit with Kayla and Henlie a little for awhile, but moving didn't make me feel very well still. Thank you again to family for watching my kids when I couldn't! Matt ended up going to lunch with some friends/colleagues/business partners while I did nothing all day. I was a little sad I got sick at the very beginning of my vacation, but at least I didn't get sick on the plane, and fortunately it was during a time we had lots of help around with the kids, rather than in Peru. Blessings in disguise, eh?

 Anyway, we'll end Part 1 here. Stay tuned for more!

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17, 2015 at Thursday, September 17, 2015 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

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