On coming home. . .

Well, I'm happy to report that I survived driving over 2500 miles within a week. I met up with my family in Park City first, where we had a nice reunion with my dad's family. My favorite part was on the Friday night, where we had family pictures and then a nice birthday dinner for my grandpa. After we took many, many shots, the photographer wanted to do some of my grandparents with all of their grandkids. It was pretty entertaining to watch, since some of the grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) are under the age of 2 or 3. The adults all gathered behind the photographer and started clapping, waving their hands, and generally acting like goons to get the attention of all of the babies in the pictures. We who weren't babies or small children all got the giggles, and I sorely wish someone had videotaped the show behind the photographer. Normally, I hate having my picture taken, but my aunts and uncles made it all worthwhile. :-)

I was really grateful that my older siblings and their families were able to make it, too. It was the first time I got to see my youngest niece, who was born the day before my birthday in March. She's very sweet, and her two older brothers make for very cute, adorable, and entertaining nephews. Although the baby did get upset if her mom wasn't holding her, I did get a few minutes here and there of holding her. What a cutie!

I also got to see my sister's three kids and spend some time with them. On Saturday, we went to a resort-style place in Park City and got to do a lot of fun things. One of them was going down the mountain on a sled-like contraption, on something called an Alpine Slide. I went down with my niece Grace, who is almost 7, and we had a blast. I believe the only complaint was that we didn't go faster. The slide itself seems designed to avoid super high speeds, even though I was trying my best. We got to ride a ski-lift up the mountain, which was fun, but kind of scary as well. My four-year-old nephew Ethan loved it, as did Grace, but I was clenching my teeth almost the whole ride up. Did I mention that I really don't like heights? I think my brother-in-law could tell. Grace and I raced Ethan and Jaren down the hill, but we unfortunately lost. However, we all had a great time of it, so it works out in the end.

On Sunday, when we were getting ready to go, I got to see my sister's youngest son, Max, in action. He's about 20 months old, and Thanksgiving was the last time I had seen him. It was amazing at how much his walking, talking, and general coordination had improved. He's also got a ton of personality for someone so very little. He would run up to my dad and lift his arms to be picked up, and although Max doesn't say much, you could almost always tell what he wanted. For instance, one of his sentences is, "where'd Grandpa go?" Very cute, I know.

Right before we left, Grace and I were helping my dad to fill up the small cooler, so we went to get some ice from the hotel machine. Max came with us, and after realizing how cool the ice machine was, he wanted to do it again and again. Every time we would go out, Max would run down the hall to the room where the machine was, lift up his arms to be picked up, and immediately put his finger onto the button to get the ice to come down. When we were finished, he'd want to be put down, and would then run down the hall with a big smile on his face to our room. When we went in, he'd start talking about it to my dad (Grandpa) or to my brother-in-law. On our last trip, when we were almost to the room, Gracie asked him if we needed any more ice, and so Max took off giggling and laughing down the hall for more ice. We managed to keep on eye on him, but both Grace and I had the giggles for a while. It was highly entertaining. I hope to post pictures soon, once we get them developed, so keep your eyes out. I've got some adorable nieces and nephews.

After leaving Park City, we drove north for two days up to Alberta to see my grandparents. My little sister had left Utah on Saturday morning for Interlochen (a music camp in Michigan), so it was just my parents, little brother, and I. It was a long drive, but Waterton Lakes National Park is always worth the trip. We stayed for three or four days, and then got into the cars again for the trip back to Minnesota. Crazy short, I know, but Dad had to be back on work by the next Monday. It was really nice to see my mom's parents again, especially so shortly after seeing my dad's parents. All of my grandma's living siblings were also there visiting, so I got to meet some people I'd never seen before. My grandma's older brother hadn't seen my parents since their wedding, so it was no surprise that they'd never really met me. I had a good time visiting with everyone, and I got to see a lot of my mom's siblings and my cousins. All in all, I enjoyed myself; I just wish we could have stayed longer.

We left Canada and drove through Montana, managing to leave the state on our second driving day. We stayed overnight near the border, and then drove through North Dakota and down through Minnesota home. We got home around eleven or twelve on Friday night, so we had a bit of time to recuperate before starting life again. In the two days I've been home, we've scrubbed out the freezer and garage floor, picked raspberries from our backyard bushes, done laundry and unpacking, and generally made lots of plans for the summer. Somehow, the power had gone out while my parents were gone, so everything in the outdoor freezer had spoiled, melted, and leaked onto the garage floor. My parents weren't too happy about that little surprise, but at least a racoon or rodent hadn't moved in while they were gone. Knock on wood, I hate mice (too many personal experiences, but that's a long story).

Personally, I'm planning to finish my prospectus, get it defended, get a summer-time job, and generally relax before hitting the books again in the fall. However, I'm pretty good for medium-weight lifting and grunt labor, so I think I might get to paint outside this summer. I'll let you know, but it's good to be home. I don't have to search for quarters to do my laundry, and there's more than one kind of cereal in the fridge. My bed isn't up on cinderblocks, and the furniture matches. Man, I love it here!