Trip to Utah

The week of October 10-14, I went to Utah to help my mom with her city council re-election campaign. Sam and I flew from Denver and he was so, so thrilled to fly on a real airplane, he could hardly handle it. Don had shown him a bunch of movies of planes taking off and flying and landing so when we got on the plane, I asked Sam what we were going to do and he said, "Lift off! See earff down there." One other passenger said, "You must fly with him a lot. He knows how this works." He'd been listening to Sammy chatter about taking off and the engines, etc. Sam has flown a few times but this was the first time he remembered it. He loved every minute and it was hilarious how into it he was.

Look at this face. These three smiling pictures are some of my favorite Sam pictures of all time. He was so excited!

Eating the cookie from the flight attendant. She said she'd give him a cookie if he would sit in his chair and buckle up. I thought "good luck, lady", but then he actually did it! The power of a cookie! Amazing.

Once we got to Utah (we flew into the Provo airport! Amazing how easy that is!) we had a great time with my parents. My mom and I went to a fancy lunch with the Rotary Club and it was a strange experience. My mom got a call a few minutes into the meeting and suddenly left the room. An hour later, the lunch ended and I couldn't find my mom anywhere. Everyone was leaving but this one sweet couple insisted on staying until I knew where my mom was so I could get home. I couldn't find her anywhere! Finally, another half hour had passed and I had tried to get the nice people to leave me and they finally agreed. Then, my mom showed up. She had been talking to another person from the city council and had gone down into the service area of the building and lost track of time. So funny and strange. I had no reason to be at this lunch except to accompany my mom and I was by myself the whole time. Funny.

It was a terribly stressful election for my mom. I was glad I could be there to give her nightly head rubs, make dinner, and go through progressive relaxation exercises with her. Sam hung out with my dad (such a great grandpa! Sam just loves him) while I went to City Council meetings and just generally helped my mom. I helped her friends map out, count, and bag brochures for delivery every morning and did whatever else I could. It was fun to be home and to have Sammy spend time with my mom and dad.

Sam and Poppy eating together. 

I took Sammy to the pumpkin patch I went to every year as a kid. It was so fun to go back there. It brought back so many memories. There is a certain smell in that place that I really love. 

Fun in the mirror room!

Sam insisted my grandma wear a fireman's hat with him. Funny kid. 

Hurray for a fall trip to Utah. I missed all the beautiful reds in the mountains (one thing I miss most about Utah. We only really get yellows in Colorado) but it was great to be with my family, even for a short and very busy time.