Page Visit

At the end of July / beginning of August, my family (The Pages) came out to the east coast to visit.  My dad has always been looking for a good excuse to take us all to see his historic childhood home in Delaware.  Everyone flew in to Philadelphia, then we met them the next day in Wilmington, Delaware to see this historic sites.  When we pulled up, Grandma Page laid claim, or first dibbs, to the grandchild.

Historic Childhood Home

Mom snuck a picture of a neighbor who still lives there
since she wouldn't pose for one

Dad's old church

Everyone trying to get Afton to laugh

My dad loves Tastykakes.  That's one of the benefits of being on the east coast.  My dad gets to eat them when he's here, and we have an easy default for his birthday and Christmas presents.  Ty didn't believe they could be any better than Hostess, so he decided to have my dad do a closed-eyes taste test.  Mind you, my dad has eaten both Tastykakes and Hostess, and is convinced that Hostess pales in comparison.  Mind you, my dad is also the guy who wouldn't eat blue M&M's when they were first introduced because he swore up and down that they tasted funny.

They were both surprised by the results.  Ty was surprised that there really is a difference, and my dad was surprise that the difference wasn't as pronounced as he had believed.

We spent the next two days at the beach in Fenwick Island, Delaware.  This is the same beach we went to with my cousins last year.  We joined them again this year.  (I wrote about it.  If you care, click [here].)

Apparently the ocean was a little too cold

Much better...

Playing in the water... this is how you get my sister Jayna and I to get in apparently.

Every time I go to the beach, I try body surfing exactly once.  Every time I go to the beach, I get enough salt water up my nose to last me until the next time I go to the beach.

Favorite

The boys played football and a game called.... I forget what it's called.  But it's basically a version of badminton if I understood it correctly.

Dallin kindly paused his intense action to show off his muscles

Josh and Afton

Jayna and Mom

Afton with Grandpa Page and my Uncle Jeff

If you ask me what's up with my face, your answer will either be "I don't know,"
"I was trying to get something out of my teeth," or "I was born that way.  Be nice."

We had a lot of fun on our trip.  We spent a few hours at the beach a few times, we hung out at the house we rented nearby on a river, we had a barbeque, we took family pictures, and we just enjoyed each other's company.  Since this is getting to be such a long post, I posted Page family pictures separately [here].

After our visit to the beach, my family came back to our house in Maryland.  Ty left the next day to go on the "pioneer trek" with the youth in our Church, and my family stayed with me.  We didn't get as many pictures back at our house.  But we did get a picture of our customary and essential visit to Rita's.

Okay, and we got these pictures too.

Much warmer than the ocean,

Playing piano with Uncle Josh

Three men and a baby

Now I'll close with a single picture of the most commonly photographed sight on the entire trip.

Playing on Grandpa's belly is the best.  Life just doesn't get any better.

Page Family Pictures

These are the pictures my family took on the beach in Fenwick Island, Delaware.

I wrote about our trip [here].

Haha, perfect timing.

Have I ever mentioned my gratitude that I never had to be the lone girl at
home with my two brothers?

Dad found this hat in the house we rented.  Love it.

Josh and I don't pretend our sibling rivalry never existed.
We just embrace it our older and more mature adulthood.

This one is in a frame in our house.

Wild Wild West

In early July, we took off for an almost two-week adventure out in the Wild Wild West, starting off in the wild land that some refer to as Utah.  You know, wild.  Afton did pretty well on her first flight in an airplane.  We tried to keep her pretty entertained.

While in Utah, we stayed with my mom's parents--Grandma and Grandpa Applegate.  Grandma introduced Afton to television (though her dad tried to block her vision with a book).  Grandpa thought Afton was just a hoot, and Afton was pretty fond of him as well.  My brother and sister, Josh and Jayna, also came down from Idaho that weekend and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.

The first big event in Utah was the sealing of my cousin Olivia to her parents, my Uncle Jim and Aunt Lesha. She is adopted, and the adoption was completely legalized after she turned 6 months old.  It was such a blessing to be there with them for that special occasion.  They were sealed at the Jordan River Temple, which is the same place that my parents were married.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, but we took a bunch the next day.

That afternoon we got to go to a wedding at that very same Jordan River Temple.  Ty's good friend and mission companion, David, got married.  It was a lot of fun to be there with them as well.  We were SO glad that we went.  Ty and David were really close, and David's family and wife were so happy to finally meet this Ty fellow they'd been hearing about.  It made me feel so honored to be his wife.  Again, no pictures, except for a couple that Josh and Jayna took of Afton while they were watching her while we were in the wedding.

That night we left Afton with Grandma, Grandpa, Josh, and Jayna while we went to the reception.

The next day my cousin Olivia had her baby blessing.  (If you're wondering what that is, I wrote about it in a post once, and you can read it by clicking here).  Afterwards we went back to Uncle Jim and Aunt Lesha's house and got to spend some time with family.  We had a fun time taking some pictures of the babies.  Afton is on the left, and the other two are my cousins.  In the middle is Kandice who is two days younger than Afton (yes, you read that right).  On the right is Olivia who is the main attraction with her sealing and blessing that weekend (she's 6 months).  

That night we went to my Aunt Laura's house and made s'mores around the firepit.  It was so much fun!

Monday we went up to Park City to have lunch with my mission president and his wife.  I'm still getting used to this picture-taking obligation and I blew it.  It was so fun to see them and catch up with them.  They were very generous to host us and enjoyable to visit with.  We also went out to dinner with my dad's side of the family, and of course I forgot to take pictures of that as well.  It was good to see everyone!

Tuesday we got to go to the pool with my Aunt Jenni and her son Jason, and my Aunt Shaunna and her kids Jessica and Joseph.  It was a lot of fun!  (Have I said that enough?  Maybe I should just omit the "it was a lot of fun" sentence from now on, and you can just assume that's the case unless I say otherwise.  What do you think?)

Me, Afton, and Grandpa

Jessica and Afton

Jenni and Jason

We loved our visit to Utah.  It was so good to see friends and family, and to enjoy their company.  And of course it was fun to introduce Afton to everyone.  We're so glad we went!

On Wednesday we flew to Washington State: Ty's stomping grounds.  This was an especially fun trip because his mother (who was soon to have a birthday of a significant age) had no idea we were coming.  We flew into Seattle to stay with Ty's sister Cali that night before heading over to Moses Lake (his parents' town) the next day.  Our sister-in-law Grace also flew in from Colorado.  Ty's two sisters live in Seattle, so that meant the whole family was in Washington except for Ty's brother Abe who is doing great things for our country by serving in Afghanistan. Additionally, Ty's Aunt Rachel flew in from Oklahoma.

The next day, we drove over to Moses Lake and Afton did so well the entire 180 mile trip.

Ty, Me, Afton, and Ande

I honestly feel like the story couldn't be written better than it was by Janey Payney herself.  You can read about it by clicking here and here.  Seriously, check it out.  It's a really good story.  Is that cheap of me to just refer you to her blog?  Here's my justification: She wrote it well, I'd just tell the same stories, and I'd steal all of her pictures anyways.  That's what you do when a lot of people are together... you just let one camera take all of the pictures, and then you share them. :)  Besides, if you've never checked in on Neighbor Jane's blog, you're missing out.  I'll consider this free advertising for my mother-in-law.  Justification?  Check.

We had such a great time in the Wild Wild West.  It was so good to see family and friends.  We were so so SO glad that we made the decision to surprise Jane for her birthday.  It was a trip we'll always remember.  Thanks for all the good times everyone!

What the Next Few Days Have in Store...

This weekend I am doing the unthinkable.  No, no, no, I'm not deleting our blog.  That would induce depression for hundreds, if not thousands of our devoted readers.  If you guessed that I'm announcing that baby #2 is on the way, hold your horses, you're wrong again.  Phew!  That post isn't coming until next weekend.  Kidding!  What I'm really doing this weekend is letting this child:

who is 5 months old now by the way (and still makes mom nervous sitting up... hence the pillow behind her)

fly across the country.  Without me.  Yes, you read that right.  Afton is flying to Idaho with her dad.  I have some crazy mixed feelings about it.  Luckily she has an incredible dad who is amazing with her.  I don't doubt for one second that he is completely capable of doing this.  It's just that... well... it's a little hard to let go for a few days.  I've never been away from her for more than a few hours.  

Ty has been planning on going to Idaho for a few months now, but when he suggested the idea of taking Afton a few weeks ago, I sat on it for over a week, trying to decide if I could do it.  And since then, I've had moments every single day when I wanted to announce that I'd changed my mind.  So we'll see how I hold up this weekend.  Like I said, we'll see how I hold up this weekend.  I'm more worried about myself than I am about her.

The good news for you, our faithful readers, is that mom gets to play a little catch up.  There is so much to write about!  I mean, this weekend will be Afton's second time across the country, unbeknownst to most of you because I never wrote about the first time.  She's had a few month birthdays, she's been to the beach, she's fallen in love with applesauce... and the world has never known those facts.

And of course there things going on with Ty and I too--much less exciting things, but things nonetheless.  Over the next few days, I'm going to try to write a few posts.  So buckle up!  Hang on tight!  It's going to be the most exciting thing you experience all weekend!  (Unless of course you're doing something actually exciting.  Like getting married.  Like Ty's cousin Rachel is getting married.  Which is why Ty and Afton are going to Idaho.  Congrats to Rachel and Kory!!!)


Oh... and if you happen to be a person who believes in prayer as I do, could you ask a few blessings in my behalf as well?  I may need them! :)

Speedy Gonzales

Someone:

Ran a sub-five minute mile today.

Just thought you'd like to know.

That Noise

Exersaucer

This is how Afton likes to play in her exersaucer:

One hand playing with the toys, her mouth sucking/chewing on the seat, and... can you spot her left hand?

She's a funny girl.  Some of her favorite things to do lately are to hug her toys, fall asleep looking at her toy monster-face thing in her carseat, and she's finally learning to roll from left to right after almost a month of just rolling right to left (both back to tummy... we're hoping she figures out the tummy to back soon... so we don't always have to flip her over when she screams, haha).  She loves to stand up and sit down and stand up and sit down over and over while holding your hands, and she is constantly gnawing on her fingers, our fingers, or anything she can get in her mouth.  She also has this really raspy has-to-hurt-her-throat noise that she does very loudly all. the. time.  Happy, sad, laughing, crying, you name it.  It's pretty funny but I hope it doesn't last much longer. :)

She's a fun and funny girl!