Time with the Pages, Take Two

After our fun weekend in Utah, we came back to Mississippi for a few weeks, just to leave again.  This time we went to Colorado, this time we stayed for a month, and this time Ty flew airplanes.  All awesome things.

This time Ty also had to fly separate from us on official Air Force travel, so Afton and I did the airport thing by ourselves--something at which we are quite proficient now.  It used to stress me out so bad, but I was really calm this time.  We didn't get that much-hoped-for empty seat next to us, but we did get a nice man who was willing to interact with a cute little girl.  He was really kind of an odd and fairly obnoxious fellow, but I'll take that over someone who is intolerant of little kids.  (Really, I could tell you some strange stories about this guy, but anyways...)  So Afton squished onto my ever-shrinking lap and away we went.

Afton's Airport Buddy

It was fun while it lasted

After a really smooth flight (literally and figuratively), we made it to Denver and were met by my parents who, let's be honest, ran right past me to get to the cute one.

We had a great time in Colorado and got to do a lot of things, such as...

Play with the Greens and meet their chickens...

Afton and Eliza

I wish I could have captured her first close encounter on film.
 I have never heard her shriek like that before or since.

Afton with Cole and one of the chickens

She warmed up eventually, and had to have chicken poop scraped off her shoes many more times throughout the trip

Go to a little water park...

Afton with Uncle Dallin, doing what he does best

Afton with Grandma Page

All in all, Afton had a blast that day

She somehow got spun around halfway down the slide.  She didn't take
too kindly to that experience.  Obviously I was a little surprised too.

Play at a lot of parks...

.... and this bar.

Afton's favorite part of this park was honestly a toss-up between these....

Make a baby quilt....
(Apparently I can't even post about MY things without pictures of Afton.  But to be fair, the pictures would be quite boring by themselves.  Afton is just helping spice them up a bit.)

Go to the zoo...

 

 Take Uncle Dallin's senior pictures....

And we got to see Ty every weekend!

Besides this picture and the zoo, I'm thinking my mom took most of the pictures that have Ty in them.  I'll have to get those from her.  Ty had a great time in Colorado too even though we didn't get to see him during the week.  He did what was essentially his intro to being a pilot training course in Pueblo, CO.  He loved it.  It was so fun to see him enjoying doing something that he loves, and it makes me excited for him to be able to start flying again in his official pilot training.  He's a natural.

We had a great time in Colorado and were sad to leave.  Luckily the Air Force let Ty take Afton with him when they sent him back a few days before me.  That was such a blessing for me and my 8-months-pregnant self.  I got to spend a couple extra days with my family, and sleep in, and relax.  It was wonderful.

Thanks again Mom and Dad for being such great hosts.  See you again soon!

Columbus, Columbus, and Park City

Now we're rewinding back to where we left off in June.  We were really disappointed we didn't get to spend more time with Abe and Grace in Columbus, GA since we misunderstood Ty's rules about checking in at the base in Columbus, MS.  But the time that we did have was a lot of fun.  They were great hosts.

After saying our goodbyes, we drove from Columbus to Columbus, and a few days later moved into our new home!  We love it here in Mississippi.  The city is small, the people are kind, the base is nice... life is good.  The only thing we'd change is that we live so far away from most of our family... though we're technically closer now than we were in DC.

Shortly after getting settled (a week and a half after move-in I think), we set out for Park City, Utah.  My mom had a major mile-marker birthday that starts with the number five, and my dad planned a surprise family reunion for her.  She'd been told they were going to Denver for a weekend away like they did for her birthday last year, but she got a little suspicious when Dad invited my younger brother Dallin to come at the last second.  Well, first she was a little irked, but then she got suspicious. :-)

Our plane landed shortly before the one carrying my parents and brother.  We sent Afton to sneak up on them (well, Mom) at their baggage claim.

I think this is the moment when Mom forgave Dad.

We had a great time.  We stayed at a condo in Park City, relaxed, played games, went swimming, and visited.  We went to a play at the Desert Star Theater in Salt Lake.  Everyone except Afton and I went mountain biking.  We had a big surprise party at a park with both my mom's and dad's sides of the family.  It was great to see everyone.  As usual, I didn't take too many pictures.  It's especially hard to be motivated to take pictures around my mom because she's got her camera out all the time. :)  But here's some I did get:

Afton really wanted to try Dr. Pepper.  And even though this was her reaction, she kept going back for more.

Mom (reluctantly) being recognized for her birthday
 at the Desert Star Theater

Afton, Ty, and my dad "watching" sports

Ty and my brothers have a tradition of having a one-on-one basketball tournament every time they get together.

 

Ty and Dallin

Ty and Josh

Ty's game face

Josh and Dallin

It's always great to spend time with family.

Hello World!

One of my favorite parts of getting Afton up in the morning is throwing open the blinds and saying, "Hello World!!!"  Then Afton starts waving and saying, "Hi!" out the window.  I feel like I need bid the world a nice "Hello Stranger!" after our long unplanned blogging sabbatical.  In case you were curious, my other favorite part of getting Afton up in the morning is how, before I can pick her up out of her crib, she has to hand me everything else in her crib one by one while telling me what they are.  "Bear!" "Baby!" "Baaa!" (sheep) and "Bayee!" (blankie) are all options, depending on what she took to bed with her the night before.  Then last, but not least, "Ah din" gets to get out, then we walk over to the window as she frantically says, "Hi! Hi! Hi!"

So anyways... Hello World... It's been awhile.  A lot has happened, but a lot is much the same.  I apologize for neglecting the blog for so long.  Nesting took a much higher priority for awhile.  It was in full force for awhile there, and has since died down, because honestly, there's not much else I can think of to do.  The clothes are washed and hung, the newborn diapers are in their place right next to the size 3's, the bottles are up in the cupboard, the burp cloths are in the drawer, the hospital bag is mostly packed, and even the baby quilt is actually completed before the baby is born this time... I'd say we're pretty ready.  T minus 19 days until the baby is due, but I wouldn't count on her waiting that long.  Just a gut feeling I have... no pun intended.

I believe the last thing I posted was on the morning of the 4th of July, which was a wonderful holiday I might add.  We had a great time having Ty's brother Abe and his wife Grace in town to celebrate with us.  I didn't get many pictures because that is not one of my strong points.  But here are some that I did take:

I wouldn't exactly call myself a culinary queen, but I was pretty proud of my contributions to our edible consumptions of the day.

The cake

Our breakfast

Untrue to true American festivities, it rained most of the day.  Ty, Abe, and Afton had fun playing out in it though.

We had a great time.  Though we didn't get to spend much of it outside, we enjoyed the company, the conversation, the games, and the fun.  Thanks again for coming Abe and Grace!

After our fun weekend, Abe and Grace were kind enough to let Afton and I caravan with them back to Georgia and stay for a couple days.  Then they took us to the airport in Atlanta so we could fly to Colorado for a month to stay with my parents.  Ty had an Air Force training program in Pueblo, CO (just an hour away) for that month.

We've been lucky to be able to spend a lot of time with my family over the past few months.  I'll plan on writing about those trips next.  Be forewarned, they may end up being some big picture dumps.  But until then, just know that we are alive and well.  Until next time, Goodbye World!