Leaving on a Jet Plane

I have a good husband. A man who, when I somewhat timidly brought up the fact that my grandfather had been on my mind and maybe I could fly to the states for a visit, did not remind me that we discussed my grandfather and the fact that if we were to move to England I likely wouldn't see him again in this life. Or the fact that I'd understood this and was still on board with the move. A husband who realized that it might be now or never because of travel plans, church commitments, school activities, and an impending deployment and so encouraged me to go for it. Plans were made and a ticket was purchased all in the span of a couple of days. Definitely not the way I usually do things. My cautious brain prefers a much more drawn out decision-making process. 

It was a long direct flight from Heathrow to Salt Lake. I appreciated the lack of layovers and connecting flights but was so ready to get off the plane by the time we landed almost eleven hours after departing. When you factor in the bus ride to the airport, the time waiting at the airport for boarding, the flight, and then the drive to Logan, I was traveling for almost twenty-four hours. For the first time in my life, I experienced almost no jet lag, hooray!

Almost to Logan and the end of my long day of travel

The purpose of my travels was to visit my grandparents, but as most of my siblings, my parents, and my first born live in the same general area I was able to see many of my loved ones all in one trip. I spent my first night in Logan, where Madison is going to school. She was nice enough to let me tag along to her ward's family home evening and then we spent some time at her dorm before I was too tired to function and had to go back to my hotel room to sleep. We met after her morning classes the next day and went to see Beauty and Beast and had lunch together before she had more classes. I found my sister Becca's house and hung out there where I got to meet her son Wyatt for the first time before heading back to campus to pick up Madison for dinner at Becca's place. After dinner, I said my goodbyes and started the drive south to North Ogden and Ben and Sarina's house where I'd be staying for a few nights.

I was able to meet two nieces and one nephew (that's four new cousins in the last year or so!) I'd never seen in person before, Thea (John and Courtney's sweet daughter), Corbin (Matt and Val's adorable son) and Melody (Ben and Sarina's newest little one). I also got to see how interconnected my sibling's lives are, especially the lives of the three of them who share the same zip code. Maybe they saw each other so often because I was there and they were doing more family things? I'm not sure but it would be a totally different life than the one I'm used to. I loved seeing how the cousins interacted and really know each other and how comfortable they are with their aunts and uncles. I never really felt that way with my extended family because I saw them so rarely and it takes me a while to warm up to people.

Wednesday morning I woke up early and went running in the mountains behind Ben and Sarina's house. I immediately regretted it - running at such a high altitude was not a good idea. Still, I persevered and was rewarded with an amazing view of a thunderstorm rolling in over the mountains. Later that morning John, Courtney, Ben, Sarina, Lizzy, Melody, Thea, and I went to breakfast together at Kneader's.  That evening we had a family dinner and it was nice to have everyone all in the same place even if it was for a short time. Afterward, I realized that the past two times I've seen my brother Matt and his wife Val our visits haven't lasted any longer than a few hours before one of the other of us has to go. Maybe someday I'll live close enough to my siblings to spend significant amounts of time together?

Thursday was my day to run errands. We can find everything we need here in England, I mean British people's lives are pretty similar to lives in the United States. However, it can be a bit harder to find exactly what I'm looking for - chocolate chips come in such tiny bags I'd need four or five to make a batch of cookies and I still don't know what my shoe size is here.

My mission that day was not chocolate chips or shoes though, it was car parts and cell phones. Our third car is missing some trim paneling and since it's an American car finding parts for it is just easier in America. I spent much of the morning walking around junk yards in the rain looking for the specific part we need. I never did find it so I moved on to task number two, getting a phone unlocked so we can use it on the cellular networks here. One of our old phones is still tied to a carrier we stopped using almost two years ago and until we get it unlocked we can't use it here. Calling customer service wasn't doing the trick and we were hopeful that an in-person visit to a store might work out better. Sadly, there was nothing they could do in store beyond refer me to the same customer service line we've called in the past. So it was two strikes on my big get things done day. I really needed a home run so I made my next stop the GAP Factory store and I hit it out of the park. Classic clothes and great prices are always a win. The cashier told me about an online coupon I could use on top of the in-store sale so I ended up with two pairs of jeans, three cardigans, one sweater,  three t-shirts, and a pair of pajama pants for $60. After trudging through junk yards in the rain and dealing with a cell phone company I needed a win!

Melody is a sweetheart and one of the calmest babies I've ever met. I was lucky enough to have some early morning time with her while I was staying at Ben and Sarina's house

I realized too late that I hadn't stopped to take pictures with anyone during my visit! I was glad that Becca asked me to stop by on my way out of town so I could get a photo with at least one of my siblings.

Friday morning I said goodbye to my North Ogden family and drove to Kaysville to meet my friend Esther for lunch. The military has given us some amazing friendships with people all over the world and it's always sweet to catch up in person. Esther and her family lived one village over from us in Germany and they have five boys to our five girls. As soon as I met her, I knew I wanted to be friends because she is amazing. Talented, funny, thoughtful, intelligent, and beautiful. I keep hoping that by finding amazing people to surround myself with that some of their traits will rub off on me. Anyway, I knew I wanted to see Esther if I could during my time in Utah. It was great to have lunch, talk about life, and just be there with my dear friend.

After lunch I drove north to Logan to pick up Madison before heading east to Evanston. On a map, Logan isn't on the way to Evanston but we made it work. We drove through Logan Canyon along a river and through snow-covered fields before beginning to drive downhill toward Bear Lake. Now I can finally say I've been to Bear Lake. Eventually, the roads leveled out and it started to feel like Wyoming. Flat and a little brown with distant mountains. It was a long drive but the time went quickly thanks to the music on Madison's iPod.  We arrived in Evanston to my parent's house in time to join them for dinner.

Saturday morning we loaded up my parent's van and started our drive to Boise to see my grandparents. The beginning of our drive was rainy but it cleared up around when we crossed the Idaho border. We stopped at Shoshone Falls along the way and because of all the snow and rain the falls were running high. There was a long line of cars making their way down the canyon so instead of waiting to get all the way to the bottom we stopped off at an upper parking lot. Even from that distance we could feel the spray from the falls. It was pretty impressive and a perfect chance to stretch our legs before finishing the drive. 

We got to Boise mid-afternoon and spent some time catching up with Grandpa and Donna before quickly running to Target and then driving by the almost finished Meridian Idaho temple. The temple kind of sits above the river so we drove through some neighborhoods along the river for a bit and looked at how it was flowing above the banks. Eventually, we had to head back because dinner was up next! Grandpa was nice enough to take us all out to dinner where I learned how to peel shrimp (gross) and talked some more with my family (not gross at all). One thing that makes time with family special is the ability to pick up as if no time has passed no matter how much time has passed. 

I can't remember the name of the retirement community where they live, but the little tagline under the community name is "gracious retirement living" and this place definitely lives up to the slogan. The common areas are decorated nicely, there's soft music piped through the hallways, and it just seems like a nice place to live. The next day we met back and Grandma and Grandpa's place for lunch, where Grandpa had reserved the private dining room for us. Our lunch was served by a nice young man named Brody in a dining room that felt pretty much like a dining room and not like a room off of a dining hall in a retirement community. The food was good, the conversation was good (even Grandpa's corny jokes), and it was nice to be together sharing a meal. Because it was a long ride back we had to eat and run. We snapped a quick picture before hopping in the car and driving to Logan to drop Madison off and then continuing on to Evanston.

Monday morning was sunny even though it was a little cold and Mom and I set out for a walk along Bear River Greenway into Bear River State Park. It was nice to have time to talk while also enjoying nature. The ice ponds were still partially frozen and it was cool to see some geese sitting on the ice while others were gliding through the water.  The weather took a shift as morning turned to afternoon and we set out on a drive through the back roads between Wyoming and Utah. The sun went away, the clouds rolled in, and it even snowed. Mom and Dad took me to the marker right on the border so I could be in both states at once and it only required a little bit of driving on dirt roads. We stopped at a little restaurant for lunch before hopping on the interstate to drive back to their house. 

Two states at once!

Tuesday it was back to the airport and starting the long journey in reverse. Luckily the airplane was practically empty and I had an entire row to myself. The luxury! For the first time in my life, I was able to sleep on an airplane for more than twenty minutes at a time. Unfortunately, my flight left a little late and I didn't make it to London in time to catch the shuttle bus back to the base and I had to scramble a little to figure out a different way home. Luckily the public transit system is excellent and I was able to find direct bus to a town very near our home.

The hot chocolate cup on the plane taught me a new German word

The state of me after traveling forever and ever

Again, I have to say that I have a good husband and the absolute best part of my trip was seeing him pull up outside the bus station to pick me up and bring me home.
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