Our November trip to Utah

I should start out with how our plane ride went. In a nutshell: Miles was great. Caden was great. A sweet lady helped me with the girls. She held Avery the whole time for me and I dealt with Alexandra, who was tired and unreasonable. What I crazy to try and fly out with 4 kids all by myself? Probably. But I survived.

Part of the reason we went out to Utah was to attend my grandpa's 80th birthday party. The party was at the church where I was born and went to until I was 11 years old. This is a picture of my grandpa, when he was, well -- younger.At the party: Me, Alexandra, Grandma Redding holding Avery, Caden, Grandpa Redding (birthday boy) and Miles. It was good to see all of my family and extended family. I definitely don't get to see them often enough.
Sunday after church. Alexandra and Avery in their matching dresses.
Sisters!
Avery has these big blue eyes and long eyelashes. She is a beautiful baby. She looks a lot like me when I was a baby.
Sunday night we had dinner with my family. Alexandra was having a rough night. My niece, Mayley, who is 2 1/2, decided to read books to Alexandra to make her happy.Monday night I went out to dinner with some of my best friends who were also my college roommates. We went to Macaroni Grill and talked for hours. Avery came along for the evening. My parents took Miles, Caden & Alexandra to see Madagascar 2 & McDonalds while I was gone.
Cheers! Charlene, Me, Alisa & Ana.
Charlene (aka Chuck) and me:
Alisa & meTuesday: My sister came to my parents house and we made Tutu's for the girls. Here is how they turned out. They were cute AND easy to make.Tuesday evening we drove down to Mapleton. Tim's sister is the Coach of the 9th grade girls basketball team there. We watched Aunt Suzi coach and see her team win their game. That night I also drove to the airport to pick up Tim. We stopped to Target on the way home from the airport because Tim forgot to pack some PJ's. Wednesday my mom and I went grocery shopping and started cooking food for the feast for the following day.

Thanksgiving day!
Aunt Suzi & Avery

Tim & the boysMayley & Alexandra eating Thanksgiving dinner. I don't think they ate that much.
Alexandra enjoyed dessert!
We have a tradition in our family that the baby gets their picture taken next to a pecan pie. Here is Avery's. I think we will try again next Thanksgiving.
Redding family picture:
Friday morning Tim's brother Jeff and his family came down to visit. It was good to see them only if it was for a few hours.

Miles, Caden and cousin Dylan:
Aunt Melinda with Alexandra, cousin Alyssa and Avery:
Alexandra eating pizza and being cute before we left that night to go to the airport. It was a good trip. We never get everything done that we want to do.
I'm glad Tim was with me this time at the airport to fly home.