26 hours later

So in case ya'll (that's right, I now live in Tennessee, so I have the right to use that word) were wondering where I've been, I thought I'd share a few pictures from the past month, since pictures are often so much better than words, at least in my case :)

This is some of my great photography capturing the excitement in the car before we started on our 26 hour drive to Utah for the holidays.

Hailey and Gracie were so happy to be reunited again.  They played more than ever this time--they were always chasing each other around and giggling about something.  

Here's Dad in his usual spot on Christmas morning.  It was so great to see mom and dad and everyone else.  aaah, that's the hardest part about living in TN--not getting to see any of my family.  It doesn't matter how much you talk on the phone or e-mail or blog or anything like that, it's never quite the same as witnessing, in person, familiar mannerisms and idiosyncrasies that are so endearing.  

Gracie was surprisingly restrained when it came to opening presents.  She understood when and when not it was her turn to tear off the paper. 

We got this green recorder for Gracie for the road trip out to UT (yeah, we thought twice before we actually opened it in the car).  It ended up being one of her Christmas gifts, and Dad was more than happy to recruit another wind-instrument player. 

Yes, Ellie can almost fit her whole fist into that mouth.  

Oh boy, this looks familiar.

But most of the time Gracie is a little angel, as evidenced by the halo that you can see above her head in this picture.  wait, I guess that's just our really advanced camera.  So, moving past Christmas, next is Kurt and Heidi's wedding--the main reason why we sacrificed 26 hours of comfort and ease to get to Utah.  Now don't get confused, Kurt and I did not get married (eeek).  But it does catch me off guard at times;  on a  few occasions I got momentarily excited when I saw envelopes and presents that were addressed to "Kurt and Heidi".  But I quickly remembered that I was not the intended recipient of checks, gift cards, and fine kitchen coookware.  Oh, but how I wish I was..

Kurt and Heidi's reception was at Abravanel Hall, just in case you didn't recognize the flaming orange sea-creature type statue in the back ground.  That thing is worth millions of dollars, so Katie and Julie had the fine opportunity of guarding the thing throughout the night.  Although, let's be honest, they were kind of slackers :).  But considering that my children were probably the ones that they were supposed to be guarding it from, I won't give them a hard time about it.   But the thing made for great pictures, and it was a beautiful reception.

Here's Jake sliding down the banister.  He's lucky nobody was guarding it.  

Doesn't Katie have beautiful hair?

I just have to thank Mom for these dresses.  I must admit, practically every cute piece of clothing that Gracie and Ellie own comes from Mom, Katie, or Andrae.  

And finally!  A picture of the groom himself.  I must say, I have a handsome brother.  (Kurt, now please bring me home something from the Caribbean.)  

And here is the newest Heidi Laird herself :)  What a beautiful person to share my name with.  

Ellie gets her good looks from you, Dad.  

And you, Jacob :)

And this pretty much sums up the night.  a little sleeping beauty.  

And this is what we had to look forward to after all of that!  This is Colby, Kansas.  It's actually a lot more beautiful than it looks.  But really, after hundreds of miles, this scene got a little old.  So who can blame me when I got really excited/ distracted when we came upon about 50 huge windmills in Evanston Wyoming?  A little too distracted, though, that I hit 95 mph and got a ticket.  It wasn't the best ending to a great trip, but that's pretty much the only low point of the whole vacation.  We're now back in our little abode in the middle of nowhere, but it's nice to be back in 50 degree weather and near-empty winding country roads.  I like it, for now.  But yay for Julie and Oliver who give us an excuse to come back in 5 months!  See you all then!