Babysitting in Texas::

Dan's sister Erin and her husband Chad went on a cruise and asked if I would come watch the kids while they were gone. (Daniel was in DC the same time I was in Texas) There is no way I would turn down an opportunity to spend time with kids, especially niece's and nephew's!! The older two I hadn't seen in 4 years so I couldn't wait to see how they have changed. Brooke age 8, Michael age 6, Andrew age 3 and Kate 9 months.

Here are some of the fun things we did. *Don't worry I only took around 380 pictures in the 5 days I was there. haha. I thought it was only around 200, but nope, I checked the count today and it definitely said 380. wow! I'm a little crazy, but I couldn't help take pictures of the cute kids. =0)

Erin's friend Brooke was there to help if needed..and boy was she NEEDED! There were only a few little (BIG) things that went wrong that week. I'll write it all down at the end of the blog if you want to read about it. =0) If not check out the many pictures! It was a perfect trip and I'm SO glad I was asked to babysit!

Children's Museum:

Trampoline with Sprinklers:

Random FUN!! Playing games: Dance party: Riding bikes: Crafts:

Kate::

Andrew::

Michael::

Brooke::

Fashion Show::
As you can see from pictures in Brooke's slideshow we had fun dressing up and taking pictures of each other. Brooke picked out the outfits and where we took the pictures. She did an awesome job and we had so much fun. (thanks Erin for letting me wear your clothes...even though you didn't know at the time. ha.)

Dance Party::
Brooke made up some dance moves for us to "Picture to Burn" by Taylor Swift. We only did the first verse of the song, but I loved it. Brooke is so cute and so much fun to be around.
Me and sis-in-law Erin! Isn't she GORGEOUS!? I LOVED hanging out with her for the little time we had together. I wish we got to hang out more often. She is one of my best friends and a great big sister.
Me, Kyra ( Erin's friend Brooke's daughter), Erin, Andrew, Chad and Kates. Don't Chad and Erin look happy? I mean, come on, they just got back from a cruise...who wouldn't be? =0)

Night before I was to leave to Texas drama::

Erin called me very late the night before I was to fly to her house. Immediately I was panicked wondering why she would be calling so late. Erin told me that Chad was stuck in New York and there was not another flight until the following afternoon. (they were to be on the ship before he would be home) I’m thinking selfishly, oh no, now I wont be able to see the kids. When I should have been thinking, oh crap, that sucks for Chad. Then Erin said that I might be going on the cruise with her since Chad won’t be back in time. (that makes me happy…so much fun!)… But I don’t have a passport which made the situation more frustrating. (especially at 2 am) I waited up for about an hour or so talking to Erin trying to figure out what we should do. We found out that if I had my birth certificate that I would be able to get on the cruise ship. (luckily I did have that) Erin called me back and said Chad was able to find a flight SOMEHOW and was going to make it home in time to go on the cruise. YAY! Poor Erin was so stressed trying to work it all out.

Morning of my flight drama::

After going to bed at 3 am (noted above why) I was supposed to get up at 4:30 am, leave the house by 5:00 am and be at the airport by 5:45 to check in. My plane was to leave at 6:45. I had set my alarm (I thought) and it didn't go off. Daniel woke up at 5:38 startling me saying "get up, get up, it's already 5:38" GEEZ! Things are not going well for me. I managed to get dressed still half asleep, pulled my hair back and took my make-up to put on in the car. We left by 6:00! Keep in mind my flight leaves at 6:45 and we are in LEHI! Daniel made Jeff Gordon proud with his mad skills getting to the airport in about 25 min. I've never flown alone so I was already traumatized from this experience and afraid that I would do something wrong going through security..board...etc and now I didn't have any time to spare to "figure" out where to do and what to do. I managed to check in and get through security fast. My plane was to leave in 5 min by now and I raced to the other end of the airport to board the plane. I get to my gate just in time to board. I find a seat next to this lady and a cute little girl. As I'm waiting for the plane to leave the announcer person says we will be departing to Pheonix shortly. PHEONIX..I thought I was going to HOUSTON!? Now I'm scared that I'm going to the wrong place but also too scared to ask anyone. (I'm lame) So we begin flying and I look down at the purse of the lady that's sitting next to me and she has a envelope that says JETBLUE...dang...I'm supposed to be on SOUTHWEST! again...are you kidding me?? Take a deep breath...I find out the lady just works for jetblue and I AM on the right plane, and we are just making a stop in Pheonix and I don't have to change planes. I did everything right...but it still SCARED the CRAP out of me.

Lost car keys::
The kids and I decided it would be awesome to buy some popcorn and have a slumber party my first night there. We all loaded up in the Yukon and ...THE KEY IS GONE! I have the keyring and other keys, but not one for the Yukon. DANG!! Here we go again. Erin pulled the keys out of her pocket just before she left so I just figured she had the key with her. No big deal. Needless to say we didn't end up going anywhere that night. Oh yeah, and we got stuck in the car for 10 min while it POURED rain outside.

Chad's car::
We didn't have the key to the Yukon but we did have one to Chad's car. BUT of course things couldn't be easy for us. The Yukon was parked right behind his car so it took around 40 min to inch by inch maneuver out of the garage. We followed Erin's friend Brooke to the childrens museum. SO MUCH FUN!! On our way home I lost sight of Brooke's car...(no one would let me merge over) So I missed the split on the freeway and had to let the GPS do all the guiding to help me get turned around and heading back into the right direction. We hit traffic pretty bad and because of how LUCKY I am the car broke down ON THE FREEWAY! I pulled off to the side and didn't have a clue what to do. I didn't know where I was, and four kids in a STEAMING HOT car. Poor Kate was crying but I didn't want to get her out of her car-seat on the side of the freeway in case something else decided to go wrong. I called Brooke and she flipped around to come get us. Also a tow truck guy stopped and took the car back to the house. I felt so bad! I lost the key to the Yukon and broke Chad's car. WHAT THE??!! Why Me?!

Back to Yukon trouble::
I had talked to Erin and she decided I should call someone to make another key to her vehicle. I called a few places and everyone was closed so I left messages hoping I would get a call back the next day. NO ONE CALLED BACK! Freaking kidding me! Erin decided that Chad would go to the dealer when they got home and have another key made, but was told he needed the title to do so. Erin suggested a few places to look for the title. Ta Da...first place I look there is the title. NOT...it was to the CAR! Wrong vehicle. NO STINKING WAY! I searched and searched for the title and couldn't find it anywhere! Erin and Chad got home and starting looking around the house for the key and also the title. No such luck finding either. We started thinking of other places the key could be...(light bulb) right before they left for the cruise, Erin walked over to her friend Brooke's car to put Andrew's car-seat in her car. She called Brooke and sure enough, she searched in the back seat and there was the Yukon key! FINALLY some good luck!

Some fun::
Erin, her friend Brooke, her daughter Shayla, Brooke and I all went to the mall and out to eat before I had to go to the airport. I only got to spend a short time with Erin when she got home but we had so much fun. I wish I could have stayed longer. (we tried to miss my flight haha, but got there in plenty of time.)

Flight home headache::
I got to the airport in plenty of time to board the plane. I knew I was landing in Denver so I wasn't scared when they announced where I was going. haha. I'm a pro flyer now. The plane was late taking off so we landing in Denver with 5 mins for me to get off the plane and get to where I was boarding the other plane. I got to my flight just in time to board immediately. I sat down on the plane, completely exhausted and wanting to get home soon. I know just because I wanted to get home, I was CURSED again and we sat on the plane for over an hour on the runway. BLAH! I kept my phone on so I could keep my mom posted of when I thought I would be landing since she was picking me up. (Daniel was still in DC) I finally made it in SALT LAKE CITY...HOME SWEET HOME. Only an hour and a half late!!!

I had such an amazing trip (even with the problems) and I hope to visit Texas soon. THANKS ERIN, CHAD, BROOKE, MICHAEL, ANDREW, KATE, and friend BROOKE, you all are some of my very favorite people! I love you all! THANKS AGAIN!