Our Trip To Utah

Last week Levi and I took a trip to Utah. I wanted to go out and see Daniel and Charbel's sweet new baby, and so I planned a little trip. I brought Levi along with me this time. Here are Levi and I on the plane ride over. Levi is such a good little traveler.

I planned my trip for the weekend of Lyla's 1st birthday so we could be there for her party! We had a fun few days visiting them before we headed down to Provo. Levi and I slept on an air mattress in Cindy and AJ's front room. She warned me that it had a leak so it might deflate a little in the night. The next morning we had to laugh at how deflated it got. Levi and Lyla had fun crawling all over it though!

Lyla was so nice to share all of her fun toys with Levi.

I was glad I had my camera handy to catch this sweet moment between cousins =)

Since it was Lyla's party the next day, Cindy had a lot of errands to run. We happily tagged along. I am sure we looked a little silly taking a pictures of our kids in the shopping cart, but we couldn't resist. =)

Having watched the show, "The Little Chocolateirs " on TLC I was thrilled when Cindy suggested that we stop by their chocolate shop which is in Salt Lake. This was at the end of our long day of shopping and Levi was more then ready to head back to Cindy's house, so we had to make our visit quick. I was surprised at how small the chocolate shop was. I couldn't even imagine a camera crew fitting in there. We caught a glimpse of the stars of the show, ordered a few pieces of chocolate and were on our way. We were to embarrassed to ask for a picture with them, but we took one of Levi and I out front =)That night we went up to AJ's parents house to spend the night. Lyla's party was going to be held there the next day so Cindy wanted to make sure everything was set up so we wouldn't have to rush to get it done in the morning. Cindy planed the cutest Party. It was a "pancake party" She planned for weeks making sure every detail was just right, and it was so fun to see all of her planning come together. Everything was so cute! Here are Levi and I standing in front of a cute table she had set up with jelly bean treat bags for all of the guests, and pictures of Lyla all throughout her first year. Isn't that banner cute! Cindy worked so hard on it =)

It was fun to stay at AJ's parent's house. Their house is so gorgeous. We felt like we were staying in a hotel!

The next morning we got up early to finish up on the last minute details. Levi had fun playing with Lyla's cousin Elanor before the party started. They are just about the same age and hit it off right away.

It was a fun happy reunion between these little guys. Kristalyn kept it a secret from Mason and Carter that we were coming. When Mason saw Levi he did a double take, yelled, "Levi!", gave him a big hug, and they ran off to play. It was so cute. I love how they can go months without seeing each other and just pick up where they left off.

The party was a great success. I loved the pancake theme. Cindy thought up all sorts of yummy toppings to choose from. My favorite was the homemade raspberry syrup that her friend Holly made. It was delish!

AJ made Lyla the cutest cupcake cake. It was so fun to watch her eat it. I was so glad that Levi and I were able to share in celebrating Lyla's special day.

I drove back down to Provo with Kristalyn to spend a few days there. Levi had so much fun playing with his cousins. That first night we went to Red Robbin for dinner, and Sonic for desert. It was so fun to hang out with Kristalyn and David and their cute kiddos. Levi and I slept at their house that night. In the morning we got up bright and early for church. The church is right down the street from their house, so we walked. Look at these two cute future missionaries on their way to church.

We stopped the kids for a quick photo. To get these 4 to stand still and look at the camera at the same time is quite the challenge. I'm glad I got a good one.

After church I headed over to Daniel and Charbel's house to see Benjamin and help them out for the day. Levi stayed at Kristalyn's house so he could play with Mason and Carter. I decided to spend the night there to help out with Benji during the night, because the night before had been a tough one. Little did I know what was to come!

Around two in the morning a frantic Daniel woke me up saying that something was wrong with Charbel. I ran in there to find her shivering fiercely and uncontrollably on the bed. She looked very scared and Daniel was very scared as well. We knew something was terribly wrong. We didn't know whether to call 911 or have Daniel try to take her to the hospital himself. I called Kristalyn, and she told us that since the hospital was only 1 minute away, that would probably be the best route to go. Daniel scooped up Charbel in his arms, I wrapped a blanket around her, and they headed to the hospital. Talk about scary! Benji had been a little restless throughout the night, but as this was happening he was sleeping soundly in his bed and didn't even stir. As you can imagine at this point I was wide awake and a little freaked out. I immediately called my mom and text my sisters to tell them what was going on. I layed on Daniel and Charbels bed so I could hear if Benji woke up and waited anxiously for Daniel to call. When they got to the hospital Charbel had 104 degree temperature and was feeling miserable. After some tests it was determined she had a severe kidney infection. They gave her some antibiotics through an iv, prescribed her 3 different medications to take at home, and around 6 am they were able to come home. Thinking that the worst was past us, Daniel took the day off, Charbel slept, and I got to watch sweet Benji. I was scheduled to go home that day, but how could I??? I extended my flight one more day. Levi loved helping with Benji, holding him and taking pictures with him.

Levi took hundreds of pictures with my camera, and actually took the only picture that I got of Daniel and Charbel. It's really blurry, but I am glad we got one!

Charbel continued to run a high fever and have episodes of the violent shaking. As soon as her pain medicine wore off the chills and fever returned. We figured as soon as she had been on the medication for 24 hours that her condition would improve. 24 hours came and went and things did not get better. As Kristalyn arrived to pick me up to take me to the airport, Charbel was not doing good at all. My brother called the ER and they said to bring her right in. Needless to say, my flight got postponed another day. They ended up admitting Charbel to the hospital because the antibiotics that they had given her were not working. We were all so relieved that she was finally under a doctors care, and getting the help that she needed to get better. Levi and I took care of Benji the rest of that day and through the night. I just loved taking care of him, and so did Levi!

Look at this cute little guy fresh out of the bath =)

I just could not get enough of this little guy. The next day I finally had to leave, and boy was it hard. I grew so attached to Benji that it was so hard to say goodbye! I joked about sneaking him home with me in my suit case =) I was so glad that I was able to be staying with Daniel and Charbel at the exact moment when things went wrong so that I could take care of their precious baby and they didn't have to worry about him. That was no doubt a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. When I left the next afternoon, Charbel was still in the hospital but she was feeling much better. She ended up staying another day, and my mom drove down the next day and is there helping them right now. What a scary couple of days! We are so glad that Charbel is on the road to recovery, and that she is finally back home with Benji.

What a whirlwind of a trip, but I would do it all again in a second =)