At Nana's House

Cambrie and I have taken a trip. We've left our "other third" behind so he can do responsible things (like work and earn money for our family), and we've undertaken a cross-country trip to see my family and Cambrie's new little cousin.

The trip itself was exhausting. It began at 3:30 AM. Cambrie was on my lap for the plane ride, which was certainly economical, but certainly not fun. My idea of relaxing is not having a 27 pound wriggling, writhing creature do everything but fall asleep on my lap during a 6 hour plane ride. To her credit, though, Cambrie was really very well behaved. Another portion of the credit goes to this magical toy:

Thank you, doodle-thingy. You have earned my deepest appreciation and respect.

The morning after we arrived, Cambrie and I both woke up reasonably well rested at about 5:45 AM. Being on Georgia time had its perks; we were able to get up, get fed, and go on a small walk while it was still crisp and cool outside.

Living in Georgia I had almost forgotten what crisp air felt like. (Soggy air, though? Oppressive, heavy, wet air? We know each other very well.) What surprised me the most, though, was the smell. It reminded me very distinctly of visiting Grandma and Grandpa when I was little. Does Utah air always have that scent? It is clear--almost sweet. Is it the mountains? The dry air? The thinner atmosphere?

I love it. Probably not enough to make up for the lack of trees and green fields, but I do love it.

In any case, Cambrie has been having the time of her life:

Helping Nana clean the yard.

Being a baby with Baby Evelyn. 

Playing with Nana and Baby Evelyn in the yard.

Cambrie's hair actually was able to be braided for about 30 seconds. Props to Aunt Jen for making it happen.

New shoes. Every little girl's dream.

"Shleeping." 

Sitting in Baby Evelyn's seat.

Even 2000 miles from home, I can't stay away from the kitchen. So far I've already made Spinach Bacon Quiche (based loosely on this recipe, but to be honest I changed it quite a bit, so no promises if you follow that one exactly)...

(for instance, I added a crust. And bacon. So basically the entire name of this recipe is moot.)

...and Sweet Spinach Salad (which we had with French Dip Sandwiches and Baked Onion Potato Fries, which were both kinda thrown together so I have no recipes for you).

You can imagine a lot of my family thinks I'm nuts for always pulling out the camera at the dinner table.

The Orange Poppyseed Dressing made a lot of extra, so my mom put it in this pretty jar. I love it! I'm a sucker for pretty jars, I guess.

It's been a lot of fun spending time with my mom, brother and sisters, too. I'm also very excited to see my dad and his family this weekend. This will be a busy trip, that's for sure. But that's the best part about trips like these--they're always jam-packed full of family and food and fun. The only thing missing is Patrick, and I hope he's having fun at his parent's house (with his own family craziness) this weekend.

So in the spirit of family craziness, I need to take the time to humor two of my wonderful siblings' requests here:

Andy says, "Hi."

Kristen says, "Tell them I'm cooler than him."