Balloon Fiesta

I think I blogged about the Balloon Fiesta last year and how Gary and I were going to attend the Glodeo but it just so happened that the weather was really bad so they canceled it. It was the last night, we missed out for a whole year! Well, we went this year! It was lots of fun and pretty neat. This Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is a big deal guys. It's our claim to fame here in the Land of Enchantment. You all might consider coming to visit us next October during this fabulous event! The Glodeo is one of many events, in the evening all the special shaped balloons fill up with air (but don't take off) and then they all light up...as you can see below. It was pretty cool!

They let you in to walk around right up to the balloons.There were massive amounts of people there, but I don't think you can really tell in this picture

And then they have fireworks...but the BEST part of the whole thing (I didn't even know this until I got there) were the Tom Thumb donuts! HELLO!!! Bring back a childhood memory. I thought theses things ONLY existed at the Calgary Stampede. I wanted to buy four bags but Gary would only let me buy one and he made me share with him. Rude huh?!? Did I tell you that I don't even really like donuts? Just these.

I already can't wait for next year! -- I TOLD you you'd want to come visit for the Balloon Fiesta!!!

More visitors!

My mom, brother, and sister made a quick SURPRISE trip down to Albuquerque for the BYU vs. UNM football game a couple weeks ago. It was SO fun to see them and I'm so glad they came!



It was something Dallin and I had been talking about for months, but I couldn't get any firm committment out of them and so I figured they weren't coming. Well, when Gary and I went to the football fireside on Friday night, guess who was there?!? I felt a little bad because I had NO food in my fridge and we had boxes everywhere from our recent move. Our little house was a mess. (Yes, HOUSE...we'll write more on that one later)



BUT, we did get a little help finalizing the unexpected install of a new dishwasher. So that was way exciting! - Don't look too close at that super cute blue backsplash and sink...one of these days that will go. We still had to show them a good time and so we took them to Dions for dinner, of course! And Bucca too. We had these VIP tickets to the game where we could go get food and goods down on the field...well, it wasn't a great idea to wear BYU clothing into the booth...especially since we were winning! The others in the booth were not so nice.

Then on Sunday they came to our brand new ward with us for the first time.

Even though the trip was short, it was sweet! Come back and visit again soon...and stay longer this next time, ok?!?

30 Weeks

As of last Sunday, here I am...belly and all at 30 weeks pregnant. I guess technically, I could start counting down now since I'm down to single digit weeks left, but I'm too nervous to count down. Nervous for that ONE moment I'm counting down to...you know what I'm talking about! Things I'm experiencing lately:

Cravings:
Quesadillas...everyday still! Don't even ask me how I gained 20 pounds.
Crisp, Cold Green Salad - Picky on the crisp and cold details.
Hot Cereal, especially Cream of Wheat. Two whole boxes already gone...yummy!

Heart Burn:
YES YES YES! It's a good thing no one told me about this BEFORE I got pregnant. It's HORRIBLE!

Sleeping:
NOT so much happening. Right side makes me nauseous. I think I'm getting bed sores on my left hip and shoulder.

Running:
Oh yes! I'm considering myself super lucky that I'm still able to run. Might be a 12 minute mile, but by golly, I'm doing it! My legs hurt really badly so I have to stop half way and massage them, and then I'm good to get home. It's the PERFECT time of year to run in the mornings around here.

Kicking:
Wow, pretty sure this kid has a black belt already! Even though it's starting to be a little bit uncomfortable, it's still really cute and amazing and I will never tire of watching my stomach move in strange ways. I still just think it's the craziest thing that there is another human inside moving around. It just doesn't seem normal. But I'll take it!

Braxton Hicks:
Just started this last week...lots. :)

Weight Gain:
Uh, no thanks. Make it go away.

Trip to Utah

Gary and I took a quick trip to Utah (Gary's was quicker than mine) a few weeks ago. It was a bit of a last minute trip, I wanted to go to Utah one last time before I have this baby and this week worked the best because Chandra would be coming down to play University of Utah AND BYU in the same week. AND, I got to see Lincoln play in TWO of his football games, plus it was Homecoming! I packed it in and it was totally worth it.


What's a trip without a good story? Remember how we missed our flight when we went to Florida for our cruise? Well, the plan was NOT to do that ever again. So, even though we have a dead airport that is only about 20 minutes away, we decided to not take our chances and make sure to leave a good 2 hours early (we were also parking our car in long term parking as well). For the record, let it be known that Tara was ready to go at the planned time. When she called her husband, he was still at the office AND had two stops he absolutely had to make on his way home. --I say, his clients don't know how lucky they are to have Gary risk his own marriage for his job!!! :)


Bottom line is this...Gary gets home, we pack up the truck and get on the road with literally forty five minutes before our flight LEFT! So, the revised plan was this: Gary would drop me off, I'd check both our bags and get on the plane. While he parked the car. As I approached the terminal, the check in guy was waiting for me. I asked him how many minutes until the plane left...FOUR. I told him that my husband was still getting through security but that he was coming and asked if they could wait as long as they possibly could.


Then, I did the same thing to my lovely flight attendants. Told them about Gary coming through Security and asked them to wait as long as they possibly could. Meanwhile, I'm calling Gary (who truthfully wasn't going through security, he was on the shuttle from the parking lot!) and telling him that he has to run like he's never ran before...and ask if he can cut through security...and do whatever it takes to get here as fast as possible.


About fifteen minutes later (thank you for waiting that long!!), flight attendants begin their spill. I look up and notice the door shut and no Gary walking down the isle and freak out! I get out of my seat and walk up to the front of the plane, totally inturrupting their deal and ask them if I can at least call my husband to see WHERE he is before they take off. Just then, my phone rings and it's Gary who says that he's standing at the door and it's SHUT! I'm telling the flight attendants that he's RIGHT THERE, just open the door. The tell me that they have detached from the airport and can not even communicate with the guy who checked everyone in and that there is nothing they can do. They can not open the door back up. I keep telling them how he's RIGHT there...And then, the pregnant lady begins to cry. AWESOME!


So, I go back to my seat and am just mad that Gary literally missed the flight by less than 10 seconds. About another minute later, in walks Gary!!! Onto the plane! Totally sweating, holding his belt, hat and sunglasses in his hand. This man RAN! I guess the flight attendant felt bad for this mess of a lady and told the Pilot and he made the call to open up the door and let this guy on the plane. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I never want to be that close to missing a flight ever again!


Once in Utah, my mom picked us up and had this cute little girl in the car with her. Brynlee's parents and sister took a trip to Lake Powell and so she was staying with her grandparents for the weekend. As soon as I opened up the door and called her name, she freaked out and took her little burp cloth and covered her eyes for the WHOLE trip home! She would not even look at me. I'm SO glad we both made that flight because one of the things we had planned was attending the Homecoming Football Game where Lincoln would be playing which we totally would have missed if we didn't make that flight.

Here's a better picture of Brynlee. It took a while, but eventually, she'd let me hold her.

Of course another planned event for the weekend, was the BYU football game. My friend Lindsey gave her husband tickets for his birthday so they drove down from Idaho to come to the game too! Fun that I got to see her. As you probably can tell, she's prego and is due two weeks before me with a boy! It was fun to see her! We also got to spend some time with James and Angela! They used to live here in Albuquerque, but a few months ago, moved back to Utah. We miss them!! It was fun to see them! Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon!

Chan came down from Logan for a night and of course, we had to have a sleepover with Haley! We gave her a pedicure and did her hair...and Grandpa spoiled us all with breakfast in bed the next morning.

A tradition that Haley and I have (and I don't think she'll EVER let me forget) is that everytime I come to visit, we go to Coldstone and she gets "Cotton Candy" ice cream. I still haven't figured out why she likes that flavor, but she sure is always excited for it!

Shari and Shannon had a baby shower for me, which was SO fun because everyone who came are all dear friends who I haven't seen in SO long. It was honestly so great to see so many wonderful friends! Thanks Shari and Shannon!!!

Next Event: Utah State vs. University of Utah Women's Soccer. And, of course we were cheering for Utah State! Who also WON! We were all way excited!

Chan played fabulously and we were all just proud of her and her team! They haven't beat University of Utah in SO SO SO long!

Event: PHS Football game #2 - Here is Lincoln placing the football for his kick.

Event: Utah State vs. BYU women's soccer. Again, cheering for Utah State! Sorry BYU.

It was a great game, and Utah State played great...they didn't win, but wow...the refs were horrible!

Yeah, Haley convinced her parents into letting her have another sleepover. If your aunt was in town and you also got breakfast in bed everytime you slept at Grandma and Grandpas wouldn't YOU want to sleep over all the time too?!?