We'll be home for Christmas... Not if Denver has anything to do with it!

We finally made it. We weren't sure we were going to be able to make it home for Christmas because Trav is an important doctor wanna be. Fortunately the doc he is rotating with is pro-student and gave him the week of Christmas off. We booked the golden tickets (literally they probably cost as much as gold) and anxiously awaited till Friday the 19Th! Finally it came; we packed about everything we owned (it felt like it as we were walking through the airport) and were off to KCI airport. Then the following things went wrong:

1) I totally forgot that Avery is a person and not a doll and that she needed proper documentation. When the ticket agent asked for her birth certificate; my heart jumped. I sure didn't have it. The lady looked at me really funny. Did she think I was smuggling bombs on my baby? Luckily we had her shot documents in her diaper bag and that was good enough for a spot on the plane.

2) After a very enjoyable flight to Denver (Avery was an angel and didn't make a peep), we got there expecting to catch our connecting flight right away; but to our dismay it was delayed an hour and a half. That didn't really surprise me because if anyone is familiar with Denver airport, this usually happens and an hour in a half wasn't too bad. We found a nice perch and rested for awhile.

3) While we were patiently waiting we found out our flight was delayed another 2 hours! I was red hot! And apparently Avery was red hot too because she started flipping out. We paced those escalator things all through the airport with a crying baby.

4) We heard an announcement that the Salt Lake flight would be boarding a little bit earlier than expected... this is good news, but the bad news was that they played with our hearts. It took about an hour for them to even start boarding the plane. At this point Travis was getting red hot. I was still red hot and Avery was livid.

5) We were finally on the plane (again this is good news). Everyone was seated and we were just waiting to go. Hello... why aren't we going yet? Oh its because the airline all of a sudden got a conscience and wanted to wait and see if other people were still coming who weren't on the flight. You snooze you loose! Everyone knows you don't wander from the gate too far in the airport. I think I lost my Christmas spirit (see blog entry below) at this point. Finally two tiny Chinese woman were loaded onto the plane and we started moving. We made it all the way to the runway then...

6) We turned around and were back at the gate. The captain came on the speaker and announced that Salt Lake decided to close down all but one run way and they didn't have room for us. %$*!@##% those Chinese ladies we would have been in the air and Salt Lake would have had to accept us! I thought I was going to explode. So we were stuck on the plane for another hour. Then...

7) This ten year old kid who was flying by himself got sick. He is a diabetic and his glucose was through the roof. I felt bad for him. I also felt bad for us too because we had to wait another half hour for the paramedics to come and get him. I hope he is OK! We were finally cleared for take off and we actually got up in the air. Oh I'm not done; then...

8) We were getting so close to Salt Lake. Avery was pretty good for most of the flight, but was getting fussy. She had about 20 more minutes in her until total melt down; which was fine because we were going to be there soon. Oh but wait... Salt Lake decided to shut down all but one runway again; so we had to circle around the airport for another half hour. Poor little Avery had had enough and was screaming. It was rough, but its even rougher when the lady in front of you keeps looking back. I almost punched her. We were trying our best woman!

We finally made it to the airport and with a very mad baby we found all our bags, caught our ride and headed home to Park City. Our 6 hour trip ended up taking 12 hours. After hearing how bad it had snowed in the northwest and about the major delays, I realized our adventure could have been way worse. So I decided that maybe I should be grateful that we made it home for Christmas. Then I decided that I was worthy to have the Christmas spirit back in my life... and it is! We are so happy we could make it home for a short visit. Merry Christmas!

Avery's first flight

I caught it...

Not the flu (although it is abundant in my neighborhood right now hope my flu shot works) but the Christmas spirit. There have been a few experiences which have allowed the spirit of Christmas to flow and I'll tell you about how it all happened

1)St. Nik

We took Avery to see Santa Claus. We went to the Crown Center downtown with Sarah and Daisie and their cute kids. Crayola had this awesome crayola fun house (it seriously made me want to buy a huge box of crayons... good marketing Crayola!) for the kids to go through, then Santa was at the end. Of course Avery can't really walk or crawl and doesn't really know much about Santa or Christmas or much of anything yet besides her deep love for her binkie but I know she had fun. At least we did. Here are some pics

Sadie & Sam playing in the house

The Girls

The entrance

This cute old couple with matching sweaters were obsessed with how cute Avery was. They stopped us again and made us show all their old friends. I hope Trav and I are like that when we are old- not just the fact that they were sweet grandparents, but the fact that their sweaters really were cool.

We wondered how Avery would welcome Santa into her life. She wasn't so sure at first, but she must have felt the jolliness because she was a perfect angel. Also his beard was real, and she kept trying to eat it.

Before

She thought he was cool

Trying to get a family pic

There we go!

2) Parties

Tis the season to eat, eat and eat!!! We had our annual med school Christmas party at the Hastings. It was awesome as usual. We had Spaghetti with home made meatballs and she had her chocolate fountain going; which was a bummer for me because Avery freaks out when I eat chocolate... boo! But it was so much fun to hang out with our friends from med school who we haven't seen for awhile! And of course the awesome white elephant gift game. I know Alishia is loving what she got from us!

My friend Angela had an awesome "girls" party at her house. Her food items were pretty amazing. We also played a few games; one being Christmas song pictionary. Very intense! We also brought gifts to exchange randomly. I bought a really cute sweater from Walmart, a mere $20 gift and I was hoping with all of my heart that Angela, who just graduated from a very prestigious fashion design school, would not get the cheap sweater but of course she did! I was embarrassed, oh well, she looked really cute in it!

We have had tons of fun enjoying people's company and good food. I'm pretty sure we are going to pay for it pretty soon when our pants stop fitting.

3) Allison and Kate McFarland

Allie totally used me to come and see Avery and they flew in last weekend. We had a lot of fun on her short stay. She got me hooked into High School Musical; that my friends will be a whole different blog post. On Saturday night, Allie and Kate joined the Charles's on the annual "search for a Christmas ornament" date. I wanted to go to the Cheesecake factory and we tried, but everyone in KC had that idea so we left due to the two hour wait. We ended up going to Crown Center and eating at the coolest restaurant. It was in a street car in the middle of the mall. We had the coolest waiter named Mark. He was probably 80 and was the neatest guy. He was so proper and to the point. He won us over and I'm sure he is a millionaire with all the ginormous tips he gets. We had to sneak a picture with him.

Kate and Avery were so dang cute together. Kate was so easy going. Avery cried most of their trip. I kept using excuses for her crying like, it was something I ate, she is going through a growth spurt or she gets overstimulated easily but in all reality she is just a fussy baby. We hope you guys come back!

Ok, this is when I discovered that I caught the Christmas spirit. We were walking out of the crown center. It was freezing cold, there were people ice skating and Christmas music playing in the background. There was lots of hustle and bustle going on all around when I looked up and saw this gorgeous scene.

I felt it and have loved having it. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and that we all think of Christ; its his birthday and the reason we celebrate!

Merry Christmas!!!