The Visit

Well, that was one of the fastest weeks of all time! Kelsey and Chloe have come and gone. It was SO much fun to have them here! Kelsey started out heading to Arizona to attend the funeral of Melanie’s sweet, 6 week old baby, Gus. But the flight that had looked good space wise – filled to overcapacity by the time they arrived in Denver and it was impossible to get there. Kelsey was quite disappointed as she really wanted to be able to be there to support Mel. She looked at flights to SLC to try and come home but those were impossible as well. She had decided to try to go and see Jaron and Jenette in VA, when Chuck suggested she check Boise flights. She had a couple of decent looking options for the next afternoon – and instead of getting up at 4am to try to get to VA- which had started to look sketchy in the Chicago connection area, she could have the day to relax a bit before she headed to Boise. So, as noted in the opening sentence that obviously that worked:0)Brianne, Juan and Dominik picked them up at the airport and delivered them to Rainey and Kurt’s home for the night. Kelsey looked really good in spite of a cold and a lack of sleep. It’s hard to believe that in 6 weeks she’ll have another little munchkin on her hands giving Miss Chloe some competition and hopefully at some point some companionship.

Rainey, Noah, Kelsey, Chloe and I met Juan, Brianne and Dom for lunch the next day at Johnny Carino’s. That was good times, 5 adults and 3 babies seated at a table next to some business men there for a meeting. The kids were pretty well behaved all in all. Chloe liked Dom a lot and when we got them close to each other she loved running her hands through his full head of soft black hair. Dom seem to take it all in stride.

We stopped to see gg Gramma Berreth on the way home. She looked pretty good and seemed happy to see us. In addition to gg Gram Berreth Kelsey got to see lots of family while they were here : G&G Vaden, G&G Whittier & Sarah, Tyson & Angel, Cerese, cousin Phil and of course, Gramma Karen and Grampa Chuck. Kelsey also saw some friends and caught up a “little” bit on her sleep.

Chloe spent her time repeatedly opening and closing every door and cupboard in the house, eating massive amounts of green beans, yogurt, toast and the fruit of the day, reading her block books, and trying to get someone to take her outside to check out the flowers. She even took steps on her own on occasion, though she much preferred getting someone to hold her hands so she could really lean into it and take off. She reluctantly took naps as she was afraid of missing out on something.

Uncle Tyson scared her into screams and sobs. We assume it was his beard and shaggy hair. It took half a day for him to be able to even get close to her without a hysterical outburst, and even then she didn’t want to make eye contact for too long- though she was perfectly happy to let him walk her around in circles outside by the flowers.

Grampa Chuck who “doesn’t like” babies until they are “older” was pretty much her slave whenever he was around (though he did have some competition from me).

The only thing that made it bearable seeing them leave was knowing that I’ll get to see them again in 6 weeks. Thanks Kelsey for going through the ordeal of standby flights with a fidgety, sometimes screaming, baby so we could enjoy your company. I miss you both already.