Flying with an 8 month old??!!

Well this is going to be one of those super long blogs. Mainly because I can't seem to find the time to sit and update a little at a time. Anyhow Emmalyn and I flew home on the 23rd of July, thanks to my wonderful inlaws. Joanne and David used their flyer miles to get me a ticket to fly home and see them. Brad's grandparents are not doing very well and we wanted to make sure that they got to see Emmalyn before something major happened. Well I packed our suitcase and grabbed my camera's and off I was through airport security with a over stuffed backpack for a carry on, an 8month old, and a stroller. Luckily they have a 'Family line' for families with small children that get to bypass the really long security line, I laughed the whole time as I went right up to the front. Then the hard part, emptying out my bag and going through the detectors. I had to take my laptop, video camera and bottle for Emmalyn out of my backpack, take off my shoes and belt, put my camera bag through, and take her out of the stroller and send it through. I must say I have never used so many grey bins before. Luckily the flight was good and she did just fine except for the fact she had to sit on my lap for almost two hours. When we got to Rapid City we were picked up by my step-mom and I stole my dad's pickup to drive around for the time I was there. On my way to Sturgis in an older pickup, with no AC, it broke down! I was on the interstate in construction, two lanes and luckily got off an exit and managed to get it stopped on the hill, btw no brakes!! So much for surprising the Great Grandparents cause I had to call for a rescue crew. My mom's parents lived close by so they came mainly to get Emmalyn out of the heat and my dad's parents came to rescue the truck. Well it was not starting and it was the fuel pump so we had to get it towed back to Rapid. Thankfully my WONDERFUL grandfather let me, ever so reluctantly, borrow their second car. Well from there the trip was better. We visited lots of family and everyone really enjoyed seeing Emmalyn. Well I have rambled on enough so I will just let you look at the pictures now.

Oh I almost forgot the best news yet. When I got home I had my second interview with Salt Lake City Police Department and it is official as of yesterday that I will be a CRIME SCENE TECHNICIAN!!! I start on Monday and am a little nervous about leaving Emmalyn with some friends of ours. I know she'll be okay, I just have to worry a bit.

Anyhow now on to the pictures!!

At first Emma had no idea what to think about uncle Kyle.

Once he gave up the sunglasses though, they were friends.

Grandpa on the floor playing with her. It was nice this trip to not have to see him sick or in the hospital (at Christmas he had a heart attack and had open heart surgery).

This little girl is Karsten and she is actually a month older than Emmalyn, however, Emmalyn has her beat in size 19 1/2lbs to 14 lbs. It was funny watching them play together. They were giving kisses in the second one.

Sitting and swinging at Grams' house.

Great Grandma Kienzle is laughing cause great grandpa just gave her licorice to chew on. 'She needs something to keep her mouth busy' is what he said when she was fussy.

Great grandparents Rath just couldn't get enough of her.

I'm not sure what grandpa was trying to teach her this young.

These are Brad's Great aunts and they were their visiting as well.

This is great grandma Guyla, David's mom. We went to pizza ranch for her birthday.

Brad's cousin Kylie was here visiting as well.

Grandma Jo had a hard time 'sharing'.

This little boy was part of a group of Chinese kids that were flying out of Rapid the same time we were. There were about 6 of them and Emmalyn would just watch them as they spoke to each other and then look at me. I put her down and she crawled right over to them and played with them. It was really funny cause all they could say was 'baby'. He even put his sunglasses on her and they were all laughing and taking pictures. Guess she is over her shy phase.