Half Family Trip

Esther and I flew to the New England area for my Grampa's funeral this past weekend. He wanted me to sing for it, so I always knew I would make the time to attend, no matter how far away I was. Esther came with cause she's still so young to be gone a long time from me (and cause I'm still nursing her), and Josh and Matthew played bachelor for the weekend. I didn't come home until Tuesday, so my mom-in-law watched Matthew so Josh didn't have to take some time off work.

Esther's first airplane ride. She loved looking out the window.


I let her out of the Bjorn during the plane ride, and she had fun with the tray table, the magazines, and crawlilng all over me to charm the passengers in front of and behind us.


A short layover, but we had some time for her to stretch her legs and get around.


My brother-in-law and my sis picked me up from the airport, and my niece Ari was so excited to meet "Baby Esther." She even picked out a special toy monkey for her to play with while we were there.


Esther hanging out with her Auntie Sara.


I got to see my brother and sister-in-law as well, so Esther got to meet another cousin, Micah.


Sucking her thumb on Grampa's lap. She does that when she's tired or when I'm holding her.


Look at that one-tooth grin. She looks like a hick or something. That other front tooth did pop through recently, but you can't see it yet.


Here's trouble waiting to happen. Josh told me it's like a mini-Sara and a mini-Mary.


On the way to the burial site, my grampa's fire station saluted and sounded a bell as the hearse drove by. It was a really neat moment.


Ari being cute in the car.


Esther was definitely tired of being in a car seat by the end of the trip, but I managed to catch her pretty content with this book.


Gramma and Grampa hung out at the airport before my flight to spend some extra time with us.

And so ends my whirlwind weekend. It was weird not having Josh and Matthew there, but it was so nice to go home to them. Life has gotten back to normal for the most part. Esther's been catching up on some much-needed Z's, and Matthew's cold, which was hanging on for 2 weeks, finally seems to be going away. We did get some antibiotics for him though, since we had him checked and they found an ear infection in one ear. And Josh is busy at work and growing a beard for our church's Christmas cantata.

For those who don't get to see us very much, I'm sorry for my absence in blog land. But if you have or ever have had more than one little kid to take care of, you can understand how little time I have to sit in one spot and get something done, like blogging. I know there's a lot I've missed putting up here, so I might back track a little, but it may be easier to just move on from here. And to give you a little more frame of reference, Matthew is now 2 1/2 and Esther is 10 months old. Happy weekend, everybody!