Dan & Sharon's Family: October 2007

Trevor came in our room first thing after Daddy woke him up with the Cougar fight song (think BYU) So he plopped on our bed while I told him his birthday story. This is a tradition of ours. So I told him his birth story and then Dan handed him his wrapped present. Before he could even open it, the present started ringing! He was thrilled that he got a new cell phone. Being the kind brother that he is, he handed off his old one to Ransom. It was his turn to be thrilled.

Anyway, we went to church, enjoyed ourselves and then Trevor decided to recharge for awhile. Our friend, Wendy, made Trevor's birthday cake. She's a professional and even drew a guitar on it for him since he loves to play guitar. We're going to wait to have his steak dinner until tonight so Travis, Jess & Thomas can be with us. Still we had cake & candles last night. It was great!

My sister and I had been planning on this trip for me to visit her in Massachusetts for quite awhile. When my niece, Steph, heard about it she decided that I needed to bring Trevor with me. I could totally see her side. She and Trevor are only a month apart in age and hadn't seen each other since they were toddlers. Travis had an extra pass with his flight benefits. So we started hatching a plan...

Trevor thought the plan sounded great but worried about missing school, work, cheering and let's face it...GIRLS. And he was even a little embarrassed that Steph would go to so much trouble getting people together for them to hang out. He was very responsible and talked to all of his teachers, bosses at work and even the head of the cheer squad he's on and they gave him the green light. We were SO excited! How fun to tromp across the country with my almost 17 year old son to meet with family! (Now before I go any further I have to admit something....nowhere in our time there did I get pictures of Trevor and Stephanie together! ARGH!)

The good thing about Travis having a job with the airlines is the perk of parents flying for free! But part of Trevor's birthday present was his buddy guest pass with me. We got there two hours before just like they said, but it's kind of silly since we fly standby and don't get told until about 30 minutes prior to the flight whether or not we can fly on that flight. Still, we got there in plenty of time.

Let me back up a little bit...about 20 minutes before we left the house for the airport we get a call from Ransom that he had gotten hurt during practice. So Dan goes and gets him. Now I'm thinking, "Do I go?" "How bad is it?" "Is it broken?", etc. Dan brings him in and lays him on the couch. He's got swelling but nothing that looks obviously broken. But I'd already decided...I was going to be the one to take him to the hospital. Ransom wouldn't hear of it. He told me that Daddy would take him and he would be mad at me if I didn't take my trip. Dan reassured me that all would be well and with a hug and a kiss we were off...(Ransom ended up NOT having a broken leg but badly bruised the bone and tissue around his knee. He's healing fine.)

Trevor and I get to the airport and through security. By this point I'm not quite myself because I'm on a new medication for fibromyalgia....note to self....don't try new meds just before flying anywhere! I could hardly walk in a straight line and was apparently talking in my sleep on the plane (we took the red eye flight). I'm so glad that I had Trevor to make sure I was okay. We laughed about it later when he told Laura about my almost spilling water on the floor and requesting new water from the flight attendant. So poor Trevor got no sleep on the plane. When Laura picked us up we came straight back to the house while everyone was still at school and both took good, long naps until they came back home. Laura was, I'm sure, doing her usual superhuman feats while we were sleeping. Seriously, she amazes me.

It was wonderful to see my nieces and nephews again! And Laura, of course! Steve was on a business trip to India so I just bunked in with Laura. Trevor slept in with Kevin (15). Trevor would go to early morning seminary with Stephanie and Kevin, then come back here and crash for awhile before it was time to run errands. Trevor was such a good sport and didn't mind running here and there with us. Even tho' we spent like 30 minutes or more in the Yankee Candle shop! He had fun smelling the stuff we liked and helped us pick out what to get.

The first night Trevor went to mutual with the kids and I helped Laura with her cub scout den. We talked about healthy foods put then made some cookies to finish the night! She has a lively bunch and we were pooped out by the time we were done. Trevor said that he had a great time because the youth spent the time making short films. He got to do most of the filming.

Thursday was market day. Whenever Laura says that I always say, "to market, to market, to buy a fat pig?" Yes, not the funniest thing I've ever said but those Mother Goose rhymes stay with you, don't they? She has to go weekly because of still having six of her nine children living at home. We also did a Costoc run so we got to have yummy Costco muffins the next morning. The missionaries came over for dinner that night and brought someone that was interested in the Church with them. Mainly I played with Aaron, Adam and Benjamin. We did interviews and such. They have so much energy! I think they wore me out. ;)

Friday we had more errands to run but that's when we also go to see some of the scenery and stop and take a few pictures. The picture of Laura and I was at a bridge in Hollis, New Hampshire. We were on our way home from Nashua, New Hampshire. As soon as we got dinner done we had a Stampin' Up! party given by one of Laura's friends. It was fun to learn some new techniques and to have some us time. We stayed up way too late having fun after everyone left and made some cards of our own. We agreed that there would never be a trip long enough for us to do everything that we wanted to do together. This was the third time I've been to New England and have yet to do the Historic Sites of Boston. Although out of town we did see the Old North Church.

Trevor and I were SO glad that we took this trip together! I was horrible about taking pictures with my camera but I just kept trying to take pictures with my heart. In turn, I hope to be able to take each of the boys on a trip like this to Massachusetts to see their New England cousins and aunt and uncle. Trevor enjoyed going on the rope swing in the pouring rain with Kevin and Stephanie and Trevor are new best friends. Gotta Love It!