Natalie's wedding

I have a lot to say, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to say it. We returned home this morning from a quick trip to Phoenix for Dave's sister's wedding. It was simple and nice. She's been waiting a long time for it. I'm happy for them. This was our reason for going and definitely our highlight. We enjoyed meeting her husband Royle and his family, and also seeing our favorite Aunt Kathie.

My other favorite part was visiting some old friends, Emily and Jeanette. I loved catching up with them at the park while Dave ran around and entertained the kids. Thanks Dave! Even though it was (choke, choke) cold for them to be hanging out at the park, my family was loving the 50-degree temperature difference from our home state. It was fun to remember what a nice life we had there with fabulous friends. Unfortunately, we left our camera at the hotel so I don't have any pics to show for it. Rats!

And of course I have my adventures to tell of traveling with a 4- and 2-year-old and 5-month-old. Here goes:

On our way there, just as we were about to take-off they announced that some light was indicating mechanical problems on the plane, we turned back to the gate and sat for 2 hours while they fixed the plane. Our 3 1/2 hour flight turned into a 5 1/2 hour flight. When we finally got to the gate where they were going to fix the plane before even leaving (about 45 minutes after we were supposed to take off), Aubrie said, "That was short!" Too bad we hadn't even left the ground yet!

When we finally arrived in Phoenix, we took the bus to our rental car, unloaded our billions of suitcases, installed 3 carseats, we drove out of the parking lot to see that there was an error light on our minivan. So, we pulled back in and the worker said our tire looked deformed so we needed to switch cars. After getting settled into our second car, we finally arrived at our pre-paid hotel only to find out the hotel had no more rooms left with double beds, and they didn''t have 'roll-away' beds. Because it was almost midnight (and an hour later our time) we decided to just figure it out, and we all "slept" in a bed together (Dave laid across the bottom of the bed since most of us are short). However, I think I will be visiting my chiropractor soon.

Considering the circumstances, the girls actually did great. Maybe all this practice of traveling is paying off! They only slightly complained of ear pain rather than the dramatic screams and yells of a few trips ago. Rather than panicking through security, they march right over and remove their shoes. And last week the girls were pretending they were driving a "rental car."

Elliana also spiked a fever the day of the wedding, so she spent the whole day in my lap. Fortunately, I don't have any throw-up stories to tell even though she complained of tummy troubles.