Trip to ut

Last week, Jyllian and I took a trip to UT. A friend had given Donovan two buddy passes on southwest airlines (thanks Alicia). But these tickets required that we go stand-by, and that means there has to be room on the plane. So, I decided I would go in January. I used to be a travel agent, and January is generally a slow month. People have just finished with the holidays and taken vacations, which means they have run out of money. Well, I tried to get out of Orlando last Tuesday, but that didn't work. I called Tuesday night, and Wednesday looked ok. Jyllian and I left the house at 7:00am. I couldn't put my name on the stand-by list until I checked in at the gate. I reached the gate at 10:00am and the flight I was hoping to take had eighteen seats available for standby the day before. Well, not on Wednesday! The flight was overbooked by seven people, and twenty people were trying to go stand-by. I immediately started to figure out another option and that was a 2:35pm flight that connected to Phoenix. At 2:00pm, I checked with the Southwest agent and it didn't look good. After all the people had boarded the plane, I thought it was just not going to happen. I told Jyllian we were going to have to go back home and forget about our trip to UT. She of course was disappointed. My sister Shannon called me at the airport and said she had said a prayer for me that I would be able to get on the flight. I told her thank you, but the flight was full. Well, at the last minute some guy didn't show up, and Jyllian and I were the last two people to get on the flight. My sister has more faith than any person I know. She always says things will work out.

I made it to UT late Wednesday night. Jyllian did great. She was really looking forward to seeing all of her cousins. You see 2005 was the year that six out of ten children in my family had a baby, and Donovan's two sisters each had a baby too. That was a very reproductive year: six girls and two boys were born in our family. Jyllian has five girl cousins her age, and she was in heaven playing with them in UT this past week. She played and played and played.

We went to see Meg (Kristen's daughter). They had a great time with the three musketeers barbies and the hot air balloon carriage. Isabel (Meg's older sister) even got in on some of the fun with her remote control car. Kristen told the girls to jump off the couch, and she would take their picture. I'm sure Grandma Lott didn't mind that the girls were jumping on her couch. :)

The girls in action.I'm not quite sure what they were doing here, and I hope none of the Bloods or Crips who read our blog understand these 4 year old gang signs either.Aunt Kristen was showing Jyllian the pictures she took on her camera. What two kooky girls!

This picture was taken at my parents house. I had all of the four-year-olds sit on the couch. From left to right: Tate, Brielle, Bailey, Jyllian, Sierra, and Taylor

Jyllian played Thursday thru Sunday with her cousins and she had the best time. My parents treated me to dinner at Red Lobster ( Donovan doesn't like seafood, so I rarely go there). On Saturday night, we had a girls night out at Outback Steakhouse. Four of my sisters, three sister-in-laws, my mother, mother-in-law, and I all went out together. Let me tell you...it was a sight of woman power to behold! It was a lot of fun. Jeremy (my brother) also came along too. After all, he loves girl conversations, and he usually has quite a bit to add to them (he's like a mini-Oprah but without the money).

Jyllian and I had to leave on Monday. Luckily the stand-by process wasn't too bad for our return trip. I didn't get on the early flight, but I was able to get home. My sweet husband really needed me back home. Donovan would get the kids off to school and head in to work. The kids took care of themselves for a few hours after school. Luckily, Jasmine and Dreyton are still alive. They fight like crazy. Before I left, Donovan told me that he had the dinners covered. He said do we have top ramen, mac and cheese, and frozen pizza? Then we are set. Well, the kids actually didn't eat any of that. He took them out to dinner at Gelatos on Wednesday. They had Dominios pizza on Friday, Publix chicken dinner on Saturday, Sunday he barbequed hamburgers and hotdogs, and Monday he made them cheesy eggs, bacon and cinnamon rolls. I think they got to eat a little better than they thought. Each day, Donovan packed their lunches and even left them post-it notes in their lunches. Jasmine asked me why I don't leave notes in her lunch, and Dominique told me that a boy a school made fun of him for having a "mommy note" in his lunch. He, of course, told the boy it wasn't a note from his mom, but a note to remind him to watch his younger sister after school. Heaven forbid an eighth grader having a "mommy note." I think my other three children and Donovan appreciated me a little more while I was gone.

Jasmine told me that she ran out of clothes, Dominique said he had never seen the bottom of the silverware tray, and all three told me that their bathroom was a mess. I asked them why they didn't clean their bathroom, and they told me they didn't want to. I guess they were honest. But they did help their dad with the dishes. Wonder if they will still help with the dishes now that mom is back in the saddle??