"Family history, I am doing it, my Family History!"

In early December, I took a trip up to Logan, Utah to visit my Allred Grandparents. It had been over 10 years since I had been to their house and I was excited. (I was also going by myself--no kids!--which was amazing. I had forgotten how relaxing a plane ride could be when I didn't have to entertain several little people.)

On the way from the airport, I saw this neat train exhibit and had to stop to take a couple pictures for Cole.

They had several engines on display and even a gift shop, although I was quite disappointed by their surprising lack of train paraphernalia.

First thing I did when I got to Logan was announce our newest addition to the family:

Baby #5, to make his/her debut around June 18, 2016.

(The night before I left, George had followed me up to Ashburn where the kids were going to stay and we stopped in Culpeper so he could ultrasound me. He had to stay in Charlottesville most of the time I was gone to work, so my Mom offered to watch the kiddos for me.)

I loved being with my Grandparents! It was a joy to be in their home and listen to their stories.

Mom sent them Christmas gifts which I had them open early so I could take a picture:

Mom was so good about sending me pictures of the kids and updates on what they were doing. This was the longest I had been away from any of them and I missed them terribly.

Even our elf Ze made his daily appearance at Grandma's house!

While I was there, several family members made the trip up to Logan from Provo or down from Burley, ID to see us.

One night Aunt Dorene, James, and Maya drove almost 3 hours each way to spend a couple hours having dinner and visiting. It was so nice of them to come! I love this family!

Jason drove up from Provo, too, and spent the night with us at the Grandparent's house. I loved having him there.

Aside from visiting, my main objective in Utah was to start scanning family photos and letters the Grandparents had collected over the years and to record some family history. Chad flew in from California early the next day to help me and while he was there, Caleb and Mybree drove up from Provo as well. We all went out to lunch together before Jason had to drive back to Provo for a date that evening.

Working, scanning, reading. It was a lot of fun going through old photo albums and seeing my grandparents and dad when they were young.

Story-time with Grandpa:

 

Helping Grandpa with his iPad.

Caleb and Mybree--such a cute couple!

This handsome guy is my Grandpa's father. I never got to meet him, but enjoyed hearing stories about him from Grandpa.

My last full day there was Sunday. Chad flew out that evening after a long day of helping me scan pictures. Thomas drove up from Provo to got to Church with us and have some dinner. Love this kid!

He's quite the busy person since he's captain of the cheerleading squad at BYU, so it meant a lot that he came up for the day.

I left early the next morning to fly back to Virginia. I had the best time with Grandma and Grandpa and thankfully, I didn't finish all the scanning and documenting--I get to go out and do it again in the near future!

My plane was delayed several hours in Denver which was a bummer (hence the morose-looking plane selfie) but I was so happy to see my kiddos again when I landed. Thanks, Mom, for taking care of them most of the time!