Volitile

I don't really know what to say about our latest trip to Salt Lake - talk about ups and downs! We went to see Nate's brother Mark get married and to say goodbye to Nate's parents who are off to South Africa to serve a mission. It was utter madness, I tell you. Way more than the usual madness that follows us there. Our girls were super cranky the whole time. And super clingy to me - they would barely go to Nate. They weren't sleeping well. They are at weird ages. And there was a lot going on with a lot of people they didn't know (extended family and whatnot). It was really rough. But it was totally worth it to be there with Mark and Cicily! It was an awesome wedding that was full of their personalities. I loved all the cute details they did! And I love that Cicily is officially in the family now :)

While we were there, we got family pictures taken with everyone. My girls, who should be totally used to posing, were less than cooperative. And Sophie and Nate were in the wedding party (flowergirl and groomsman - I'll let you figure out who was what) so we had to do the rehearsal, too. Again, they were beastly. Sophie refused to practice walking down the aisle so we tried with Clara as a backup. She walked down the aisle holding Nate's hand and when he handed her to me, she stood on the bench and yelled "more!" It's her favorite thing to do these days - walk holding someone's (my) hand even though she can do it herself. 

This is me and Sophie at the wedding dinner at the Lion House. I was all sappy about being there with her as a little girl because I remember feeling so grown up and special every time I went to a fancy meal there when I was a little girl. But that only lasted about four seconds before both girls (mostly Clara) went psycho. Nate and I took turns playing with them out in the hall but we still had to leave early. Monsters!

The handsome groom. 

Nate and Sophie walking down the aisle which she decided to do all by herself at the last minute. (Notice the wicked awesome pocket watches)

Just a cool picture of Grandpa and his little buddy, Henry, at the wedding.  

Baby Owen and me at the reception. The same reception that my kids entirely missed because they were crazy. Thank gawd for my dad who came to the ceremony to help wrangle them and then stayed home with them so I could go back for at least part of the reception. The fun part. The part where they played "The Right Stuff" and Nate actually danced with me. In public. To New Kids on the Block. 

Look at my girlie! Isn't she cute? Doesn't she look sweet and happy and healthy and not at all like she is about to scare the bejebus out of her parents? 

This is Clara later Saturday night, in the ER of Primary Children's Hospital with a little IV in her hand. The silly munchkin had a seizure while we were gearing up for a pizza party at Nate's sister's house as a kind of going away party for Jim and Jane. It was horrible. And terrifying. And horrifyingly terrible. She was crying over something and then she held her breath for maybe 10 seconds and then she started twitching and gasping. And it didn't stop. Of course we called 911 and Clara and I got a ride in an ambulance to the hospital. They said she was seizing for 10 to 15 minutes. But they checked her all out and she was fine, other than crabby and exhausted. The official diagnosis? "Breath Holding Spell" which is apparently a thing that babies do that can once in a while lead to seizures. They said it does no damage to her and it isn't likely to happen again. Just a flukey thing. But holy crap it was scary for her parents. I have to say that if she had to go and do that, I'm so glad she did it in Salt Lake where Nate's mom could drive him to the hospital and Amy could scoop Sophie up and keep her busy with her cousins and aunts and uncles so she didn't even know what was going on. And where my mom and sisters could rush to the hospital to double check the doctors and keep me calm while Nate was taking care of things and my dad could cancel his plans with Char's family to be around for Sophie in case we had to stay overnight in the hospital. It was overwhelming how fast everyone jumped to help in whatever way they could. I just adore our families and felt so lucky and loved the way everyone was there for us. 

And then after all that, we still had to say goodbye to Grandma Jane and Grandpa Jim. I feel so bad that between the wedding and the ER and the crankiness we didn't get as much time with them as we would have liked given that we won't see them for two years. And we were so frazzled from everything that we didn't even get any good pictures with them. But we wish them good luck and hope they have a wonderful time. We will miss them like crazy!