the trip home, in a nutshell

Two days into our trip to Provo, Garrett started exhibiting cold symptoms. I thought he'd turn around and be fine in a day or two, but instead he just kept getting worse. Aside from the snot, phlegm, and whines, he was feverish and lethargic, he'd lost his appetite, and he became extremely clingy. The day before our scheduled flight back to Brooklyn, I took him to the doctor. The diagnosis? Bronchitis -- for the second April in a row.

His illness had the natural tendency to put a damper on things, but even so, we managed to have an enjoyable time. Here are a few of the ups and downs of our time in Provo:

Click on the links provided to see pictures and videos.

• My parents pulled out of the basement my old Dobbin the spring-loaded Wonder Horse. Garrett loved it and spent some quality moments going "giddy-yup."

• We got to meet Henry, my adorable little nephew and Garrett's only cousin. I tell you, this kid is always smiling. He was definitely a breath of fresh air when Garrett couldn't muster the strength to so much as crack even a tiny grin. And on Garrett's better days, it was fun watching them play together.

• After a tour of the house, led by Grandma Nancy, Garrett felt pretty comfortable wandering just about anywhere. His favorite spots were beneath the bunnies dangling in decoration from the dining room chandelier where he could get a prime view of them as they spun around; the basement, which was full of treasures; the toys in the guest bedroom, which seemed to always end up downstairs in the family room; and various sets of stairs, some of which he figured out how to walk down with no hands.

• Despite Garrett's illness, I was able to check off just about everything on my want-to-do list. My mom, who has more fashion sense than I do, helped me shop for a summer wardrobe for Garrett. He'll be the most stylish boy in Brooklyn once the weather gets warmer. We ate grilled cheese sandwiches, fries, and ice cream at the BYU Creamery. We made a visit to the Walter Wick (of the I Spy books fame) exhibit at the MOA, which was pretty cool. (The installation exhibit in the gallery next door was neat, too. Our favorites there were the duck sauce mural, the balloon art, and the flying packing popcorn, the last of which, unfortunately, really freaked Garrett out.) My sisters ditched school one day and we all went up to browse around the shops at Gardner Village. I was also able to take care of a few Utah Valley type errands (you know... to the BYU Bookstore, LDS Distribution Center, among other things). And I got to see my youngest two siblings perform in their school orchestra concert.

• Both before and while he was sick, Garrett got a few special adventures of his own. He got to run around the tree house playground at the mall. He joined my mom and I on a morning walk to see the ducks at the Paul Ream Wilderness park. He went for a pony ride at Gardner Village. And he got to go on a living room egg hunt.

• My grandma came up from St. George and met Garrett for the first time. It was good to see her.

• My brother, Tyler, introduced me to the awesome hilarity that is the game show Cash Cab. Have you seen it? It's pretty fun. He also introduced me to the mesmorizing effects that the HGTV, TLC, and DIY networks can have on a person.

• We spent some time one evening driving around the neighborhood I grew up in (my parents moved when I got married to a new house up on the hill about a half mile from the old one). It was fun checking out all of the changes that have been made in the years since I've lived away from Provo. Most of the changes were of a positive nature, but there was one that was absolutely devastating to look at. My old primary school, Grandview Elementary, was torn down about a year ago. A few portions of the building were kept for various purposes, but the bulk of it -- the best parts of it -- are gone and now grassed over. I knew it had come down. My sisters even brought me a brick from the rubble last summer when they came to visit me. But I didn't realize how awful it would be to actually see it not there. I couldn't even take a picture, it was too sad.

• One of the more trying moments experienced during this trip was the cousin photo shoot at Target. My mom bought Garrett and Henry adorable matching outfits at the OshKosh store on a trip we all took to the Park City outlets (and where I myself found a great deal on an adorable raincoat). The scheduled session kept getting pushed back, due in part to Garrett not feeling so hot, and when our spot finally came up the morning we left, it ended up being an experience this mother would rather forget. Let's just say there were many tears and no ordered pictures (of Garrett...Henry was still his adorable, smiley self). Later that afternoon we staged our own photo shoot on the living room couch, but it was equally unsuccessful. Someday we'll get cute photos of these boys together.
  

• Because Garrett wasn't feeling well, I didn't get to see as many Provo friends as I'd have liked to. (Maybe next time, guys?) I did, however, get to spend a couple evenings with Blake's BYU siblings, which was nice. Our friends, Kristi and Lance, were also in town for a visit with their daughter, Elisabeth, and it was fun to see them. Oh, and I did run into my old friend, Mary, and her brood in the waiting room at the doctor's office. The encounter couldn't really count for much of a visit, but it was fun to see her just the same.

• Also, Garrett and I both missed Blake immensely. He wasn't able to join us because of his busy work schedule, but we wished that he could have come -- especially when Garrett became super clingy and wouldn't let anyone but me so much as look at him.

• Happily, though, the antibiotics and nebulizer treatments prescribed for him have been doing their jobs well, and Garrett is almost completely back to his normal self. He behaved surprisingly well on our red-eye flight home, sleeping just about the entire way. I still think it's a shame that my family couldn't enjoy much of his sweet personality while we were with them, but there will be other visits.
  

Above all, it was wonderful getting to spend time with my family. I had some great excursions and conversations with my mom, some nice talks with my dad, and a lot of casual and enjoyable lounging with my siblings. It was a good time to visit: in two weeks, Tyler, Amanda, and Henry head to Colorado for his new job, and a few weeks after that, Riley will be heading to Wisconsin for an internship. From here on out, it's going to be more challenging to get my whole family together, but I will always enjoy it when we do.