We're Home!!!

Well, we're back home and recovering well from our trip. It was great to see our family and for everyone to meet Beckett, but the trip home was "long" to say the least. Our first flight from Charlotte was cancelled, and they now leave it up to you to rebook for another flight. Yes, they simply hand you a 1-800 number on a piece of paper and tell you to see what you can get. Great customer service, eh? Then after we made our connections (our bags didn't) in Minneapolis and Salt Lake we were on our final flight home to Cody at 9 pm. The pilot told us we'd be landing in Cody in about 15 minutes, then about 5 minutes later the plane starts going up again and he tells us the visibility just got really bad and we'll have to head back to Salt Lake for the night. So, we're stuck with the kids at 11 o'clock at night in Salt Lake with no bags, and they once again hand us a piece of paper with a number on it so we can call and have someone find a room for us, which the airline won't pay for because the turn-around was weather related. I'm so glad my sister Hannah was with me because I probably would have lost my mind at that point. The kids were really great, and we finally got to a room and in bed about 30 minutes after midnight.

Then we had to catch a 9 am shuttle back to the airport to try to get to Cody again. Well, by this time I'm running out of food for Beckett, so I call a cab at 7:45 that morning asking how long it would take someone to get there to take me to a grocery store. The lady on the phone said someone could be at the hotel in 15 minutes and I should have no problem being back for the shuttle at nine. At 8:25 there was still no cab, so we called again and the lady said for some reason the call ha been cancelled and no one was on the way. Well, needless to say I got a little upset, but she sent someone else, but it was too late to be back for the shuttle. So, we all piled in the cab, went to an Albertson's, then had to pay the driver to take us to the airport. The good news is we made it and are all safe and sound at home, be it 24 hours later than expected. Hannah was SUCH A HUGE HELP and I really couldn't have asked my kids to be any better, so I am very grateful for that. I do not, however, have the desire to fly again for a very long time. Poor Hannah had to fly home to Portland from my house today, and we were all sad to see her go. It was wonderful to see everyone in North Carolina, so that made it all worth while. THANKS to everyone back East for a great time!!!

On a lighter note, Hannah and I had been drinking coffee all day Thursday because we thought we'd have to drive home from Cody in the dead of night. We had our cups of coffee on the plane and Natalie started yelling, "I need coffee!" We kept telling her she doesn't drink coffee and that she could have some juice, but all she wanted was coffee. The plane was small and everyone heard our conversation and started laughing. At least we got a good laugh that night! Natalie finally passed out and slept all the way back to Salt Lake! Well, here are some pictures from the trip. The weather was great for us and we got to do a lot outside...


The entire Brooks Clan at a dinner party at Aunt Carter's

Papa and Nana Brooks

Ipa (my dad) and Nana

Nattie relaxing by the pool...it wasn't warm enough to swim yet, but we played outside and let her put her feet in the wading area.

Ipa and Nattie in the pool...

Auntie Hannah and Beckett...he'll be 7 months old next week!

This is the Duke Mansion in Charlotte, which was once the "Summer home" of the Duke family that started the huge power company at the turn of the century. It's now a historical landmark and has a hotel in the top floor, and the bottome floor can be rented out for parties. There are beautiful gardens all around, and Papa and Nana have made a donation for some restoration and will have a garden named after them! It is quite a sight.

Hannah, Nana and Beckett in one of the gardens

Nana and the kiddos in the children's garden. An artist carved out the characters from "Peter Cottontail" into an old tree stump. It looks so adorable. We went with Dad's cousin Jean and her granddaughter Logan, who is four.

Hannah and Momma with the kids

And I just had to try and get a close-up of one of the gorgeous flowers! Amanda...maybe you could use it on a card?


And we also got to go to an animal park/sanctuary, which Natalie loved! They had tons of birds, small farm animals and also some exotic ones like a rhino, camels, giraffes and emu's. There's part of the park where you can drive through and throw food out, and those emu's run straight to the car and stick their heads through! They are not attractive, and I couldn't get the window up in time and Natalie had food in her hand and got pecked. She's fine, but it was a little scary!

The funny lemours...

Natalie loved this goat and felt the need to just sit and pet him a while!

One elk had to problem getting right up to the car to ask Aunt Carter for some food....

And they had so many of these adorable potbellied pigs everywhere. Some of the females were so pregnant and fat their bellies literally dragged on the ground and they could hardly walk! They have it all figured out though to just hang out by the side of the road for food.

A deer relative from Africa....

One of the many exotic birds...

Auntie Hannah and Natalie looking at the huge Coi fish

Nana and Beckett

Aunt Carter with the kids

And that was our trip in a nutshell! We really did have fun and enjoyed seeing everyone...you are all welcome to come and visit the Yellowstone area any time!!!

Here is our latest addition to the family...Natalie's new pony! A friend of our has a pony for his daighter, who accidentally got bred and had this adorable foal. They don't need another pony and offered to just give her to us so she could have a good home...Daddy agreed, so now we have "Chocolate." She's only a year old, so Natalie won't be able to ride her for a year or two, but we'll bring her out to our house this spring to get her used to us. She's all chocolate brown, so Natalie decided that's what she wanted to name her.

She comes to just below my waist

She's still a little nippy because she's a baby, but she's pretty sweet.

Well, we hope you all have a great weekend and next week. We'll head out to Hyattville for church and family dinner tomorrow. Hugs to all!