The rest of the trip to Louisiana

Mon., 12/26:
The twins had a great time taking a bath in Maw-maw & Paw-paw's hot tub with their new bath toys. Ben & Becky came over in the afternoon, then we had friends (Seth & Melissa) over to watch the Saints game, which they won. And Drew Brees broke the record for the most passing yards in a season. Who Dat! Brenna asked me, "Nonnie, why do you live in Utah? I want you to live by me!" So sweet!! The twins loved playing with Uncle Ben:
Tues., 12/27:
We went and visited a few friends in Walker, then drove past our old house and went and ate (shrimp po-boy, fried shrimp) at a little place in that little town. Ben and his girls came over for a couple of hours when we got home.

Wed., 12/28:
Jared and I took the girls to lunch at Tope La' in Hammond (I had the yummy crab-stuffed red snapper!), then we went and strolled the swamp walk.
We also went to Walmart to get a few things (I got a couple of long-sleeved LSU t-shirts). Ben & his girls came over again that night to play with us for a bit.

Thurs., 12/29:
We met Becky and the girls and our friend, Melissa, and two of her kids at the park. The weather was awesome! We had a blast at the park. The twins LOVED the swing!

Before we left for the park, Jared had randomly put Makenna on top of the car, so it turned into a mini photo session:

We put Makenna in the swing first and she was in heaven!Then, Jared put Avery on the other side of the swing, behind Makenna. Avery also loved swinging:
Two babies, one swing! :)Maw-maw and Paw-paw took the twins for a walk around the park:
Daddy then took them for a few rides down the slid. Makenna absolutely loved it:
Avery wasn't so sure:
She wasn't so happy after her second time down the slide:
So we put them in the swing again and they were both happy!
After the park, we went with Maw-maw & Paw-paw and Melissa and her kids to Raising Cane's. Man, I miss living near those! Then, we went and got ice cream at Cold Stone.

That night, we went to Baton Rouge and had dinner at Parrain's (seafood platter, yum!) with our friends, Dave & Darlene--Dave was Jared's boss in BR. The girls wore some skirts and shoes I made:Fri., 12/30:
Jared & I took the girls to the office in BR where Jared used to work. We hung out for a little while, then we went and ate lunch (yogurt, apple sauce, chips) on the river walk in BR, in front of the USS Kidd.
The twins played in the grass after eating:
That night, we hung out with Ben's family one more time and the cousins played together.
Jared and Ben went to a movie, meanwhile I had to get Makenna out of bed 3 times because she had trouble sleeping. I finally went to bed at 11 but Makenna stayed up crying with Jared for an hour, then I still couldn't go to sleep. We woke up at 2am to get ready and head to the BR airport for our 5:19 flight. We got there at 3:30 but no one was at the check-in desk until 4. Then, we had to wait for security to get up and running. Ridiculous! After sitting at the gate a little while, they announced that the flight was delayed because of fog. We weren't too worried because we had a 2 hour layover in Houston. But then they announced that it was delayed until 9, so we would miss our connecting flight. Jared called the airline and got us seats on the next flight out of Houston to SLC. THEN, they delayed the flight until 11 so Jared waiting in line for over two hours and was the next person in line when they suddenly said they were boarding our plane right away. So we flew to Houston before we were able to get another connecting flight to SLC.

When we got to Houston, it was CRAZY! There were so many flight delays because of fog in Houston that morning. Another flight to SLC left right after we got there and I tried to get us on it but we just missed out--some guys got the last seats. So we had to wait in line for a long time
and finally got a flight to SLC 4 hours later. So we went and took our time eating at Chili's (using meal vouchers from the airline), then waited for the flight. The girls were pretty good all day until we got on the plane. They were both so exhausted but were fighting sleep. They both screamed for what seems like eternity until they finally fell asleep. Then, they would both wake up every now and then and cry. Avery finally went to sleep deep enough that I was able to move and not wake her up. It was a miserable flight for us all but, man, was it good to get home and sleep in our own beds!!!

It was 10:30pm by the time we got home, so we put the girls straight to bed, showed Kiki (who picked us up from the airport) a few things, then I went to bed while Jared stayed up to watch TV. I didn't even stay up to watch any New Year's Eve stuff. I heard fireworks going off as I was going to sleep and could see bits and pieces through the window blinds by my bed but I was too tired to even sit up and look out the window to watch them. It doesn't quite feel like the new year to me yet. Maybe tomorrow it will hit me. I hope everyone had a fun and safe NYE and that this year will bring many wonderful blessings and opportunities for us all!