Viva Las Vegas

I am typing this from the Paseo Verde Library in Henderson, Nevada – right outside Las Vegas. I have begun my whirlwind trip! And I am pleased to report that I survived the airplane ride with my sixteen-month-old. I do not consider myself a wimp when it comes to flying with children. Christian flew when he was one week old. By the time my third child turned one, she had flown to all corners of the United States, across the ocean on two different round trip tickets, as well as to London, Paris, and Rome. I even flew across the ocean alone with three children – ages 5, 3, and five months.

But, I was really nervous for this flight with Christian. He is a pleasant, vibrant, charming toddler – but he is BUSY. He does not sit still for two minutes. Fortunately, we had a very patient person sitting next to us on the first flight (who didn’t seem at all phased when Christian latched hold of his shirt or threw his fruit snacks at him) and even lucked out with an empty seat next to us on the second flight. Christian hardly cried (which wasn’t what I was worried about). He climbed all over me during the first flight and slept through the second one. I was absolutely exhausted when we landed in Salt Lake City, but it was not nearly as bad as I had feared. (Of course, I still have to fly home with him….) Now, he is in Logan hanging out with my parents while I am enjoying the sunshine and 60 degree weather here!

My other three children are having a “daddy party,” as they call it, at home. I cried when I went through security because I felt so sad to leave them! I talked to them on the phone this afternoon and they seem to be surviving without too many emotional scars so far.

In a couple of hours, I will speak here at the Paseo Verde Library. Then when the lecture is finished, I will drive an hour and a half to sleep at my old college roommate’s house. Doesn’t that sound fun? I hadn’t seen her in years – I’d never met her husband or any of her four children – until this past summer. While on our marathon summer trip, we drove near her house on our way to Bakersfield, CA and stopped for a couple of hours. Now, I’ll get to see her again after just seven months.

Then, tomorrow I will join the St. George Family History Expo. I am excited! They have a wonderful program lined up. I will be blogging from there as they have internet access just for that purpose. You can check out their program here. Hopefully, I’ll be back again tomorrow with a report on the conference.