The time has come

It seems like it was just yesterday that Jared and I made the decision to have the babies baptized......in Oregon! I have made this trip MANY times on my own, and occasionally Jared would join me. I began preparing for the worst with B & E, but inside was praying for the best. Once we booked our tickets, we needed to book a rental car. We flew into Seattle ($600 cheaper then flying into Portland!) and quickly learned that not many of the car rental companies had their cars still in the terminal. Sea-tac built a large off-site location for all of the rental car companies. Once you get your luggage, you take a shuttle to get your car. The location is right next to the airport, but I did not want to get on a shuttle with all of our bags. I found the perfect deal on an SUV with a company that was still in-terminal. Car BOOKED! Now onto the packing that was giving me some anxiety. I had several lists prepared weeks before we were going to leave. Before I knew it, it was the day before we were flying, and I had NO packing done. Oh, did I mention I always procrastinate when it comes to packing for vacations? Guess some things never change. Wednesday May 9th was finally here! After some last minute packing that morning, (shocker) our family was off for our first vacation!

My cousin Jesse was kind enough to take us to the airport. What a blessing it was to have him there to help with our luggage. Everyone was staring at us once we made it to check-in. Let me paint the picture for you. Jared had 1 large suitcase, a carry on suitcase, and a smaller carry on that is considered his personal item. I had 1 large suitcase and my purse. Now for the babies! They had 1 medium suitcase, diaper bag, stroller, and both of their car seats. I'm pretty sure it looked like we were moving! My bag was exactly 50 lbs and Jared's was 62, so we needed to do some rearranging. I had packed a bag to use as a carry on for the way home. Guess we were going to have another bag to take on the plane with us on the way to the Pacific NW. I can only imagine what all of the people around us were thinking. I'm use to people staring at us. That is just how life is with twins. I have learned to ignore it, but it was hard to ignore it in the airport. Everyone was looking at us and I just know they were all thinking the same thing. "Dear God, please don't let those people be on my flight!" We had enough time for Jared to get a sandwich, change diapers, and finally it was time to board. As we were taking off, we fed the babies. Bennett finished his bottle just about the time my ears started to pop. I gave him his paci, he laid back and fell asleep! Ella fell asleep while she was eating. I didn't want to get too excited, but maybe this flight was going to be so bad. B woke up after about an hour and a half and was so excited. He wanted to bounce and touch EVERYTHING! It was close to 3 hours into the flight and B was bouncing away as Ella was still getting her beauty rest. After several diaper changes and getting an awesome arm workout from B bouncing, 4 hours had gone by and it was time to land. Bennett fell asleep as we were landing and Ella was totally calm. Several people, including flight attendants, made comments about how great the babies did on the flight. All of that worrying for nothing! Then I remembered, we still had to fly home........

Someone enjoys sleeping on the plane, just like his mama! 

Getting her beauty rest. She wanted to look her best for everyone in Oregon.

Landing & sleeping yet again! Should have taken some pics of all the bouncing!!

Nice and rested for the long week we have ahead

Diaper bag, 1 carry on, my purse, and stroller not in picture :)

We have arrived!

Jared and I were on cloud 9. The babies did an amazing job on the plane and now we could relax, sort of. Jared loaded all of our bags, we got the babies settled in (I was set on keeping them on their regular schedule. Did it really matter that we were now in a different time zone that is 2 hours behind?) and we are off. That's when I see it! The stupid tag hanging from the rearview mirror brought back all of my anxiety. As of May 17th, ALL car rental companies would be functioning at the new off site location. Thursday May 17th, the day that we would be returning our car and flying home. Looks like we would be stuck taking a shuttle after all! There was nothing I could do about it. We had a busy week ahead of us, and I needed to focus on all of the craziness that was about to take place. From Seattle, we drove to Portland to stay with my Aunt Belinda. Once we got there, I knew the idea of keeping the babies on their regular schedule was out the window and I needed to just deal with it. Here's a small idea of how our week looked:

-Wednesday fly into Seattle then drive 2.5 hours south to Belinda's for the night.
-Thursday morning drive even further south about 4 hours to Jared's parents.
-Friday have babies baptized.
-Saturday morning head north to meet some friends/family for pizza. After pizza even further north to stay with Aunt Gwen.
-Sunday spent my first Mothers Day laying under a tree and spending time with the family at Gwen's.
-Monday/Tuesday back to Belinda's where we spent two days just hanging with the aunties and my mom.
-Wednesday back to Seattle to stay with Uncle Wade.
-Thursday good bye Pacific Northwest!!!

The flight home I really do not want to relive. Lets just say it was NOTHING like the flight to Seattle and we will leave it at that.....for now.

It was such a busy week, but I would not trade one minute of the time that we had with family and friends! Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to see us at one point or another while we were there. We love ALL of you and know that there were so many that we were not able to visit. Hopefully we will see you all next time, August maybe?