Now to actually explain

So, we are now back home but I will finish my story. When we flew out to Utah, it was Kyr's first time on a plane since before she turned one. It was so fun to see her reaction to flying. It probably helped a bit that I LOVE flying...at least the taking off and landing; the rest is kind of boring. Anyway, she had fun and even squealed at one point. :-)
Near the end of the flight, I saw one of the flight attendants speaking with two soldiers who were on board. She was asking where they were deployed to and what they did. I was hoping she was going to announce it over the PA and she did a short while later. There were actually 5 soldiers on board, all on 2-week leave. Everyone clapped and cheered which was very nice.
A little while later, the flight attendant got back on the PA and said that Lee Greenwood was in first class and wanted to sing "God Bless the USA" to the soldiers. She asked that as soon as we got to the gate, everyone stay seated so the soldiers could make their way to the front. We all did and could hear Lee Greenwood singing to them up in the front of the plane. Everyone cheered when he was done. It was so awesome. I love that song so much. It still makes me tear up big time. It was just so cool!!
Once we got out of security and down to the baggage claim area, I was able to sneak up on my parents which is always fun. It was the beginning of a great visit especially because I had the chance to kiss 3 nephews in one day. I know that may not seem so hard but when two of them are in Texas and one is in Utah, that's pretty good. I haven't seen Elliot since he was 5 or 6 weeks old so he's a different baby. While I've definitely enjoyed the pictures, there's no way to capture the sparkle that is El. Oh my sweet, he's a funny baby. He may have my favorite baby giggle ever and he was kind enough to do it quite often. It was so sweet to see my little Becca as a mom. I still see her in my mind's eye as such a little girl, walking on her tiptoes, so it's funny to see her with her own little boy.
We didn't really do much of anything except spend time together at the house but that was perfect. I was a little brain tired from dealing with Rob being gone so I was glad to relax and just hang out mostly. We did have a fun birthday party for Dad.
The truth is that the whole trip was just very comfortable and pleasant. I really enjoyed my time with the parents and Ani. She & I had a date where we went out to eat and bought some cheesy craft kits at Michaels. When we went home to do them, they turned out pretty cool so that was a surprise. It was really fun to get to hang out with her and get to know her as an older person. Visits with the Nightings were so nice. It was fun to get to know Jesse, Katie, and Teela better. My life as an auntie is really quite nice.
When it came time to go home, it felt like it was way too soon, but I was still anxious to go because it meant Rob would be home very, very soon. I look very forward to a return visit.