Trip to New York

Warning: This is a travel log!
On Sunday, December 4th I dropped Oakley off in Chubbuck at Cameron's sister's house and then drove to South Jordan, UT to stay with my aunt and uncle. They were so great to take me in and drive me to the airport on Monday morning and they shared some exciting news with me. Their names are Paul and Brenda Lovell and Paul was just called a few weeks ago by Elder Holland and President Eyring to serve as a mission president in a spanish-speaking mission! They don't know yet where they are going and they leave for the MTC July 1st. Pretty exciting and I know they will be amazing. I just love family and it was so fun to get one-on-one time with my aunt and uncle that I don't get to see enough.

Okay, next step in the journey: Flight from SLC to Newark, NJ Monday morning. The flight was delayed due to fog in NJ and when we got there it was dark. It was weird cuz it wasn't even 5 p.m. and it was 3 p.m. Idaho time. I felt messed up. It was quite the ordeal figuring out where to get my rental car in that huge airport and I had to catch an "air-train" to a nearby station where the rental car offices were. Luckily some other passengers got me straightened out after riding in circles a few times. I got my rental car and drove to Middletown, New York, about an hour and a half drive. I felt like I was in a maze cuz the roads are so congested and constantly curve around. Thank goodness for GPS. I stayed the night in a hotel in Middletown.

Next step: Meeting C, the birth mother. I drove to her house on Tuesday morning and her mom was there waiting with her. The case worker got there a few minutes later and it was a wonderful visit. We talked about a lot of things, including who C wants at the hospital and what placement will be like. Christy, the case worker, seems really great, and it will be good to work with her in the hospital and at placement. After she left, I spent the afternoon with C and her family and then drove her, her mom and her two boys to Middletown for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. It was so fun to spend that time with everyone and it felt very comfortable. C's 6 year old son asked me when I was going back to England (Idaho and England both probably seem on a different planet to him).

On Wednesday, I got to pick C up and drive her to a fetal medicine doctor in Albany, a two hour drive. It was a long day because of the commute and then we had to wait a long time in the office. The highlight of the trip was getting to be present for the ultrasound. Where C was almost 30 weeks, we could see a "baby" in there and it was so cool to see all his features and see him "punching" at the ultrasound wand.
Here's a really cool pic:

His eyes are open! Anyway, we still don't know if she has to be delivered early or not but they seem pretty competent and are going to be taking over her care.
The drive back to C's house was crazy because it was 5 p.m in downtown Albany, it was dark, and it was pouring rain. And I mean pouring. It made my drive from NJ seem easy. We finally made it back and C and I said good-bye at that point. It was great to have alone time with her during the drive and we talked about a lot of things. She is the most selfless, mature person I have ever met.

On Thursday morning, bright and early, I drove back to Newark, NJ to catch my flight to Minneapolsis and then a flight back to SLC. I am glad I gave myself two hours to get to the airport because it was quite the ordeal getting to a gas station near the airport so I could turn in my rental car "full." I am so glad I don't live in a big city like that. I made it to Chubbuck about 8 p.m. that night and I had been up since 4 a.m. Idaho time. I got Oakley and he was so excited to see me! Then we drove home to find the house still there, which is always a good sign. It was an amazing trip and the only thing that could've made it better is if Cameron could've been with me. We talked on the phone a lot and he was sad not to be there but was where he needed to be. Looking forward to going back in about 2 months!