Ivy and I in Utah

My sister-in-law recently had her second baby. And before she had said second baby, my brother planned a trip to Europe that had him absent when the baby was only a few weeks old. After the baby, Eloise, arrived, Kyle and Katrina realized it maybe wouldn't be such a good idea to leave Katrina alone with the baby and a toddler for an entire week.

Here Ivy and I enter.

Kyle asked if I would fly down to Utah with Ivy and help out Katrina while he was gone. Brigham and my parents agreed to cover the care of my other children while I was gone, so we were off! I've missed Katrina while we've lived states apart and looked forward to hanging out again.

It was special to be together and chatting as sisters about raising kids, cooking, and life in general. I treasured being able to help her with a high-maintenance toddler and demanding newborn. Two babies and toddler wasn't always fun, but it was entertaining for the most part. And that Amelia girl, she's special in so many ways. I love that I got to know her and love her for all her spunkiness.

I love how Amelia adored Ivy. She was a great helper.

Another benefit of a Utah visit is being able to see my other siblings who live there. They got to spend more time with Ivy too, and I just ate up the time together.

We got together for games and dinner at Cubby's.

We had an evening up the mountains together, and family dinner at Scott's house.

One of the best parts was seeing the three youngest babies together, side-by-side.

They were born weeks apart from each other and are the newest generation of Nelson offspring.

Three babies with distinct and different personalities, looks, and demeanors, and yet loved all the same. It's going to be fun to see these cousins grow up.

And that's basically our time in Utah. Katrina and I cooked together, worked out together, and passed babies around together. I worked on church lessons and strolled through the BYU bookstore in my downtime. We ate lots of ice cream as a family, played games, and laughed - the things we do best.

I was sad to leave the fun and family in Utah, but excited to get home to my other kiddos and get off an air mattress and back to my bed.