A Happy Day

Last Wednesday we pulled out all our sweaters and stockings that have been stashed away for the past 6 months and packed them up to head to Wisconsin.

I was kind of way excited to figure what outfits to bring for Ella, now that I can dress her in pants and sweaters (see picture 1).

You guys, I have been worried about this plane ride for a long time now.

Do you remember last time we flew and she screamed the whole way home and everyone getting off the plane said things like, “Well, at least you were trying to keep her quiet. Some people don’t even try.”

Only this time it would be worse because she’s older and more mobile and louder.

Ella is a seriously good girl, she is happy as can be and pretty much just loves life, but along with Adam’s cute-shaped mouth, Ella inherited her daddy’s insane amounts of energy.

This girl cannot sit still to save her life.

And she finds an unusual amount of joy in making as much noise as possible.

And she gets really grumpy when she hasn’t napped but she can’t fall asleep anywhere except for in her bed, which obviously, is not an option when we’re on a plane.

So, as you can see, this was not promising for a several hour plane ride.

I had seriously been praying like crazy several days before we even got on that plane, begging for either Ella to be in a miraculously good mood (even though she would be missing a nap and be up way past her bedtime) or the passengers to be very forgiving.

I was assuming that option two would have to be the answer to my prayer, because option one seemed completely laughable.

I was seriously considering standing up in front of everyone on that plane at the beginning of the ride and apologize in advance for the several hour torture we were about to put them through.

I mean, really, I was so worried.

Luckily, Adam’s brother, Seth, joined us on the plane and helped with Little Girl.

Well, the prayers paid off because Ella was like miracle angel baby. 

As we were walking off the plane I overheard one woman whisper to her husband, "I didn't even know that there was a baby on board."

I almost danced and sang and leapt around for joy.

And then, that very next day, life got even more exciting when Adam's brother, Ethan, who has been gone for 2 years on an LDS mission in Costa Rica, came flying home to Wisconsin.

We were all waiting for him with neon posters and balloons and screaming our heads off as he came off the plane.

And Adam's mom hugged him for so long and cried with so much happiness to see her youngest son home (I was crying just watching that and so were the people behind me, who were waiting for someone else and didn't even know us or Ethan).

We just all stood in a circle around Ethan, with the biggest grins on our faces, so happy to see him after so long, not even knowing what to say, but just happy to hear his laugh again.

Adam's parents rented a 12-seater van so that we could all fit in the same vehicle on the way home and talk to Ethan, because no one wanted to be in a separate car from Ethan.

Although, Adam's older sister couldn't be there because she was in the hospital having a cute baby boy on the same day Ethan came home, which is funny because she was doing the exact same thing on the day that Adam's brother, Seth, came home from his mission, just over two years ago.

So pretty much, it was a really exciting day for the Jones fam.