This was Stephen's game...lining up all the shoes on the stairs. He is so cute and loves to play with shoes. I don't mind because he will pick up all the shoes and put them in the closet for me anytime I ask. 
Natalie quickly got involved in his new game and added her own element...they had to hurry as fast as they could do it. 
Can't go on a trip to see Grandma without a haircut. He did great and it only took about three minutes!
Getting dressed all cute for the plane ride and dinner with The Cousins!
Daddy came home from the grocery store with this cute 4th of July bow for Nat. She loves it and we decided a braid would be cute. 
'Helping' Mommy pack!
Now she is really excited...we are at the airport. 
I love how exciting everything is to kids. Natalie keeps telling us that she has never flown before. It isn't true, but she hasn't flown since she was diagnosed so she doesn't remember it. This was The Colonel's first time flying. 
She had to pose with this Statue of Liberty that she saw in the airport. One funny thing she told me at the airport was that I was wearing a peacock shirt and that she wants to get a pet peacock. 
Watching the planes out the window. Natalie, David, and Stephen all loved looking out the window. I think David and I were just as excited to see Natalie and Stephen fly, as Natalie was to actually fly. Natalie was VERY interested in what was happening to our suitcases throughout the entire trip. She would always ask where her suitcase was at now. 
The tray tables were one of the most interesting thing on the airplane for both kids. Up and down...over and over again! 
We flew Southwest and so we had to land in El Paso and Phoneix before finally getting to SLC. Luckily we did not have to change planes, but it was lots of fun for Natalie getting to take off and land so many times. It also kept Stephen calm because every time we took off he would get a bit nervous and cuddle up against me. He even slept for a lot of the plane ride due to one of the cuddling sessions. David and I were both AMAZED at how great Stephen did. We were nervous that he would be crazy and we would be stressed. Instead it was so nice. The only bad thing is that he hit his eye on the arm rest and got a black eye. What can I say...he's a true boy. 
Always taking care of brother. During the plane ride Natalie was feeding Stephen pretzels. She was very sweet and calling him honey. She told me she wanted to feed him because he is ALWAYS SO nice to her. Those are the best moments. 
Showing me one of the treasures from her purse...her friend, Blue Sparkles. 
Here is Natalie giving a thumbs up to tell us that she was excited to take off. 
Here she is getting ready to take off. She is telling us about her seat belt and then she said, "Here we gooooo....."
When we first got on the plane and sat down she fastened her seat belt and then a moment later she said check. Each time we were about to take off she would grab her seat belt and then mine and say check each time. It took me a bit to realize that she was imitating the ride attendants at Six Flags. She is so funny.
This is THE BEST video!!! I think this was both mine and David's favorite moment of the trip...hands down! Three of my favorite things about Natalie are her joyfulness, her sweetness, and her thankfullness. She expresses each of these frequently and often out of the blue. This is an example of her joyfulness. I love it.
Natalie was obviously VERY excited as you can see from the previous video. Throughout the plane ride she said soooo many funny things, she had David and I in stitches. It is a shame I don't remember most of what she said. One funny thing she talked about was being "woosie boosie" when we encountered some CHOP. I learned from David that CHOP is mild turbulence. She then told us that Stephen must be "woosie doosie" even though he was asleep. Woosie doosie is her typical term. I loved how excited she got when she saw the clouds. She told us that we could "touch the clouds like the birds!"
This is a video of Stephen looking out the window. The thing I love about it is how Stephen taps Natalie on the back to show her what he sees. I love that he wants to share his excitement with his sister.
After landing we were met by an exited welcoming committee that included Grandma Burraston and all The Cousins. For a very long time now, Natalie will tell everyone about her cousins, "Debra, Karen, Audrey, and Melinda. Uncle Stan and Auntie Becky." We had a nice dinner with The Cousins and then went to Grandma's house, where Stephen enjoyed exploring and playing with her throw pillows. Stephen was SO in love with Grandma and all her attention. Throughout the trip he would get her shoes and give them to her when we were leaving. If we went somewhere without Grandma, he would cry. Natalie loved Grandma and was head over heals for her cousins. My nieces are four of the sweetest girls I know and to say that both my kids LOVED playing with them is a HUGE understatement.
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