Amelia's First Road Trip

So before Amelia was even born, Austin and I decided that once she was a few weeks old, we would take her to Missoula, MT, to visit his family. I know it might seem like a terrible time to do that, but for us, it was perfect. Since I was on a 2 month paid maternity leave, and Amelia was still young enough (we thought) to sleep most of the time, it was great timing for us. Plus, we hadn't seen Austin's family in 2 years.

Our trip started right when we dropped off my mother at the airport in Lubbock, TX, on Oct 10th, 2006. Amelia was 2 1/2 weeks old. The first night, we drove to Cheyenne, WY, the second we drove to Livingston, MT, and we were in Missoula by the afternoon of the 12th.

We stayed with Austin's parents, Keith and Kathy Tripp, who are some of the nicest people in the world. They were really happy to meet Amelia, who is their 3rd grandchild. Keith is self-employed and was able to spend a lot of time with us, and Kathy's boss gave her plenty of days off to enjoy Amelia.

Missoula was great! It was really nice to see all of Austin's family, including his beautiful sister Jenny, his brothers TJ and Jesse, Granda Dawn and Grandpa Jerry, Grandma Glenda and Grandpa Jack, and Aunt Kathy and uncle Jerry. Austin's mom had such a way with Amelia, and could hold her in a way that just made her want to sleep! Jenny really liked to hold Amelia, and once Austin and I came in the house to see TJ taking a nap, with Amelia sleeping on his chest.

We also had a chance to do some shopping at stores we don't have in Clovis, like Target, Old Navy, and Barnes and Noble, and to eat at some pretty good restaurants. Austin's mom always volunteered to watch Amelia so Austin and I could spend some time alone together.

We had a great trip, but unfortunately, we didn't take a lot of pictures! We're hoping to go back this summer for a visit.