accumulation...

accumulation. as in "the accumulation of photo upon photo leads to much happiness for libby."
or
"the accumulation of many nights of no sleep leads to sleep deprivation for libby."
or
"the accumulation of much time spent with family leads to extreme happiness for libby."

you get the idea.

they're all intertwined, you see. libby=family, family=photos, photos=sleep deprivation, therefore by an extended version of the transitive property libby=sleep deprivation (...or something like that).
but I'm happily sleep deprived (with the exception of this morning when I spontaneous combusted into tears after mack woke up at 4:45, 5:45 and 6:45 before finally waking up for the day at 7:30. thank goodness for a husband who calmed me down and promised a bed time of 10:00 tonight). so, this post is brought to you by my lovely sponsor, sleep deprivation.

okay, enough of that. now onto the documentation of the time spent with family. I went home for a family reunion on my side, and I loved every second.

June 25th
The immediate family fawns over Mack. He is loved.





*photo taken by Lafe*

June 27th
Day one of the extended family reunion...

My incredibly hard working grandpa and his tractor. He will be ninety this summer, and is continually coming up with projects for himself. Even though his health has slowed him down a bit lately, he's still in search of whatever he can do to keep himself busy. What an incredible example to his kids and grandkids.

A morning walk in the gunnison air with the twins. They make me happy.

Mack and mommy in front of Grandma's house. He was a little overwhelmed by all the new people and sounds, and eventually started growling to show his disapproval. Oh boy.

Paul modeling for Jill and I while we were all supposed to be doing yard work.

Aunt Shauna and one of her incredible childrens' books--part of an afternoon of classes put on by different family members. If there were a Frandsen Family Motto, it would be "continually learning," as taught by Grandma Frandsen.

This is about how we all felt by the end of the day.

June 27th

Michael, Zach, and Great Grandpa. He obviously loves his great-grandkids. Lucky them to be able to get to know him.

June 28th
My mom and I dreamed (would it be dreampt? is that even a word? I don't think so. Emily? Help?) up a little vintage photo shoot for all her grandchildren, and had an absolute blast putting it together and carrying it out. Check out the result:

I have the cutest nephews and nieces in the whole world. :)

June 29th

Photo shoot with my cousin Jill's family. I was incredibly nervous, because she's an amazing photographer herself, and I was afraid nothing would turn out. But due to the cuteness of the subjects, we were able to get a few. :) To see more of her cute family, click here.

June 30th

And one more family photo shoot with my brother and sister-in-law's family. We had about twenty minutes to get in pictures before the sun went down, but we got a few (click here to see more)... I'm hoping to get some more next time I'm in Utah. :)

July 1st

flew home with this airline. will never do it again.
...where to begin??
here's the {not so} short version:

• took a redeye thinking Mack would sleep the whole time, but was not allowed to carry on my carseat even though there were a few empty seats (redeye=my fault. I've learned my lesson).
• plane left 1 1/2 hours late
  
• mack did not sleep at all; therefore, I did not sleep at all.
• connected though JFK which is the most poorly organized airport I've ever been in. I always vow never to connect through it again, but somehow I ended up there this time...
• as a result of landing late, I ran to my connecting flight, but only after the baggage handler took his sweet, sweet time meandering up the jetway with my carseat and stroller. on my way, I found out I had just missed the shuttle to the other terminal (thank you meandering baggage handler). they wouldn't call ahead to alert the gate agent I was on my way because there were "too many people that would need the same service." puh-lease.
  
• arrived, completely out of breath, at my gate where about 40 stand-by travelers were thronging the gate while she was giving away the tickets of travelers who were not there (read: me). I tried to push my way through the onlookers to get the gate agents attention. She made eye contact with me repeatedly, and finally told me to "wait my turn" as "everyone else is trying to get on this flight too."
  
• tried to explain that I had a ticket and needed to get on, but was ignored until I heard her speak into the walkie talkie that the flight to Pittsburgh had been closed. she had literally given away my seat as I stood right in front of her.
• I tried to remain calm as I told her I told her I had a seat on that flight, at which point she looked at me and said in the rudest tone possible, "well, why didn't you say so?"

...please tell me you're joking.

• I was not allowed on the flight, and I was sent to stand in a "customer service" line for an hour and half. When I finally got to the front of the line, I was informed that not only was the next flight not for 8 more hours, it was completely full, and they could not confirm me on a flight until the FOURTH OF JULY. THREE DAYS LATER.
  

Let's remind ourselves that
1. I have not slept in over 24 hours.
2. my baby did not sleep all night.
3. I hate delta.

• Because I am apparently pushy and unforgiving, I did not step away from the "service" desk for seven hours (mind you, it only takes six hours to drive from New York to Pittsburgh, but a one way car rental cost $400... no thank you). I stood in front of the supervisor who told me she would "help" me until she put a ticket in my hand. I stood there while she "helped" other people, while I held a crying baby, while she took care of other emergencies, forgot to "help" me, while I sat on the ground and fed Mack his pureed veggies, while she ignored me, and while I made conversation with other disgruntled passengers.
  
• told them I deserved a full refund on my ticket, or at least a travel voucher for the next time I fly (not that I'll ever fly with them again, but maybe DJ could use it), and got nothing but fourteen dollars in meal vouchers. that's it.
  
• 6pm: 10 hours after I was not allowed on my original flight, I received a confirmed ticket to Pittsburgh that was supposed to leave at 6:30.
• 8pm (12 hours later, and 36 hours with no sleep): finally got on the plane and flew home with a tired, tired baby, and a tired, tired libby.
  

So, here's my advice to you: never fly delta. ever. they stink.

...not to end on a bad note, things are looking up as we'll be flying southwest (direct flights both ways) when we go home in august. ahhh. can't wait.

well, all of this accumulating is making me tired. I think I'll go take a nap now. maybe you should too. :) thanks for stopping by!