Trip to Utah to introduce Riley

Ryan and I weren't planning on going back to Utah until after he graduated in May but we got an amazing deal on flights! We got so lucky! We were so excited to go to Utah and see our families and show off our baby girl while we were there. We also planned to bless Riley while we were there which was wonderful.

Seriously the BEST way to travel with a baby! This carrier made it so easy and Riley loved being close to us.
I love her little legs hanging out of the carrier. They look so cute and tiny.

She was an absolute angel on the plane! She slept the whole 2 hour car ride to Chicago and then besides eating, she slept the entire plane ride as well. She was so good! 

Riley and Aunt Emma

Addie was so cute with Riley.

Sundance was crazy about Riley. She would follow us around and then just sit and stare at Riley. It was so cute!

Sundance just staring up at Grandpa and Riley.

I'm telling you. This dog was in love with Riley. She was so mesmerized by her! I thought it was so cute!
Roah has the BEST dog!

Ryan's dad's client "gave" him a car. We all took turns taking rides in it. It was fun to ride around in it with Ry. He had forgotten how to drive a stick but caught back on really quickly...except for this one stop sign where he stalled for like 30 seconds and it was hilarious. There was a car right behind us, almost touching the bumper and we were so nervous we would hit them. It was pretty funny. 

Ry got to go skiing with his dad, mom, and Danny

Utah is so gorgeous. 

Ha this is funny! Someone...(Justin?) put this raccoon tail hat in our bed! It definitely gave us a good startle and a good laugh

Ha Riley likes to spread out sometimes :) 

With Bapa

Nana and the two youngest grand babies

Another of Nana and the little girls.

My dad figured out the easiest way to carry the pack-n-play :) 

Ry got in a couple of good bike rides of course. 

I don't think they look a TON alike in real life but in this picture I think they definitely do!

Emma is amazing at gymnastics! It was so fun to go to one of her meets! She placed in every category and got second place overall. I was so proud of her! I wish we lived closer to be able to go to more of her meets. 

Group shot! All the Van Wagoners (except for Brian who had a church meeting).

Karli is such a sweet aunt!

I got to hang out with Josephine and baby Zahra! Always a good time with this girl!

Look how much hair baby Z has! She's adorable and it was so fun meeting her. I think Riley looks so cute in the picture!

K Jo and I were dying over this. They are already BFFs! :) I love how Riley is laying on Zahra's arm. So cute :)

So fun that our babes are so close in age!

My mom, Emma and I went to Quilted Bear and my mom was so sweet and got a couple of headbands for Riley. This is one of them. They had sooo many cute headbands. I could've gone crazy in there. I wanted to buy them all. 

Riley and aunt Whitney. Whit was so sweet and good with her. She is so nurturing.

The Biesinger aunts! (Once again, Sundance is in awe of Riley :) )

I think this is such a sweet picture! It's actually on our last day in Utah when Ry said bye to Addie. We miss our nieces and nephews so  much! They always seem to be so much more grown up the next time we see them!
Wish we lived closer to see them more often.

Snuggles with my baby girl are the best!

 

It was great going to visit Grandma Harvey. She's such a sweet woman. 

We also got to go visit Grandma and Grandpa Van. We knew Grandma Van wouldn't be able to make it to the baby blessing due to her health, so it was really special to go visit her and be able to share our daughter with one of her great grandmas. 

This is how loved Riley is. Everyone huddled around to give her a sink-bath!

So many hands in this picture--I love it! Shows how loved this baby is. Also, Riley looks like she's really enjoying herself! :)

We got to go visit Chris and Jamie. This is their darling little 2 year old, Blakely. She was so cute and kept wanting to hold Riley. Blakely is so cute and tiny. Riley was almost as big as her ;) 

Riley's baby blessing-She looked like an angel! A chubby angel, but definitely the cutest angel I've ever seen! :) 

Getting ready for her baby blessing. I LOVED putting that dress on her. She looked so beautiful!

This picture is hilarious! Look at my GIANT HAND! I couldn't stop laughing. It looks SO HUGE! Once I saw it we had to retake it to get a normal picture :) But seriously I was laughing for like 10 minutes afterwards. I thought it was so funny!

Here's a giant hand free picture of my little family at Riley's baby blessing

Riley was so quiet and good during the whole blessing. This picture was right afterwards. It was a sweet moment. I was so proud of Ryan and so grateful for him and the beautiful blessing he gave our daughter.

Joking with my dad--probably about how long Ryan's blessing was. I thought it was PERFECT but apparently a lot of people kept teasing him that it was long. (5 mins). But I didn't want it to end. I just loved every minute of it. 

My mom and I with my sweet baby. Thanks to my mom for this beautiful blessing dress!
Also, holla at my cousin Sarah in the background :) 

So grateful for all the wonderful men who helped to bless our baby.
From left to right: Justin, Grandpa Van, Danny, Bishop Broadbent, Ry and Riley, Ryan's dad, my dad, Brad Cahoon. Also, I don't know why Mike Re and Chris Dayley aren't in this picture but they were there as well to help bless our sweet little one. 

Josephine and her fam came to celebrate with us!

So fun to see Kelly and Brad and meet their baby Jack! He's a cutie!

Riley and Aunt Brendi

Aunt Jennica and Riley girl

Aunt Karli and Riley. Everyone wanted pictures with Riley in her beautiful dress!

My mom and Riley with Grandma Harvey

Ryan's mom and her mom, Grandma Harvey

Four generations! 

Nana and Bapa with Riley babe.

One last picture of Riley in her blessing dress. Such an angel baby.

When we got home from Utah I took a bunch of photos of Riley in her blessing dress and put them on my photography blog. You can see those photos HERE. 

After the blessing we just hung out at the Van Wagoners! Here are a few more fun photos from the night. 

Ryan is such a good, fun uncle! He loves his nieces and nephews so much!

I love this picture of Riley on Nana's lap. She is so dialed in. Just staring right up at Nana. 

I think this is the CUTEST sleeper that Riley has. I love the tutu! 

Carson holding his little cousin. 

We had so much fun this trip! We got to hang out with family and friends, and Ry got to go biking and skiing! My mom is the stake RS President and was in charge of stake women's conference which happened to be the weekend we were there so I got to go to that too. It was fun to see some of the women from my old ward and also I got to see one of my best friends from junior high, Cristl! It was nice to see the wonderful event my mom had planned and organized. I also got to go with my sisters which was great.

The majority of the trip was just spent hanging out with and talking with family and passing our baby around to our family members so they could meet her and hold her. It was a really special and fun trip! We are excited to be back in Utah for several weeks this summer (before Ry starts his job in CA) and be able to see everyone again! :)