Hello from New Jersey!

On Friday, Dan flew out to Washington D.C. for a law school competition called the National Security Moot Court Contest. He and one of his good buddies, Scott Bayles, competed together to represent BYU against 21 other teams. Dan worked so hard this semester to prepare for it. He felt ok about the first round, and in the second round they destroyed Duke and received awesome feedback. Based on what the judges said, they were fairly confident they would make it to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, and with little understanding how this happened, they didn't move on. Dan is still pretty baffled by it all, and disappointed. But he says it was still a good experience - and to end on a positive note, at least it gave them more time to tour D.C.!

Since BYU covered Dan's ticket, we decided it was a good idea to fly me to New Jersey, where Dan could meet me after the competition. His sister Nicole, and her family, live out there and it's always fun to visit them. And since they haven't seen Ty yet, it was a good opportunity! I gained quite the appreciation for Dan when I tried to pack, after having spent all day at work carrying Ty around. I was already exhausted, which impaired my ability to quickly figure out what I'd need to pack. I did not think it'd take the hours that it did! And then I needed to complete Dan's before-you-leave "To-Do" list. And I realized just how much Dan does for us when we leave for trips. And then I also told him, "never do that again!" I spent the night at Ryan and Emily's so they could take me to the airport the next morning. They were so good to me! Dan always feels better when he leaves, knowing they are only a 40 minute drive away.

I was a little apprehensive for Ty's first plane ride - but at the same time, I had a feeling he'd be OK. And he was. I was told numerous times "what an angel!" I held in my arms. He slept through take-off and landing, and quite a bit in between. When he was awake, he was calm and quiet (for the most part). And to top it off - I was assigned to the aisle, with TWO empty seats to my left! It was the best flight ever.

So here we are in New Jersey. When I woke up the first morning, I found my nieces, Chloe and Milan, sitting outside my door, patiently waiting for me to emerge! Apparently, while I was sleeping in, Milan said to her mom, "The only problem with aunts is that they sleep too much!" Ha. Just wait to Uncle Dan arrived! He puts a whole new understanding to the word "sleep in". Speaking of which, Dan just came over from D.C. last night and it's really nice to have him back with me. Ty did a lot of sleeping in my bed the last few days because I simply CANNOT swaddle Ty the way he does. Dan has this ability to magically put him to sleep when he swaddles him. It's really nice. And last night, he slept from 11pm-6am. That hasn't been happening lately!

So we'll be in New Jersey until Saturday. We'll probably hit New York City one or two times and just enjoy spending time with the Couillens!