Perks of having a husband working for the airlines: spontaneous trips home for holidays! We flew standby to Arizona, and this time, despite having flown multiple times before, Beckham was for the first time enthralled by flying. 

The families, without really consulting each other, planned the timing of Easter activities perfectly. The Urnesses were to celebrate Easter on Friday, the Samuelsons on Saturday, and the Lundgreens on Sunday. Despite my lack of pictures with everyone, we enjoyed spending time with so much family. Since two of Beckham's three cousins on Dallin’s side of the family will be moving to Texas in a few months, it was a good opportunity for him to spend time with them.  Beckham is now old enough to enjoy Easter festivities, and that made it all the more fun. We tossed out eggs on the lawn for the babies, and Beckham was so excited to pick up eggs one at a time, telling us, “Egg! O!” (“Egg! Open!”)   before putting them in the basket.  One of my favorite moments from the trip was when Beckham asked his cousin Ellie, "Hand?" so that she would hold his hand to take him out to the trampoline with her! 

The scariest moment of my life happened when I put Beckham up on the bed where his cousins were watching a movie. Beckham jumped over to Maverick and bonked heads with him. I grabbed Beckham. Maverick started crying and then, delayed, Beckham started crying, and then coughing. Jordie said, "He's choking!" Since Beckham was facing away from me in my lap, I couldn't see, but I remember thinking that coughing is a sign that it's not choking yet--but Jordie screamed, "Give him to me!" as the cough caused the kettle-cooked salt-and-vinegar chip, which I didn't know was in his mouth, to get sucked backwards and lodge in his throat.  My brother-in-law Matt, an ER doctor, immediately took Beckham from Jordie. I screamed for Dallin to call 911. Matt did two Heimlich maneuvers and then switched to baby back blows, Beckham tilted forward across his forearm. He was really choking. Matt said he could see the scream on Beckham's face as no sound came out.  He did back blow after back blow, occasionally hearing a tiny whisper of air. It took 40 back blows in total for the chip to dislodge, and when the 911 dispatcher said that Beckham's cries were a sign that he was no longer choking, Matt asked if they could still send paramedics to check on him. Beckham's cry of terror was the most sad and beautiful thing I had ever heard. In the moments before, I had wondered if my son was going to die. It was like when I watched my house burn down 4 years prior--this surreal and horrifying moment realizing that this terrible thing I had always been afraid of was coming true. But today, this terrible fear of mine did not come true. Beckham was able to breathe again as the chip came flying out.  Beckham never lost consciousness, although the time it took to get him breathing again felt like an eternity. My sister-in-law Danielle, a nurse walked into the house and was able to do an initial listen to his chest with her stethoscope. Then the firetruck came, and Matt had the paramedics check him again and make sure that his ribs were alright from the back blows. Beckham was alright except for a little bit of a scratchy throat for the next day.

On the way back, we were upgraded to first class. Most people would be excited, but we were incredibly nervous because Beckham was being a spaz at the airport. Luckily for us, the second we took off, he fell asleep! We enjoyed our cozy first class seats and complimentary snacks and drinks while browsing Facebook Marketplace for furniture using the complimentary WiFi. I think I could do that again!