Living with the Bakers: Should've Gone to Hawaii...

The details are going to get me all worked up again, but here is the outline:

We went to the airport on Saturday night an hour and a half early since we were bringing our puppy Jake. When we got there, there was a couple people waiting at the Frontier desk and NO employees. Finally an employee came out and when I told her we were there to check in, she looked at me like I was an idiot and simply said, "The plane's gone. It left at 5:45." I WAS FUMING!!!
I guess what happened was that Frontier moved up the departure time by an hour and a half, but because we didn't buy our ticket from them directly, they chose not to notify us. So long story short, we had to pay extra money to fly out on the next available flight on Monday night. The lady was a jerk and was neither helpful nor sympathetic. And what really got to me was had she been out at the desk doing her job when we arrived, she could have called down to the plane and we could've made it. We had to call my friend to come all the way back and pick us up, and right before we left, Jake went to the bathroom on the floor in front of Frontier :)

Then Monday we made our flight and had a layover in Denver. Jake was pretty good on the plane, just whimpered a little at take off, but we were able to let him out and hold him during the flight. In Denver we had lots of people coming up to us to pet Jake--including a woman and her toddler who recognized Blaine from when he was a missionary in her ward. We also met this sweet family with 3 little kids who LOVED Jake and Jake loved them. There was a cute 3 year old little girl that he just followed around.

On our flight from Denver to Spokane, someone was in our seats, so we just had to settle for the exit row :) That was nice because we didn't have to pay the extra fee but we got to enjoy the extra leg space. We arrived in Spokane at 10:30 Pacific time, which is 11:30 Montana time, and 12:30 Oklahoma time. We were already super tired and sick of traveling, but because Blaine's parents had already driven to Spokane and back on Saturday when we were SUPPOSED to arrive, we had to rent a car and make the 3 hour trip ourselves... Well, Blaine did the work. I tried to stay awake but was in and out for most of the trip. Jake was a trooper though--he couldn't have been better.

Blaine was able to go hunting only twice this year, but Wednesday, November 27th, was his 27th birthday! We had cake and ice cream and some family over to the house. I told everyone the deal was that we had to share 27 memories of Blaine or else they couldn't eat :) I think he enjoyed hearing those. His cousin Travis has a tiny dog that he brought over so we also enjoyed watching Jake chase her.

Because we won't be with them for Christmas this year, we also exchanged presents early. Blaine got a new pair of binoculars and I got the light blue Kitchenaid Mixer I've been wanting!!! I can't wait till I can bring it home in December. It's so beautiful, though. My favorite present from his Grandma was a Christmas bread pan. As you can tell, lots of fun and festive cooking to be done. When we opened presents and played games at his Grandma's, we also watched an old home video from their family reunion in the early 90s. It was cute to see Blaine that young and hear his little voice when he was "6-and-a-half." <3

Saturday morning, we woke up at 2:30 IN THE MORNING and drove 3 hours back to Spokane for our 6:30AM flight. We flew from Spokane to Denver and were SOOO tired that Blaine and I just fell asleep as soon as we got on the plane and assumed Jake was asleep, too. As we were getting ready to land, though, the lady behind us said, "Excuse me, is this your dog?" Apparently Jake had gotten out of his little carrier and had been sleeping at her feet THE WHOLE TIME!

Anyways, at the Denver airport we take Jake into the family restroom to go to the bathroom just like we did on the way over, but this time he wouldn't go. We've been really trying to potty train him and I think he was just trying to be good. Anyways, I leave Blaine in the bathroom to try and get Jake to go and I go to the gate to see how much longer we have until final boarding, to give Jake as much time as possible to avoid an accident on the plane. I get to the gate and see no plane, so I ask the woman if the plane was coming in late and I missed the announcement or something since there was still 20 minutes to take off. Again, the employee didn't care and talked to me like I was an idiot and told me the plane already left. They said that they tried to page us, but I guess there must not be speakers in the family restroom. Once again, Frontier washed their hands of us and took zero responsibility for anything. They kept trying to hide behind the excuse of "we always close the doors 15 minutes prior to departure."

Well FIRST of all, the doors aren't closed, the plane is GONE. And there was still 20 MINUTES prior to take off. AND just that morning, we were still sitting on the airplane at 6:30AM (our take-off time) while the last people boarded the plane. I have been a frequent flyer my whole life, so I know perfectly well how things work.

So we go to the Frontier customer service desk and the same old story. They did nothing wrong and we have to come up with MORE money to get us home. Their next available flight was 4 days later. Since we couldn't wait that long, they said we could buy same-day tickets on another airline for $300+ each. So we chose the least expensive and most inconvenient option: rent a car and drive 10.5 hours. And once again, to show our displeasure, Jake finally couldn't hold his bladder any longer and relieved himself in front of the Frontier desk. I have written a letter to Frontier, but based on the customer service I've received this trip, I doubt they will do anything. But after all the money and time and headaches and tiredness and more money... we should've just gone to Hawaii...

Our only highlights (besides Thanksgiving food, of course) were Blaine's birthday and seeing Catching Fire. And here is also a virtual tour of some of Libby's highlights. While Blaine was hunting one day, I took Jake out to show him the sights :) Oh whatever, here's just a bunch of random pictures:

airport bathroom floor

he jumped out of our cart on the way to get our first rental car

Blaine's Grandma and Jake

Blaine's sexy senior portraits

where we spent our Libby honeymoon night

where I worked as a hostess and cashier the summer that we lived there

seeing Catching Fire

Blaine's alma mater. We've lifting lots of weights and played lots of basketball and even ran lots of sprints here... and I may or may not have gone to the bathroom in the bushes outside the track