Utah

We got back from a fabulous trip to Utah about a week ago. We had such a great time! We saw lots and lots of family. We saw friends and old Orem neighbors. We saw the beautiful Utah mountains and forests. It was a very fulfilling trip, in my opinion.

Started our trip out by taking public transportation all the way to Utah. First the bus and then the light rail and then the airplane. It was an adventure and tons of fun for the kids.



This is Jasper in the airport making a ridiculously funny face:) Apparently, he was very serious about something.


Mt. Rainier from above

We started off in Bountiful. Spent two nights with Rob's sister Kris's family. Rob's sister Kim, who lives in Chicago, was in Utah too so that was totally great. Spent the first morning hanging out at a neat park near their house which has a little creek running through it and the kids had fun throwing rocks and sticks into it. Jasper ADORES his Pexton cousins, especially Oliver who is five (I believe). Oliver is the coolest, nicest big boy cousin ever. He's so inclusive with Jasper, always taking his hand and showing him things and talking with with. They played together super well. It's interesting to see Jasper doing more and more social play with kids. He's very much aware of when he is included and not included. Recently we were at a park in Seattle and this group of older boys were very mean to Jasper and told "go away" and "you can't play with us". He came to me crying :( So cousin Oliver is the best! I'm so glad they played so well with one another.


Swinging with cousins and aunties.

In the afternoon, Rob's sister Ally picked Kim and I up and we headed down to Orem for Ally's baby shower! It was so much fun! Thanks to Elena, Rob's oldest sister, for hosting the shower and Kim, for organizing and putting a ton of work into it. It turned out really, really nice. A lot of old friends and neighbors came. Almost the entire Egbert and Wright clan was there. Ally got so much nice stuff. Her baby is due in October and it's going to be a girl. I'm so excited to meet this little baby!

The second day, we headed up to Huntsville to hang out with Rob's BFF Woo and his family. He's got four cute kiddos. Woo's wife Chelsea is super cool. She's like Wonder Woman to me. Four kids and she seems to have it all totally together and under control. Amazing. Huntsville is beautiful. Up in the mountains and it's nice and green there. We had a great afternoon riding bikes (yes, they had enough bikes and trailers for four adults and six kids!!!), swimming in the lake, eating a picnic lunch, swinging in the hammock, and hanging out. It was a very nice afternoon.


The kids in Woo's office chair

That evening we drove up to Granite Flats to camp with the Egbert clan. What a beautiful place to camp! It was great. The only problem was that our particular campsite was bordered with a swamp so we had more mosquitoes than you could possibly imagine. Poor Jasper got eaten alive! Rob's brother Dave too. Had a nice evening, though, chatting around the fire, singing songs, climbing a big boulder, playing in a nice big meadow. Jasper slept in till 10:30 the next morning. He's so funny when we go camping. He'll sleep and sleep way longer than he ever sleeps at home. We did a little bit of kayaking the next morning. Dave and Kris both brought their kayaks up which was very wonderful of them. Rob and I didn't stay in the water too long because Gid and Jasper were both screaming and crying. We'll have to attempt that again next year.

We then headed down to Woodland Hills to be with Larry and Glenda for our last few days in Utah. We always, always love the time we are able to spend with Larry and Glenda. They are so warm and loving to us. Jasper and Gid just adore Grandma and Grandpa. It's so nice up there in the mountains, too. Larry's yard and garden are amazing. My sister, Lisa, and her family and Kim came down and had dinner with us. It was very nice to chat with them and catch up on everything that is going on in their lives. Wish we could have hung out longer but we had to go to bed early because we woke up the following morning at 6 am so that we could see the hot air balloon launch in Provo.


Jazz with Grandpa Larry, bright and early





I'd never been to this event before. It was really neat but there was a bit too much wind so the launching didn't happen as expected. It was still neat to see all the balloons, though. Jasper even got to help blow one up! Larry, Kim, Kayley, Kayley's boyfriend Jordan, Jasper, Gid, Rob and I all were quite the troopers waking up so early to see the balloons :)



We spent the afternoon with Larry, Glenda, Kim, Ally and Vince up at Woodland Hills. Larry roped Kim and I into 13 rounds of Crowns. We planted a bed of marigolds and zinnias. We all enjoyed some time napping. We then all got ready to head down to the Brooks in Orem for a 3rd of July BBQ and fireworks show! It was a very nice evening and wonderful to be able to see everyone.







This trip seemed way too short! Wish we could have stayed longer this time. We miss all our Utah family very much.