Our Utah trip

So I'm still trying to figure out this blog thing, but I'm darn proud of myself for what I've done so far. Today I figured out how to do a playlist - yeah! So enjoy some of my current favorite tunes. I still haven't figured out how to add my friends blogs to the side of my blog, but I'll work on that this week.

We are slowly getting back to a normal schedule after our fun vacation to Utah. Our kids are in complete summer mode though, meaning that they go to bed about 11 or so and wake up whenever they feel like it! I thought I'd give a quick rundown of some of the highlights of our trip:

*We went to Lagoon with all of Ryan's family. The kids, of course, had a great time being with their cousins. Ryan and I were pretty worried by the end of the night, however, because our kids were all too scared to go on most of the rides and we have a big Disneyland/Sea World trip planned for October. If we're spending all the money to go there, they better enjoy themselves!

*Ryan was honored to be asked to baptize our niece, Jordyn. Jordyn looked so beautiful in her white dress. The only bad event of the day was when I dropped my camera in the parking lot and it broke. I still haven't bought a new camera, and I accidentally left my memory card in Utah, so I'll have to upload pictures when I get it back. The good news about braking my camera is that I get a new one!

*We were able to be with both of our fathers on Fathers Day. We went to my parents church and my Dad spoke in sacrament.

*We drove all over Utah County and took pictures of memorable spots, including things like: the parking spot where Ryan and I broke up while dating, the restaurant we went to on our first date, and the first apartment we lived in together.

*We ate at many of our favorite Utah restaurants! Yum, we miss them already.

*We were able to stay for free at a beautiful condo up at Solitude in the mountains. Ryan's work owns the condo, so we spent 9 nights there. During the time we were there we had my Mom and Dad, the Webb family, the Porter family, the Yancey family and Sean's oldest girls spend some nights with us. Not all at the same time, of course! Our kids swam in the pool so much that Brevan has been struggling with "swimmers ear" ever since we got home.

*I was able to go to dinner with a lot of my Lehi friends (thanks for setting that up, Angela!) and we all got together with college friends and their kids at a park one night. I never had a chance to see my childhood friends, but that's definitely on the list for next time we visit!

*We were able to see both sets of parents, every sibling and sibling-in-law, and every niece/nephew while on this trip. Pretty amazing, considering they live in California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and even Malaysia!

*Ryan got to go golfing twice. Once with my Dad and bro's-in-law, and once with his brother and sister's husband at Thanksgiving Point.

*One day my sister, Tiffany, and I took my Mom to an AWESOME salon where we all got pedicures and then went out for lunch. My Dad was nice enough to watch all the kids.

*I was able to attend the Timpanogos Temple. Ryan and I were planning on "switching off" to be able to do temple sessions, but when he drove to the Jordan River Temple, he realized it was closed for cleaning. The temple was one of the most amazing experiences I've had in a long time. Not because anything out of the ordinary happened, but because I have really missed the peace I feel when I am there. The temple here is 4 hours away, so we don't get there nearly as often as I wish we could.

*We all planned a large party for my Mom's 60th birthday. It was a lot of work to pull together, but she had many of her closest friends and family members attend, including some who flew in to SLC just for the party.

*My whole side of the family met together at a beautiful park one day for a photo shoot. I can't wait to see how the group pictures turned out! The photographer (who was my cousin) let me use her professional camera for a while and take shots of all the grandkids. I was in heaven! Being a professional photographer is one of my dreams.

*We were able to meet Ashley Noble, who is now engaged to Ryan's brother, Sean. They actually got engaged the week that we were in town! We haven't heard yet when the date of the wedding will be.

*One day my sister, Tiffany, and I took our kids up to Temple Square for a few hours. I love the feeling that I have there and I hope my kids grow to love that area, also. There was one funny moment that I have to share: While walking in the garden area, Tiffany pointed out a group of very "official-looking" women to me, and asked me if I noticed who they were. After looking closer, I realized it was the whole Relief Society General Board. I started squealing quietly and saying "Wow! Real celebrities!" We then walked over to the Lion House to get lunch. Tiff's family was in front of me in the cafeteria-style line, and the RS women got in line right behind me! It was all very fun, until it was my family's turn to get our food. Brevan went first and started grabbing every dessert (which cost about $5 each!), Brynlie got to the end of the line and burst into tears because no one gave her any food (she isn't assertive enough to tell the ladies what she'd like to have), Lindsey REFUSED to walk in front of the stroller that Logan was riding in, and I was trying to push the stroller, hold a tray full of my food and Lindsey's food, deal with a squirmy baby, screaming 3-year-old, crying 6-year-old ("Brynlie, you have to TELL them what you want!") and a 9-year-old who hates anything that's healthy ("NO! Put that back! Well, now you've touched it, so I have to buy it. But no more!") We held up the line for quite a while, and the RS ladies were RIGHT behind me. So next time one of them talks in conference about how we all need to show more patience with our children and not let ourselves get too overwhelmed, they will be referring to me! It was all incredibly stressful, but quite funny now!

*We were able to celebrate Bonnie's birthday (Ryan's Mom) and Sean's birthday at a party held the last Sunday we were there.

*At the airport on the day we were leaving, I was sitting in a seat staring at the mountains out the window. I knew I had tears in my eyes, but I guess I was looking rather forlorn because a very sweet older couple came and sat next to me (Ryan was walking around the airport with the kids). I ended up talking to them for about 45 minutes and they told me some wonderful stories about their lives, their children and the trials they've had. They were so amazingly faithful and happy. They were a tender mercy sent to me that day as I was having a difficult time leaving Utah. It isn't that I don't like Missouri, because I do, but there are just many things I miss about being out in the Beehive State. I find it amazing that I could drive down the freeway and see 3 temples at the same time, that there's an "LDS section" at Walmart, and the beautiful mountains with all the pine trees.

We had a wonderful trip and were so blessed to be able to see so many of you. I'll make sure to upload pictures from our trip soon. We love you all!