Down On the Farm

After visiting with my friend Beth, we drove south of BYU to visit our good friends Brett and Ben and their kids. The remodel they're doing on their new house is still under construction, but the basement was done and is beautiful. We loved getting to see them and stay the night at their new house. The highlight, other than visiting with our friends, was getting to play with the kittens their family had recently found in their barn. The kittens were such a big deal that very few pictures were taken of anything else. Many thank to Phoebe, Cooper, and Peter for sharing their pictures with me for this post.

Most of the kids got to sleep in this amazing bunk room.

The next day Brett gave us a tour of their farm. 

Horses.

Cows.

Topher's one goal for the day was to hold a chicken. Brett made that dream a reality.

After the tour the kids played for a bit while Brett and I chatted.

Phoebe particularly liked this waterfall. She spent some quiet time here.

Thanks for letting us visit! We always love getting to spend time with you guys!

Book Buddies

When I was writing up our Disneyland adventure last year Blogger started having trouble moving pictures from Google Photos into the posts. To circumvent that issue I had to download everything, then upload it all to the blog. This was a pain and took more time and I ended up not ever finishing the posts about Disneyland. I also never wrote about our trip to Utah right after that. I hope to fix that someday. For now though, I want to make sure I don't make the same mistake with our most recent trip.

After spending a few days at Ron and Shari's house, we headed to down Utah County to see friends there. Our first stop was BYU. We tried to get a tour of Peter's new apartment since it looked like he wouldn't be able to move in until after I had flown back to PA with the other kids. When the sweet receptionist told me no, I almost cried. I quickly regained my composure and she gave me some good news: Peter could move in on Saturday instead of waiting until Monday! We would still be there and would be able to see his home for the next eight months. I was thrilled!

After that, we grabbed lunch at the Cougareat, then headed north to see my friend Beth! We were in the same married ward at BYU, but I don't think we ever actually talked to each other then. We found each others blogs and she and I have essentially been blog pen pals since Cooper was a baby. Her kids are just a little older than ours and she's a fellow bibliophile. There are lots of other great things about her, those are just two things we have in common. When we were in Utah in 2023 I stopped by for a quick in-person hello and we've been trading Marco Polos since then. I love that we got to stop by for a bit longer visit on this trip! And our kids got to meet each other, which made me happy.

Thanks for making time for us, Beth!

A Scenic Route

It took us longer than we anticipated to begin our drive from California to Utah. We packed up both cars, Falisha joined us at the hotel so we would have four drivers, and then we managed to lock the trunk with all of Peter's luggage inside. Bryan and Falisha and Peter spent time trying to unlock it. They finally managed to open it from the inside and we got on the road.

Falisha and I were driving buddies and Bryan and Peter were a pair. I started by driving the giant rental car (a Ford Expedition Max) and switched to being a passenger in the Corolla (the college kid car and the reason for our trip to San Diego) in Baker.

While it was just me and Falisha in the little car, we had many great discussions. When we were in the big car with the kids, we listened to Hamilton. We also sang along. And it was all very loud and lively. We switched back to the big car in St. George when we stopped for dinner.

We stopped a little bit later to switch again, but I don't remember where. Poor Falisha had to drive through an impressive rain storm. I thought for sure we would reach a point of weariness and decide to stop for the night. We were definitely tired, but to my great surprise we pushed through and arrived at Bryan's parents' house around 2:30 in the morning.

We were so incredibly exhausted. We hauled our bags in, claimed our beds, and fell into them. I didn't change or brush my teeth or anything. I just slept.

Thankfully they have church at noon, so we were able to sleep and still be mostly ready for church on time. For those that weren't quite ready, being within walking distance of the church helped quite a bit.

Our Big Adventure: Days 1 and 2

About a year ago, as we were counting down our time in isolation, we started daydreaming about what adventures we could have this year. Our biggest priority was to spend in-person time with family, particularly the grandparents in our lives. I told my Grandma Bonnie that we would see her this summer, she said she'd put it on her calendar. 

We were serious and we started planning. As we listed all the things we wanted to do and the people we wanted to see, we realized this was going to be a major trip. Bryan talked to his boss and got permission to work remotely for the entire month of June. Sometime back in March we bought plane tickets and our plans became much more concrete. We spent the month of May working hard to finish the school year while also preparing to travel. 

On June 5 Bryan and I picked up a rental car from our local small airport so we could leave our van at home instead of paying to park at the airport while we were gone. Then, on June 6, we woke up ridiculously early and rolled out of our driveway at 4:50 in the morning, on our way to Newark International Airport. We cut it too close and were in such a hurry that we turned in the rental car when we arrived at the airport, but forgot to turn in the key. We somehow lost Peter while going through security, which delayed us further. After he was located, we rushed to our gate and were the last people to board the flight. After all that craziness, we had a pretty calm ride from Newark to Salt Lake City.

Our stop for the night was Bryan's parents' new home, north of Salt Lake City. But first, we had to pick up a car. Our plan had been to rent a vehicle for our visit, but when I told my dear friend Brett (the other half of my two person book club) about our plans, she insisted we borrow their van. Bryan and I were really apprehensive about accepting such a generous offer, we didn't want to hurt their van during our travels. She assured me that no one was using it and that she really wanted us to drive it. It took some discussion and deliberation, but we agreed. It was waiting for us when we got to the airport, full of games and treats and entertainment. We were so thankful for her generosity and kindness!

After our super early morning (and not much sleep the night before) we were exhausted. We rested and visited and prepped for the next leg of our journey the following morning.

We had another early morning (not as early as the day before, thankfully) as we got on the road, this time to California. When we lived in Utah we made the Provo to San Diego county drive multiple times. This drive was a little longer, but still familiar. And it was Sophie and Topher's first time to California, which made it extra fun. Actually, it was Topher's first time to the Mountain Time Zone AND the Pacific Time Zone. Most of the drive looked like this. I should add that these pictures are courtesy of the five people in our house that have access to a phone, I was not the sole photographer.

We finally made it to my hometown. Before we found our hotel, we stopped in for some hugs and hellos.

Then we drove to our hotel and crashed for the night, happy to be done traveling for a few days.

Booklovers Unite

Happy National Booklovers Day! Being the bibliophiles that we are, this is an exciting holiday. To celebrate, I will share one of the most wonderful birthday gifts I received this year. My dear friend Brett made this for me and gave it to me in person when we were in Utah. I love it! And bonus, my kids knew exactly who it was when they saw it. That, my friends, is a parenting win.

Now, go read a book!

Up the Mountain

On the second full day of our trip we woke up at Bryan's grandparents' house and went to sleep in a cabin in the mountains. In between those events we ate, and toured, and saw an old friend, and shopped, and marveled at the grandeur and wonder of the earth, and ate, and visited with family.

Sophie loved getting to know Uncle Paul better.

The kids spent the morning running around Grandma and Grandpa's magical backyard.

Grandma obliged us with a picture. Yes, the TV was on. No, Sophie didn't look at the camera for any of the pictures I took.

We had a list of restaurants we wanted to eat at while in Utah. In and Out was the first we checked off. And, completely without planning it, Bryan's parents, brother, and sister came to eat at the same location while we were there. Paul said he'd figured we would be there. He was right.

Then we made our traditional pilgrimage to BYU. The kids hung out with Cosmo the Cougar.

Oh look, we all hung out with him.

After the bookstore we walked over to the library to show the kids where my old office was. I worked there for three years during college and then for a year and a half after I graduated. Peter was four-months-old when I quit to stay at home full time.

Imagine my joy when I found my former supervisor, then coworker, and friend Kimberly walking up the stairs as I walked down. She was leaving for the day, so our timing was perfect. We had a lovely chat and, other than the four children standing next to us, it felt like no time had passed. Then we walked the rest of the way down to my old office and had a happy reunion with another friend who still works there as well. We also discovered that my picture is still on the wall in the office. The kids thought I was a celebrity.

After BYU we drove down to see the new Provo City Center Temple. It's beautiful.

While we were showing the kids some of the places we lived during our sojourn there, we drove by the original Provo Temple as well. It's also beautiful.

And that put us right next to the new addition to the MTC. It's huge! We were kind of shocked, but how wonderful that there are so many missionaries that these additions are needed.

After picking up supplies and dinner, we headed up the canyon to the cabin. Here are a few exterior shots to give you an idea of the size of the cabin.

Oh, and here's some of the view.

I climbed all the way up the stairs to the top floor to get this shot. I'm glad that Melody was there on the bottom level to give perspective for how tall that place was. I don't love heights, did you know?

More view. Also us.

Thanks to Melody for taking (and then sharing) the next six pictures, including a few interior shots.

Dallin and Paul enjoyed the view from the inside after Paul was the lucky person to discover a wasp nest outside. After being stung a few times, he put some space between himself and the insects. The owner came and sprayed, which killed some of them, but only some. We continued to find lone, sometimes disoriented wasps over the next few days.

This was the deck right outside the room in the above picture.

And this lovely panoramic shot is from Bryan.

It was really amazing to get to stay in such a beautiful place. Thanks to Bryan's parents for making that possible.