Road Trip: Salt Lake

It was time to bid farewell to Cali and head back to Utah. 

We got to spend a week with Andrew's family there.

While the kids and I were driving there from Cali,

Andrew had flown had and got to spend a couple

days with his parents. He and his Dad took their

annual golfing day together. They always look forward to that.

In Cali, they have these plastic attachments on the

end of the gas pumps. You have to make sure they

are shoved all the way into your tank, or it won't work.

I figured that out the hard way, having the pump

give me errors and having to ask the attendant for help. Ugh.

And I think all parts of Cali have super expensive gas.

But it was a beautiful day for driving!

Although there's not much to see or do between Yosemite and SLC.

Since I couldn't really find a fun stop,

we decided to stop for Mexican food.

Have you noticed that food doesn't play a big part on our road trips?

We mostly snack all day in the car and then get

something quick from a drive through around 4 or 5.

Stopping to eat at an actual restaurant???

Novel idea!

We knew we were getting close to Salt Lake when we passed the Salt Flats.

On Sunday, Brandon was given the Melchizedek priesthood

and ordained to the office of an Elder.

So grateful these good men could be there to participate.

Our boy is growing up!

We're so proud of the good things he's doing with his life.

Glad my parents could come over and

we could visit for a bit.

Oh my gosh. Angie and Whitney singing together

with Grandma on the piano???? AMAZING!

Their voices blend so beautifully. 

LOVED listening to them.

On Monday, Barb took us to Gardner Village

for some window shopping in the morning.

That afternoon we drove down to Tony and Cindy's house.

Tony gave us a little art lesson and let

us all do plein air painting.

We each picked a spot and painted what we saw.

It was so fun!

Our kids are great artists!

Andrew was embarrassed of his painting,

It has it's own character. :)

Then we played kickball and had dinner back at their place.

Love hanging out with our family!

The next day we headed to downtown Salt Lake. 

Stopped at Dave and Buster's to add our names to the

Space Invaders high scores there. Ha!

Went to Hansen Planetarium for a little while.

It was super crowded, so we didn't stay long.

We did some shopping at Center Creek.

Or City Creek.

Or Center City Creek.

Or whatever it's called.

And walked through temple square.

In the last year, both of Andrew's sisters have moved back

to Utah after living out of state for years.

That makes it nice for us to visit everyone in just

a couple of hours of driving radius.

Angie and Forrest are living right in downtown SL.

They made us a YUMMY dinner and then we went

for a walk around their neighborhood. 

Some amazing houses!

It's so nice to not have humidity!

Evenings feel so good!

Their home is a fixer-upper that has been in Forrest's 

family for decades. It is quirky and fun and they have

a lot of work ahead of them, but they seem up for it!

Amy and Dave have moved up to Logan.

The next day we drove up there to visit with them.

Stopped by the temple for a quick pic.

Twenty-two years ago this is where

we were sealed for time and eternity.

Amy and Dave's house is awesome.

I'm sad I didn't take more pictures of it.

The girls' favorite part was the backyard.

It is gigantic, with fun swing sets,

but the BEST part is the pet DUCKS!

Carly is a duck fanatic and part of the deal

with moving away from Colorado is that she could get ducks. 

The girls LOVED playing with them.

We got to jump at a trampoline park.

Macy quit gymnastics, 

but still has a lot of her strength.

And fun to see her doing tricks down the tumble track.

Andrew, Amy, Jack, and I even got to squeeze in 

a little bit of tennis! Hooray! Jack is good!

Lots of fun playing with them.

The next night, we left the kids home 

and went on a double date with Andrew's parents. 

First we played at TopGolf.

I love this place.

I'm not very good, but it's a lot of fun.

All four of us enjoyed it.

Then we went out to dinner at Cafe Rio. Yum!

The next night was the only night

that we ALL got to spend together.

We went up the canyon for a picnic dinner.

Another in the "Splits Across America" series

Part of the experience at Ledgemeer, where we picnic,

is THE CAVE. B had been in it before, but the girls hadn't.

It's fun to explore!

More fun for short people because the entrance is small. :)

Andrew and I took some time to went for a little hike.

These two are going to MISS each other!

Throwing rocks

The three cute 11-year-olds

So fun to chat with everyone.

It was another gorgeous evening.

Throwing rocks at cans.

After dinner, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Since this was the only night when everyone would be together,

we got Reagan to take a big family picture. 

Lauren waited for her missionary, Zac, who is home now.

They are engaged and will be getting married in December.

 Grandma rented a big blow up screen and we watch

Princess Bride in the backyard that night. So fun!

Most of the cousins slept over.

We packed kids wherever we could.

The girls built their fairy village the next morning.

After one short week with Andrew,

it was time to say good-bye.

He had a work trip to Hong Kong,

so flew out on Saturday.

That night we got to go to a hot air balloon festival.

They are so pretty!

Especially at night.

We were introduced to a new card game, Cover Your Assets.

SO fun. I liked it so much, I bought a deck for us AND 

another for Grandma and Grandpa to keep at their house.

Care Bear even talked GRANDPA into playing with her.

We had some fun ping pong games.

It was fun watching Brandon take on his grandparents.

He beat Grandma in a close match.

But he couldn't beat Grandpa.

Grandma and Care Bear had fun playing frisbee one night, too.

When you only get to see your family in short bursts,

you have to squeeze in as much fun and bonding as you can.

And boy did we!

So grateful we could see so many loved ones!

Ethan is living and working in California.

I wish we could've squeezed in a visit with him

while we were there, but I didn't think of it.

And Elise is on her mission in Michigan,

so we missed seeing her as well.