Utah! summer of 2013

So this was the trip that we hadn't really planned on given that we were already headed to Arches in the spring, but when my dad announced his engagement, this trip went into the works. We planned for Enoch to take a whole week off so that we could do more visiting and have to do less intense driving. Utah is a complicated venture on the visiting front. There are many people to see and often is too little time, but we do our best.

We started our trip by driving as far as St. George and staying with my Uncle Stan and Aunt Sally. They are always happy to have visitors. Because some of our visits up north weren't going to work out quite as we planned, we decided to stay in St. George two nights and go to Zion National Park on Monday. It was hot, but there was lots of shade in the park, and the scenery was beautiful. They also have a great shuttle system that gets you around. Asher loved being on the bus.

Trying to get a photo at our lunch spot next to the Virgin River near the Narrows. Didn't go so well obviously--the picture taking anyway.

Where the canyon narrows to form the Narrows. We didn't get that far but close.

More of the majestic canyon walls.I've only been to Zion one other time, and I had forgotten how gorgeous it is.

The handy dandy shuttle system with stops all throughout the park to prevent congestion. They stop every ten minutes about at every drop off and pick up point so you can catch them really easily without waiting too long.

Don't we look lovely under the Weeping Wall? I go for utility far more than style when I am hiking.

The Weeping Wall.

Enjoying a Cheetos break after completing the hike to the lower Emerald Pools.

The huge shade tree by the Lodge where we enjoyed some end of the day rest before heading back to St. George.

We stayed one more night in St. George and then headed on to American Fork. We had some dinner with my sister-in-law Lynette and her family, and then drove about 10 minutes to visit my old friend and roommate Heather Schauers and her husband Jared. It had been way too long since I had seen them, and I loved getting to chat for an hour or so. Heather has an incredible memory, and we laughed about so many memories of our college days. I will definitely be visiting again when we head up there in the future. I love that she is not all that far from Lynette and Terry.

Wednesday our big adventure of the day was driving out to Eagle Mountain to visit Enoch's brother Jared and his family. They are in the process of buying a new home there and are in a rental temporarily, so their life is in a lot of flux, but it was nice of them to still make time for us. The kids played with their cousins, we chatted, and learned that Eagle Mountain is kind of far from the Wasatch Front.

Thursday we mostly hung out with Teryy and Lynette's family. Madison and Kelsey absolutely adored having Julia around and she adored them. Asher loved bonding with his cousins Tanner and playing lots of games on the iPod. We also went on a family tandem bike ride around American Fork. Enoch and I rode the bike and then we had the kids in the trailer behind. I'm sure we looked awesome! That night Enoch and I went to dinner with Jake and Tiffany Walker who moved away from Mesa a few months ago. They also live pretty close to Terry's so I am sure we will try to connect with them whenever we come to town as well.

Terry and Hayden model the asphalt maintenance work look.

Asher and Tanner. Gaming buddies. Thanks to Tanner Asher knows all about Angry Birds Star Wars. Yay!

Swinging with her two favorite cousins. These three were like sisters.

More games.

On Friday we started north for stuff with my family and the wedding. First, though, Lynette and I took the girls and Asher to Build a Bear for some fun. My kids had never done the Build a Bear thing. They thought it was pretty fun. So now we have Bunny and Abby to add to our family.

Friday was also Enoch's birthday, but I will write about that in a separate post. We spent the afternoon in Kaysville at Boondocks with all of my siblings and their kids. Asher and Julia loved the arcade area best. I liked the bumper boats.

Julia rode on this little carousel arcade ride again and again until I know longer had any money on my game playing card.

Then we picked up pizza and cake at Costco and headed over to my Aunt Joan's house in Bountiful for a family dinner with cousins and aunts and uncles. My dad and Bev came too. My dad has not been doing well health wise, but he had a blood transfusion the day before and was able to make the party. He was tired and didn't socialize much. It was fun to visit with some of my cousins and aunts and uncles while the kids played. Then we headed to Enoch's sister JoAnn's in South Jordan to stay for the night.

We had breakfast and did our nails at JoAnn's on Saturday morning. Even Julia got a little color for her nails. Then it was off to the wedding that afternoon. I will write about this in a separate post as well. The wedding was nice, the dinner at the Lion House afterwards was nice, and then we headed back to JoAnn's for our last night in Utah. Sunday we made the long drive home. I'm reminded of why I like to stopover in St. George. It was a good trip full of people we love, and it's nice that the kids do pretty well with all of the movement and change.