utah/aspen grove

The drive from Las Vegas to Salt Lake was surprisingly easy. We stopped for Swig cookies (meh) in St. George, then stopped in Beaver for cheese and some food. Emma was a great helper while I drove. I even bragged to Spencer that I kept the cruise control on SOLID from Beaver to Provo.

We got to Nana and Grandpa's house and the kids were SO EXCITED to see all of their cousins; it had been 3 years since we had seen some of them. The big kids immediately got to work on their Studio C skit for Aspen Grove's talent show. They had a blast playing. That night we stayed up late talking, and I was eagerly awaiting Spencer's return from England the next day.

Friday we were getting ready for the reunion but we also rented some inflatable water toys for the backyard and the kids got to play and play. I went to Costco (yay for Costco!) and picked up Spencer (yay for him being back in the U.S.!) and we had a big family BBQ that night.

The next day was a little crazy - we got up early and packed and loaded the van. We were all doing a temple session at 10 in Salt Lake, and then we were driving to see friends before heading to Aspen Grove before 5:00.  We snapped a quick picture on our way in...

And after, we got our kids and rushed to Thanksgiving Point to see RaeDene and Danielle. Oh it was so great to see some of my very dearest friends. We served in the Young Women's Presidency together for about two years and had the BEST time. Danielle was in town for a wedding and this one hour was all the time we could muster to be together. It was wonderful. And Danielle had a fun announcement as we were parting ways - that they are having another baby! Seeing these two was so SO good for my soul.

Next we went to see the Eyre's. We only had about 30 minutes because of having to get up the canyon but our kids picked up right where they had left off. It was fun to reminisce about our wonderful 5 years living across the street from each other in Fremont. 

And then we were off to our reunion in Aspen Grove! We checked in and had dinner, and then the kids got to meet their groups for the week.

The week was full of a lot of fun, some sickness (mostly me), not enough sleep, a lot of nature, some crying (Sadie never wanted to go to her class), and some great memories.

Oh man, what a good time we had in Utah. Too bad it's a 20 hour drive or we would do it more often. :)