Mountain Air

 We spent the second half of our trip with my parents and siblings. It was such a fun week seeing friends and family.  Monday started off with a haunted tour down the Provo River.  I was a little nervous about how Abby would react to it but she liked it. We even had a pirate jump in the freezing river and climb into our boat. Pretty spooky for a kid, but she stayed calm.  Phew. (Ah, what college kids do to earn a living.) 

The next couple days were spent visiting friends in the area while my parents worked.  Abby got to see Lyndsey again and those two instantly got back to the good 'ole' times. We also were able to meet up with Shani, Steph and Kimi at the park as well, which was a great time.  It was quite the scene when we headed to Dicks Market for lunch.  All of us paraded in the store with 8 children under the age of 4. It was fun trying to chat over all the chaos.   

 This trip the girls were able to visit Hogle Zoo for the first time. That place has changed a lot!  It had been more than a decade that I had been there and I was impressed.  We had a good time with Sarah and her boys. (She was awesome to share her pass with us. Thanks Sarah!) The elephants and polar bear were definitely a big hit.   I had a hard time pulling the girls away from them. We will definitely be returning to the zoo next time we're in Utah.

I was even able to do a fun dinner with friends while my parents took the girls.  It was great to get out, chat about life and get a little break.  Later in the week we also met up with Amy and Sarah for a fun lunch with the kids.  I have such great friends and I sure am lucky to have them.  Thanks ladies!

My parents knew one of our biggest requests was to visit the mountains. They planned a drive up the canyon to Silver Lake, which was heavenly.  The mountains did not disappoint.  It was beautiful with all the Fall colors. I love jacket weather. The air was so crisp, I wanted to bottle it up and take it home with me.  We meandered around the lake and the girls enjoying throwing lots of rocks in the water. They could splash rocks for hours and hours.  Kate had a hard time moving on from the water because she was definitely 'in her element.' We even found some ducks which thankfully helped distract from the rocks.  We could have spent all day at that lake. It was a little taste of paradise for sure.

The weekend came and we enjoyed a relaxing couple days watching General Conference.  There is always a session at Conference that is held Saturday evening for the men.  It's been a tradition for us ladies to all get together while the men are in meetings.  So, we had a much anticipated 'ladies night' and it was perfect.  The night was complete with pedicures, dinner and games with Shano, Andrea, and Lincoln. Good times.  Sunday morning was nice because my dad was able to get tickets to a Conference Session.  (My mom was kind and stayed home with my crazy girls. Thanks Mom.)  We returned home to watch the last session and had a fun dinner party with my moms family. The girls had a blast with their cousins on the trampoline. We loved seeing everyone.   

 I do have to say that one of the girls favorite outings was visiting Nana after work.  Salt Lake has the new City Creek Mall with water fountains galore. The kids had a grand time splashing through the water in their clothes.  Nana and Pops finished off the night by treating us to a gourmet caramel apple. Mmmmm.  As we walked back to our car eating our apples, my dad decided to stop by the reflecting pool in front of the temple. Great idea, though I wasn't expecting it to become a swimming event.  Kate was very curious about the sight of her reflection so my dad decided to help her get a little closer. Well, it was history from there. She did a head dive, completely immersed and was drenched. Opps.  Surprising?!...not the least. I must say it was a sight just waiting to happen.  Good thing a wedding wasn't going on because many brides get their picture taken at the reflecting pool. 

 The end of our trip came much too quickly, and we somehow found ourselves packing again.  It was really hard to leave.  It was so nice to be with family. The girls did NOT want to get on the plane to go, which made the flight a bit challenging, but we survived. :)  It was worth the crazy plane flight to be with everyone.   Family is where it's at.  We love you all!

Now, as usual, WAY too many pictures, but I want them to have for the digital scrapbooks, so ignore what you want.  Thank goodness for phones that take fairly good pictures now because I used it a lot. 

At the Reflecting Pool.

Pops trying to wring out Kate's clothes from her 'swim.'

The fountains.

In our own little paradise.

The ducks

Conference. My favorite time of year.

Trying to get pictures with our phones.   My sister is gorgeous. That girl can't ever look bad in a picture. 

Swinging at Nana and Pops

Making Pizza at Nana's.

I had to take this picture:  Only in Utah.

It was Nadine's first time getting a pedicure.

Hogle Zoo

The Lion Fountain from when I was little.  Ha!  It's still around.

Sarah and her cute little boy, Jordan.

Wonderful friends.

Fun with Shano, we love her.

Hangin' with the Parke girls.

Brett's grandparents.



Kate was attached my cousin Tiffany, I can see why. :)



The picture below is just what I caught of my cousins...So CUTE!  The Brown Family is awesome.  Little Mason is adorable.



Abby and her cousin Amanda.

Taking our journey back home.
Don't be deceived by the cuteness of these pictures.  They were quite the pair on the plane, especially Kate.

Kate had NO FEAR of the mean cat, Kit.  I love this video. My moms commentary through the whole thing is too funny.