Utah!

Before heading out to Chile we decided to go see the families. We started in Utah and we did SO much! We really packed a lot into a week seeing family, friends and our favorite Utah places. We were very fortunate that Megs came down to see us from BYUI twice while we were there and Melissa and Brookie came up from Texas to be with us too. Unfortunately, Reed couldn't come this time. He had to stay home and learn how to be a surgeon. What can you do? Luckily we'll see them again at Thanksgiving. Here are some of the things we did:

Hanging with Family - We went to the cemetery on Memorial Day to remember our family members who have moved on to the next life. Here we are in front of Grandpa Taylor and Steve Taylor's graves. The extended family came as well. It was the first time they had a chance to meet Amaya!

We also saw the Connelly side of the family. Here we are at dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Connelly, Trisha and Josie.

Going to the Hogle Zoo - on Memorial Day we went to the zoo. Megan came down from Idaho and wanted to go with Jay so much! It was a blast, although very crowded.

Hiking in the mountains - it wouldn't be a trip to Utah without hiking in the mountains with Grandma! She loves to take Jay up Rock Canyon to their special cave. Mommy and daddy decided to sleep in instead of hike :) Look at all the snow on the mountains in the background! Utah got dumped on this year. It was so green and beautiful there.

Playing in the snow with Alex - Grandma took Jay and Alex Heiner up to Aspen Grove to play in the snow. Jay, as you can see, had SO much fun. Alex is the sweetest young man. He always loves to see Jay when we visit. We sure love Alex!

Hanging at the cabin - of COURSE we spent as much time up at the cabin as possible! We went hiking, golfing, "fishing" (we only had Jay's little kid fishing pole which wasn't too useful but made watching the boys try pretty hilarious), and we spent a few beautiful days at the Johnson Mill B&B. The mill was owned by my Great Uncles back 100 years ago when the Heber area was first settled by the Mormon pioneers. A couple by the last name of Johnson bought the mill 5 years ago and converted it into a beautiful B&B. Though the house is renovated, flour still falls from the the rafters when the doors open and close. 

We also saw Zina on this trip - she just got back from a whirlwind trip to Kazakhstan, Dubai and Egypt. We had so much fun listening to all her crazy stories.

Seeing friends - another highlight of the trip included seeing friends! I don't have pictures of everyone we saw, but I do have a few. One night we left the kids with grandma and had a wonderful dinner up in Salt Lake at a Spanish restaurant with our good friends Paul and Summer Gunn. We hadn't seen them for about 3 1/2 years and it was so nice to catch up. We actually spent 4 hours at the restaurant and it was wonderful! They just let us sit and eat and talk. We also saw Nikki and TJ Packer one night for a BBQ with Jimmy, Bryce and Jeremy. Mike's friends came up to the cabin one night to hang out and golf the next day. Another day Mike and I drove up to Ogden and saw our friends Matt and Lauren Trejo. Here are a few pics of the boys at Chuck-E-Cheese.

I saw Jessie and Mikaela twice.  One day just the girls got together at Jessie's new house in Salt Lake. It is so crazy we have 5 kids all together now. We have known each other about 7 years now. It's amazing how much life changes over 7 years! We love these wonderful people so much. Another night all 3 couples had dinner together at the Price's. It was so much fun to see them.

What a trip! We definitely packed in a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone who made it so wonderful! We love all of you so much.