3rd Utah Trip

I was lucky enough to be able to spend about a month in Utah for my third trip this summer.  This gave me something to look forward to all summer while Matt and I were  apart.  I was there from July 10 through August 11!  I worked part-time remotely, but I also found lots of time to party.  I feel bad that I didn't get to see a lot of the people I had planned on seeing because I was sick for quite a bit of it. :P  More on that coming later!  I lost some of the pictures when my hard drive died, but thankfully, I was able to get most of them back.

The first weekend I was there my sweet parents booked a hotel room for us in Park City so we could have a little getaway.  On Friday night we went out to dinner and then made our way to our hotel.  We got treats and watched TV and mostly just relaxed.  I was exhausted so I fell asleep early.  On Saturday we slept in, woke up, got ready, and went to Kneaders for breakfast!  I love that place.  I also love Park City.  It was about 10 degrees cooler than SLC which was a nice break from the heat.  After breakfast we went to the Olympic Park.

So awesome, right?

We watched the ski jumpers for almost an hour.  That was one of the highlights.  Those people are either REALLY brave or crazy.

Then we rode the chair lift up to do the zipline down the mountain.  Matt was really nervous.  It was kind of funny/cute.  When we were getting on the chair lift the guy running it said, "Do you want your bar up, or down?"  Matt said, "What kind of psycho wouldn't want the bar DOWN?!"  :)  He's a little bit afraid of heights so the ride up the mountain might have been the worst part.  He kept wanting to just go back down.  When we arrived at the top, they put us in harnesses and we put our knees against the doors in front of us.  Suddenly they opened the doors and we basically fell out and started careening down the mountain!  It was so fun!  Matt loved it.  I was glad I made him go with me.

One of the best parts of our little getaway was just driving around with the windows down and listening to music.  There is something that happens when you move away from the mountains for a while--you become obsessed with them when you see them again!!  It's funny because I grew up in Utah and I think many times I completely forgot the mountains were even there.  Now, going back...I can't get enough of them.  I love that you can just drive down the freeway and enjoy this incredible view!

We also had a few fun family gatherings.  These pictures are from a party with Matt's extended family.  Good food, fun people, and pickle ball?  Can't go wrong there!

Dad with cute Blakeley in the kiddie pool :)  LOVE those chunky thighs!!

Chase and Evie were loving this little jeep--I couldn't even get chase to look up for the picture.

We also found an opportunity to meet up with these cute friends of ours for dinner at Zupas.  We adore this couple.  Jon and Rachel have faced infertility with us and are now expecting their first little girl in November.  We could not be more excited for them!

Wow, we always took for granted that the temple was so close to us in Utah--no matter where we lived!  Now it's about 3.5 hours one way to the Chicago temple and if you calculate gas and tolls it costs about $75.  We definitely wanted to go as much as we could while we were in Utah!  It was also fun to visit the temple where we were married!

Me and Matt at the Jordan River, Utah temple

It just so happened that my cute cousin, Emily was visiting from England while I was there.  It was fun to meet up with her and my sister Melissa for lunch one day!

Emily with my cute nieces and nephews

Melissa, Emily, and Me

One day I was watching TV, and this happened.

Yep.  We're famous. :)  I'm so glad we get to be associated with this amazing organization.

Matt's little sister Stacie and her husband Christian also welcomed this little girl into the world while we were there!  We could not love you more little Ellie!

Christian and baby Ellie

We also celebrated Matt's 28th birthday on August 5.  Oh how I love this guy.

Now Matt has a hoodie with the number of his favorite BYU football player, thanks to my parents the Ute fans.

"VAN NOY YOU STUD!" --Matt

And we spent a lot of time just hanging out with the fam.  All the kids adore Matt and it's pretty much the cutest thing in the world.  

I love the look of pure joy on Blakeley's face in this picture.

I love these cuties.

Blakeley poked a hole in her cucumber where the seeds once were so Matt put it on her big toe, naturally.  She loved it.  She kept pulling it off and handing it to Matt to put back on her toe.  We love this little girl to pieces.

We'll miss you Utah!  See you at Christmas!