Road Trip to Utah 2012

We took a car trip to Utah this summer.  Pretty much nothing went as planned.  But here are all of the pictures-- get ready for an overload!

We were supposed to stop & see Tiffany & Justin in Colorado for a few days on the way but because of the forest fires, they were evacuated from their home!  So we just went straight to Utah with a stop at 4-Corners on the way.  The kids did really well in the car with the help of movies, games, songs & Dramamine!  Ha!  It was really fun stopping at Four Corners.  It was 100 degrees but we didn't mind- dry heat is NICE!  Check out the picture of smoke from the fire near Price, Utah.  Crazy!!

As soon as we got to Utah, we spent as much time as possible with cute little Hunter (Zack & Hilary's baby).  He's grown so much since we saw him in February!  Hunter is the best & happiest baby around.  The kids all loved being around him & seeing his laughs & smiles. We miss him so much!


Some more baby love that we got was from Tess.  Our good friends, Ryan & Kaitlin, had their first baby just a few days before we got there.  Tess is SO precious & we were so excited to see our friends!  We miss them being in Texas!

And, of course, we had Cafe Rio 3 times in 4 days.  Oh it was SO delicious.  I could eat it every day of my life. 

My sister got married on July 2nd to Kevin Louder.  We're so excited to have him & his daughters in our family!  Congrats Amanda & Kevin!

We were able to spend the 4th of July with family, which was so fun.  My aunt & uncle live next door to my parents & their pool was just finished right in time!  I got to play in the pool with my cousins-- brought back lots of childhood memories!  We used to do some crazy stuff (see funny hair picture below).  My kids loved swimming around with their 2nd cousins & jumping off the diving board.  Then we ended the day with a BBQ & my dad's famous fireworks.  Days like this make me really miss home!

On the 5th, we headed down to Duck Creek for the cabin.  We were so glad we could go-- earlier in the week a fire was threatening the area but luckily it was contained!  Here are some things we did while we were there:

Every year, the city has a breakfast to raise money for the fire fighters.  It was especially neat this year since there was a camp set up right down the road from the cabin!  We really appreciate all of the fire fighters!

Amanda's kids were with their dad while we were there so we didn't see much of them, but it was fun to have Hailey & Abbie (Kevin's girls) down at the cabin.  Abbie is exactly 2 weeks younger than Alexa-- they had so much fun playing!  Hailey is one creative & fun cousin to have.  So grateful to have them in our family!

On Monday the 9th, we celebrated Grammy's birthday!  Aunt Vicki & Tori had driven in from California & it was SO fun to see them.  Happy Birthday Grammy! We love you!

One evening some of us (us meaning not me) went fishing.  Abbie caught a fish & was SO excited!  Sam caught some too.  Fun times in nature!

Overall we just had a great time in the cabin.  The kids loved playing on the iPads, riding on the 4-wheelers, eating Popsicles on the deck, reading stories with Grandpa, coloring with Grandma, sleeping in different beds, enjoying nature & just being with family

We were definitely ready to head home by the end.  We cut our trip short a couple of days, skipping the St. George leg, & just headed home.  Boy did it feel good to sleep in our own beds!  Trips are fun but its always nice to come home!