July Vacation to Utah Part 1

We visited family in Utah for the week of Independence Day. Highlights include visiting one of the local city's celebrations. There was a carnival, which was enjoyed very much by my little girls. They sure do love their rides.

We also visited a train shop and rode on a little train with Grandma and Grandpa.

I caught up with a friend I have known since third grade. She was visiting from Ohio and I was visiting from Arizona, so it worked out.

My cool parents came with us on the hike.

The hike was long, but it was we found ways to make it fun!

Now.

Then.

We hiked up to Timpanogos cave. We haven't done this since I was expecting Ellie. So there are a few "Now and Then" pictures. The cave itself was awesome! It was so cool that my kids are old enough now to kind of enjoy stuff like this rather than just be dragged along.

Grandma and Grandpa at the heart of Timpanogos.

Pretty thrilled with all of the explanations.

No, they actually enjoyed it a lot.

Utah is so pretty. I was so lucky to be able to spend so much of my life there.

Good resting spot on either trip. Now.

Then.

Oh man, how did our girls grow up this fast. On that first trip, we didn't even know that little miss Eliza was a girl yet.

Now.

Then.

It was such a fun day!

From my journal:

We went Utah over Independence Day this year. We drove up there, and had a great time! The drive really wasn't too bad. John was able to get off early from work on Friday, and we were able to arrive at John's parents' house at midnight (AZ time). When we got there David and Melissa's son Andrew was staying there and was awake to greet us. John's dad was asleep on the couch (sitting up with his hand in a chip bag :) ). We saw 11 deer by the side of the road on the drive up there, which made us pretty nervous and definitely on the edge of our seats. (We decided that we were going to fly at Christmas time so that we could avoid the stress of driving in the snow.)

We hung out at John's parents house the next day, and enjoyed spending time with his parents. We went to the Taylorsville Days celebration. There was a carnival where we were able to put the kids on some rides and eat a hot dog. John's dad really liked the car show. I was surprised at how much Miriam enjoyed the rides. She and Ellie went on a long roller coaster, and she had a very different reaction than last summer in Wisconsin. Miriam really seemed to enjoy the experience. That night we watched movies with John's parents. The following day we had a family dinner, where it was great to see everyone. We especially enjoyed hanging out with Norma and Hema that evening. The next day we went to a train store where they had model trains that we could play with. There was a larger one we took a ride on. We had toy guns that we could try to shoot targets with on our ride. The smaller trains were on tracks that you pay to see go. With those ones the kids were able to control the speed, horn, and lights. It was really fun. After a delicious lunch at Cafe Rio, we headed up to Ogden to see my family.

That evening I went up to Brigham City to hang out with my old friend Marcy. She is the oldest friend. She moved into my ward when we were in the third grade. We stayed friends throughout junior high and high school and ran cross country together. Since then we went to different universities and she has spent the last few years in Indiana while her husband was getting a PhD. They are moving to Ohio where he is going to be teaching economics classes at a university. I haven't seen her for economics classes at a university. I haven't seen her for years, although we have kept in touch. It was really fun to see her in person and hang out for an evening.

The next day we did a hike up Waterfall Canyon up by Weber State University, really close by David and Patti's house. They actually joined us and my parents for the hike. I really enjoyed it. It was kind of strenuous, but the weather was relatively so cool and nice, it was so pleasant.  Ellie and Jane were hiking buddies and the steep trail didn't even phase them. We hung out a David and Patti's house afterwards and had a pleasant evening.

On Wednesday we headed down to Utah County (still felt like home) and hiked up to Timpanogos Cave. We just went with my parents this time, but still had a great time having a picnic, hiking, and touring the cave. The hike was long, but some treats and stories helped get the kids through it. I enjoyed remembering the last time I hiked up there with the Guinns and the Jacobsons. We were all expecting our first child. Crazy how time flies! How did my little worm inside of me turn in to this smart, beautiful, creative five year old?! The cave was awesome! The girls really enjoyed it. What an amazing world that we live in! I was surprised the kids didn't get too nervous at anything. In fact it was great to see their curiosity come alive at the new experience. That evening we met up with Glenn and Andrea at a restaurant. It was nice to see them again.