Catching Up Part 1 - UTAH

 Where to begin... I am SOOOOO behind here.

I think I will just start with our big summer trip.  We went to Utah (Adam's 1st time back in 4 1/2 years).  We only had a week to do and see THE ENTIRE STATE.  We didn't want to waste one second sitting around saying "what should we do today..." -  so our trip was all planned out.  We even made sure our plane tickets had no layovers to maximize our time (and also because our little boy gets air-sick).  

WELL, as fate would have it... our less than three hour flight turned into a LONG 6 HOUR DISASTER.  There was a storm in SLC and after circling the airport, we weren't permitted to land.  Turns out we needed gas, so we flew to BOISE, IDAHO.  BLAH.  And THEN - instead of fueling our airplane, the entire tarmac got fueled.  Yay for a gas spill adventure - NOT.  The fumes came into the aircraft and they had to shut off our A/C!  BLECH!  Sad.

 This is how Adam felt about it.

Even though I wasn't prepared with many snacks or drinks (since I thought we were going on a SHORT plane ride...) - Ambree and I tried to remain positive.

But Poor Caden felt like THIS:

 And he ended up puking all over his shirt (and my arm).

Thank you to the nice man who bought him a cool SLC T-Shirt.  Soooo kind!!!

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 After our rental car problems and a few traffic delays, we finally made it to Adam's brother's house.

 It was soooo good to see them and meet their cute little boy!

YAY FOR CEDAR CITY!

Our trip got really amazing the second we saw THIS:

 Hiking Kanarraville Falls with family was one of the very most special high-lights of our trip!

 This hike felt like home to us.  ;)

Uncle Ben was so good to Caden and helped him many times along the way.

 Sleepy Ambree disappeared toward the end of the hike.  Ha ha.

 We didn't think this picture would work, but somehow, Diane propped it up on some rocks and I'm amazed at how good it turned out.  ONE shot and we are ALL looking at the camera!  Priceless :)

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 It was soooooo fun for me to see my friends.  I miss these girls and their families SO MUCH!  I wish they could all move to Texas with me and be my neighbors.

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We did so much driving, but Caden and Ambree were pretty good through it all.

Are they cute, or what?

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The next day we went to St. George.

First stop was swimming at Sand Hollow.

 Then our good friends joined us for hiking at the Dixie Rock.

I got to see my Kaycee while our kids played. We all had a really great time.  

I'm so glad their family could join us.  MISS YOU GUYS!

 We meant to get over to the temple where we were married, but this was as close as we got:

 We kept on the move and visited the college to reminisce.  

Check it out - my hand-print is at Dixie State College forever and ever:

 I'm famous :P

Another big highlight was going to Tuachan to See TARZAN.  Tuachan is one of my very favorite places in the world.  It's like broadway in the desert.  I was so happy to go.  Caden loved it too.

It was really sad when he scrapped his knees up right after he fell getting away from that Indian statue.

But he cheered up.

Tarzan was just AWESOME!

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 The next day we stopped by Cove Fort on the way to SLC.

 It was a welcomed break for the kids and a happy accident that there was a festival there that day.

We got free hot dogs and chips and drinks!

 Plus we got to participate in some fun activities.

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In SLC, we played with cousins.

 We checked out Temple Square.

We visited with cute Great-Grandmas.

 

And went to the BEST SUSHI dinner I've ever had with a good family friend:

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  Then it was time to head to Bear Lake for a family reunion.  We were excited to see everybody.

We stopped in Logan at a small and fun zoo/park.

 Adam and I goofed off too:

 Yes - we really are THAT attractive!  ;)

 

The Reunion was a BLAST:

The cabin was awesome and the kids all became fast friends.

 - BOATING!

- Playing on the beach!

And some of my family members met up with us to check out the Minnatonka Cave!

It was a COOL - pretty dang COOL for our thinned out Texas blood ;)

   As luck would have it, my camera died before we actually got to go inside it...no cave pictures for me.  :(

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So there were some tears that were shed along the way,

 But MOSTLY, it was a GREAT trip :)