Utah Trip 2019

This year we went to Utah in June. As always, it did not disappoint! Nothing is better than seeing family and spending quality time together. The morning after we arrived, we went to Courtney and Trevor's wedding. They are such a good match and the wedding was beautiful!! 

A visit to Payson to see Grandpa and Grandma Orme! Isaac and I sang for Grandpa and Grandma. William hid himself in the corner beside the bookcase because he was so mortified. Haha!

Naomi's 4th birthday party! It was a rainbow theme party. Sophie is the master party planner. Isn't that the coolest piñata? Oh and the cutest birthday girl!! It was a lovely evening. I love family get togethers. 

We were cracking up at Van because he asked Sophie what Naomi's favorite color was. She said, "pink". He wanted to wear her favorite color to the party. He found a shirt with a pink stripe on it!

Picking up all the candy!

Naomi loved the Polly Pocket we gave her!

Pedicures with Sophie and Lisa! 

The one thing the boys wanted to make sure we did was COWABUNGA BAY. We didn't get rained out this year thank goodness! 

These two really bonded this trip. It was cute. Gwennie would ask, "When are Van and Will gonna leave?" When we'd tell her how many days, she would say, "Yes!" because we didn't say "tomorrow" and that meant she had more time with her cousins. 

 Of course one of my favorite activities when we visit Utah is to go to the mountains!! Being surrounded by the woods, I realize how much I miss the mountain scenery!!

 Silver Lake

Naomi kept talking about her animal ears (hairdo). So funny!

 This cracked me up when I saw the kids all holding a device. At one point, they made a movie called Jurassic World. Watch it here. It definitely deserves an oscar!

Twinners!

 We went to Solace Ranch for music weekend. We haven't been in two years so it was great to catch up with everyone. We stayed in the Puffin camper. Diane and Jay Shaffer came with cute Calvin. Diane wrote the cutest song for Cal and performed it. We also reunited with our friend and Isaac's mission companion, Sebastian Nye. Doug and Linda's friends are so nice. It's crazy to think how long we've known them. I remember taking William there when he was a baby!

My goal for this trip was to snuggle Wyatt and Zane. I put Wyatt to sleep TWICE. I'm a baby whisperer, what can I say? But seriously, Wyatt is sooooo cute! Brittany and Tyler are the cutest parents too. 

Garrett Girls assemble! It's so rare that we get together at the same time. I'm amazed it's happened the last three summers!

My mom and I were laughing that when we weighed ourselves we were exactly the same weight! 

Ogden Temple for Cami's endowment. She's going to serve a mission this fall to Tucson Arizona-Spanish Speaking!

Kelly's kids zonked out on Grandma's couch. Ha ha!

Will and Chris---only three weeks apart in age!

I love to see the Payne's when we go to Roy. Russ, our friend Tara's dad,  would make us waffles and milkshakes when we'd sleep over in high school.  Good times! I can't eat that kind of stuff anymore! I'm old!

Walking along the Ogden Parkway with my mom. There were tons of cherry trees! Afterward we got an ice cream cone at Farr's. 

Hogle Zoo with Natalie and Lana. The kids spent most of their time at the splash pad. Refreshing on a hot day!

We buried my dad's ashes--almost 10 years after his death. The niche is at a mortuary in Ogden. It was a beautiful ceremony. Very simple and special--just the way my dad wanted it. The military did a Veteran's funeral for us. It was such an honor to stand there listening to the officer play Taps. We watched them fold the flag and present it to my mom. It was very professional and beautiful. We had a little table set up with some of his photos. We wrote letters and put them in the nice with his ashes. Then we opened it up for anyone that wanted to share memories or tributes. All of us kids did. Some of the grandkids did that actually remember Grandpa. We laughed and we cried as we reminisced together. It was perfect. We closed singing "I Stand All Amazed". It's good to have an official place where we can pay our respects from now on. I'm proud of my mom for planning such a nice program. 

 Here is sweet Zane, Natalie and Sipho's son born in April. He loved me...see? Baby whisperer!

 Sipho officially became a US citizen!! We celebrated with red, white, and blue snacks!

We stayed in downtown SLC for our girls' weekend. Downtown is so hip and cool now! They have a vegan ice cream shop!! It's been way too long since I've enjoyed a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream. 

I love these girls. They take such good care of me. 

Lana shaved her head! Initially, it was long on top and shaved underneath, but Lana decided she wanted all of it off so she shaved it herself!! Love her!! It looks so cute. 

So many great memories of this trip!