Utah Trip

Laura and Brant

On August 3rd, we woke up early, packed up the car, and headed to Utah for the weekend. A friend I grew up with was getting married (Laura). I thought it would be a great opportunity to not only see her, but also her family. The wedding ceremony was in the afternoon so we left at 6:15am to get to Utah on time. It was a long trip down with one unhappy 4-month old and 2 stops (one for gas, one for food). Thankfully Laken was a trooper and handled the trip pretty well...thanks to the DVD player. We got to the Draper Temple with plenty of time to spare. We walked around the temple grounds for a bit to stretch our legs then found some shade to relax in and let Laken play. Jared and I had to change our clothes in the car. Finally Laura's sisters and family started arriving. It was fun seeing my best childhood friend (Jenny) and her family. It's still weird for me to see her with 3 kids. We were able to leave our kids with some family members of the groom (so, basically strangers to us...but hey, it was at the temple). It was a nice, quick ceremony. It was great seeing Laura so happy and seeing most of the rest of her family. After the ceremony, we stuck around for a picture then took off. We were all tired and hot and ready to get our hotel room.

We stayed in a cheap hotel in Provo. It wasn't too bad for the price (a small "kitchen", couch, 2 queen beds and lots of room). The only problem was that while we were gone that evening, our air conditioner stopped working so we had to sleep in a hot room, but thankfully we were able to switch rooms the next afternoon.
Anyway, Friday evening, Andrew came to see us and brought us some pizza. After eating, he took off and we went to Laura's reception. Both boys fell asleep on the way there but woke up once we got out of the car. We were late getting there but were still able to listen to Laura sing a song, see them dance, and watch them cut the cake. I was also able to visit and catch up with another old friend (Lauren Brothersen). We didn't stay too long at the reception since we were all tired from the long day of traveling.

Checking out the bear statue

Watching some small mammal

The next day we were going to go to the zoo with Andrew. He didn't get out of work until after one in the afternoon so we just hung out in the hotel until he came over. It was probably a good thing we did because we were able to get both boys to take much needed naps. Then we went to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. It was a hot day, but we still all enjoyed the zoo. Laken loved all the animals and did some good impersonations of the monkeys. Some fun things we saw at the zoo were: a polar bear who would swim up to the window, kick off with his back legs, then swim back and do it all over again, a baby elephant, and lots of monkeys. Unfortunately somehow we missed the lions and tigers. I'm glad we were able to find a cheap double stroller a few weeks ago and use that at the zoo. Laken was really good about climbing in to sit down when we asked him to. After walking around the zoo for a couple hours, we went out to eat for dinner then got back to the hotel room and put the boys down for bed.

Carter chilling in the stroller

Laken watching one of his favorite animals: a monkey

Laken watching the sea lions

Polar bear at the window

One of my favorite animals

On Sunday morning, we packed up the car and checked out of the hotel. We met up with Andrew at a waterfall in the Provo Canyon. It was cool that morning and the water was cold, but that didn't stop Laken and Jared from getting in. Jared took Laken and climbed up the waterfall and got about halfway up the bottom part. I was nervous when they started getting high but Jared said Laken was the one who kept on climbing up and loved every minute of it. I'm just glad neither of them fell. After we spent some time at the waterfall, we said good-bye to Andrew then headed up to Salt Lake.

Our $5 stroller

Bridal Veil Falls, Provo

Laken climbing

Getting high

You can barely see them in this picture (in the middle)

Andrew was nice enough to get a picture of us

We got to Salt Lake right at lunch time so we had to find a place to eat (which isn't easy in Temple Square on Sunday). We had to walk a few blocks away just to get some food, then walk back to Temple Square. We were able to go in the visitors centers, see the Christus, see the Temple, walk around the gardens, and take some pictures. When it got too hot and late in the afternoon, we decided it was time to start our long trip back home. This time, not only was Carter fussy, but Laken was as well. We finally had to turn off his DVD player and turn on some music to get him to calm down and fall asleep. Carter is always fussier in the car and doesn't sleep well. But we finally made it back home.

It was a long trip, but definitely worth it. It was great seeing old friends, spending time with Andrew, and doing some things in Salt Lake with our boys.