Utah - Days 1&2

Thank goodness my hives went down just in time for us to get on the road for Utah. Somehow we got the house ready, packed up, and got on the road by about 3:30 on Saturday. Our plan had been to leave earlier, but that was impressive if you would have seen how unprepared we were that morning! We drove to St. George and spent the night there.






I just had to take a picture of Lexi dancing in one of the bathroom stops!





I couldn't help but do this before and after collage. Isn't that scary? It's sort of jaw-dropping. I am so grateful my face did not stay that way.





We were so lucky, the drive was beautiful and the weather was perfect. The girls kept wishing for snow, and we did see a little bit, but not much.






we pulled into the Salt Lake Valley just before 3 o'clock. When we had found out that Jaden was scheduled to speak in church that day, we decided to do everything we could to be ready to pull up to the ward building just in time to watch him speak. We got there about 10 minutes before sacrament started, perfect timing! That was pretty special for us to be able to be there since it is so seldom we would get that chance.





I'm sure it's not the most appropriate thing to be taking pictures in church, but I was pretty sly about it and couldn't help but capture just a couple!





Jeannine and Neal came out as well!











Afterward, Maren invited us out to have dinner at her house. We were able to play games and have the kids play and eat a really yummy dinner. It was a fun way to kick off our Thanksgiving week!












That night, we arrived at Gam and Pa's house around 10:30 PM. It feels like coming to an extension of our home when we get there. It's so fun that we have our own space in the basement to spread out and make a mess and just feel comfortable. The next morning, we woke to a special day! It was Lexi's 11th birthday!











I have to say, I was pretty blown away at this beautiful message that Jordyn wrote to Lexi and posted on Instagram. It's not often you hear your children express themselves this deeply, and it brought tears to my eyes because it was so heartfelt. They are so lucky to have each other.





I'm sure lucky to be able to be Lexi's mom. It is a joy and I absolutely love watching her blossom and grow and continue to become more of who she is meant to be.





That evening, I had invited everyone over, with Jeannine's permission of course, to come over and have pizza with us and celebrate with the dessert Lexi had been requesting for months: my slushy punch and chocolate chip muffins. (this candle is too funny, we could not find any birthday candles in the kitchen, so I grabbed a huge candle from the China cabinet and shoved it in the muffin.)

































































Carly was able to stop by for a little while in between work and big huge papers she's writing for school.











The Hintze fam got Lexi this really cute dance shirt!





And Gam and the Gertson's got her this footbath with lotions and scrubs. She was so excited!


















Awe, Annie's sixth [furry] baby, Maggie.











It was quite a fun day!