My Buddy Dan and the 500 Other People We Saw in Utah

Okay, it wasn't quite 500 people, but it sometimes felt like it! For Clayton's week off in March, we went to Utah as a kind of mid-way point for both sides of the family. We stayed at my Aunt Marsha's house with my parents and brothers, but we also got to see Clayton's parents and most of his siblings. Here are a few highlights:

- meeting "my buddy Dan" and all the rest of the infamous roommates that live with my brothers, Chris and Steven, and Clayton's brother, Brock, in their apartment. It was also fun to see the crowds of girls hanging around such a good-looking group of guys.

- seeing aunts, uncles, and cousins that I hadn't seen in years - some 6 years, some over 12! We even managed to be there for one of Clayton's cousins' mission farewells.

- Clayton snow-skiing with Brock, my brothers, and a few other relatives

- seeing our shy little Luke warming-up to the crowds amazingly well and even playing with Marsha's neighbor kids like they were all old friends

- Clayton and I sneaking away to see a few of the old haunts from our BYU days. It is fun to reminisce, but it's even more fun to see how much better things have gotten and how great our lives have turned out so far since those early days of dreaming.

- The Conference Center and a bit of Temple Square with our kids. My favorite part was when my sweet grandma (who has Alzheimer's) was so taken with everything about the Conference Center (even though she'd been there many times). Then, we walked across the street to Temple Square and right to the old Tabernacle. Within a minute or two she said, "Didn't they build a new one of these?" We are sad that her mind isn't what it used to be, but she is sometimes a great source of a good chuckle.

- Finally meeting my new brother-in-law, Jeff, and the kids' first cousin, Sadie. Luke and Audrey were quite enamored with both.

- Taking the kids to Jumpin' Jacks bounce house with my brothers, Mitch and Alex, and Kayla and Jeff. Luke has asked me several times when we're going back, but Utah is a little bit far away.

- A fun little date for Clayton and I involving driving a BMW convertible up the mountain to see the valley and Draper Temple lit up for the night, and lots of Cold Stone ice-cream.

- Eating (and throwing-up) a whole lot of Mexican food. I was sure that I wouldn't want any more for weeks, but I made enchiladas our first day back home. Call me crazy.

I don't know if we'll be rushing back to Utah any time soon for a vacation, but we look back on this one fondly. It was just a little bit stressful trying to coordinate spending time with so many people in a very short week. I had no idea we knew and are related to so many people in Utah! We really appreciate Marsha and Paul's incredible hospitality and everyone who travelled there to see us. It was so nice to be together, if only for a short time.

Touring the Conference Center and Temple Square




Clayton and his brother, Brock


Mitch (very recently returned from doing awesome at a National swim-meet) livin' it up for his 17th birthday! I guess I should point out that that's our cousin, Kaydee, and not some random hot girl.


Pregnant me working a little bit on my vacation.