Utah!

The kids and I got to spend 3 fabulous weeks in Utah visiting family and friends and home. Mark only got to come for a few days, but he made it to the big Hill Family Reunion, Kimball's baptism, and our nephew Max's baby blessing so we were happy to have even those few days with him there. I started looking through pictures from our trip to post here, and I was overwhelmed with so many happy memories. I'm not going to try to organize these pictures or even explain all of them, but here are some of the moments from our trip to Utah that I will remember for a long long time.

 A tea party with Grandpa

Cooking breakfast with Popsy (and Tuffie!)

Playing at Nana and Grandpa's house with the cousins. I could hardly believe how grown up and awesome my older nieces and nephews are. I loved getting to know them again.








The Lehi Rodeo

 

Reconnecting with long lost friends! So good to see you, Melanie!

Oh how I have missed Yellowstone. Good family time up there.

The kids were all so excited to fish with Grandpa. I'll never forget how Grant broke down in tears as he looked at his newly caught fish and sobbed, "I made my fish so so sad!" We had a circle of life talk, and he doesn't seem to be too traumatized. Love that kid's kind heart.

Visiting Grandma Lambert was sweet and oh so sad. It did my heart good to see her but it was hard to accept that she doesn't know us anymore. I'm thankful for lots of good memories with her.

Always yummy surprises at Nana and Popsy's

We loved spending time up at the cabin in Midway. Beautiful mountain scenery, good food, late night chats, fun company--what more could we want?

Making stepping stones for the cabin was a great project. I loved watching each kids put so much thought and effort into their stone.













I finally got to meet my babies! Here's little Max, and I also loved getting to know chubby Michael and sweet Aurielle and cuddly Noah. I love little friends.

Birthday boys. Kimball loves celebrating his birthday with Gage.

Exploring the new City Creek Mall downtown (and shopping at H&M!) was really fun. I had no idea it was such a cool place!

Temple trip with the Hill fam at the Draper Temple

The Hill Family Reunion up in Bear Lake was magical. It had been 2 years since I'd seen some of my siblings and family members, and that is just way too long. I really needed to come home for this.

Marshall's basketball camp he put on for the boys was awesome. Kimball felt like a superstar getting to play with and learn from his older cousins and uncle Marsh.











Kimball's Baptism! What a happy thing it was for me to watch my Mark baptize our sweet Kimball and to see Kimball's happy glow all evening. Getting to be there at the same church where I got baptized years ago and where I gained much of my testimony was a neat spiritual bonus for me too. It was just amazing to be surrounded by our supportive, wonderful families and some of our favorite friends from over the years. Happy happy memories.

Acting like ducks at the lake at Daybreak :)

Loving time with Nana

Nothing makes me happier than watching my kiddos play with all of their cousins. Grant still talks about his "big cousins" all the time. :)

A few more fun pics from the family reunion to finish off...

So there you have it. I keep telling myself I'm not homesick, but in all honesty my heart was hurting before I'd even boarded the plane to leave Utah. I'm glad I got to go spend time with everyone and remember how much you're all a part of me, even if I don't get to see you very often. Love you all!