Traveling Through Space and Time... to Utah.

So we went to Utah.

It was a fabulous trip, if a little too short--but then when is it not? We saw Mia get baptized, celebrated Foxx's first birthday, saw Rick and Nathalie perform with their choir twice, and watched Mia and Kennedy do some awesome dancing at the Westmore dance festival. We played a lot of games, hiked the foothills near Rock Canyon, and generally had a great time.

To begin with, my dad picked us up in the morning and took us to the airport. We were heading straight to Mia's baptism from the airport, so we tried to make everything go as quickly as possible. It didn't quite work. First of all, the flight took as long as they said it would (not like our flight back home, which landed half an hour early, and like many other Delta flights I've been on), so we reached the Salt Lake airport at 10:12. Then, instead of having seats in row 6 like we'd requested when we bought the tickets, we sat in the very last row on the plane. And then, it took us about ten minutes to find Liz and Jeremy, who were picking us up on their way down from Ogden. 

All hindrances aside, though, we made it just in time for the baptism...

After which everyone headed back to Mike's parents' house for Foxx's birthday party. We gave him presents and cake, and then we played Boggle (one of our favorite pastimes). 

That night we drove to Temple Square and watched Rick and Nathalie sing with the Wasatch Chorale, which was a lot of fun. Their music was beautiful. 

Sunday morning was fantastic: We slept in a little bit, and then we played Scattergories and Life with Anna Banana. This was probably one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. I don't know, maybe it's because we never just sit down and play board games anymore, or because there was a giant pig involved, or maybe because Anna is just that awesome. But I had a lot of fun. 

That afternoon Dan and Candice came over, and Liz and Jeremy came back from seeing his parents, and we all went up to BYU and took family pictures. 

They were cut short by rain, so we went home and had another yummy dinner and hung out playing games. Dan and Candice gave Mike a late birthday present and me an early one, and we both got the same thing--gift cards to Borders...

...And so, Monday morning, we headed straight to the Riverwoods to use them. But first, we were astonished to wake up to... winter!

 Mike didn't end up buying anything, but I found a book called The Great Artists and Their Important Works (that link is for the British version, mine's a bit different), which I subsequently carried around with me for the rest of the trip and read every time we were in the car. I can't wait until we put our coffee table together just so I can put that book on it. 

That afternoon we drove around Provo, visiting BYU campus and our old apartment, saw a truly terrible movie at the dollar theater (Diary of a Wimpy Kid--don't waste your time), ate at Hogi Yogi/Teriyaki Stix (which I miss so much when we're in Texas!), and went to Rock Canyon. Then we went over to Dan and Candice's and hung out with them and the kids.

Tuesday morning was the dance festival, which was amazing, and followed by visits to the girls' classrooms at school. It's so weird walking around the elementary school where Mike went when he was a kid! I can just picture him, walking around the halls all little and adorable. It was also really nice that Amber and Ben (the girls' birth mother and stepfather) didn't show up, because having them lurking sinisterly a few feet away always dampens the experience. They are super not nice.

Then, Mike and I took a long walk around Orem in the most amazing weather. That night we went to Rick and Nathalie's second concert and left early so that we could go see the girls before they went to bed, after getting home from their mother's. During that time Dan was also fixing my computer, bless him, and we played with the kids and took a lot of pictures of them.

For our last act as on-vacationers, we got Beto's (technically now Rancherito's, but we will never call it that) and went back to the house to hang out with Anna, who we hadn't gotten to see much of since Sunday. She gave us almost-professional massages, which were fantastic, and surprised us quite a bit with how strong she is. We went to bed late that night, but it was worth it. 

And then, the next morning, we packed up and left. Dan and Candice came over to drive us to the airport, and Nathalie made us yummy waffles with whipped cream and strawberries--which I didn't eat enough of, because when we got to the airport I was starving. Like I said, our flight home was super short and arrived home half an hour early, following some rather bouncy turbulence during the landing process. Benjamin picked us up, Mike drove because he was already feeling carsick from the violent landing, and then we were home!

We'd turned off the AC before leaving, of course, so our apartment was really hot, and we decided to go to the pool while we waited for the air to cool down. It was a fabulous idea! It seemed like a really long time since we'd last gone swimming, and the water felt amazing. We ate some dinner and then both went to bed early, exhausted from the traveling (and, we think, a bit dehydrated).

And now we are back at work! Vacation over. It was great, and I'm so glad we got to go. Now all that remains is for the Utah Shortens to come to Texas!