That first week, we had fun at the West Jordan City Park with Derek and Keolani and their cute girls. That play structure is MASSIVE-basically a small city. Rachel could play in there for days! That evening we went to watch the Alta Football game where Doug coaches. We all really enjoyed it! Rachel loved the dancing Hawk mascot, and we even got to see some girls dancing at halftime (my favorite part of any football game. Haha!) We also went to Malia's wedding reception where we reunited with dear friends. (Rachel was so excited to see Stacia, but she got a little nervous when I tried to take her picture.)
I had been praying that we could find some kind of service we could do as a family, so when we heard the Robinsons were moving, we of course wanted to help. (We were probably in the way more than we were helpful, but it was fun to carry a few things and spend time with dear friends. So excited for their beautiful new home!) We spent Saturday evening with Dave and Sarah Martin and their three little munchkins, then Paul sang a song from “Savior of the World” in the 11th ward on Sunday. It was a crazy day-running from that to nap time and Cartwright family time at Silver Lake, then a YPM goodbye party for the Camps followed by the Martin Movie Night group. It was sure fun to see so many people we love!
Early Monday morning, I met Denise for an Xtend Barre class in SLC. HOLY COW! It rocked my world. I’m not completely out of shape, but I hadn’t really worked my core muscles like that in probably 3 years. I was light headed and my limbs were falling asleep, but I pushed through class and absolutely loved it! Not only was it a great work out, but I really figured out how to stretch out some of the lactic acid, so I wasn’t even sore the next day! That evening, we packed up all of our stuff and travelled down to stay with the Wrights in Provo for a week, but not without stopping for dinner at TUCANOS! OHHHHH how we’ve missed you. :)
One highlight of the trip so far was boating in Utah Lake with Summerisa and her family. The girls loved it-especially Rachel! She sat on my lap in the tube and just GIGGLED her little head off! She liked steering the boat too, while mommy took a turn on the tube, and “boats” and “tubes” are regularly mentioned in our evening prayers. It was so fun to catch up with Summerisa and Spencer. I wish we lived closer, but it’s awesome to know we can still be friends and keep inspiring each other half a world away!
That night, we regrouped and made it out to Saratoga Springs for an amazing Mexican feast provided by the wonderful Wallace family! They shared good food, good thoughts, and lots of loving memories with us. We left feeling so uplifted and grateful for their examples of faith and family.
Uncle Jeff landed in Salt Lake the next day, so we made a visit to Margie’s for some squish time. This was his first time meeting Alice and I think they got along just fine. :)
We finished off the day with a classic summer BBQ at the Lockwood/Debirk residence with lots of Harts around too! Aurie and Rachel had fun feeding the fish, reading books, sliding, and playing with SO many toys! We could hardly pull them apart.
Thursday morning, Paul left bright and early for a three-day adventure in the mountains with all the Abegg uncles and male cousins. They have fun camping, 4 wheeling, fishing, and shooting guns in the Manti LaSalles every year. I am so glad he has that family tradition, even though we missed him terribly. While he was away, we went to help Uncle Ben clean and move into his new place-a cozy little house with NINE BOYS right south of campus-complete with two hammocks in the backyard! Rachel decided to break a glass in the middle of lunch which meant both girls were screaming over soggy lunches while I tried to clean up the broken glass and keep feeding them. (Epic mom win) We went to dinner at Pizza Factory with the Lockwood/Debirk/Hart crew, and Rachel now believes that every straw or straight object in a restaurant is meant for performing “Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo”.
The next day, I was determined to get us to Seven Peaks (with Ben’s help) but after a mountain of confusion around passes and whatnot, we got there to discover it was closed! Bummer. We made a fun day of it at the Provo Rec center instead. Rachel thought it was really fun to be a shark in the lazy river and wrap up in three towels. That night, I got to visit with Aunt Becky for a bit, and then Kayleigh came over to help take the girls to Rock Canyon Park where we killed a black widow… well, we watched a nice man kill it for us… and we rolled down the big hill… well, Kayleigh and Rachel did.
I spent all of Saturday counting down until Paul got back. Between Rachel’s stomach problems, both girls boycotting nap time, and my own mental exhaustion, I gave myself an honorary Nobel Peace Prize for making it out of the house at all. We actually went to the store to get a wedding present for Jo, picked up Paul from Lehi and brought him a change of clothes, then drove straight to Kaysville for the reception! We were late, underdressed, exhausted, and a little smelly, but we made it! And it was an absolute treat to see everyone on the McKay side of the family-even if it was short. Rachel and I had a great chat about Makaelee’s dress and how she and Jo got married in the temple! Rachel told everyone “I’m going to get married in the temple, too!”
Thus, week one in Utah was a great success. Stay tuned for week two…
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