September Trip to Utah Part One: Shannon's Wedding

We had a quick trip to Utah for our friend Shannon's wedding.  But first... a little tennis lesson...

Eating my face?

No, giving me a kiss.

Playing at Dallas Love Field Airport.  It's pretty great since being remodeled!

Now that she's old enough that she has to have her own seat, I let her have the window seat.

Max and Peter sat behind us which meant we were on man-to-man defense.

She's really into pretending to be a doctor lately

Woo - - look at those gorgeous mountains!

They didn't sleep on the plane, but they slept in the rental car once we got to SLC.

When we got to my Aunt Tammy's, Maxwell went out with Maryn to pick some tomatoes.

Maryn came with us to the store in the morning.  The kids were really excited to see her.

We dropped the kids off at the zoo with Aunt Aja during the wedding.

Shannon and her groom Colt got married in the same little chapel up at Fort Douglas that Peter and I got married in 13 years ago.  We hadn't been back since the day we were married.  They have switched the room around.  The back of the room now was the front of the room then.

We have a picture in front of these stained glass windows.  They were one of the reasons that I loved this chapel.

Pretending to ring the chapel bell that we ran 13 years ago.

It was fun to revisit so many of those memories from 13 years ago while celebrating a dear friend starting on her own journey in the same place.

The kids were having a great time at the zoo with Aja and her family so we spent a little more kid-free time enjoying some Cafe Rio and then drove up into the canyon to look at the fall colors.

Look at those colors!

I've been working to lose weight for about 5 months and I went shopping to find a dress for this wedding that I would feel good wearing.  I love it!

The kids had an amazing time with Aja and she sure spoiled them.

Maxwell and Korben got along great

Korben, Maxwell, Emmalyn, Ken, and Harleigh

Emmalyn took a few minutes to warm up (she was upset when we didn't go into the zoo with them) but then she was okay.

Cotton Candy, Ice cream, Pizza, oh my!!

They loved riding the train

Love that sweet profile and those baby fingers

Since it was a short trip where we got to see very little family, it was really nice that Aja was able to help watch the kids during the wedding so that they got some time together.

After the zoo we took the kids to the wedding reception with us

My cute family all dressed up and enjoying this fun night.

Maxwell was super happy to see Shannon

Family pic

Sibling pic

Maxwell was waiting all evening to get some time with Shannon.  It was super sweet.  We love her and are excited for her and Colt!

Visitors from Utah - We love having family come see us!!

At the end of July we got to enjoy having part of Peter's family with us for awhile.  It was his mom, brother, and 2 nieces.  It was so nice of them to drive all the way out here.  It was so much fun having them here and Max loved having them around.  He warmed up quickly to them and was constantly asking where they were if they didn't happen to be around.  The girls were so sweet to them and Britt's boys as well.

Our first of many fun activities a MLB game - Go Rangers!!

Enjoying a pickle.  One thing I love about Max - when he says "Thank you" he always ends it by addressing the person he's talking to... so he will say "Thank you, Brittany" or "Thank you, Peter"

Max loved the game and was completely engaged.  He clapped and cheered - so cute!

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Enjoying some frozen lemonade

The group (Donna and Felicia stayed at home)

It was a fun night but a late night.  I thought for sure Max would fall asleep on the long drive home but he didn't!  I was so shocked.  He was having too much fun with Mariah.  They played a game going back and forth where she would say "Baseball game?" and he'd respond with "Soccer game!" ...over and over.  He thought it was so funny.

Our second fun activity - we all went to the Fort Worth Zoo, including Britt and her family.  It was a HOT day!  

Checking out the giraffes

Mariah and Felicia

Posing with Landen inevitably leads to pushing because Max didn't want him right there.

We got to see this brand new baby elephant for a few minutes.  It was so sweet and little!

It was so hot outside that when I went into a bathroom to change Max's diaper (on the ground because there wasn't a changing table - EW!!!!), we spent some extra time just hanging out in there because it was cool.

Our group

Max had fun and was interested in some of the animals.  It's hard because it's easier when he's stuck in the stroller but it's hard for him to see many animals from that vantage point.

We saw a Torchy's Tacos not far from the zoo and stopped for a snack - YUMMY and love their Cane Soda - Doppleganger!

On another day, Grandma came to watch Max at his swim lessons.  It was fun to be able to have her able to watch.

Playing in the water at home while Grandma hung out and watched

I tell him to close his mouth when he's jumping in so sometimes he puts his hand over his mouth, like it's going to help.  But, then as soon as he jumps he moves his hand.  Silly kid.

I had a quick business trip to Maryland to meet with one of our clients, Coke.  Here Nina and Kari are enjoying some crab that they had to work pretty hard to eat.  I didn't touch it.

I did try some Fish n Chips.  I had one bite.  Nope...not going to cut it.

Marc (my boss) getting help with his bib - a theme for the evening.  We had to get help with eating the crab, too.

The perfect ending to my work trip - we found a Janie and Jack outlet so I did some quick shopping. :)

Another fun activity - bowling!

Big thing happened on the 27th - I put Max on the toilet before we got into the shower and he went potty!  I was hopeful that meant he would be ready to start potty training but it didn't.  He wouldn't do it again when I tried for the next few days to get him to do it before his shower.