September Trip to Utah Part Two: Shannon's Wedding

The second part of our short trip was about seeing the Great Grandparents.

First stop: Grandma and Grandpa Blanks.  The kids had a lot of fun playing the piano.

Playing this trumpet that I'm sure my aunts played on too, it's so old.  :)

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of my grandparents.

Next stop was Grandma Nelson's.  

Emmalyn found this cash register at Aunt Tammy's house and LOVED it.  She has dragged it around with us.  

Grandma cooked some delicious meatloaf for us.  It's always a treat to get her cooking.  Her food is part of many memories for me.  I was lucky to get to enjoy it a lot when I was in college and lived here part of the time.

Emmalyn was so tired and it was time for a nap, so I made a little pallet for her on the floor.  I thought it was super unlikely she would fall asleep but she totally did!

Emmalyn enjoyed a pb & j sandwich with chips when she woke up.

Emmalyn, always a lover of dogs, wanted to pet Benny.

We headed back to Tammy's for dinner.  Emmalyn and Maryn went out to pick some raspberries.  mmmmm fresh raspberries are so amazing!

These two cuties make my heart so happy.

Maxwell and Preston playing soccer

After dinner we all went for a walk around the neighborhood.  (How cute are Emmalyn and Preston?)

Maxwell had fun holding snowball's leash

Finishing the night with a little uno

 

The next morning, we got to see everyone before they left for school.  It was such a short trip, we couldn't believe it was over already.

Such a sweet girl

Back on the plane!  We had a quick layover and then got on another plane.

Sneaky pic from Peter - boy do I look thrilled.

She was an awesome traveler!  I was happy to have her as my seat partner and we were able to find a few other things to entertain her and not just the ipad.

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!