Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Home, sweet home

We've got 8+ inches of snow all around us right now. The view out our back window is amazing. School is cancelled. Dance class is cancelled. We're home all day, and before we head out back to make the world's most amazing snowman (something Reid's always been in charge of....until today) and since my girls are all playing really well right now in the fort they made with our couch cushions, I'm going to do a little catching up.

We spent the second and third weeks of September in UT. Yes, we finally got up the courage to make that drive again. This time we stuck with I-70. Not that it's any safer, but it's slightly less likely that you'll be stranded in the middle of nowhere than on I-80. Not to mention that it's such a gorgeous drive!!

We got there the day before my sister's house-warming party. Julia just bought her very first house, and it's amazing. It's this quaint little 1920's house in the heart of Provo, and there's nothing about it that isn't just perfect for her.

The housewarming party had a "spa" theme--with fingernail painting, bath-salt making, fresh kale-smoothie drinking, and a professional masseuse. The food was amazing, the company was great, and I was so glad to be able to help out with this big day for my sister!!


Reid flew back home for the work week, and the girls and I stayed to soak up some good ole Utah fun. I love my mom and dad so much, and I love how much my kids love them, too. Nothing makes me happier than to see Grace, with zero hesitation, run into my dad's arms when we get there, or to see Abby sit next to my mom at the piano and plink along with her. They're so good to us when we're there, too. I can't imagine how exhausting it must be to have my whole crew plow over their otherwise serene daily routines, but I'm grateful they let us do it time and time again.
The weather was gorgeous, so we played outside lots.
We went for a walk to feed the horsies.
and my dad took us to a little house of bounce place, which was so much fun for the girls. Grace overcame her fear of the 3 story slide and conquered that thing..over and over and over again. (she did not, however, conquer her fear of the dragon balloon on top of one of the bouncy toys). Abby and Eliza had a great time, too.

We feasted on the fruits of my dad's labors. His garden is one to be envied...and it is...by me! He was kind enough to send us home with dozens of tomatoes to ripen here...which we have since completely devoured.

I also spent a few days up in Logan, where my girls' only cousins on my side live. On my way there I stopped by one of my life-long best friend's house for a few hours. I could have stayed for a few weeks!!! I love Carrie dearly, and she (somehow) loves me, too!! And we know everything there is to know about each other. And I just love feeling that comfortable around a person that isn't Reid. I remember when I was graduating from H.S. that people would say "none of the people you are friends with today will be your friends in ten years" and I must say how wrong they were. Some of my closest friends, to this day, are friends i've known since grade school. And somehow, knowing me as well as they do, they still put up with me... Here are our kids all together
Abby, Eliza, Grace, Ally, Broderick and Grant

We had a great time in Logan. Reid and I were married there, and that's where my grandparents lived...so Logan has a special place in my lil' heart. And my kids loved playing with their cousins. Although Eliza never really warmed up there (i'm convinced it's because of the size of their house...it's a bit...daunting) we had so much fun with the whole Logan crew. Grace and Abby have been asking to go back since we left.

We played games, ate delicious food from Melanie's (also amazing and coveted) garden, ate some delicious Aggie ice cream,
and spent one morning at this cute park/zoo in "downtown Logan"

Thank you, Logan crew, for putting up with us for a few days!! we love you!!

We left Logan on Friday to spend a few days in SLC with Tom and Jana. There were about a billion people i'd hoped to see this trip. (Anyone who doesn't live near their parents understands how hard it is to squeeze in visits with all the people you want to see when you're home for a visit.) It never works out to see everyone I want, so i just try to enjoy the peeps i DO get to see. One of whom, this trip, was Candace--a good friend from law school. It was so fun to spend a lunch hour at her place and see her cute kids, and catch up on life. There's only so much that emails and blogs can do for a friendship. It was sooo great to actually SEE her, face to face, and talk about real life. And to all those i didn't get to see this trip--you really didn't miss out on much.
Here are my kids with Candace's kids. Katelyn and Grace used to be "buddies" back in boston...it's so fun to see them really play together now.

We had so much fun with Reid's brother and fam. I hadn't seen little Gabe since he was 2 months old. He's the cutest thing, and Eliza loved being by him and playing with his eyeballs.
Reid's mom and little sister joined us, too, and it was so much fun. There was golfing, garage-sale-ing, eating-out, eating-in, pumpkin patching, prom-dress shopping, game-playing, gabbing, and more gabbing. I love Reid's family and we always have such a hard time saying goodbye to them. Thanks for hosting and spoiling us and our loud crew!!!

And I was driving on the way home, so we got zero photos of the most beautiful Spanish Fork Canyon i've ever seen. Even Grace couldn't stop from saying "Oh, Mom, look over at those trees" every 2 seconds. It really was breathtaking. It made the drive home much more pleasant. Which is nice, because often times the drive home is spent wondering why it is that our families have to live in places that we don't really want to live....so, instead we just looked at the leaves and enjoyed the accident-free drive:)

3 comments:

Pink Caboose said...

I can't believe how much snow you guys have! And I totally understand how busy you get when you go home to see family. It sounds like you did get to do a good amount of visiting friends as well though!

Melissa Snyder said...

Wow, that is a lot of snow!!! I love snow, but I am not sure if I am ready for that much yet. Hope you have lots of fun making snowmans. Those are fun to make with the little ones.
Hope Halloween went well in the snow. Did you even go?
I am glad you had a good time on your trip. Looks like you had a great time.

Utah gal said...

Thanks for coming, that was pretty awesome--I should buy my first house more often! The only trouble with you guys coming is when you leave I can't wait for you to come again:) one word: christmastreedimmer.