Utah Trip!!

I think going to Utah to see/meet my parents was the highlight of my entire year. My family has not been all together for three years so just being with each other was a treat for me as well as for my brothers, sisters, and my mother and father.

Our "vacation" turned into a lot of hard, but rewarding, work and we threw in some fun stuff too. Because I want to remember it all, I apologize if this blog post reads like a travel log.

Thursday, July 2
David and I had to drive down to Raleigh at 3:30 in the morning to catch our flight that left at 6:30. As it usually goes, we had several mishaps on our journey. We slept through our alarms and didn't leave until four, when we got into the car we remembered that we had forgotten to fill-up on gas and had less than a 1/4 of a tank to drive an hour and a half, we forgot the directions to the airport, the check-in line snaked out the door, and our bags were overweight! Well, as it usually goes when you have problem after problem you also have blessing after blessing. Since we had left late we determined not to stop and get gas unless the gas light came on. We made it to the airport without the light ever coming on. Without directions we found our way without getting lost a single time. We made it to the plane right as it was boarding. And our overweight bags? The airline attendant actually told us not to worry about it and to run to catch our flight. We didn't have to pay for the overage! Although we had so many problems we also had so many accompanying miracles.

We reached the SLC airport two hours before my parents flight got in. For once in airline history the flight actually came in EARLY! Because of this only half of my family was there when my parents got off the plane but we were all so happy to see them it didn't really matter.

All the naky babies are wearing Brasil soccer jerseys

And my dad finally met my husband...


Friday, July 3
David, me, and my parents woke up early to go see the hot air balloons that lift off every year in July in celebration of the Provo City Freedom Festival. My siblings Doug, JD, and Brian all met us there with their families and we had a great time.




Later that day we went for a hike with Doug and JD's families up American Fork Canyon. It was a little steeper than I had expected ;) but turned out to be a lot of fun!





Saturday, July 4
David and I went to the Provo parade with Doug and Joanna and then walked around the Freedom Festival booths and went to the Crandall printing museum where they have an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. It was all very festive!

Joanna got into a little bit of trouble with the police... ;)

Later that night we went to my brother JD's house to take a family picture, have dinner, celebrate birthdays, and light some fireworks. I think the picture turned out really nice and the kids loved the huge pack of fireworks that grandpa had bought!








Sunday, July 5
We woke up and went to our regular ward and then afterwards went to my brother Brian's ward to see him bless his cute little girl, Elizabeth Jane Wilkins (Lizzie for short).





Later everyone came to the house for dinner and to watch some home videos of Doug dancing with his little girl Sophie at her dance recital. It was some pretty fancy footwork! ;) Michael and David also decided to build a massive block building with the kids' Lincoln Logs.


Monday, July 6
David and I woke up early and headed over to my sister Jenna's house to help her pack. Her family is moving to New Jersey for work. I'm sooooooo excited to have her closer...because eight hours is still definitely closer than Utah! We worked at packing up boxes and cleaning until the movers arrived. They had a lot of boxes!


For dinner, David and I went to Taco Amigo with some of my friends from high school. Two of them have little girls and they were so adorable!!! It was so fun to see everyone and David enjoyed actually really meeting my friends instead of just briefly saying hello to them at our wedding!




Tuesday, July 7
We didn't do much this day other than help my parents clean the house, prune the trees, stain the deck, and paint part of the garage. We also got to see my niece Gracelyn learn how to ride her bike without training wheels!

Watching Gracelyn ride her bike

After helping out for most of the day, we went to the Mount Timpanogas Temple with most of my brothers and sisters. The spirit was so incredible and it was really neat for me to be in the temple with my father, whom I had never previously had the opportunity to go with. Going to the temple was one of the best parts of our entire trip!


After the temple we went to my sister Jenna's house to help her clean before they left for New Jersey the next day. It was hard to say goodbye, especially to her three adorable kids. But we know that they are going to where they are supposed to be.

Wednesday, July 8
After hanging with my naky babies and playing with some Lincoln Logs, we went up into the canyon with my parents and had family home evening together. It was really nice just to have some time to talk to them and for them to get to know about David and about North Carolina. I can't wait until they can come to visit!

Later we went to meet some of my friends from college for dinner. We went to a barbeque place...not a good idea when you're from the south and know what really yummy barbeque tastes like. But we still had an amazingly good time just talking and laughing.

Thursday, July 9
In the morning we went to finish cleaning my sister's house. It didn't take us that long but we were glad to be able to perform the service for their family after all they have done for us! That night we traveled to Doug and Joanna's house for dinner. We always have a great time with them and love just to be able to sit and relax and talk.

Friday, July 10
David and I ran errands most of the day and then took some time to hang out with the family. Kimber's kids decided to go swimming to cool down in the (non-humid) heat.



We then went up to the Oquirrh Temple openhouse with my family. It is such a beautiful temple. The interior is gorgeous and the flooring is hard wood almost throughout the entire building.

That night we drove up to Holladay...oh, wait...first we drove up to the airport because we got lost and then we drove to Bountiful because we got lost and THEN we drove to Holladay to see a bunch of our friends from Greensboro that now live in Utah. We had it at the Buehners home. They are such a wonderful and amazing family and I enjoyed meeting Jake Buehner, David's best friend, so much. David and I actually stayed until three in the morning talking to Jake. Then we came home...oh, wait, first we drove to the airport because we got lost and THEN we drove home.

Saturday, July 11
Worked to get things ready for my parent's "talk" in church the next day.

Sunday, July 12
My parents talked about their mission in church. The entire meeting was filled clear up to the stage in the cultural hall. For those of you who don't know, that means there were many hundreds and hundreds of people there...and it was worth it! The spirit was so strong as my parents told experiences from their mission. Many miracles had occurred while they were there. their example has truly strengthened my own faith and hopefully I can follow the counsel I received through their talks.

After church, many of my parent's missionaries came over and it was so fun to see them all again. I knew most of them but hadn't seen many in over two years. I enjoyed it so much and my parents did too!


Before my siblings left we had to play phase ten!



Monday, July 13
David and I flew back to North Carolina after having a fabulous week of work, service, and fun! We're glad to be home.