Adventures in Utah

After we went backpacking in Bryce Canyon, we headed up to the Salt Lake area to visit family and friends.  We were able to see so much family!  It was wonderful.  We spent time with my Grandpa and met his wonderful new wife, saw all of my aunts and uncles on my mom's side, spent time with 2 sets of great aunts and uncles, saw all my siblings, Caleb spent time with all of his grandpa's and one grandma, had dinner with Brydon's aunt and uncle and saw 2 of his cousins and their children, got to see many of my cousins, and even visited friends from Philadelphia!  Whew!  We were busy but it was a lot of fun.  I was really glad we were there to see my cousin, Kendra, graduate and see so many family members.  The weather was beautiful and everyday was a great adventure.

Sure do love that cute boy!

We got to have one really fun play day!  We spent the whole day with Grandpa Simpson and my 2 sisters.  It was a blast!  First we visited Hogle Zoo.  We loved Hogle Zoo and visited often when we lived in Utah.  It was so exciting to get to visit again because they had just opened the new polar bear and sea lions exhibit.  It was amazing! 

Hehe....we knew Arielle could actually fit in there!  Too cute!

When we moved from Utah, the elephant was close to having her baby.  It was fun to see the baby elephant and her mama.  She is so cute!

The Polar Bear Exhibit!  It is a beautiful exhibit.  We got some great views of the bear.

We did have one of those moments that I really wished I had caught on camera!  This giant elephant squirts water out of his trunk unexpectantly.  When we first arrived at the Zoo, Caleb was excited to play on the elephant and didn't remember that it squirted water.  The elephant started to sing and so he stood right in front of the trunk.  All of a sudden it squirted him really good in the face!  It was a priceless moment!  He was so surprised and shocked and jumped out of the way as fast as he could.  His face was the best!  We all laughed so hard.  Wish we could have recorded it.

The whole crew at the Zoo

Caleb with his new cousin Brayden.  We were so excited to met him.  He is so cute!!!  I love those super cute cheeks!

Aunt Arielle and (soon to be, we hope SOON to be...hint..hint....hint....Uncle) Ryan

Since we were by the University of Utah we stopped by The Pie Pizzeria.  We got to try eating this GIANT PIZZA.  It tasted amazing, but was so huge!

Later that afternoon, we left the two little boys with Ryan's mom and the adults (even Grandpa) spent the evening at Boondocks.  We just missed Ben, who was unfortunately sick.  We had so much fun!  Brydon and I had never done Go-carts and Bumper Boats or arcade games together.  We laughed, played, got each other wet, and just really had fun.  The evening included Bumper Boats, a Go-cart race, 2 rounds of Bowling (I am most definitely the worst ever at bowling!), a game of mini-ture golf, and arcade games.  Before we knew it, we had spent 5 hours playing!  We had not had that much fun on a date in a really long time and it was so much fun to play with family!  I wish we all lived closer and could do it more often. 

My two beautiful sisters!  They are the best and I am so grateful for them.

A sad Caleb who wasn't getting his way!

Pictures with Uncle Ben.  We were sad he was so sick while we were there.  But we had to get a picture of Caleb and Ben together.  Aren't they handsome and look alike too!

On the way home we stopped by my sister Sierra's "Farm".  She has chickens, a snake, a turtle, ducks, and two dogs.  I am so sad!  I lost the pictures of Caleb with the chickens.  It was so cute to see him hold the chickens and he was excited to collect the eggs.  He madesure to knock on the egg to make sure a baby chick wasn't inside before we could keep them.  Caleb was thrilled to feed the snake a rat and we saw the snake eat half of it before we left.  It was pretty cool!

We were sad to say good-bye to everyone and leave all the fun behind.  Unfortunately vacations always have to end.  On the way to New Mexico to visit my brother again, who was kind enough to let us stay with them, we stopped by Arches National Park to stretch our legs.  We love Arches!  We stopped to get some water and walked this short trail.  It is such a beautiful area. 

 

It was a great vacation!  Thank you to everyone who let us stay with them and hang out.  We had so much fun with all our great family and friends!  We miss you!  Come visit Texas anytime!