Going Home

I haven't seen my Grandma (my mother's mother) since my wedding day.  We decided to take a detour on the way home and head south to St. George to visit with her.

Still looking great at 92!  We had a great visit and I'm glad the girls got to meet her.

 After our visit we made one more stop at my favorite Utah restaurant, Cafe Rio.

Since we were so close, we decided to go home via Zion National Park.  I had never been.

It was absolutely beautiful.

We stopped and did a short hike with the girls through the canyon.

 The girls had a great time, stopping to look at every rock, bush and lizard along the way.

We were gone for a total of 16 days this time.  It was a great trip but we were definitely road weary and ready to get home.  

Friends

While in Utah, we also got together a few times with Stan's best friend from his childhood, Kevin.  While Stan had to work some of the days, I took the girls over and we played in the water with Heather and the kids.

The first day they played in the (cooled) hot tub.  Miriam was in heaven and finally jumped in the water, by herself!

The second time we got out the kiddie pool so the little ones could play.

Eliza discovered their raspberry bushes and couldn't leave them alone.  It didn't matter if they were green or red.

We also went out to eat with the Johnsons at the Pizza Pie Cafe.  Miriam was absolutely enchanted with Rachel (6). 

Surely one of our girls could marry one of their boys someday and make us officially family?

Stan also wanted to get together with other high school and college friends he hadn't seen in a long time.  So we had a potluck at Grandma's house and had them all over.

And of course we got out the slip n' slide again.

This time Eliza had a go at it.  She loved it!

How nice of the ducks to wander over to Grandma's house.

We had a great time with all our friends!

Family Time

The girls had a great time with all the family.  They loved spending more time with cousin Ainsleigh.

 And Papa.

                                              And Nana.

I wish we got to see everyone more often.  I feel like Miriam is old enough that she will finally remember everyone from year to year.  We loved spending time with all our wonderful family!

Ducks

When you've lived next to empty land for a long time, there's always a risk of what might get built next to you someday.

How lucky for Grandma that it was a beautiful park.

A few mornings we took the girls and Finn over to the pond in the park to feed the ducks.  They had a great time.

The McBrides

We spent the next week hanging out with Stan's family.

Miriam had a blast on the slip n' slide at Grandma's house.  Well, she did once Aunt Gina went down with her and showed her how awesome it was.

What a better way to spend time with family?  Being outside in the beautiful weather, enjoying delicious food.

We also got to meet nephew/cousin Finn for the first time.  He was ecstatic to have visitors.  The girls were a little shy of his exuberance.  At least we got them to sit together for a picture.