Utah Trip part 1

Last week we had the privilege of going on a trip to Utah.  The privilege not being so much during the 11 hour drive part, but more in the family and friends and nice weather part.  I have always loved Utah because it's kind of like Arizona but it's actually green.  I've been feeling smothered in this deseret as of late.  We've lived here since I was 12, so for awhile now, but I have dreamt of greener pastures if you will :)  I know they always say "the grass isn't always greener on the other side" but hey in this case it is.  Literally.  Just cross that border and it starts to get more green the further up you drive, and in my case my heart thumped the further up we got. 

I love Arizona.  Our families are both here.  Next door and over the hill to be exact.  Chris' job, his schooling, all the comforts of home, but yet I still yearn for that next adventure, in a new city, with trees, changing seasons like when I lived in Missouri as a kid, and yet still have the mountains close by like we do here. 

No this is not a blog post stating that we are moving to Utah or any other surrounding states, just venting a little I guess. Our trip to Utah was probably not good in aiding my 'lets pack up and try something new' mindset because the trip was....well....a blast and I did NOT want to leave.  We drove all day Wednesday and got in just before 6 to Chris' sisters house, and not a moment to soon.  That's a long drive isn't it?  I think before we had even reached Flagstaff, Jayda had asked, "Are we in Utah yet?" 12 times.  My niece and nephews were happy to see our kids, and our kids were desperately happy to see them and be out of the car.  Connie had already made us a wonderful dinner that was ready when we arrived and so dang good too....thanks Con!!  And then we let the kids run around awhile before bed.  We got to sample Brandons new speaker system and projector screen which ROCKED!!  Movies should always be watched in homes that way.  I'm hooked!  The feature presentation was "Transformers" the first one, which Connie had never watched.  Chris is obsessed with Transformers and was our narrator in the beginning explaining to Connie the story line, yelling at us for talking, and then yelling at us again for laughing and making fun of his obsessiveness towards Optimus Prime throughout the movie.  

Jayda had her first "sleep-over" and got to sleep in cousin Shaylees room.  They giggled all night and stayed up later than I did I think.   The next day....Thursday, was what I had looked forward to for 2 weeks.  Everytime we go to Utah we are always up at Connie and Brandons and only go into Salt Lake usually to eat at the Spaghetti Factory or do little things right on temple square and never really venture out further than that, so we had gone up a day early just so I could have the entire day, Thursday, to spend with my mom doing all the sites and seeing all the old homes and buildings that I've always wanted to see.  THE ENTIRE DAY!!!  Can you imagine that? Neither could I lol in fact it wasn't enough for me, I could've used another day.  I'm sure not everyone gets excited about seeing old homes and buildings, going to museums, and cemeteries like I do, but hey to each his own right?  More about Thursday in my next post.  I will however post some pics of Connie and Brandon and the kids from our mountain drive to take their family pics.  They were so nice to let us stay for 2 nights before we headed in to Salt Lake for Brooklyns wedding.  Thanks again you guys.