To Utah and back

I was having issues with my camera and computer not communicating together so it has taken me a little longer than I expected to post about our trip. Luckily after much coaxing and a little couple's counseling, we got their communication issues resolved. ;)

We left for Utah on July 6th. I usually make the trip in one day, but this time we broke it up into two days. I have to say that this was really nice. We also went a different way than usual. We dropped my nephew off in Worland, Wyoming to visit family there. We drove through the Big Horn Mountains on our way. The drive was absolutely breath taking. Much prettier than our normal drive through Wyoming. We spent the night in Worland and then resumed our journey the next day.

It was nice to pull into Salt Lake City and see my family again. This was an extra special trip because we were able to meet Katie. Katie was adopted a year ago by my sister Jenni and her husband. My Dad and step mom Jan were also visiting in Utah so we got to spend some time with them as well. It was wonderful meeting Katie. She is the same age as Jordan and is really very sweet. She has lots and lots of energy and kept us all on our toes. I am so happy for Jenni and Richard that they have finally been able to be parents.

All the cousins at my brother's house in Brigham City.

Katie, Kim, Kayla (holding Brianna) Kaylynn, Allison, Jordan

Dallon, Megan, Derek and Matthew

I have few pictures of my siblings and I as grown ups.

(Maybe that is because we aren't grown up yet.)

Tom, Amanda, Emily and Jenni

I love living in South Dakota, but I really miss my family. It was really nice to spend so much time with them on this trip.

While there we went to the Hogle Zoo which is always a hit with the kids. We saw lots of fun animals - lions and tigers and bears, oh my. This gorilla was my favorite. He was strangely humanlike while eating his lunch.

Seeing my 96 year old Grandpa is always a highlight of our Utah trips!

Another highlight of my trip was seeing Suzanne and Gina. I feel bad that I wasn't able to meet up with any other blogger friends, but it was so fun to see Suzanne and Gina again. We had a lot of fun visiting, eating and taking pictures.Of course, they were impressed with my funny faces. ;)

I have few talents in life...this is one of them.

As well as visiting my family, we spent a lot of time helping my mom get ready to move. She has been living in a big house with a big yard and having to take care of it all by herself. It has become too much for her and we have been trying to talk her into moving into a condo for a couple of years. She finally gave in and is letting us kick her out saw the wisdom behind our nagging. It has been a lot of work to go through her house and consolidate. I have a lot of memories from that house and going through everything brought a lot of it back. I am happy that she is moving on, but it is a little sad to say goodbye to that old house.

It was a great trip, but I am really glad to be back home again with Scott in our own house.