The thought of going through these pictures and posting about Spring Break has seemed like too daunting a task lately, but finally this afternoon after checking a million other items off my to-do list I decided it was go time. That little introduction makes this seem like much more of a chore than it actually is because looking at these pictures of all our fun Utah adventures brings back so many super fun memories I can hardly stand it, but you know how it goes when there are 2,000 pictures looking you in the face!
In full disclosure, I was straight rubbish at taking pictures on this trip. Luckily Ash and Mad picked up my slack in a big way because without their pictures my kids would never even know they went to Utah for Spring Break! Also, because these pictures are coming from all sorts of email, phones, cameras, etc. they are all crazy out of order--and heaven forbid I take the time to organize them! I think the crazy order in this post might just be a metaphor for my life these days.
Excuse me while I travelogue away (although in the interest of time, and sanity, I'll mostly let the pictures do the talking). Follow along if you dare!
The kids and I drove out to Utah on our own since James still had to work. Basically the nearly 12 hours in the car were occupied by the boys fighting over the ipad, Quinn screaming at the top of her lungs and me trying to decide whether or not my bladder would have mercy on me until the next pit stop. Adult diapers were something I really should have considered. We all sang a hallelujah chorus when we saw Y Mountain in the distance, although Quinny's praises sounded kind of like the same screeches she had been making for the last 12 hours and the boys' sounded like whining. My hallelujah's were full of legitimate praise because there were times when I thought we might not EVER make it!
The boys escaped the car in search for Kai's toys/room/backyard within seconds which left Quinny and I at the car when Logan and Ashleigh came out to greet up. That little baby still favors men to a crazy degree and seriously wouldn't even look in Ash's direction (but jumped right into her Uncle Gogo's arms). We all try not to let it hurt our feelings, but girlfriend is relentless! I love the picture above with the babies in the shopping cart because it was at that moment that Quinny finally, FINALLY, would acknowledge Aunt Ash's presence and give her the lovin' she deserves.
And yes, those two paragraphs describing that one picture is my attempt at being brief. It's one of my talents.
Quinny loved playing in Aunt Ash's jewelry box and stealing all of her necklaces and bracelets. Turns out Quinn might just have a girly side after all! (Sorry baby girl that your Mama doesn't have Aunt Ash's skills...)
This picture cracks me up. It's amazing that pictures even exist where more than one child is looking at the camera! All three of us moms were doing dances trying to get these kids attentions but they simply weren't having it. Except Ever Knight, bless you Ever Knight!
This picture is one of my very favorites! Talmage has been desperate to hike the Y every time we go to Utah but it always seems like our schedules get away from us and we don't have time. This trip we were determined to make it happen so James and Logan got up early one Saturday morning and took the big boys on their own little excursion (sans crazy Quinn, whiny Ever and prego Mama). It was freezing and harder than he imagined it would be, but he was SO proud of his accomplishment and especially liked his hot chocolate reward from Kneader's at the end.
Ashleigh posted this picture on instagram with a caption about hiding your wallets when shopping with me! The funny thing is that I thought I was going way low-key this year and Ash said she spent double the money she usually spends...hahaha! And whoops! I guess the magic of the holidays sometimes get to me, and to James' money! ;)
Ash and I had a sisters date before the Women's Session of General Conference and went out to get our nails done, shopping and then to dinner. It was SO much fun to spend so much one-on-one time with her (even if I did order us a HUGE plate of sweet potato fries as an appetizer totally forgetting that she does not like sweet potato fries!) I dream of the day that we'll be able to hang like this more often, but for now it's just the sweetest memories when it does occur.
James and I also got to go on a hot date to SLC to see our amazing friend Erin Morley sing in The Messiah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. She is one of the most talented people I know and watching her sing left me in total awe. We sat next to the Soukup's at the performance and met up with the Allenbach's afterwards and the night left us feeling so grateful for the incredible people our stint in NYC brought to our lives. Do I have pictures of our fun friends? No! Just one of us kissing in front of that gorgeous mountain. This is the view right outside Ash's front door which in James' mind means she lives in the Celestial Kingdom!!!
A trip to Lehi Bakery to visit our dear Crystalyn and eat her family's perfect donuts was a must and the best. She spoiled us with a tour of the bakery, warm freshly glazed donuts and threw in a few of her favorites to the mounds we requested. I'm a donut fanatic and have had some of the best from around the country, but I kid you not their chocolate bar (my donut of choice) was THE BEST I've ever tasted. They have just the right amount of chew to them and they use real chocolate frosting on top. I want another one more than I can even tell you right now. Just yum.
James was just looking at this picture over my shoulder (while massaging my back, because it's hard work to be pregnant and to blog simultaneously) and said, "That's such a good picture. I just wish Chase and Meghan had been there too." Amen to that! This was at the Museum of Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point which was two thumbs way up.
This is the view out of Ash's back window. Like whoa, amiright? James and I were driving down their street and all of a sudden he was all, "God must love me so much because LOOK AT THOSE MOUNTAINS!" James loves the mountains like I love donuts. Enough said.
This little bunny really loved that she got her own big bag of graham cracker bears in her basket. You should have seen her going to town on those!
After church on Easter Sunday we went down by the river to take some family pictures. Quinn had been throwing up the couple days prior (and a few more family members went down for the count that night and the next day) but this moment by the water with my little family was just bliss.
Baby bump at 30 weeks!!! This is the biggest by far I've ever been at this point, but this is my fourth baby so it's probably just as it should be! I really love my cute bump and this part of pregnancy so I'm trying to soak it all up.
I don't think this picture needs any explaining, it's by far my favorite picture in the world right now!!! Let's just say we were admiring each other's assets! ;)
We absolutely could not keep this girls shoes on the whole time we were in Utah. All of a sudden we'd notice she only had one shoe on and we'd find the closest spare we could to fill the void. Mad and I laughed so hard when we saw this darling picture she had taken and then noticed the mismatched shoes. Oh well, it's a great story!
The triplet pictures above make me so happy. I know these babies must have been best friends in heaven and it was no coincidence that they all blessed our family in the same month. I'm so happy we've been able to get them together so often and I hope they'll always know how much they're loved.
James wanted to make the trip back home less of a grueling drive and more of a fun experience. Quinn threw up for the first hour of the trip and T threw up for the last two hours of the trip (fun!) but in between we really did have a great time. We decided to drive the 3 mile loop in Kolob Canyon and it did not disappoint. Sure, Ever refused to get out of the car more than once but the rest of us were awe-struck by the beauty of the red rock. Someday soon we hope to visit Zions and Bryce and the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell, but for now this offered a great vista and was right off the freeway. #winning
Bare feet and crazy hair is basically Quinny's recipe for success! And Daddy...he is most definitely on her need list!
Shake Shack for lunch on the strip in Vegas was also a win. Sure, we have a Shake Shack in LA now but there are McDonald's everywhere and that doesn't stop people from driving through, right? It was at this point that we realized Talmage was going downhill so our stay was short, but I'd consider this a successful first visit to the strip for my favorite four up there!
I wish Spring Break was every week and we could party with our fun family more often. Thanks for being such a great hostess Ash! As always we had the best time with you and yours!
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