We take an annual trip to Utah so see Mike's sister Alisa and her husband Blake and our nephews Ben, Brendon, and Billy. But this year we got to meet our new niece Gracie Adele! We also didn't get to go last year bc I had surgery and then had Jackson. So it was an overdue trip! We expected a whole lot of snow, so we bought all kinds of snow gear and boots and there was only small patches this year. Literally 2 years ago when we went the same week, it was the frozen tundra. It was iced over and full of snow and then this year, nothing. It was scary and weird. I guess there is a bad drought this year and people are worried. So we shall see. But I will say it made for a very easy drive and beautiful weather. I actually drove some of the trip this time, so Mike could enjoy the ride.
We stopped at Blueberry Hill in Vegas to have breakfast with Pops and take a break. The kids had a good time, and the food was super delish.
Once we got into Utah, it's seriously so nice. The roads are clean, the sky is blue, the restrooms are above standard, and they have awesome shopping. I cannot believe how filthy California is, however I could never leave it! This play ground was at a gas station in Utah, I think Cedar City, I can't remember.
Then we stopped in Spanish Fork, UT, to hit up Cafe Rio!! I had my favorite veggie salad there, and Mike tried the pork burrito that everyone raves about. He did NOT like it, bc it was sweet and weird. He's not a large pulled pork fan anyway.
We finally arrived to Vernal, UT about 10:30pm. We left CA at 4am. So it was a very long drive but now that I no longer suffer from anxiety, it was really nice! I actually enjoyed myself. This is me and my new niece Gracie. From the second I looked at her we were in love. She smiled at me and LOVED me! It was awesome. She would be crying and I'd pick her up and she'd just stop. First night she fell asleep in my arms. It's gotta be my soft plumpness that babies love, lol.
Here's Jack and Gracie together. They are 5 months apart!
The first night we got there, Biller Bob and Clara went crazy playing together. The older Boys were already in bed bc they had got in trouble and usually go to be around 8ish anyway. So Billy and Clara ran back and forth from the front door to the kitchen, just laughing and playing. They did that every night after the boys went to bed.
Here's the boys and Clara enjoying numerous otter pops.
Clara & Ben
Mike, Jack, Blake and Gracie
Alisa and I got a wild hair up our butt and decided to try curlers in Clara's hair. We were at Wal Mart and it just sounded fun, I had never curled her hair. We had family pictures the next day and I thought we would try a test run. Good thing we did, bc she was MISERABLE!! She cried and cried and cried. I think they were only in about 35 minutes before we finally took them out. But she was adorable!!!
Aunt Alisa had given her a handful of M&M's if she would stop crying, but it didn't help, lol.
Clara and Aunt Alisa
One day little Gracie's gonna be torchered with curlers too.
Jack enjoyed chewing on the curlers.
She looks so darling though. I'm gonna try it again now that we are home.
Then we headed out to a yogurt shop in Vernal called Farr's. They are the company that makes Dole Whip that is at Disneyland. I of course HAD to have it, and it was so freezing cold on my teeth that it hurt to eat. And once I tasted Mike's chocolate frozen custard and was bitter. That would have tasted so much better. I think Dole Whip needs to be eaten only at Disneyland, it just wasn't the same there, lol.
Clara a lot better once she got gummie worms and ice cream, lol.
Clara wanted to hold the "baby", so Aunt Alisa let her curl up in her lap and hold Gracie.
Uncle Mike and Gracie. The first time he held her she cried her eyes out.
Group shot of all the kids!! We woke up early the day we had to leave to decide whether we were all going to Park City or whether we were gonna go by ourselves.
Bye Vernal, see you in a year!! We all loaded up our kids and headed out for a fun day of shopping. Alisa had to pull Ben out of school to spend the day with us, Blake was off. We had never seen Park City or Salt Lake, so I was super excited. We got to the outlets in Park City and they were UNBELIEVABLE. So much fun. We were crunched for time, so we had to rush through them as fast as we could, but Mike takes forever to shop. And we didn't have enough time to go to Salt Lake so we drove by it and saw it in the distance. I seen my first ever Ski Slope. They are INSANE!! I couldn't believe our high they are and that anybody would dare go down them. Seeing them on tv gives them ZERO justice. It's terrifying.
Clara being promised candy if she behaved at the outlets. Once we got in the car she had not forgotten that I had promised her some, so I ran into Harry & Davids to see if I could grab her some candy. I about fainted over the prices. It was ridiculous. I found a small very small bag of gummy bears and they were $7. I get out to the car and open them up to discover a freaking M&M vending machine on the corner of the building. Talk about a schmuck!!!
We arrived to Cabela's. I HATE this store, it's so boring but it's Mike's favorite place to be besides a Volcom outlets. We were in there for almost 3 hours. I was dying of boredom. There's only so much dead stuff I can look at before I've had enough. Mike got a lot of work socks and some work shirts.
Group shot of the kids and Alisa in front of the waterfall.
We took the kids over to the fish aquarium. they are gross.
We said our goodbye's with Blake, Alisa and the kids at Cabela's, bc they still had a 3 hour drive home and Blake had to work a 4:30am. It's always hard to say goodbye. Alisa always gets this look on her face and it makes me cry. I did good and then once I got in the elevator after they left I broke down. But I was by myself so Mike couldn't make fun of me, lol. Then Mike and I began our drive home to get to Vegas, to stay with his dad that night. We hit up the BYU Creamery first on the way out and it was well worth the drive out of our way. I had Roasted Almond Fudge, it was divine!!!
