2015 Road Trip: Utah

We recently got back from a road trip to Utah and Montana. On the drive home, J said that it was a "concentrated" vacation, and I think that is a good way to describe it. We didn't have time to visit with any friends while we were in the area (in truth, I wish that I could have spent more time with my extended family), but we did get to see a lot of family. Within just a few days, we had a wedding (the S side of the family), an extended-family reunion with the Pax family on J's side (including cousins), and also a family reunion with J's immediate family (and their families). Here are some pictures with highlights of the Utah portion of our trip:

Our kids immediately wanted to try out the new DVD players that we bought for the car. This picture was probably taken just about two hours into our trip. Lucy liked watching Sesame Street and Blues Clues. Sam could watch a separate show on his own screen - I think he's watching the cartoon Robin Hood in this shot.

We arrived in Utah just about an hour before my sister L played a cello recital in my Grandma's backyard. It was fun (and impressive!) to see her play. 

Lucy at the Manti Temple grounds with Aunt V. 

The bride and groom! 

After the wedding luncheon, we had a break for a few hours before the ring ceremony began. I was excited to visit the Stewart Sculpture Garden at the Springville Art Museum, since it was under construction when I worked there as a fellow.

Lucy with her Uncle C in the salon-style portrait hall of the Springfield Art Museum. 

Besties at the wedding! I didn't get to visit with any of these ladies as much as I would have liked (especially Zillah, since she was busy with behind-the-scenes help), but it was still fun to see them for even a little bit.

Riding on a tour bus throughout Provo. We visited historic sites and homes that are meaningful to the Pax family, and then also visited Aunt M's grave. Different people took turns narrating with the tour bus mic, but it was especially fun to listen to G Pax speak.

We visited Aunt M's grave, and also saw the nearby headstone for G & G Pax (which they have already purchased and put into place, in anticipation!!!). Lucy loved putting pinecones in the little flower vase.

J designed the t-shirts for the reunion. They say, "Oh, wonderful!" - which is an exclamation that G Pax typically makes. 

G & G Pax with the great-grandchildren who attended the reunion.

Lucy and Gram on the train! The Pax family members told jokes, family stories, and held trivia while we rode on the train. We had an entire car reserved for our family! 

 Sam on the Heber Creeper.

After riding the Heber Creeper to Vivian Park, Sam and I got a ride back to our car and met some of my extended family members at Seven Peaks. Sam had a blast playing with my sister L. He kept saying, "We need to come back to Seven Peaks the next time we come to Utah!" 

I love this picture of Sam with his aunt!

While Sam and I played at Seven Peaks, Lucy and J visited with cousins at the cabin. Lucy played with pinecones (putting them in and out of a basket) for an hour!

After Seven Peaks, we went back up to Wildwood for the talent show. J's brother N wrote a song about Wildwood, and the three B brothers performed together. 

Before we left our hotel the next morning, we went to visit my Grandma S. She fell earlier that week and broke her leg (on the day of my cousin's wedding!). We visited her in the hospital, but she only recognized me for a few seconds. A nurse was in the process of administering valium to Grandma, and she was pretty incoherent and loopy after that point. Even though I'm smiling in this picture, this visit left me pretty sad. I hope Grandma is able to recover. 

After the hospital trip, we headed back to Wildwood for one last visit. We left for Midway with the B family after we left the cabin. 

Cousins! 

Cousins at the resort pool! We definitely made use of all of the resort amenities. I think the kids went swimming almost every single day we were there.

The resort also had a little carousel, which was fun for the kids to ride.

Cousins at the park! 

Sam really wanted to ride the Gravitron. I had no idea how he would react to this ride, but he had a fun time. J went on the ride with Sam, little J, and D. And luckily, there was no drama, although I don't think that little J liked it too much.  

I love little J's pose in this picture! These are the prizes that the kids won at the fair.

We also did some fun hikes with the B family, but I'm going to put those in another post with more information about the trails. The fair was our last big activity with the family - we left around 6:00 am the next morning to head to Montana with some of my siblings.