G as in Gnu: October 2012

After spending time with B's parents, we drove a few hours and met up with MY family! Utah is right in the middle of our somewhat spread-out family right now, so it worked out.

we spent the first day, my little sister's 22nd birthday (SO feeling old), in Park City. It was AWESOME.

I think ziplining is the most relaxing thing I've ever done. It was like getting a massage. At 110 feet. Going 45 miles an hour.

My handsome bro hitting up the fairway with E.

B loves Grandpa!

Rocket ride!

The boys on the Alpine slide.

Cutie.

I tried to adjust the color on these. I'm not good at it. Sorry.

We went to check out the Olympic ski jumping training facility. It was AMAZING what these people could do! I mean, can you see that skiier in the air? Really, can you? Because it's kind of hard to see in the picture.

This kid was amazing. Watch for him in 2018.

We took a trip on the Heber Creeper, which is an old-time train that goes through a beautiful canyon.

Cute of little B at least...

E was super excited to be on a train.

Love this of my brother. Should be on a Deloitte billboard.

Three generations.

The girls and great-grandpa. Handsome as ever (Grandpa, that is. The girls are beautiful).

Picking strawberries in Grandpa's garden.

Gorgeous. Mary Lennox, anyone?

I have such amazing memories in this yard.

On our way to the airport we stopped at City Creek Center mall, which was pretty incredible, and toured the Salt Lake Temple grounds. We had to recreate the picture we've taken every time we've been there.

Couldn't remember who was on what side...so we took both.

It was SO fun to see everyone!

We were lucky enough this summer to be able to see BOTH sides of the family on our trip to Utah! How awesome is that? It was seriously great.

We started off the trip visiting B's parents. We got to see B's amazing grandma who is in her 90s and beautiful as ever.

Love this one.

I love the lighting of this one too. B was so happy to get to see her.

Hanging out with Grandma.

Our family with Grandma B.

Love this one too.

We got to see almost all of B's 6 siblings and a lot of their kids too. This family seriously rocks. I sure lucked out in the in-laws department.

Sadly, this is the only picture I have of the girls in their matching dresses. I don't know how I missed that photo opportunity. I'm a slacker.

Tiny B, big dog. Okay, so the dog's not that big, B's just tiny.

So, we went "fishing." I say "fishing" because in all senses of the word, that's what it was. You use a pole, you use bait, you cast, and you wait.

But here's the difference between this and legit fishing. There are so many fish packed into this little fish farm pond that they can't swim more than a millimeter without running into each other. And you think I'm exaggerating. Well, okay, I am. But not by much. So you only have to wait about 30 seconds before you get a bite. Which was perfect for E. She's been fishing many times in AZ, but she's never been patient enough to leave her line in the water. She loves to reel it in and watch the bob bounce across the water.

So here's E casting. And then thinking about reeling it in....but before she can start...

She landed this guy! I'm not kidding, this trout was about 18 inches!

Sadly, the line broke right as we were pulling him out of the water.

E decided she was done, but B came to the rescue and caught one for her. Not nearly as big (sorry Daddy, E wins this one), but still very nice.

We send E off with her cousin for a little walk. Meanwhile, we, ehm, sang the fish some lullabies until he fell asleep.

Proof B was there.

E with her prized fish. It looks like she's standing right next to it...but it's just the angle.

She wanted to be as far away from that fish as possible!

The next day we ventured over to a local park with a little zoo and had a nice picnic.

Sweet B.

A stage. E was in heaven.

And yes, that is a capuchin monkey.

Just like this one.

We were seriously excited.

Isn't this Crane neat?

Our favorite exhibit. Someone had too much time on their hands...

Grandpa tracked down these feathers for E.

On our last day with B's family, we got to go to an open house for a new temple for our church. Before these buildings are dedicated for what we feel is sacred work done by church members, ANYONE at all can go in them! It's very cool. Check out mormontemples.org.