John and Michelle, my brother- and sister-in-law, have lived in Utah for several years now, but this was our first chance to get out there and visit them. In fact, this was our first opportunity to meet Morgan and Paige, and we hadn't seen Caroline since she was a baby herself! Annabelle enjoyed near-celebrity status as a real, live girl-cousin--Caroline and Morgan couldn't get enough of her.
The weather was almost balmy when our plane landed Saturday afternoon, but it snowed several inches during the night and continued to snow for most of the next day. John went with us up to Brighton, where Annabelle and I hung out in the cafeteria drinking hot chocolate while John and Fred went skiing and Mike went snowboarding.
It was too blustery and snowy to mess with trying to take photos on Sunday. Fortunately, Monday was beautiful, so Fred managed to get the camera out:
While Fred and Mike were enjoying their adventures on the mountain, Michelle and I loaded up Caroline, Morgan, and Annabelle and took off for the mall. The shopping conditions were perfect, and we scored big-time. Everything Annabelle tried on fit perfectly, and Michelle got 2 pairs of shoes. (Dansko needs to start paying me a commission. I'm like a missionary for the First Church of Comfy Footwear.) Best of all, I FINALLY found a comforter set that I loved, and it was marked down to $60 from $230. When we came out of the mall with our purchases, I was so dazzled by the sight of the looming snow-covered mountains that I had to whip out my camera. This is what a good day of shopping in Utah looks like:
Yesterday was gray and drizzly, so we hung out at John and Michelle's house in the morning and then went into downtown Salt Lake City in the afternoon. The temple really is something to see:
Here's our little gang, posing for a group shot in front of the temple:
Annabelle wanted a chance to play in the snow, so after seeing the sights downtown, we headed back toward Brighton and stopped along the way so that she, Mike, Caroline, and Morgan could sled while Michelle and Paige waited patiently in the nice warm car. It was wet and sloppy on the mountain, but we all had a great time. Fred and John revisited their childhood by pelting each other with snowballs, and the kids had a blast sliding down the hill. I snapped this self-portrait of Fred and me:
Here are Morgan, John, and Caroline sharing a moment in the snow:
I wanted a video clip a la "Jackass" from the sledding, but I was too chicken to do it myself. Fred was willing though and shot this clip for me:
Annabelle had taken special care in costuming Pellet for our Utah adventure, and she was happy he finally had a chance to strut his stuff in the snow:
We arrived back at John and Michelle's house last night wet, cold, happy, and HUNGRY. We ordered pizzas from The Pie and stuffed ourselves silly.
We spent today making our way back east by way of Dallas, stopped at the Outback in Louisville for supper on our way home, and were greeted at the door by one love-starved pussycat. Eddie has apparently taken a vow never to leave our side:
- I have posted all of my unedited Utah pictures here.
- Thank you SO MUCH to everybody who took the time to sign my Guest Map. I love seeing where you guys are from! If you haven't already signed, it's never too late.
- A special thank you to John, Michelle, Caroline, Morgan, and Paige for being such fantastic hosts and helping us to have such an incredible time. We're already making plans for our next trip to Utah!
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