Spring Utah Trip

FINALLY, here are some highlights of our trip to Utah in March:

Jolie FINALLY beginning to sleep through the night consistently
Sitting in the temple to do a session, with my mom and four of my sisters all in a row
Our traditional BYU Bookstore trek with Eric's mom (finding those CUTE bags!!) and lunch at Cafe Rio
Laughing so hard as Eric and I watched "Dan in Real Life" with my sisters Melodie and Kristen
Going on a double date with my oldest sister Rosie and her husband Derek (Thanks again for dinner!)
Taking the girls to Church in their matching Easter dresses
Having a girls' night out with my 5 sisters (I don't think we've EVER done it before! SOOOOooooo fun!)

Watching Mierae play and play and play with her cousins and have the time of her life

And here is a glimpse of what happened on our trip. Mierae and Jolie did GREAT on the airplane both ways. They both slept the second leg of each flight, and were great when our flight to Salt Lake from Vegas was delayed and we didn't arrive until after 3:00 a.m. Ohio time!



Mierae discovered opera! (Madame Butterfly was on a few nights after we arrived.)

Eric took Mierae to the community Easter Egg Hunt at the Rec Center.



Mierae still got to do her kid's craft at Lowe's.

Here are five of six sisters at a Bridal Shower for Charlotte. We had such a great time with all the ladies in the ward we grew up in. It was so fun to hear stories about their weddings of pink tuxedo shirts and aqua bridesmaid dresses!

The Easter Bunny knew the girls were out of town!

For Easter breakfast, Mierae got to choose her own miniature box of cereal. I wasn't surprised when she chose Cocoa Puffs! (She is SO like me...) Grandma even made Mierae her own breakfast table.

The girls discovered their Easter baskets!!! I love dressing my girls up in matching dresses--so fun!




One of the things Mierae remembered first about Grandma and Grandpa's house was spinning in Grandpa's office chair! And of course she had to do it in a new dress-up dress.

Aunt Christine was so great to watch the girls two days for us while my sister was endowed and then during the wedding a couple days later. Mierae had a blast playing with Lucy and Emma! Thanks again, Chris!

After the session when Charlotte was endowed in the Mt. Timpanogos temple, we all went to lunch at Los Hermanos. YUM! We get in all the Mexican food we can get when we're in Utah.

And here are some wedding reception shots. Aren't they so fun to look at?














Mierae loved spending time with her Aunt Kristen.

One of my closest cousins, Jenny, had her first baby girl while we were there! We had a baby shower for her before I left so that I could see Jenny and baby Natalie. Here are some fun photos from the shower.


My baby is a little bigger than hers. :) (It was so great to see you, Jen!!)

Our second Sunday there we went to Church with my family. We knew Mierae would do great in the Nursery, but we couldn't believe what a great time she had. It was like Preschool! She (and Jolie, who woke up from her nap and joined the nursery) received blow-up giraffes, giraffe hats, boxes of animal cookies, binoculars, and a special sacrament wheel with pictures of Jesus to help them be reverent. WOW. I would never expect anyone to do that, but it was special that we happened to be there on quadruple prize day!



After having a beautiful week and a half with sunshine and mild temperatures, it snowed. Jolie didn't mind too much, as long as we were inside looking out at it.

Jolie took four steps in a row while we were there! Here she is mid-stride.

And here's Mierae with a bowl full of jelly--her favorite part of Sunday dinner! :)

My sister Melodie snapped this shot of Eric and me asleep on the couch really late one night. We had probably just watched "I Dream of Jeanie" or some movie and were too tired to go to bed. She didn't want to wake us with the flash, so it may be hard to see. But, it's one of my favorites from the trip! Thanks, Mel!

Before my sister and I flew home, we had a big family gathering at my parents' house. The kids had a ball being together one last time.



We took the chance to celebrate family birthdays that had just passed or were coming up. This was Jolie's first 1st birthday cake. (Mierae got three when she turned one! Jolie will feel deprived when she finds out later she only got two.) :)




Devin and Emily, we missed you!!!! We know you were there in spirit. We miss you guys and can't wait until your leave to the states--we hope we get to see you when it happens!

And a couple more photos to end:
When we got home, Jolie decided to help us dust as we cleaned the apartment.

Conference weekend was a few days after we got back. Mierae got to listen to Daddy's iPod while we listened to Conference--very nice exchange!