Utah

After moving two years ago, we made the trek back down to our old stomping grounds in Utah last month. The drive took a full day each way, but Maddox kept us entertained and Scott got us there and back safely.

BYU campus was our first stop on Thursday. We were amazed at all the construction and the changes that have been made since we were there. We didn't feel as old anymore though when we were mistaken for students. I surprised myself too when I remembered which restroom in the Harold B. Lee Library had a space I could nurse Maddox... I did practically live there as a student though. We had fun checking out the new buildings, the torn out roads, the exhibits in the MOA and HFAC, chatting it up with Scott's ID professors, and purchasing Maddox's souvenir in the bookstore.

We were disappointed that it rained a little while we were there; we left the sunny weather of Portland to visit rainy Utah... It was fun to see the construction going on at the old Provo Tabernacle. We used to have Stake Conference here, and it was sad when the building caught on fire right before we moved. Once completed and dedicated, this will be the Provo City Center Temple.

We met up with Shari, an old co-worker of mine, for a cone at Macy's, Mat and Jen grabbed some Thai with us, and then Ben, Mat's brother, gave us a tour of Adobe. The building is very impressive, and it was a lot of fun to see the space. Their climbing wall wasn't anything that Scott couldn't handle though...

We had to eat at some of our favorite spots while we were down in Provo. We managed in a day and a half to make it to Bajio, Kneaders (for breakfast and lunch), J-Dawgs, and Thai Evergreen. We also tried something new, The Champ breakfast sandwich at Ernie's, which some Oregon friends recommended. I would've liked to stay another week just to eat all the food we missed...

Friday mid-day we headed to the event that actually prompted the trip - the Quinton family reunion with my dad's siblings in Midway, UT. The reunion was fairly short (a day and a half) and pretty low-key, but it was fun to experience a couple new things and spend time with family.

The crater was a lot of fun and very warm (like a hot tub).

Riding the popular Heber Creeper... an old train that
winds up the canyon.

Spending some quality time with
Grandpa Quinton.

We missed out on the carousel due to
possibility of lightning, but Grandma
Quinton is definitely good at spoiling us!

Scott and a couple of my siblings took a razor up the mountain. They were not impressed with Scott's wild driving; I'll spare you the videos of everyone yelling at him to slow down. They all had a good time though, and will likely keep Scott in the passenger seat next time...

Maddox had his share of fun in
the razor too!

Sunday we headed to Holladay, UT to share in the special day of blessing Ander, Tim's third son. The blessing was beautiful, Tricia made a delicious feast, and it was wonderful to just hang with the Layton gang for the day.

Maddox had a lot of fun playing with his
cousins, Gavin and Kade!

Monday, we said our goodbyes and hit the road again. But our trip wouldn't be complete without a little adventure; that happened at the Flying J in Snowville, UT.