Our Utah 4th of July Vacation

We drove out to Utah for the 4th of July weekend. It was a whirlwind of a trip and waaaaay to short, but we had a blast! We tried to cram in a lot and see everyone and do everything. We learned that traveling with a baby makes things WAY different... duh! right? So we tried to balance having fun and doing things with making sure Lila got naps and went to bed at a decent hour- which didn't always happen. But Lila was a good sport and slept surprisingly well. Yay!

The drive to Utah wasn't too bad. We kind of caravaned with my parents and younger brother. So we switched off who sat in the back with Lila. She slept some. Honestly I thought she would sleep a lot more, but that's ok. She had some sad moments but for the most part things went really well.

We got to Sandy Wednesday night and stayed at Jon and Dee's. Lila woke up bright and early Thursday morning- like 5am. So we got an early start and headed down to Hobble Creek to have a breakfast up the canyon with Anna and her family. It was fun to see all the kids. We got to meet baby Charlie who is just a week older than Lila. She is such a sweet, calm, easy-going baby! It will be so fun for Lila to grow up with a little girl cousin just her age to play with. It was fun visiting and eating some yummy breakfast cooked on the fire. After that we headed to Provo to see my family. But first we stopped off at our old alma mater, BYU. It was so fun to go back! It's only been a year since we left but it really seems like another lifetime almost. We walked around and talked about all of our fun times there. We went to the BYU bookstore and got Lila a little BYU shirt. Never to young to make them a BYU fan, right? Paul went over to the Clyde (engineering building) and walked around the halls.

We went to In-N-Out after. How could we not? We miss it! INO needs to come to Colorado! Then we finally met up with my family at my brothers apartment. Everyone went swimming. But Lila needed to nap and Paul and I actually ended up taking naps too. It was fun seeing everyone. It was Miles and Mikaela's first time meeting Lila. We went to Brick Oven with my family that night. I missed out on the pizza, but I did get some yummy homemade rootbeeer. After that we headed back up to Jon and Dee's place and hung out with them for a while before we went to bed.

The next morning was the 4th of July. Paul stayed and Jon's and watched the World Cup with his brothers. I went up to Temple Square to meet up with my cousin, Amy and her family. I hadn't seen Amy in about 7 years, so I was excited to see her and meet all her little kids. We walked around Temple Square and the Visitors Center there and had a great time catching up.

Then Lila and I headed down to Draper to see my best friend, Kristen. Kristen got to meet Lila for the first time. She is so good with babies and managed to tame a fussy Lila. I love that even though I hadn't seen her in 6 months or so we just pick up right where we left off. It was so good to see her!

After driving around like a crazy person all morning, I went back to Sandy and picked up Paul. We headed down to Provo to spend the 4th of July with my fam. We had a BBQ, played games, and hung out. Lila wasn't going to make it for the fireworks so we put her to bed at the hotel my parents were staying at. So Paul and I missed the fireworks. But, there will be plenty more 4th of Julys and fireworks in the future. I actually found out I was pregnant with Lila last year on the 4th of July. That was such a happy day and it was like the 4th of July fireworks were like celebration fireworks for us that we were pregnant. Now, a year later I had my sweet little Lila sleeping peacefully next to me. I would take that over fireworks any day.

The next morning I met my good friends Sammi and Melinda for breakfast at Guru's. I got to hear about Sammi's wedding plans and Minder's new job. Such good times with these girls. After that I went and said goodbye to my family. Paul and I stopped off at the Freedom Festival and walked around the booths, ate some treats, and saw Anna, who was working there. Then we headed over to Sushi-Ya for a big all-you-can-eat sushi lunch with all the Heinzens. We (especially Paul) are obsessed with this place. It is our favorite sushi by far! AND it's all you can eat! You feel like the biggest fatty after, but it's soooo good! We went back up to Jon and Dee's and spent the rest of the day with them. We talked, took naps, ate ice cream, and watched The Lego Movie. The next morning we got an early start. We stopped for the sacrament at a random church building-- which was not too hard to find in Utah ;) and then started our drive back home. Paul sat in the back with Lila most of the time because I get car sick in the back. So I drove most of the way. Lila did so well until the last 2 hours or so. She pretty much just screamed. I think she was just so done being in her carseat. It was sad to see her little tear-streaked cheeks. But we made it back home safe and sound.

So that was our trip- jam packed with lots of fun! We love living in Colorado, but Utah will always have a special place in our hearts. We loved seeing family, friends, and visiting our old favorite places (which mainly seem to be places to eat haha!)

Here are some pictures from our trip... There are lots of things and people I wished I snapped some pictures of that I didn't. But here are some I did get...