On Tour: Ma Familia

In Utah we stayed busy and out of the heat doing some fun things with my mom, my brother Ben and his wife Katie, my sister Courtney, brother Jared and niece Brooke. Ben and Katie are leaving their home in the Avenues where Ben lived for 6 years and are currently on route to their new house in Maine!!! But for the last hurrahs of UT we did all things Salt Lake.

Eating WAFFLES at this awesome place in Salt Lake by the Farmers market.

With my mom, who the kids call Nona, at the farmers market in SLC

Brooke and Carter. Carter could get Brooke to do anything. When she wouldn't hold Courtney's hand (and pitched a holy fit) to cross the street she would hold Carter's.  At the zoo she wouldn't ride in her stroller unless Carter was pushing. She and Olivia played play-dough at my moms and Ethan could get her laughing. We love cousin Brooke!

Afterwards we went to the Discovery Gateway museum...Sorry Anchorage Imaginarium, this one has you beat hands down, as the funnest place to take kids. Ben built towers and a giant pipe maze with the boys.

At the Art Market. I stole this picture from my sister's blog but I need her to email me the original since this one came out all grainy.  We went for the food and here we are eating fruit kabobs.  I also picked up a necklace from an artist in Park City and a print from another Utah artist.  This was really fun since just Ben, Katie and I got to go. We were only missing Jared and of course Steve and Brie live in Tennessee...that would have been nice to hang with them too.

Sitting with Ben on the Y in Provo.  We woke up early one morning to hike to the giant 300 foot long Y that hovers above my Alma Mater BYU.  The last time I did this I was a freshman in college.  We had a ton of fun. After getting some shots of us at the bottom, Olivia wanted to go to the top. So mountain goat style she scrambled the rest of the way to the top. After the hike we hit the bookstore and decked ourselves out with hats, t-shirts and sweatshirts.

And then we went with Courtney and Brooke for some bowling!  I won...with a score of 103.  Oh and we had the bumpers up.

Ben and Ethan at the zoo.  Courtney and I took the kids and met Ben early for breakfast at Ruth's Diner up past Hogle zoo.  There I had some of the best biscuits ever.  How do they get so light and fluffy yet still maintain the integrity of a biscuit is a mystery I am sure I will be trying to solve the rest of my life.  But the zoo was awesome. This was the number one thing Olivia wanted to do on our trip since she informed me that she had never seen a giraffe.  

With Uncle Jared at the pool. I think we did this 3 times.  When we lived in Utah we went to the pool several times a week.  It was so nice to lay in the sun, eat sandwiches and nachos and rest.  There are no such pools in Alaska and probably the  thing I miss the most about Utah Summers.  The boys also got to do guys night with Ben and Jared. They went and saw Green Lantern and had a sleep over at Jared's bachelor pad.  The day included breakfast at Denny's and lunch at Pizza hut.  The boys love their uncles and I love them too!  Oh, Ethan wanted to know if I had ever eaten at Denny's.  Ranae, have I ever eaten at Denny's?  Can you say Moon over My Hammy!  Only every weekend of my high school existence!! Denny's is a right of passage!