Weekend in Utah

This last weekend we took a quick trip to Utah.  We flew down on a Space A military flight and took the whole family.  When we arrived, we drove to my brother Mark's house, where we had dinner with lots of the Hales family. 

My sister Julie was visiting Utah from North Carolina, so four of the five of us kids were together.  It was a fun last minute get-together.  Mark invited some cousins I hadn't seen in forever, plus an aunt and uncle.  It was a really fun night.  Thanks to Mark for the pictures!

Julie and I

 The kids had fun catching up with their cousins. 

McKenna and Rachel

Zachary and Andrea

Karen and Heather

Uncle Richard and Aunt Karen

Madeline and Steve

William in Zachary's awesome goggles

That night, we farmed our kids out to various cousins.  Bright and early the next morning, David and I got up and drove to Sundance where I had to attend a BYU recruiting trip for the company I work for.  I chatted with colleagues and BYU students for a while in the morning, and then we hit the slopes.  The weather was perfect and the fresh snow was wonderful. 

I'm not much of a skier--I haven't gone more than a half a dozen times in my life, but it was a lot of fun.  I got better as the day went on, but I also used muscles that haven't been used in a while.  Towards the end of the day, I wasn't sure if my legs were going to keep working as I got off the lift! 

After a full day of skiing, a recruiting lunch, and a comedy show, we drove back to Provo, met up with our children, and had dinner with some of David's family.  Then we quickly made our way to the Marriott Center for a BYU Basketball game.  Ben came with us. 

 I love being back in the Marriott Center!

David loved getting to hang out with two of his brothers.  It made the night worthwhile, despite the terrible game--BYU had a 15 point lead at half time, and then lost by more than 15 points.  Pathetic. 

 Fun, fun night hanging out with these folks! 

We stayed up way too late visiting with them. 

The next morning, we drove back up to Mark's house and went to church with him.  Julie and Kylie met us there too. 

We changed clothes, and drove up to Temple Square.  It was cold and snowy, and very, very beautiful. 

Neither William nor Kate had ever been to Temple Square, so it was neat to go and soak up the wonderful feelings of that place.   

Kate and William

Julie and Kylie

Sarah, Kylie, Rachel and Kate

 We explored the Visitor Centers

and took in part of an organ concert at the Tabernacle.   When we entered, the organist was playing music from Pirates of the Caribbean.  It was awesome!

 We also visited the beautiful Assembly Hall, and had the place to ourselves. 

 Beautiful Temple Square. 

We left Temple Square and drove to David's sister Marianne's house.  We had a wonderful afternoon and dinner with her and several of her kids.  It was such a fun get together--fun to see people I hadn't seen in a while and meet a new fiance.  Too bad I forgot to take any pictures.

We left late Sunday night, and much to David's relief, made it safely back on the C-17.  It is always a bit risky flying Space A, and he really didn't want to have to rent a car and drive home all night so he could be at work the next morning. 

It was a very packed weekend.  We saw lots of people and did lots of things.  It went way too fast!   Thanks to everyone who fed us, and let us stay, and kept our kids.  It was fabulous!