Utah Trip Part 1

Well, our little family just returned a few days ago from one heck of a vacation to Utah and Idaho.  We drove straight through the night to Evanston, WY, where we stayed for a night.  The next day we drove down into Utah Valley.  I'd been gone only two years, but I was still amazed at how much changes, and at how much things were still the same.  We got to visit some of my very best friends while we were down in Utah.  First up we visited with my friend Katie and her husband in Pleasant Grove.  Katie and I got way back to Primary and is one of my favorite people from my youth, and continues to be such a wonderful friend to me today.  We also stayed the night at the home of a former roommate of mine, Paige.  Paige and I have probably known each other for about five years now.  We went from living next door to each other to being in the Relief Society presidency with each other, and then to being roommates and great friends.  I was even there the night she met her husband and then became her maid of honor, as well!  Brandon, Nicholas, and I had so much fun getting to see Paige, Dan, and their daughter Natalia.  Paige further surprised me by telling me that another mutual roommate ours would be coming over to dinner the night we were there.  I had thought Betsy still lived in California, but was so excited to see her and to know that things are going well for her as she's continuing college at BYU.  

While in Utah Valley, I took Brandon on the "Rebecca Historical Tour."  I drove him all over Provo and the American Fork areas.  For the first 6 years I was in Provo, I lived in 9 different apartments and had a grand total of more than 40 roommates!  It was fun showing him where I lived and telling him about my roommates at each place.  We also got out of the car and walked all over the BYU campus.  Going into the BYU tour, I think Brandon was convinced he wouldn't really like BYU, but he walked away feeling very much impressed with the people and the atmosphere we encountered there.  I had also told him I wouldn't be surprised to run into people I knew, or at least recognized.  He was skeptical, not really understanding just how long some BYU students take to get their degrees!  I ran into an old roommate, a former stake president from my Ohio home stake out visiting his children, and we even ran into my brother!  Okay, so the brother part was a planned meeting, but we had fun!  I also had fun showing Brandon around American Fork, which is where I lived the last year I was in Utah.  The nursery I had worked at has expanded tremendously in the last two years, but sadly, none of my former coworkers were there.  I also took him past the beautiful Mt. Timpanogos Temple and then over to Thanksgiving Point...another former employer of mine.  The store there, too, has undergone major changes in the last two years, and even the people I recognized didn't really recognize me anymore.  But, we had a lot of fun taking Nicholas around through the gardens behind the store and taking photos.

So, I bet that you are wondering where all those photos we took are?  Well, on Thanksgiving day, while trying to upload the photos onto our computer, the memory card malfunctioned, and we lost all 250 photos we had taken of our trip!  We are in the midst of trying to recover them, and will post some if we are able!