Three Days in Utah

I got to go to Utah and meet RoseE Hadden, who just got home from the Korea Busan mission. I found her blog back in January (where her mom posted her weekly emails home), and we exchanged letters a few times. It was great to meet her in person!



I took Andy with me and flew out Saturday evening, stayed at the Haddens' house, and went to church and heard RoseE's homecoming talk the next day. (She did a great job--my own homecoming talk is but a hazy memory but I'm sure it was nowhere near as coherent.) I got to meet a couple of other sisters from the mission, too. RoseE introduced me to everyone as her blog-stalker.

Andy, unfortunately, was not feeling well (he was feverish and snotty) which put a damper on things. It was horribly hot and he was just miserable. I called Barb late Sunday afternoon and she came down from Roy to get us. After a ride in a nice cool car, and being in a cooler house, Andy did perk up a bit.

Having family in the area gives me a legitimate reason to go to Utah, besides blog-stalking. Barb and Kyle live in Roy (north of Salt Lake) and Peter and Karen live in Orem (south of Salt Lake). I was hoping that we could all get together, especially since I hadn't met Baby Bridget yet. (My dad was able to go out for Bridget's blessing two weeks before that.)

We talked about meeting up at the zoo or a park or something, but with Andy being sick I felt like I didn't really want to do anything out in the heat, or anything too strenuous. Plus Barb was having some trouble with her car. I said, "I'd like to get together, but it doesn't necessarily have to involve actually doing anything." So Peter and Karen drove up to Barb's house Monday morning and we just hung out and had a nice laid-back visit. Very laid-back...after lunch Barb got Hazel down for a nap and ran out to get some more food from the store, and the rest of us all fell asleep watching Shaun the Sheep. Elizabeth was the only person in the house who was awake, sitting on the couch between her sleeping parents. (Kyle was at work.) Family nap!

In the afternoon it cooled down some (seemed like there was a storm blowing in, though I don't think it actually rained) and we went in the back yard and took some pictures. Andy was still not up for much but I got some cute pics of Hazel and Elizabeth.



Hazel is so big! I hadn't seen her since last June. She's nine weeks older than Andy and weighs half again as much. (Seriously... Andy's 20 pounds and Hazel's 30.) She's talking some, too. Very cute.




Cousins! Hazel will be two in October and Elizabeth will be three in January. They're almost the same size.



Uncle Peter is hi-larious.



Barb has some gorgeous flowers in her yard.



And here's Baby Bridget! (Almost two months old.) She's a good sleeper.



Such a cute little smile.



Here's where Barb and Kyle put my giraffe painting up in the living room. It was fun to see it on the wall.



Right by the Korean wedding ducks!

It was a good little trip. I would have liked to go to a Korean restaurant with RoseE, or go to temple square and find the Korean sister missionaries, but it just didn't work out this time, with Andy not feeling well. He took a few days to get back to his normal chipper self. But I'm glad I got to go. Big thanks to Barb, and to RoseE's mom!