Last Hoorah Trip to Utah

At the beginning of the year, Jason and I talked about taking a trip--a last-hoorah-before-baby-comes trip.  We talked about different places we could go--Chicago, St. Louis, San Antonio, and other cities within driving distance. Finally, we decided that a trip to Utah was in order. We wanted to see our friends the Perkins, our siblings who are at BYU, and other friends and family. So, we bought our plane tickets and planned our trip!  

(p.s. I was 34 weeks pregnant on this trip. Talk about cutting it close! Thanks, Dr. Steinbis, for letting me go :))

Day #1

Flew into Salt Lake, Brenna picked us up from the airport and took us to Provo. When Jason and I got to Provo, we picked up Halley's car, stopped to see Howard Gonzales, and then went to the Provo City Center Temple open house tour. 

The temple was incredibly beautiful. It was amazing to feel a special spirit there because my ancestor, William Harrison Folsom, was the architect of the Provo Tabernacle. 

I'm thankful for temples. I'm thankful that I can be with my family forever because of the ordinances that are performed inside temples. 

Holiness to the Lord. 

After we left the temple open house, we grabbed lunch at the Cougar Eat at BYU and walked around campus. We had planned on walking around for several hours, but after about 30 minutes we had seen everything that we wanted to see. The next thing we had planned was dinner with our younger siblings at 7:00 and it was 4:00. We had nowhere to spend the next few hours, so we sat in the periodicals section of the library and then decided to take a drive up Provo Canyon to Sundance. It was the perfect way to pass the time before dinner.

Then, once Logan and Halley were done with their classes, we picked up Brenna, Logan, and Halley and took them to Zupas for dinner. After dinner, Jason and I headed to Draper, where we would stay with the Perkins for the next few days.

Day #2

Jason and Tyler went skiing/snowboarding at Snowbird and Taylor and I did some shopping, got lunch at Paradise Bakery, and got pedicures. It was the perfect day.

When the boys got home, we went to Cafe Rio for dinner and drove by the mansions up by the Draper Temple. Then we played Bezzer Wizzer and ate Swig sugar cookies. It was all pure joy. 

(Also, the Perkins gave us a Solly Baby Wrap as a gift for our baby. Such a kind, thoughtful gift. We had fun practicing the wrap technique and racing the clock as we practiced. We have the best friends)

Day #3

We headed back up to Provo on Friday morning to spend the day with Halley and Emily and Nate and their family, who were also in Utah while we were there. We met up with them, ate breakfast at the cannon center (thanks, Hal!) and walked around the MOA and the Bean Museum. 

Then Nate and Emily took Henry and Lily to the Provo City Center Temple open house while Jason and I stayed with Caroline at the hotel and took a nap. When they all got back, we went to Brick Oven for dinner and got Swig sugar cookies and creamery ice cream for dessert. Yum!

Day #4 (our last day in Utah)

First thing in the morning, Emily, Lily and I got manicures. Such a fun girls date! We loved choosing different color combinations and deciding whether to get our ring fingernail sparkly or not. Emily and I went for neutral grays and pale purples with gold sparkly ring fingernails and Lily went all out sparkly blue--it was perfect for her! We had the best time. 

After getting our nails done, I met up with Jason and the Perkins at the BYU Women's Basketball game. It was the first time any of us had ever gone to a women's basketball game before, and it was fun! We loved any time that we got to spend with the Perkins. After the game, we stopped at J Dawgs and headed for the airport. 

From my instagram post about our trip: We had the best time. I'm so grateful Jason is on my team and by my side. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about our twosome becoming a threesome. We're happy and content and have such a great life together. And the thought of changing that and venturing into the unknown of parenthood makes me, well, nervous. All that aside, I'm glad we took this trip. It was a great last hoorah. Next big thing on our horizon: Baby Brase in 5 short weeks!