Utah Vacation Top 10

We recently traveled to Utah and had such a great time, we wished that we could have stayed longer.  These are the top ten reasons we loved our trip (in no particular order):

1.  Preston & Whitney's Wedding.  Although I did not capture many wedding shots (thanks to the torrential wind and rain that took place during the reception, wedding & luncheon), the wedding and everything about it was beautiful.  We are so happy to have Whitney join the family (as seen by the girls' reactions below when we told them that they were actually going through with it)!  The siblings got a chance to serenade the happy bride and groom with some Boyer humor and the minute the wedding and luncheon were over, the clouds parted and the sun shone, allowing the kids to run around free at last.

2.  Hiking.  We all got to enjoy a kid-friendly hike to a cute little waterfall.  Gabby was SO proud of herself for dipping in an inch of her toe into the cold water with Aunt Cami's help.  The twins enjoyed their hike in the slings.

3.  The Great Outdoors.  For those of us who apparently don't get summer until the end of July, it was refreshing to travel to a place where summer exists (despite during family weddings, of course, when it drops to the 50s with rain and wind).  We spent a lot of time enjoying the backyard!

4.  Old Friends and Carnivals.  Gabby got to meet up with her old best friend, Van.  The lack of sleep finally hit her at this rendez-vous and poor Van got an early witness of how moody girls can get, but he was a good sport.

5.  Swimming Suits.  There is certainly nothing better than summer time in a swimming suit (well, at least if you are a child and don't have to worry about how you look in one).

6.  Fireworks.  What would the 4th of July be without them?  I love that the kids were mesmerized by the simplest fireworks, even while it was still light outside.

The picture on the left of Gabby was taken about 2.5 seconds before she decided she would touch the finished end of the sparkler.  Ouch.  Party over.  But she did do pretty well considering her blisters....

7.  Family.  We feel pretty lucky to have two amazing extended families.  They certainly make it worth the pain of traveling with children.

8.  Boyer Cousins.  Isn't it amazing how cousins who never see each other can click instantly and form a tighter bond than friends that a child sees regularly?  Gabby LOVED her cousins.  This was the first time that she has been able to interact so much with them and she had a tough time saying good-bye.

9.  Zoey.  The Jensen cousin.  Although Zoey is younger than Gabby, she came home talking about her and still wanting to play with her.  I have a feeling these three are going to be close.

10.  The Freedom Run.  On the fourth of July we all ran a race.  The kids ran a 1K, the crazy people (aka Cami & Randy) ran a 10K, and the rest of us ran a 5K.  We pushed the girls in the stroller and my mom joined with the Boyer clan, too!  It was a lot of fun and something we would do again in a heartbeat.

Thank you family, for the memories!  We can't wait for the next round!