Living Through It: Utah Trip #2 Part 1: Whitney's Wedding and Antelope Island

A couple days ago, I was talking to a friend that I hadn't seen in a while. He said to me, "I have a question. True or false: You started school then two weeks later took a week-long vacation." My answer: "False. It was one week later."

Two of my very best friends got engaged this spring, and they were both planning their weddings for August. I campaigned hard for them to plan them close enough together so I could come to both of them. They planned them six days apart, which made it possible! I emailed my boss at the beginning of the summer asking if it was ok for me to go, and he wrote me back saying that yes, that would be fine. But then he said that if I was asking his opinion, I should just choose one wedding and only take a few days off, since the beginning of the school year is so important in establishing patterns with the kids. Well...I guess I wasn't asking his opinion, because I went anyway. And I have never regretted it. Sure, my kids were crazy with the sub, but they're crazy all the time so it wasn't that unusual. And I was able to be at the sealings of two of my dearest friends, and I was able to spend some time with my friend Jaime who wasn't in Utah when I went earlier in the summer. It was such a great, great week and every day since I've been home I've wanted to go back.

I flew in Friday night and Whitney's wedding was the next day. The sealing was really sweet and Whitney seemed so happy. It was also the first time I got to see several of my friends that week, so I enjoyed the time to socialize. We spent a lot of time doting over Aubrey's baby, Tess. She's a doll. Erik stuck her in the stroller on top of several purses, then the next picture was a recurring scene throughout the week. "I'll hold the phone ready to take a picture while you do something to make her smile."

After the sealing, Jaime, Hailey, Angela, and I went to Maddox restaurant in Brigham City and had some to-die-for rolls. Mmm.... Then we went to Whitney's reception. They had it outside and even though it had been blazing hot that afternoon, it cooled down to a beautiful temperature for the evening.

The next day, I went to church with Jaime, then most of her family members came over for a birthday party for her niece, Rachel. It was nice of Rachel to have a birthday so I could see everyone!

If you'll remember, last year I made a bucket list of things to do in Utah before I moved away. I didn't get a chance to do several of them, so while I was in Utah this time around, I was determined to knock at least something off my list. After she got off work on Monday, Jaime and I went out to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. I'd read some reviews about it not being that exciting of a place, but I LOVED it. Seriously. It was gorgeous. I had no idea it would be so scenic - I was thinking it was more of a cool place to see wildlife. We did see a couple of buffalo, but the scenery stole the show. Then mixing that with the sunset? Gorgeous. I was overwhelmed more than once by the majesty of the scenery, and I was so touched by the intense love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us by giving us such a breathtaking world to live in.

Here's our buffalo friend. We pulled up to the visitor's center to go to the bathroom and saw this car parked on the far side of the empty parking lot. We thought that was weird, until we realized what the people inside were looking at!