August in Utah

Rachel and I spent most of August (4th-22nd) in Utah and had a great time! It was nice to escape the heat and hang out with lots of family. Confession - we missed Brandon like crazy (he wasn't able to join us until the 17th). Rachel worked me over the first few days (meaning that her behavior was not ideal and she thought she could get away with anything/everything), but I think once she realized that we were staying for awhile, she cooled off.

Nana was a great host and even had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bedspread and nightlight for Rachel. Every morning, Rachel would wake up and go help Nana water her garden (and look for snakes, of course) and she was always asking to take Zoe (my mom's dog) on walks.

One night, Papa took us to a car show and Rachel found a man with tattoos of Goofy and Pluto on his calves. She thought they were stickers and thought he was so cool! After the man realized that Rachel was following him around he stopped and showed her the rest of his Disney tattoos/stickers all over his body (oh great!) and that night to Brandon on the phone, she told him he should get some Mickey stickers for his legs and arms. :)

It was so great to have my family all together. Kyle just got home from his mission to Little Rock, Arkansas. Rachel kept telling him, "great job being missionary, Kyle" and "great job riding bike on mission, Kyle!" I was able to attend his homecoming talk and even got to meet his girlfriend! He has seemed to adjust back to real life quickly and is ready to tackle a new job and school. (Pictured: Zoe, mom, dad, Kyle, Cade, Chad, Cindy, Logan, us) We don't do anything special together, but during the summer we usually end up outside talking and the boys play basketball. It's great to be with family!

Not a great picture, but there's a great story behind it - Rachel was OBSESSED with the "Y" on the mountain, so dad offered to take her on that hike so that she could go see it. If any 2 year old can hike to the Y, we knew she could. She almost made it to the top by herself (needed to be carried a little towards the end and then oddly requested to be carried most of the way down). The whole way up, she kept saying, "dad, tell me when you see the "Y", ok?" Then when they got to the "Y", she said, "daddy, where is it? I can't find it." It was too big for her to comprehend that it was a "Y" and I think she secretly wanted to hold it or something. She was so confused by the whole experience, but fondly talks about the "Y" on the mountain in Utah. Future cougar, right?!

One of my closest childhood friends, Shalauna, got engaged a few weeks ago, so while I was in town, mom and I threw her a bridal shower. I also booked a flight for her wedding on September 10th, which will be exactly 36 weeks pregnant for me. The shower (my dad said it looked more like a reception) turned out great and there are so many people who love this girl and are so excited for her and Jason!

Rachel loved spending time with my brother, Cade (no surprise) - he is so good to her and is a great free babysitter!! He was mostly homebound because of a surgery he had on his foot, so I think he enjoyed us being there (just to have people around since he's practically an only child). In this picture, he made Rachel a creation out of blue marble rocks for when she woke up from her nap. We love Cader!!

We also got to spend some time hanging out with cousin Logan! Rachel didn't love for me to hold him for very long (I know, panic, right?!) but we worked through it and she did a lot better towards the end of the trip. I am very interested to know how she'll react to her new baby brother. She talks a big talk about "Andrew" and how he's "coming out in October" and she's excited to hold him and play with him, but who knows how it's all going to go down. Cousins Logan and Chase gave us some good practice.

We were also there for Kennedy's 3rd birthday and Chase's baby blessing. My sister-in-law, Kacie, has a serious talent for children's birthday parties. Kennedy's Toy Story birthday was a huge success and absolutely darling.

Rachel loves playing with her Hale cousins!! Her and Kennedy play especially cute together, but she loves all of them so much! They all went to "Jump On It" one afternoon and they always enjoy playing in Grandma's basement or on her jumpy house in her backyard. We always feel like we can never get enough time with these cousins on our visits!!

I also have to mention that a miracle happened and Rachel DID NOT GET ANY SICKNESS this trip to Utah! Hooray, she's not allergic to Utah! I was beginning to worry. :)

For the record, Rachel's favorite thing to do is to swing ... this has been going on for over a year now. If she sees a swing, she just HAS TO swing and she begs to go to the park (or backyard) to swing. She can easily sit in a swing for an hour if I let her or want to push her that long. We did lots of swinging in Utah since they have such nice weather this time of year.

We planned a little playdate with some friends from Chicago (tender, right!! And I'm sorry if we missed anyone that happened to be in Utah!). Here I am with Nicole, Marianne, Suzy & Katherine. We all lived in Regents Park together and have such great memories! Hyde Park was such a unique place, but one thing that stands out is that we had so much in common with so many other young couples in our ward and made such wonderful friends there.

Here are the Chicago kids: Henry, Ella, Mya, Paisley, Lily & Rachel

I also got to attend Education Week at BYU in the afternoons and it was refreshing to attend classes, learn from the instructors and feel of the spirit. Nicole Worthen even tagged along for one of the days!

I can't speak for Brandon, but I think that he probably thought his trip was a little too quick, but he did manage to hang out with his friends from high school and hike to the tram at Bridal Veil Falls (luckily this time it was during the day!). We also got together with the Worthens and tried to spend as much time with family as possible. I think he may have had a minute to relax too! He documented quite a bit on his new Flip camera (so maybe we'll post some footage).

All in all, it was a success! And the 10+ hour drive home went very well. My favorite part of driving long distance is how much Brandon and I get to talk - I just love it!!

My two favorite people ...

p.s. 33 weeks tomorrow!