We spent two weeks in Utah visiting family and friends. It was fun being there as visitors because we actually went to see some of the fun sights. Here are the highlights from our trip.
I had to put this one in because a highlight for any mom on a 13 hour drive is sleeping babies.
Only one casualty on the road...poor dumb bird
Touring BYU campus (complete with the old boring commentary about where Mom and Dad went to class, etc. "Back when I went to school here...")
My friend Allison and her cute baby
Seven Peaks with the Espinosas, Grandma Baughman, Uncle Russ and Uncle Reid
The Conference Center roof tour and Temple Square with Grandma Baughman and the Briganti family
My cousin Danny
Taylor family
McUne family
Gunnell cousins
Uncle Clayton
Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house with Kim, Grandma Vance and Uncle Clayton
The Gale Center where the kids pretended to be farmers in the olden days.
It was a great trip.
While in Utah, Richard and Mr. M spent a lot of time helping Clayton with a bathroom remodel for their mom. Clayton designed the shower with an arch and a lot of great tile and stone creations. I am kicking myself that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Richard learned so much from Clayton's patient mentoring. It was fun to see the three of them working together and trying to fit in the shower.
The Gardner reunion was a lot of fun. We drove the 13 hours out to Utah for the occasion. The kids had a blast with their cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents. One of the highlights was a 5K race that our two oldest ran with their cousins. We were so impressed with their endurance!! Our youngest was obsessed with strollers the entire time, as was her cousin. They pushed the strollers all around the campsite and even had some stroller derbies. Good times.
So our little J Man turned four. His older siblings put on a fabulous green party for him because he loves green. All the hats and decor were green. All the presents were even green. They went all out for their little brother. All I had to do was drive them to the store and provide the cash. It was a blast!!
On our way home from our Diamond Lake camping trip we stopped to hike and picnic at Watson Falls. Another breathtakingly beautiful hike to magnificent falls. I have daily reminders here of why people call Oregon God's country. 
We just got back from one of the most memorable campouts of all time. We drove up to Diamond Lake (1 1/2 hours) and pitched our tents for a two night stay. Mr. M was very proud of himself this year as he was able to pitch his tent by himself and build a successful fire. 
