Every summer we do a big vacation back home to the Idaho/Utah area. Ok, so it's not really home for Jon, but he did spend a big chunk of his life there. He vacationed to Utah (from MN) every summer when he was growing up to see extended family, and he spent all of his college years attending BYU in Provo, Utah. Jon's parents and a couple of his brothers still live in MN, but three of his siblings and their families live out in the Utah County area. I grew up in Idaho, about 15 minutes from the border of Utah (about 3 hrs north of Provo), attended BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho for 3 years and then lived in American Fork, Utah for 2 years attending BYU after Jon and I were married. Now all my family, except my brother in Texas, live between Idaho Falls, ID and Lehi, UT. Our Utah trips every summer are the main opportunity we have to see family so we always try to make the most of it and stay as long as possible. This year the kids and I were able to stay for 3 weeks and Jon for 2. He drove us out there at the beginning, flew black to Iowa and worked for a week, and then flew back for the remaining two weeks of vacation before driving home with us.
This trip was the first time we have done the "drive through the night" technique since having kids. We were pretty worried about it but it ended up not being as bad as we thought. Sure we were super tired and had some rough moments but overall our kids did really well and Jon and I were able to stay alert enough to drive it out.
While out there we were able to spend some time staying at Jon's sister Amberly's house in Herriman, UT, my sister Becky's house in Clinton, UT, my parents' house in Clifton, Idaho and a rented family reunion lodge in Beaver, UT. We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of yummy food we only get to have out West, and got to see almost all of our family members on both sides and a few friends too. The kids had tons of fun playing with cousins! We can't wait until our vacation next year!
 |
| I love all the temples in Utah! The kids thought it was too bright for a picture :) |
 |
| Cousins at the Splash Pad |
I met up with my sister Pam, who lives in Lehi, UT for an afternoon and we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point with her and her kids. My kids were beyond excited that they got to have a pony ride!
 |
| Wagon Ride! |
 |
| Wagon ride-cousins! |
My kids love staying at my sister Becky's house and playing with her boys! Katie and Rider are only 3 weeks apart! This year they even got to meet their sweet brand new baby girl cousin Abby. One of the fun things we did here was go to the SeaQuest Aquarium where the kids got to see, touch and hold a lot of animals. Colton was in heaven. He even got to touch a small shark. Seriously, he LOVED it! Katie mostly just loved the mermaid.
 |
| Super cute picture minus the random guy's legs in the background... |
Going up to Idaho is always lots of fun! The kids get to see all of Grandma and Grandpa's animals and even help feed the horses and hold the new baby goats! I even took the family to Twin Lakes for the first time! I spent every summer up at those lakes growing up!
We stayed at a really nice mansion in Beaver, UT for Jon's family reunion this year. There was all sorts of activities, a game room, pool, hot tub, park, basketball court and pickleball courts, and lots more. It was sort of in the middle of nowhere but it was lots of fun. My brother in law even brought some guns and skeet to shoot!
 |
| Jon's family |
 |
| Zach with his cousin Norah. |
 |
| Katie and cousins. |
 |
| This picture was from earlier in the vacation but Colton didn't get a lot of pictures at the lodge because he spent most his time buddied up to his older cousins like this :) |
The way home we took the I70 and went through Colorado instead of Wyoming. I thought it was a nice change of scenery but Jon got sick of driving through the mountains. It was pretty though! These pictures are from a rest stop in Colorado.
