UTAH

Summer has come and gone, and we are now into the fall weather with slightly cooler breezes and hurricane warnings galore...

But before all that, we had a wonderful summer traveling and spending time with family. Our first stop was Utah. Ryan and I went out a week ahead of Casey. We were helping Cody and Amy get set up in their new apartment. We shopped, played games, and went to church with the family(selfie included - sorry Ry!).

Kaitlyn and Alex live in the same apartment building, so it was fun to see them all while we were in Utah visiting. Kaitlyn took us hiking and site-seeing our first week. Utah is a beautiful state!

We found places way high up(a little scary to drive), but when we got up there it looked like it was it's own little oasis in the middle of nowhere and we didn't realize we were on top of the world. So, Ryan skipped rocks and we enjoyed the cool mountain air.

We visited a lavender farm, took the tour, and sampled the goods. I love essential oils. I love the smell, I love the healing properties they offer, and I love all of the products that are available for our health and well being. We were hoping we would actually be able to go in the fields and take some pictures. However, the fields weren't open for public viewing, so we found some lavender bushes and had Ryan pose, ha!

I had family in town, so we met up for dinner, went to a small local carnival, and finished the night at the BYU stadium of fire(sorry, no pictures of fireworks - I was too busy visiting).

After Casey arrived we went on a few more mountain drives and hikes enjoying the beautiful Utah scenery. We found treasures/creatures(can you spot them....they looked camouflaged when we placed them back into their natural habitat), saw some cows in the mountains(who knew?), and got the rental car extremely dusty, but it was worth it...so fun to explore!

We had another fun family day with my brother Darin and his family. We picnicked, played some softball, visited, and took some selfies with the selfie stick, of course. Good times!

Kaitlyn and I got up at the crack of dawn one morning to watch the hot air balloons take off. It was part of their freedom festival in Provo - very cool!

We spent the 4th of July with Casey's family. All but one of Casey's siblings and their families were there. July is a busy month in Utah. They celebrate all month long. We didn't need to go anywhere to watch the fireworks, because the neighbors put on an amazing show....better than any fireworks display I've seen in a long time. We had so much fun!

And it was a Happy 80th birthday celebration to Grandma Ritz! She's a special lady and oh so very talented! Any ounce of talent my kids have artistically comes from her! We were so glad we could be there to help her celebrate!

And we had one more festival with Cory and his family, Casey's brother, that we celebrated before heading out. Heidi is the party lady, and she brought all the goods...homemade cotton candy, pizza, drinks, chairs/blankets, and anything else you can think of - she had it covered! There was music, food and fun. We sure miss hanging out with family.----FUN FACT----Cory and Heidi were the ones who set Casey and I up on a blind date. He drove from Provo(where he was going to school) to Oregon(where I was going to school-14hrs.)...and the rest is history♥♥

It's always so fun to spend time with family. We enjoyed our time in Utah so much. We were also able to visit with friends while we were there, but I didn't manage to take any photos...too busy visiting. We hold a special place in our hearts for Utah at the moment. Our kids are well watched over while they are across the world(it seems) from us, and for that I'm so very grateful. Thank you friends and family for watching over our peeps! We look forward to our next visit. ♥We love and miss you all♥