Utah Extras

We were at the Paxton reunion only 2 of the 6 days we were in Utah, so we actually got to do and see a lot more things while we were there.  On Sunday, we had one of my mom's older cousins come to tell our family his story.  He shared with us a little bit about his childhood and about his time during the Korean War.  He took with him a small copy of The Book of Mormon and kept it in his pocket.  It ended up saving his life twice, he said -- once spiritually and once physically because a piece of a bomb flew at his leg and it went straight through the book before hitting his leg, making a less harmful wound.  The kids were amazed he still had the book to show them.

On Monday, we went to Magleby's Fresh for breakfast, which is the BEST place for pancakes ever.  The pancakes are fluffy and cake like, the syrup is foamy and rich, and the berries and whipped cream put it over the top.  I was in heaven again.  My friend Michelle and her 2 daughters live nearby, so they were able to meet us there.  It was so great to see her again and talk about all the good times we had in Provo.  I wish she lived closer.

Of course, we couldn't go to Provo without going to BYU.  I just love being on that beautiful campus!  I missed it and wished James were there with me.  It's crazy that I now have a child walking through the Cougar Eat and BYU Bookstore.  Who knows if Hazel and Ty will be roaming that same building in 16 years!

 

For lunch, I insisted we go to Sensuous Sandwich, which is a hole in the wall type of place with delicious subs.  James and I used to go to it a ton when we lived behind it in Orem.  We even stopped by our old apartment so I could take a picture.  Good memories.

 

That night we celebrated Miles's 1st birthday at the Janssons.  He's the most handsome little boy ever!  We were all so grateful we were able to celebrate his 1st year, which had its challenges.  He's still on heart medication, but they're backing off of it slowly and hopefully his heart will completely heal in the next few years.  We love "Miracle Miles!"

The next day we headed to the Hogle Zoo in downtown SLC.  We drove by the University of Utah where Mom went, we saw the basement of a house where Dad used to live while working at the hospital there, and we drove by the building where Mom and Dad fell in love on the dance floor.  It was fun to hear them talk about their memories there.  The zoo was great!  They recently added on the "Rocky Shores" so Hazel got to see seals and a polar bear.

 That afternoon my parents dropped Hazel and me off at my sister-in-law's house, so we got to spend a few hours with them again.  Their house was so cute and had the best backyard ever.  Hazel had a blast playing dress up and jumping on the trampoline.  Her cousins on both sides are SO good to her!  We had dinner with my sisters at Cafe Rio one last time and drove back up to Bountiful.  We even squeezed in a quick trip to see our other sister-in-law Melissa in Ogden that night.

And here's just some random cuteness-

 Hazel at Uncle Steve's organ saying, "Cheese!"

 Hazel and Sammy (Steph's little girl) - 2nd generation BFF cousins!

Hazel and Papa - She finally gets how great he is!

 2 of my favorite UT treats - a raspberry concrete and a brownie cookie bar from Kneaders.

I made it pretty much everywhere I wanted to go in Utah, but I did miss my friend Chloe while I was there.  Our schedules just didn't align.  Sad.  I think James will want to go back up as a family sometime though, and hopefully he can be there to enjoy Sensuous and everything else with me!  Thanks to Aunt Marsha and Uncle Steve for letting us stay in their basement while we were there.  It was perfect.

Paxton Reunion

Our family used to get together with our Paxton cousins at least every other year when we were growing up.  Then everyone got older, went to school, got married, started their families, and it didn't happened as often.  This summer was our first real reunion we've planned with Mom's siblings and families.  Only a few people couldn't make it (Jonathan, Matt and fam, James, Jeff, and Anna), so I call that a success!  Both of Mom's brothers, Steve and Dan, live in Bountiful, so we met up in Heber, Utah for the reunion.  Uncle Steve arranged for us to be at a nice camp where the Young Women go for girls' camp each year.  I was pleasantly surprised!  Our camp had 3 cabins with 16 bunks in each, so all 40 or so of us split up and had plenty of room (not sleep).  =)  We only stayed over 1 night though, so that wasn't a big deal.  One of the best things about Utah is how cool it gets at night, especially up in the mountains.  It was fun to bundle up and hang out outside almost the whole time.  We did a challenge course, which scared me to death because I don't love heights, but I'm glad I went through with it.  It ended with a zip line, and I hadn't done that before, so that was fun!  The next day we did paddles boats and canoes, pie eating contests, and minute-to-win-it games in the cabin.  With Aunt Marsha, Aunt Diana, and Mom in charge of food, we ate very well each meal. 

Here I am climbing slowly to the top.

 Uncle Dane had to play substitute Dad because Jeff and James weren't there.  Lucky for us he's such a good sport and loves the kids!

 Ty and Hazel were out exploring late at night.

 

These were the Minute-To-Win-It games Steph planned.  So fun!

Pie eating contest

 Sand play with Bella

 Here's the whole crew that was there (minus Hazel, who was happily napping in her peapod)

 Here are all of the grandkids who made it.  My favorite is Bart's hat hair.  ;)

Here are the 3 Paxton kids - Uncle Steve, Mom, and Uncle Dan

Our tshirts have the Paxton family crest on it and on the back is a list of all of the Paxton posterity.  I kept thinking about how big a family can get from just 3 kids.  It was so fun to get together again, and I hope we can do it again in the next few years!

Date Night on the Lake

Yes, James and I still go on dates occasionally.  It's not all about Hazel.  Just mostly.  =)  A couple weekends ago, Scott and Shayla took some friends and us out on their family boat for some wakeboarding and picnicing.  It was gorgeous out on the water.  I didn't mind watching James do all the work while I sat on the boat and chit chatted with the girls.  Fun fun!

4th and 5th of July

On the 4th of July, we celebrated our independence by eating muffins, playing in Hazel's tent, going to Torchy's Tacos (what's more American than tacos?), and swimming with the Robinsons.  No fireworks this year, but hopefully we'll make it to Celebration Park next year!

On the 5th of July, we celebrated Barbara's (Grandma's) birthday!  I love this picture of Papa, Grandma, and Hazel.  She's so happy!  Grandma got an all fruit cake with a little yogurt on top.  We love you, Grandma! 

Palmer Reunion

James's siblings all got together for the first time in EIGHTEEN years!  We all met up in St. George, Utah and rented out a few condos for all of us.  What brought us all there originally was the Stewart family reunion (Barbara's side) in Vegas, so we went to that on Saturday and just had our own Palmer reunion the rest of the week.  The condos in St. George were really nice, and it was great to have access to play areas, a game room, and a few pools at any time.  I had forgotten how much I missed Utah scenery.  It was gorgeous!  James went golfing almost every morning, we went to the lake twice, we swam, we earned some money by listening to a time share presentation, we ate at Kneaders and Cafe Rio 3 times (once in the SLC airport), we did a photo shoot with the 3 Palmer girls, and we stayed up late every night, of course.  The great thing about getting together was that we all agreed we should do it more often!  

Golf Course

 

One of my favorite places to eat in Utah-

Hazel being cray cray-

 Family time at the lake-

 Melissa, Christina, and me (and Tanner)

Hazel being cute with her untanned leg creases-

 The 3 Palmer baby girls - Cohlee, Kaitlyn, and Hazel (christinapphotography.com)

 

How lucky for us that Christina wanted to try out some photos at her new studio in St. George!  It was so fun to get the girls together.  I'm not sure it was fun for Christina, but she did an amazing job as always.  She set up her tripod for the Palmer family pictures as well.  We even had Grandma and Grandpa Brown (Barbara's parents) there for the pictures.

 All of the Palmer siblings- Dave, James, Amy, Tami, Chris, Tod

 

This last picture was during our 3 hour layover in SLC.  Hazel was over it (so were we).  We were supposed to get home at midnight that night, but because of maintenance issues on our plane, we flew in at 3 am.  We were in bed by 5!  James just went straight to work.  Poor guy.  We've caught up on sleep by now though.  Good thing, because Hazel and I are going back up to Utah on Thursday for the Paxton Reunion!