Utah

In the middle of January, Courtnie asked if I would do an invite for Gretchen’s surprise 40th birthday party. Of course! Designing invitations is one of my favorite things.

She suggested I come… and I actually thought about going. My mom would be in UT that week so my accommodations and help would make it much easier! I also wanted to see some of my grandparents who might not be here much longer. I talked to my mom about it and she was all for it! Benny and I booked some tickets!

We spent the next few months doing birthday prep and it is seriously my favorite! It was finally time for us to fly out!

February 28th

Sabrina + Brielle took us to the airport! Security was a breeze, thank you TSA Pre-check. We waited at our gate for about an hour, loaded up and took off! Benny watched a few shows on my phone and then was fast asleep for 2 of the 3 hours on the flight.

He woke up for the last 30 minutes and woke up slowly! Beautiful sunset as we landed.

We found Grammy and Papa on the other side of security, found their car and took off to In and Out.

We made it to our rental in Provo and went to bed!

Thursday, February 29

We had a slow morning at the rental with a trip to Harmons. I miss Harmons so much!

We got ready and went to meet Mindee, Sadie, Kate and their kids for lunch at JCW’s.

After lunch we went to Dollar tree For a few more birthday items.

One more quick shopping trip at the Busy Biddy... I could have bought it all!

Back at the condo for a nap!

Thursday evening I had made plans with Chad + Steph for dinner. I dated their son in high school for a few years and they went to HS with my parents. So many of my relationships have imploded during the last 10 years of my life - My dad dying, my mom remarrying, and leaving the LDS church. They are two people who have continued kindness and stability in my life.

We met at Marina Bonita’s. I ordered some flautas and the size should have been listed!

We spent two hours laughing + reminiscing. It was a great time!

After dinner we went to The Chocolate and had some yummy desserts!!

Benson put on quite the show while I went to shower. Another day in the books!

Friday, March 1

Maddy woke up with a flat tire and was planning on being our wheels for the day. We met her at Discount Tire to see what was going on. They were able to put on her spare and told her a replacement tire would be there later that evening. Benny was so excited to see her and we took off to the Bean museum at BYU.

I spent a ton of time here as a kid and loved it! They’ve really changed it up, and I miss the old version. The LDS church has some interesting views, some exhibits didn’t sit well with me. But, we did get to see some animals!

After the museum we went to Pizza factory, yum!

I wanted to make a stop at Target on our way home to get a few more birthday supplies. I asked Maddy if she would go there and she was a little off. She hasn't been feeling that great the last few days and while we were at Target she about lost it. Benny and I finished shopping while she headed out to the car. We came back to the condo and took a nice long nap!

My mom met back up with us and we grabbed some dinner at Bajio and walked around the Riverwoods.

Josh and Lizzie arrived!

Saturday, March 2

We started the day off by meeting Kelly and Mav for breakfast at Kneaders! I haven’t seen Kelly in a very long time and have never met Mav. It was a great reunion!

The forecast was showing a big storm was coming so after a quick packing trip incase we got stranded in Summit County, we hit the road! First stop was Grandpa Don’s house! It was great to see them. Benny loved all of the animals!

Our next stop was my dad’s parents. The roads were getting nasty and the snow was not letting up! We were blazing our own trails and Liz + Josh were sliding all over the place. We had a good visit! Ben loved the toys.

Thankfully the plows had made their way through Morgan canyon for our next stop to Grandma Peterson’s! We didn’t get to visit too long, the snow delays ate up a lot of our time… but it was still a great visit!

Finally our last stop of the day was the Morgan bowling alley! We were hustling to get everything set up before Gretchen would arrive! It turned out great!

They arrived and she was very surprised and emotional. Success! Josh was a rockstar and bowled with Benny for 2 hours! He was in heaven.

The roads were a nightmare through Provo canyon so we had to take the long way home into Ogden. Katie gave Ben some birthday presents and they kept him busy the whole drive home.

Sunday, March 3

We said goodbye to Lizzie and Josh. Thankfully we will see Lizzie next week for Ben’s birthday! Yay! We played food, in the snow and started getting ready to go back to my Grandpa Don’s house for lunch.

As we were getting ready the snow was picking up again. We checked out UDOT and these were the first pictures we saw of Provo canyon. Needless to say, we changed our plans. I was sad I wasn’t going to see them again… and not get my fried chicken, but it wasn’t worth the risk!

We tried to get lunch at Winger’s but nobody ever came to take our order. :( So we went to In and Out! The rest of the day we spent packing up and one last trip to Canes for dinner.

Monday, March 4

An early morning off to the airport! Thankfully we all made it through security, got some Starbucks and to our gates. It’s always sad to say goodbye but nice we will see each other next week for Ben’s party!!

It took forever to take off because we had to de-ice the plane. Ben slept a little here and there. We were so happy to be home, see Logan and be back with all of Benny’s toys!

Catch you in 10 years, Utah. ;)