West Coast Adventures: Utah

Matt had a two week break in between finals and Graduation, so we maximized our proximity to family in the West and visited Utah for a week and then Elko for a week.

Our Utah visit was fun and family filled!  We started with a mini Colton reunion, celebrating my brother Scott's graduation from BYU.  He was received many honors, and I'm proud of and excited for him as he starts med school at Georgetown this Fall.  Even more exciting than the graduation ceremony was joining Scott and Brittany for an ultrasound to determine the gender of their baby.  They are having a BOY!!!  It was fun to be in a room full of excited grandparents, uncles, and aunts.  

Celebrating cousin excitement on a carousel ride.

Saturday, following the graduation events, Matt participated in his first Half Marathon!  He met his weight and time goals set a few months ago; I'm so proud of him!  He loved the Salt Lake course, traversing through many pretty parks and the highlights of downtown, however his knees did suffer as the course is mostly downhill.  Still, he felt great and had a fun time!

The Start: University of Utah campus.

Yayyy Dad!

The following week we able to join in on a mini Alleman reunion. Matt's parents and sisters came in town to celebrate and support Kori (Matt's oldest sister) as she spoke in Women's Conference!  I have always been interested in this two-day feast of impressive speakers and powerful messages about basically every motivational gospel topic you can think of.  It is a huge deal that Kori was one of presenters!  I was able to join Kori as her guest for the Thursday session, and it was awesome to choose the classes we thought were most interesting to us (quality time while parenting, significance of the Atonement, and faith during trials) and spend the day with her.

On Friday, many friends and family headed down to BYU campus to listen to Kori's presentation.  She spoke about the importance of family meals and provided many valuable food planning resources and tips for any family to have in their bag of tricks.  It was a fun and informative presentation; she did a great job!

Team Kori

We also were able to visit my Grandpa and his wife, my uncle Alan and his family, my cousin Mauri and her family, one of Matt's college roommates, and Matt's large extended family in Springville.  It was so great to spend time with everyone, and we will miss being able to visit our Utah family so easily.

Matt's Grandparents with Matt's family

John playing with his Great-Grandpa

We are so grateful Grandma made it through open-heart surgery so smoothly; 

this is her looking fabulous just one week after the operation.

Reuniting with Matt's sisters and parents was fun as always, indulging in delicious milkshakes and conversing late into the night.

John and cousin Nora

The small damper on the week: John got a mean fever that kept him mellow and clingy for a few days. Luckily it was in between family reunions.  All it took was 5-6 viewings of Finding Nemo, and John was back to his energetic self.

A great vacation packed with many wonderful reunions!