Hittin' the Road

Payton and I just got back from spending the week in Utah.

Alyssa, Kourtni, and Lindsay went to girls' camp, Bill had to work, and so Pate and I decided we'd hit the road, go visit the fam, eat out a lot, shop 'til we drop, and say up waaaay too late.

This is what I saw on the way down:

He needed his blanket over his head while he watched his DVD and played his PSP... "too much glare," he said! This left me with a lot of time for thoughts of my own including the upcoming school year and "what the heck I'm going to do with a bunch of 5th graders when the 25th of August comes around"!!!

My mom had plans for me when I got to her house: Tile the backsplash of her kitchen.

We spent Wednesday looking for tile and when we finished perusing the aisles at Home Depot, we went to this most excellent flick:

Wow!!! What. a. movie.
What great ABBA songs! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly encourage you to make a trip to your local theater and soak in all that Greek sunshine! I especially enjoyed the "Take it Easy" song scene - TOO FUNNY! I know one thing, Bill WOULD NOT have enjoyed it as much as me. Chick Flick all the way! Maybe I'll bribe him to watch it again when it hits DVD status!

On Thursday, we made a mess in the kitchen and tiled the backsplash. Thanks to Ryan for cutting the little pieces that go around the outlets, and to Teressa for helping me grout! (Sorry for the ruined fingernails...)

It turned out beautifully!


Of course visiting Grandma and the cousins isn't complete without video games at numerous cousins' houses:


Payton got to spend a lot of time with the boy cousins including going to Lagoon (thanks Virchow's!), an Owlz game (thanks Ryan, Parker, and Carter), night games with the gang, playing all day with the cousins on Grandma's babysitting day, and just getting reaquainted with everyone since we were down in March.

Ryan and Teressa took me out to carboload at Olive Garden on Friday - because
on Saturday morning, I decided I didn't need two of my toenails, and decided to run the Provo 1/2 Marathon. I was up by 4:15 (yes. a.m.) so I could get to the bus by 5:00, only to stand at the beginning of the race in darkness, with no one I knew, in a running skirt and tank top, literally as cold as ice until the race started at 6:40 (yes. a.m.)! We are a crazy bunch, us runners!!!
The scenery was beautiful - there were cows in a field with a gorgeous stream running through the pasture, all the while mooing at several thousand runners trespassing through their terrritory. The sun came up and shone on the mountains, and I tried not to trip as I marvelled at Bridal Veil Falls and attempted to locate the restaurant atop a very high rocky cliff where we used to go to dances in high school. Sad. It was very broken down and there was no gondola to ride up to it anymore. (I can't believe I actually rode that thing to the top and danced on the deck when I was a youngster! Not now. No way!) I made it to the finish line and felt pretty good but glad to be finished! I had to visualize happy thoughts the last 3 miles!
Thanks, Mom, for meeting me at the finish line! It was nice of you!

We shopped at IKEA on Saturday and endured about an hour of "stinky eye" from an employee who felt it her duty to follow us around the store and stare at us while we explored that monstrous place...hmmm... we must have looked dangerous! After our IKEA adventure we ate burgers at an amazing place called JCW's in Lehi. The best burgers, fries, and shakes EVER!
DE-LISH!!
If you're ever in Utah county, you gotta try that place! They are the "burger boys"!

After saying good bye, Payton and I loaded up and headed out to reunite with our family after a long week without them!

Thanks for the fun Utah family. Payton and I had a great time!