Vacation Part 3 - Friends, Running, Wicked, Fish, and Wonderfulness

The third and final chapter of our Utah vacation. I know that there are cheers being heard around the world for these pictures to end. I write as if going to Utah is the best place in the world to go. Guess what, it is. For those of you who don't agree, just eat a bowl of ice cream and nod your head so that we can still be friends for the moment. :) Kidding....

So, going back to your old stomping grounds, even if you just left one year previous, ensures that you will see lots of people you haven't seen in forever and you are guaranteed to have a great time. Just try it if you don't believe me. What was once a seemingly boring place will turn into a riot of a good time. 

Let's start first the Boyce's. GUYS.....WE DID NOT TAKE A PICTURE!!! What the....?! So, to document the incredible fun we had, I'll just elaborate without any aesthetic proof of how we first found you. We stole a moment away the night we got to Utah to see these wonderful people. At first they informed us that they were "on their way back from hiking timp". I thought that meant they were in the car driving home instead of trekking down the mountain. After hours of anticipation they finally got home and we got to their house. What we found there was a nice mix of amusing, painful, and a slightly pathetic view of their hike that day. Red as tomatoes and exhausted to the point of passing out, they still agreed to see us. Now that's friendship. :) A week and a few days later, they were in better spirits and their skin looked a healthy shade of slightly brown. Their dream baby, little miss adorable pants, joined in the fun for a night of Hand and Foot (Kelsey and I really need to learn how to slaughter those boys!) and ice cream. 

Second, the Jensen's. Another non-picture reunion! What's wrong with me! Brian and Jason rekindled their friendship and conversation over hours of playing smash brothers. It's been a while since Brian laughed that hard and it was a much needed "boys night" rejuvenation for him. It's amazing what smash brothers can do for those two.....it's actually borderline ridiculous. Kayli and I, of course, talked for hours and hours. My favorite past time. This girl....she looks so good at 70 years pregnant (cause that's how old you feel when you're days away from delivering). I thought I expressed to baby boy how much I would appreciate his early arrival and although I'm glad Kayli got that early arrival she wanted, coming hours before I left on a plane was a little sad in the Anderson department. Adorable Griffin, next time I'll smother you with snuggles and you won't get to say no. :)  

Oh friends....I miss them so much it hurts sometimes. Am I kidding? Uh.....

Now on with Kari and Rachel. Dear girls, I had so much fun! Why did we not do this more regularly!!? Something about Rachel moving out of this world...oops...I mean to cache valley. Lame. We should have corrected that years ago. 

We started off at the church history museum to give the kids some playtime while we chatted. Who knew that the museum was so fun? 

This is how we fish at our house. Who needs bait, poles, and equipment when you can just grab it? 

Uh oh....could he just be in driving bliss for one more day?  

After a wonderful treat at kneaders, we finished off our hours of chit-chatting at the play area at City Creek. Gosh, it's just so good to catch up! I'll be honest, I was kind of sad for this to end and that we had to go home. 

Miss you guys! 

Lastly, Thomas. Oh Thomas. I was so excited to hear that he moved to Utah, but with our schedule I didn't think I'd be able to see him this time. Lucky for me, he was working in Riverton one day and staying at Kayla's brother's house. I haven't seen him in YEARS! We practically spent every waking moment together in high school, so "years" is too long. Now we're all grown up with miniatures of us and it was kinda crazy. 

To preface, I did inform Kayla that I have a tendency to overstay my welcome (come on, I know some of you are laughing and nodding 'cause it's true). Brian and I really like to talk and sometimes we don't know when to stop. Well, lucky for me, my kids got to leave a lasting impression on this perfect and perfectly behaved family. First, Hailey, my sweet Hailey, thought it was a wise decision to have a leaky diaper on poor Thomas. Strike out #1. Then, darling and perfect Claire was having too much fun, so she decided NOT to go to the bathroom on time and peed on the carpet (remember....this isn't even their house). Strike out #2. I would say that strike #3 would be on me since I didn't bring spare clothes for Claire....and Kayla graciously let us borrow her nieces clothes so Claire wasn't demonstrating anatomy for the boys until she got to ride home butt naked, but we're not going to mention that. Lastly, Jared threw a hard green tomato at their window and ran away laughing. Strike #3. 

There you have it folks! My children have left a lasting impression that the Anderson's have loose bowels and that we're violent. I wouldn't blame you, Thomas and Kayla, for never speaking of us again.....but I had a wonderful time despite my incessant talking and my children's behaviors. So good to see them and I hope it isn't 5 years until I see them again.

Speaking of best friends, fitting into that category is obviously my awesome mom and Rachel. What would my vacation be without that wonderful girl! She's the best friend anyone could ever ask for and the loyalist to boot. My mom and I aren't marathon runners, so obviously Rachel left us in the dust, but we had a great time. My hot mom got 4th in her age group...what was it? 40-99? Whatever it was, it covered more decades than how old she is, so she is the winner in my book! Rachel took 2nd place and I took 3rd in our age group, so we got a nifty (and heavy) medal in honor of us running at a semi-glacial pace through Bluffdale's neighborhoods. :)  

Who knew we'd have a little high school reunion with Sammy boy? Too good, too good. When you have legs like a gazelle, you get 2nd place overall like he does. 

Now! On to WICKED! Need I say more? Why yes, I am Stacy Anderson, so yes, I do need to say more. If perfection could be wrapped up into one girls day, it would be this. Dresses, jewelry, friends, dinner, and Wicked. Why can this not be more regularly visited? Sweet mercy, how fun life can be! 

We ate at Brio, so good. We ate fast and it was delicious. End of story. See....we even took a picture.

We hustled our bootay's over to the Capitol Theater, giddy with excitement! I can't believe it took me 11 years to see this play. That's seriously the crime of the century....and no, I do not have a tendancy to over-exaggerate.  

Okay...I admit, I did not cry. I didn't shed one tear. I couldn't. Even if I looked for the opportunity, I just couldn't. I was like a little girl in a sparkly dress shop. You know, when you're little and you see someone older put on something sparkly and your eyes light up and your butterflies start swarming your insides until it erupts with a squeal, clapping, and a giggle? Yes, this was me. Every time the lights to the Emerald City turned on this happened. Yes, EVERY time. Gracious it was amazing. Every person was perfect and spot on. Elphaba...gasp! So incredible! I'd watch it every weekend if I could. Thank you, Rachel! It was the perfect day!

Can't forget my mother's ginormous family and all of our offspring having a good time. It's funny how my 1st cousins are my children's age instead of mine. :) I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Lastly, although we didn't get to do everything we wanted to, we did get to the Aquarium. I'll just say, that I was exhausted by the end and it was very well done. We had a great time!  

Penguins! 

Sharks! By this time, the kids were fading and the excitement level had dramatically decreased.

Coming home was not as exciting as I expected. SHH!!!! Don't tell Brian. Although I missed him dearly, I had so much fun! It's so fun to have friends to hang out with, things to do, and the WEATHER! Gah! The weather. Now we're back to melting, but we don't mind. Anyway, we got to the airport fully prepared for waterworks from the kids and my mom, but I forgot my wallet.....AH! I left as little time as possible between arriving at the airport and boarding the plane as I dared, so I certainly didn't have time to go back and get it. Between Rachel meeting us halfway to rescue us from a delay, and acting like a crazy mom, we made our flight. I basically threw my bags at the checker, had a backpack, a diaper bag, a purse, Jared on one hip, Hailey on the front, and Claire in tow and ran through the airport. Claire cried all the way through security because she was going to miss grandma and unfortunately I didn't have the time to console her like an angel, so I just told her that grandma could come to our house sometime. I needed her to run. By the time we got to our terminal, they were past boarding the children, so we ran on and sat down in the chair so that the sweat could clear from our overly stressed bodies. I'm not so sure it was wise to pray for the airport+single mom with kids+as little entertaining as possible scenario, but as soon as fellow ward member Sharon Carlyle boarded the plane, I knew someone was answering my prayers (even if the Big Man Upstairs laughs at me all the way through the airport with my glistening face and gazillion bags). 

And there you have it. Utah in a large nutshell. Thanks for stopping by. Normal life resumes.