Cabin Paradise...

If there's one thing I miss the most about Utah, its definitely the mountains.  And that includes my parent's cabin.  We hadn't been up there in over a year-and-a-half and it felt so good to be up in the great outdoors, relaxed, and enjoying all the natural beauty there is to be seen.

The fall colors were unreal, and we couldn't get enough of our four-wheeler rides through the yellow aspen groves.  My whole family made it up to watch conference and it was so much fun (although very hard to listen).  The kids played non-stop and we were able to get Sansom family photos done with everyone there.  Utah keeps a tight hold on us with all it has to offer.

The men of the family.

We made sure to take a trip into Park City and ride the Alpine Coaster on our way home.

The Sansom Family.

The Duckworth Family!

Fishing….

Mitch and his dad took the kids fishing up at Strawberry Reservoir during our Utah trip.  The kids slayed them and had a blast!  I have the cutest video of Finnley reeling a big rainbow in with Grandpa Doug and she is so excited and nervous at the same time.  What a fun experience for these two, and I know Mitch loved the day catching trout as well.

Horsin' Around...

Waaaaaay back in September, on our trip to Utah, we made sure to spend an afternoon with the horses. This is one of our kids favorite things to do.  We had grandpa Matt saddle up  his horse, Tough, and take turns with the kids riding around the stable. 

Cowboy Dieter

Cowgirl Finn

 

 

 

 

Later that week we drove down to American Fork where we checked in on Miles to Run, the colt of Mitch's first horse Sheeza.  Mitch was in heaven, and is looking forward to the day when he can let out that cowboy inside!

Utah...

Back in October, Mitch got two weeks off work.  We headed to Utah first, followed by a week in California.  Mitch was thrilled that our trip overlapped with a Utah game.  We headed to the game and watched the Ute's kick Stanford's butt.  It was a great game, and so much fun to catch up with favorite friends we never get to see.

Timpanogos Cave

On our last day in Utah, we met up with Grandma Diane, Dayna and kids, and Danielle and kids, to hike up to Timpanogos Cave.  I hadn't been in yeeears and thought my kids would love it.  It turned out that Dieter is scared of dark, tight places, and Finnley reeealy had to go to the bathroom in the caves and just wanted to get out.  I won't tell you whether or not she made it to the bathroom. At least the hike up and down was fun! 

Remi really wanted to get down and walk, so I let her.  Unfortunately, she fell forward and landed on her face and ended up with a nice big road-rash on her forehead.  That is the story of her life these days.  She always has some sort of scrape or bump on that cute little face of hers.

This picture sums up our time in Utah.  This boy was wiped every. single. day.  He'd nap in the car and then fall into bed at night.  We had a blast, and soaked up every minute we were able to spend with our family and friends.  Until next time....

Solitude...

e did a little Solitude skiing in, solitude.  Mitch's parents were nice enough to let us head up the canyon early and do some skiing, just the two of us.  It was nice to ski hard and fast, and my legs were on fire.  The rest of the Duckworth crew came up after lunch, and we had fun skiing with the Kringlens that afternoon.  Dieter really improved, and was skiing down all by himself.  I had the best time riding up the lift with my little buddy, and playing "hot-lava" on the way down.  Remi hung out with Grandma and Grandpa and Harper in the Lodge.  She came out for a bit to play in the snow with D-bop.  We finished a perfect day with dinner at Porcupine Grill.  I don't think we could have planned a more perfect day.

Friends Forever...

riends forever - totally cliche - but for reals y'all, these peeps are going to be part of my life FOREVER - whether they like it or not.  We were lucky enough to catch up with a few of our friends while in Utah.  We wish we could see everyone, every time, but we can't.  Darn it!  Stringham's planned a fun night out for us at a yummy pizza restaurant, and, while the adults caught up, the kids ran wild and had a great time together.  So rewarding!  It made me miss Utah like never before, and I look forward to having regular play dates with that crazy bunch.  

We also met up with Mitch's life-long friends at Airborn for a fun family night.  I can't get over these three best friends and their mini-me sons.  So adorable!  These guys always revert back to their high school ways when they get together - competing in this or that and always on the verge of getting injured.  Lucky for me, they have adorable wives whom I love hanging out with.  I wish we could all get together more often, but living in three different states makes that a difficult task.  We'll take what we can get.  Thanks for the fun night Fairbanks and Taylors!

Blue Bird Day...

efore our trip to Hawaii, we got to spend a week in Utah skiing with our families, playing with our friends, and eating at all our favorite restaurants.  I can't tell you how fulfilling it was watching our kids learn to love something that brings you so much joy.  Being on the slopes as a family is definitely my new favorite past-time.

Our first ski day was up to Alta with most of my family.  We put Dieter in a morning lesson with his cousin Hoyt, and had fun skiing all over the mountain with Miss Finn.  She got her groove back pretty fast, and was soon racing down the mountain with her cousins.

At the summit.

Besides the weather being unbelievable, the company was pretty great too.  Everything from chatting up the lift, lunch in the lodge, and speeding down the slopes was full of fun.  Man, I miss my fam.  More from our week in Utah to come.

Utah in October...

I've been blogging backwards, but hey, at least I'm blogging.

Nobody blogs these days...have you noticed?  I mean, unless you're promoting your personal ventures that is.  I miss the old days of blogging - you know, just checking up on your friends and seeing how they're doing, what they're doing, etc.  Oh well...back to blogging.

In October, we got to take a trip out to Utah...TWICE!  The first trip was mostly to see the USC v. UT game, but of course we threw in all sorts of fun with our families.  

Girls night out with my mom and sisters.  Dinner at Trio, dessert at The Dodo, and then closing down Target walking all the isles.  That's our kind of fun!

Remmy and Harper...one day apart...both getting a thumb fix.

Celebrating Grandpa Doug's Birthday up at Ruth's Chris in Park City.

Hiking Cecret Lake with my family.

Utah v. USC - Oh, you better believe I didn't root for the Utes!

Finn and her cousin Carter hanging out in the Box with Grandma and Grandpa.

Mitch was in heaven....at least for the first quarter.  Then the Trojans showed up.

While in Utah, we were able to visit my grandpa who had recently suffered from a stroke.  We were able to talk to him and say goodbye.  He died a few days after we left, and Remmy and I were able to make the trip back for his funeral.  It was a bittersweet time.  It was fun to be with my family and reminisce about our fun, Rabbit - grandpa, but its was also hard to say goodbye. 

I was able to take a fun walk with my aunt and cousin - talking and laughing is the best therapy.