I have been holding my breath since March hoping that my family would still be able to come to Utah this summer. Chelsea and Jeff were supposed to have a family reunion with the Vocana family and planned Kyler’s baptism around the reunion since his birthday was the same week. The reunion ended up getting canceled due to COVID, but the trip and baptism still happened. They spent a few days visiting friends before our family time.
They came over to my house for lunch and to see where I live. It was fun to have them here.
Mom and Dad flew in that evening and our first stop was Cafe Rio. It was only my second time eating in a restaurant since COVID started. There was almost no one there so that was nice.
We didn’t have set plans for Tuesday morning so we went up to Silver Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon to hike around. They kids loved all the little animals and the deer we saw. We packed a picnic and enjoyed the cooler temperatures up there.
After being friends with Celsey and her family for years and years, she finally got to meet my family. Her parents invited us over to swim in their pool and then have pizza for dinner. The kids had fun meeting each other and playing together and it was fun to get the families together.
Kyler celebrated his 8th birthday while they were here. He is pretty easy going and wasn’t super particular about what he wanted to do for his birthday. He started the day with birthday donuts and swimming. We went to In N Out for lunch and Classic Fun center for jumping and skating. The main thing he said he wanted was to go to a trampoline place. The kids loved running around and jumping and decided they wanted to skate towards the end. All of the kids ended up skating and having fun. I held Kenzie’s hands and helped her skate.
It was pretty hot inside the fun center so the kids happily enjoyed a snow cone.
Malea and her family were on their way home from Yellowstone and happened to be staying in Sandy that night. Malea and Abby stopped by for a quick visit. It was fun to see them. After they left, Jeff’s parents came over for dinner and birthday brownies and more swimming. I haven’t been with any of their kids on their birthday for a while so it was really fun to celebrate all day.
Kyler’s baptism was one of the big reasons for the trip. With all of the restrictions we weren’t sure at one point if we would be able to have the baptism. Fortunately we were still able to have it, and Kyler had all the people that could be there in person to celebrate with him. It was a very initiate and special baptism since everyone there was there for him. Even his uncle Kyle presided over the baptism since he is in the bishopric. It was a different experience all being in masks, but it was still a special day.
Kenzie put on my heels during the lunch and refused to take them off. She was very committed to wearing them even in her family picture and walking up the stairs.
After everything was all cleaned up, we got checked out of the hotel and sent them on their way to spend a couple of days with the Vocana family. I took mom and dad to St. George. It was so nice to spend time with family after not really knowing how long it would be before we could see family with COVID restrictions.
