While the 1.2 million pictures we took on Christmas might seem otherwise, we actually did do other things during our stay in Utah.
After pulling an all-nighter driving to Utah, we cleaned ourselves up in time to make it to Jake’s niece, Mady’s, wedding reception at the Riverside Country Club. Yay for Christmas weddings (our anniversary is the 26th)! We had fun taking pictures in the photo booth and admiring all the cute details– I personally think anyone who got married before the advent of Pinterest (ME) should get an automatic do-over. Everything was adorable and it was fun to chat with members of Jake’s family whom we don’t get to visit very often.
After attending church with Jake’s family the next day, Jake’s brother, Tyler, hosted a post-wedding brunch at their house. The girls had a blast being silly with their six-foot tall cousin, the lovely Taylor Swift (Keitra).
Watching all the nieces interact with S and A was way too cute. Girl time!
Pictured below: Cate, Emma and Cassidy with S (in the vest) and A.
Pictured below: S and A were doted upon by Cate, Cassidy and Uncle Kip.
More cousins! (Have I mentioned Jake has 12 brothers and sisters?) Dyllan, Olivia and Lacey.
Speaking of Olivia and Lacey– time flies! Our wedding eight years ago:
For future record-keeping purposes, a list of Jake’s family members S and A saw on our trip:
Grandma Celeste
Jake’s sister, Valisa, Dan and cousins Shari, Quinn, Analise, and Josh
Jake’s brother, Tyler, Elizabeth and cousins Mady, Olivia, Corbin, Amelia, and Finn
Jake’s brother Ben and cousins Jordan, Alan, Lacey, Ryan, Cassidy, and Dyllan
Jake’s sister, Gigi, Kip and cousins Keitra, Regan, Ben and Mason
Jake’s brother Jarom, Jen and cousins Ethan, Emma, Claire and Cate
Jake’s sister, Angie, Drew and cousins Sam, Max and Britton
Jake’s sister, Juliette, Chris, and cousins Conner, Jackson, Bryce, Susanna, Alex, Ben, Spencer and Gabe
Jake’s brother, Andrew, Heather and cousin Chloee.
Phew! Did that from memory. Hard to believe that still doesn’t include three of Jake’s other siblings and their families.
The rest of the week, we discovered that Utah had a ton more kid-friendly attractions than when I was growing up there. At the new aquarium, we crossed the treacherous rope bridge in the Amazon and dodged vicious sharks with Grandma Celeste.
When she wasn’t pointing to every fish, Amelia spent most of her time on the floor, crawling around the caves in the slot canyon exhibit. While watching the penguins, Samantha fell off a ledge, and the bang was one of those you literally heard as her head collided with the tile. She stayed in Daddy’s arms after that unfortunate incident.
Had a quick bite to eat with cousin Chloee. The girls, Jake and Grandma Celeste checked out some kiddie thrill rides while I was helping my sister go wedding dress shopping (yay!).
We met up with Grandma Celeste, Juliette and cousins at the Museum of Curiosity.
S and A were cranky at first, but as a mom of two sets of twins, Juliette knew just how to get them on her side (read: gummies).
There’s more family fun where that came from.
Lots of love,
