Playing in Utah

Last weekend I took a trip to Utah. I know, I just went there a few months ago, but there was a wedding that I just couldn't miss so I went again! Let me just mention that there is never enough time for me to do all I want to do and visit all the people I'd like to visit in Utah. This totally stresses me, but I try to do my best. I do have a brother and sister who live there and this trip was about a wedding as well. As if all that weren't enough to keep me busy for 5 days, I called my best friend from BYU, Melissa, who lives in California and had her fly out to meet me so we could run around and play. Anyway, instead of making a long prose-filled post, I am going to list the highlights.

Thursday

*After Melissa picked me up from the airport, we went to visit her grandmother. Talk about a funny old lady! I used to visit with her a lot in college and as I backpacked across Europe I gathered various thimbles for her to add to her decorative thimble collection, but did she mention that? No! She told me that what she remembers about me was how I wanted to marry "that boy" and how he broke my heart and how sad I was. I assured her I'm over him now and happily married to another boy.

*Melissa and I stayed up until 2 a.m. chatting and giggling like we were 19 again.

Friday

*Melissa and I started the day with a beautiful walk through the hills around my sister's house

*We weren't dressed and ready to leave the house until 11:00 a.m.--the naughtiness of it all!

*Whitney, Mel and I met Jamie (the bride of the wedding I attended) for lunch.

*We shopped out little hearts out.

*Whit, Mel and I got pedicures--mine is a little more orange than coral, but that's okay, because Whitney's art on her big toe resembles more of a solar system than a simple flower.
*Melissa dropped me off at the Jordan River Temple at 5:20 p.m. so I could be Jamie's escort when she went to the temple for the first time. It took me about four minutes to place no less than six frantic phone calls and find out that Jamie was waiting for me at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. Oh, dear! Long story short, I hoofed it from the temple back to the highway where Whitney and Shawn picked me up and took me down to the right temple. I made it there at 6:28, missing the initiatories, but making it in time for the "pep talk" and the endowment session at 7:00 p.m. All's well that ends well, I guess, but tears were shed and I limped the rest of my trip on the six blisters I got from walking 1.8 miles in 4 inch heels and then barefoot to get from the wrong temple to the highway. Crazy! On the upside, I did get two catcalls and two whistles while I walked. It's been a while since that's happened.


*Going to the temple with Jamie was actually quite a beautiful and special time. That deserves it's own point.

*Once back at Whitney's, Melissa and I watched the last two episodes of Lost and stayed up chatting and laughing together like we were nineteen again. Again.

Saturday

*We started the day with a trip to Wal-Mart to buy moleskin for my throbbing blisters. I rode the electric cart, much to Shawn's embarrassment.

*Whitney and Shawn introduced Mel and me to the yumminess of Zupas, a great sandwich place.

*Mel and I went to visit my brother, Joel, and his family. My nephew, Jackson, cooed and smiled at me nonstop. He is just adorable! He makes cute baby noises incessantly!
*Mel and I went on campus and made a few purchases at the BYU Bookstore before heading to our old jaunt, Hogi Yogi and partaking of "fat free" goodness. (FYI--$2.13 no longer gets you a medium; we marveled at that and all the other changes that have been made since we moved there 15+ years ago.)


*After I limped through the University Mall, we drove up to Lehi to meet Melissa's mom, aunt and cousin. While I was at BYU, I would spend Easter, Thanksgiving and other various weekends with Melissa at her aunt's house in Sandy, so it was fun to see her and her daughter again.

*My sister-in-law, Kim, met up with Melissa and me at Thanksgiving Point, where we took advantage of Whitney and took the Segways out through the Gardens. First of all, those gardens are utterly gorgeous. Secondly, those Segways are even 12X more fun than they look. I won't go into details, but when Melissa had a slight accident in the Italian Garden I might have had a slight accident in my pants. Oh, come on, it was just a drop. Boy, did we laugh! Whit met up with us and didn't find our crashes nearly as funny--something about each Segway costing $5,000 and her losing her job. Blah, blah, blah! They were fine when we finished.


*My brother-in-law, Shawn, joined our little group for a showing of What Happens in Vegas. I've never been an Ashton Kutcher fan, but there was a scene in the movie where he's wearing this black suit and a crisp, white shirt and his hair is kind of slicked back and oh...I might have been converted. Anyway, we all laughed at the film and more than once I thought Kim was going to have a turn at peeing a little in her pants.

Sunday

*I went with Whitney and Shawn to church.

*Joel, Kim, Courtney, Aubree, Easton and Jackson came for a fabulous Sunday feast. They also brought along their Wii and introduced me to the games "American Idol" and "Dance, Dance Revolution." Frankly, I was much better on the former, but blame the blistery condition of my feet on my complete botching of the latter. All in all, I have to say that the Class of '92 (both Shawn and Kim are my age) was well represented, but I think Aubree's crooning and Courtney's lightness on her feet stole the show.


*Joel, Whitney and I discovered that we were Mom's only babies who weighed over 9 pounds at birth, so we thought we'd take a photo together. We call it, "The Three Fatties."
*I spied one of my favorite quick reads, Can You Keep a Secret? (I know, I know, Janae...) on Whitney's bookshelf and plucked it off after Joel's family left. I read it all night, taking a break only to meet Whit's cute neighbors and their new puppy. It was great to sit and read without getting interrupted by children or feelings of guilt. (As an aside, I'd like to note here that Chica's neighbor, April, was in awe that I have four kids and thought I looked younger than I am. She is now my new best friend.)

Monday

*Melissa and I did some more shopping (she needed a few specific things and we hadn't been able to find them yet this trip) in the morning.

*We met her uncle, mom and grandmother for lunch. This is the uncle whose house I used to visit with her.

*We met up with her aunt again and did more shopping with her and Mel's mom. I might have purchased three new pairs of shoes. My size is so much easier to find in Utah than in Maryland. Too many people have big feet in Maryland, I've decided. In Utah, there were 10's and 11's everywhere! See why I had to buy while the buying was good? I'm the victim here, people!

*After a dinner where we met up with another of Melissa's cousins and her family, I said good-bye to my fun friend. Melissa and her mom headed back to the airport to fly home to Cali and I hitched a ride back down to Thanksgiving Point where Whitney was working.

*Chica took me on a quick golf cart tour of the Gardens and then Jamie came and picked me up and took me with her to spend the night at the Saunders' house.

*Jamie and I went to bed right at midnight, but we did spend a little time giggling and chatting about her imminent wedding day/night.

Tuesday

*I styled Jamie's hair for her wedding. I've now done her hair for her prom, her baptism and her wedding. I told her that I'll do it for her when she's in labor, too, if she wants--hee hee.


*We went to see her parents at their hotel before going to the temple (the Jordan River Temple--see why I went there on Friday?) Anyway, I did her sister's hair. I teared up a bit when her dad said good-bye to her. Her parents were not coming to her marriage ceremony and I thought it was a tender good-bye. Jamie was happy and bouncy and very strong. "I made peace with this decision long ago," she told me. What a strong girl. I am so proud of her and feel so lucky to have been able to be a part of her journey.

*A woman in the temple asked me if I was the mother of the bride. This is certainly a low-light of the trip and starkly contrasts with what Whit's neighbor had said just two days earlier. See why April is now my best friend? I may be old enough to have four kids, but certainly none of them is old enough to be a bride!

*I assisted Jamie in getting dressed for her wedding and loved watching the joy on her face as she was sealed to her sweet Aaron for time and all eternity. I couldn't help but shed a tear as the ceremony took place. Outside, it was a gorgeous day and Jamie looked breathtakingly beautiful for all her photos. There's nothing like the glow of a happy bride!

I love this photo of her hugging her grandmother while her dad is all smiles in the background!



*I drove with Jamie's family from the temple to the wedding luncheon. They are very kind, good people.


*After hitching a ride back to Whit's work, I spent the afternoon with her there until she got off.

*Later, I borrowed Chica's car to go to Joel and Kim's one more time. We watched "Utah's own David Archuletta" on American Idol and my niece, Aubree, schooled me in a game of Go Fish. Jackson kept a wary eye on his Aunt Mendy, much to my chagrin. His big brother, Easton, wanted nothing to do with me either, but he sure loves his dad!


*Whit and Shawn took me to the airport at 11:00 p.m. where I waited until almost one to get on my flight home.

I didn't sleep very well on the plane, but I won't complain. I had a great trip, thanks to many.

My fabulous husband was happy to spend 5 days with his kids. He was actually grateful for all the time he got to spend with them while I was gone. I'm not saying that he wasn't glad to have me get home, but he really enjoyed having more time with his kids. He also only had to think for a minute when I told him about Jamie's wedding and that I wanted to go to Utah to attend it. He's very supportive like that. Thanks, Jorge!

Thanks to my little Chica and her Shawn for being fabulous hosts to Melissa and me. We enjoyed our delux accommodations and felt so at home chez vous. Merci!

Thanks to my fun, fun friend, Melissa, who bought a plane ticket to Utah just to meet me there and play with me. She's a keeper, that Mel. I've been having fun with her since my first week at BYU. She keeps a visit with me as a yearly priority and I appreciate that. Thanks for being such a fun friend, Melissa!