The last weekend in July, my husband, my oldest daughter, and I all flew to Utah for a quick weekend trip. My parents helped make this trip happen, as they wanted as much family in town as possible for my brother’s wedding on July 25th, and I am super thankful for their help! My husband and I used to travel a lot more before I was pregnant with twins, so it was so nice to get away again.
We made the tough decision to leave the twins behind, and Kevin’s kids were not able to come with us, so it ended up being just the three of us. It was great to get some one-on-one time with Eloisa, for Kevin and I to enjoy some kid-free time, and to celebrate my brother and his new bride with all of our family.
Now that we have five kids, I am sure trips like this will get harder before they get easier. I grew up traveling a ton as a kid — partially out of necessity, because we have family all over the country, and partially for fun — but those were different times, and I’m not sure if or when my family of seven will ever be able to travel that often. A part of me is sad about that, because I want to be able to provide my kids with everything I loved as a child and more, but a part of me is also just extra motivated to savor the trips we do get to enjoy now, rather than focusing on what isn’t meant to be.
With that being said, this was an amazing trip, and we won’t be able to plan something like this anytime soon, so I did my best to enjoy and make the most of every second!
Day 1: Getting to Orem
Our flight was scheduled to leave the Charlotte airport right around 9:00am EST, so on paper, not too early.
But we live just over an hour away from the airport, the plane actually started boarding around 8:20am, we had to get through security, and when I looked outside the morning of… it was pouring rain. Torrential downpour. It was so bad, the drive was honestly scary! We left around 5:30am, so it was pitch black the whole drive, and that definitely didn’t help.
Once we arrived at the airport, though, the rain had subsided, which meant our actual flight wasn’t affected at all. We breezed through security and made it to our gate right on time, which is where we met up with my parents. Eloisa was super excited to see her “Mimi and Baba,” meanwhile I was starting to get really nervous for our flight.
I have been on more flights during my life than I can count, and I even used to fly to and from Hawaii for college. But despite my frequent flier status, flying has always caused me a great deal of anxiety. Finally, sometime in high school, I was prescribed Xanax specifically for flying, which helped significantly. But it’s still overall not a fun experience.
On this particular flight, I decided to try a slightly higher dose than normal, but still within my approved range. For the first thirty minutes, I felt fine. I even got some homework done! Next thing I knew, I woke up and we were landing in Salt Lake City. Oops.
Luckily, my daughter happily played on Mimi’s iPad the whole time, and Mimi even gave her a new squishy toy that then joined us for the duration of our trip. Kevin also claims I “always” fall asleep on flights (which I guess checks out if I take Xanax every time lol), so he came prepared with his own things to do, as well.
After we landed around 11:00am MST, we got our rental car and then did what we always do anytime we fly to the western part of the United States: we drove straight to In-N-Out!
Eloisa was very mad that they didn’t have hot dogs, but I was thrilled to finally enjoy some animal-style fries again. Our closest In-N-Out back in North Carolina is several states away, so this is always a special treat when we’re out west visiting family. I skipped my usual vanilla milkshake, though, because I knew that we would probably hit up Swig later that day. Although I’ve gotten pretty good at making all of my favorite dirty sodas at home in North Carolina, there’s something fun about all of the different soda shops in Utah!
After we fueled up, we headed to my sister’s apartment in Provo to hang out for a bit before our 3:00pm temple appointment. I hadn’t been to the temple in nearly ten years, and Kevin hadn’t been ever, so we were super excited to go through together for the first time.
We drove to the Orem temple a little bit early so that we could walk around the grounds beforehand. Eloisa stayed behind with my sister, since she’s not old enough to go inside, but my parents were there and so was my brother. It was a really special experience, and I’m glad that Kevin and I were finally able to go. We’re looking forward to going again before the end of the year, hopefully to do more than we were able to this time!
After the temple, the family all went their separate ways — my husband, brother, and dad went to my brother’s bachelor party, my sister went to my soon-to-be sister-in-law’s bachelorette party, and my mom and I went to dinner in downtown Provo with Eloisa. We were all pretty beat at this point, but my mom and I had to do a quick run to the grocery store to get supplies for our Mount Timpanogos hike the next day before we could crash for the night.
Day 2: Hiking Timpanogos
Our second stay started very early. I woke up around 2:00am to pump and finish packing for the hike, and we left for the trailhead around 3:00am. I won’t go too much into our hike here, because I wrote a whole separate post about it here:
Long story short, the hike was incredibly hard, but the views were incredible. Now that I’ve done the hike twice, I don’t think I’ll ever do it again, but I’m glad I was able to experience it with my husband. We hiked over 14 miles and it took us over nine hours!
Some time between 1:00pm and 2:00pm, we stumbled into a Cafe Rio, hungry and hanging on by a thread. Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but Kevin especially was not feeling good. He sat down while my dad and I ordered, and we all felt better once we had a cold soda and some tacos.
Once we got back to the AirBnb, we had just enough time to shower and chill before getting ready for dinner. As mother of the groom, my mom was hosting a rehearsal dinner for my brother at a local restaurant. Since my brother and his fiancé were going to be married in the temple, though, there isn’t much to “rehearse,” so “rehearsal dinner” in this context is really just a night before dinner for family and close friends. It was so nice to catch up with loved ones who I hadn’t seen in awhile, and everyone was getting excited for the next day!
Day 3: Wedding Day!
The day had finally arrived! The wedding ceremony was at 10:00am, but because my husband and I, and Eloisa, couldn’t actually go inside the temple where the ceremony was taking place, we arrived to the temple around 10:30am. There were several other people in the same boat as us, so we all gathered around outside and got ready to greet the newlyweds on their way out!
Afterwards, the photographer took some photos around the temple grounds, so the family, the bridesmaids, and the groomsmen hung around for a little bit longer. Eloisa waited very patiently while the adults took turns being in pictures, which says something given that it was almost 100 degrees outside! My aunt popped over to a gas station during all of this to pick up some cold sodas for me and some of my family, which was much appreciated.
Pictures were done in about thirty minutes, which meant we were all free the rest of the afternoon until the reception, which wouldn’t be until 6:00pm. Since it was right around lunch time, the only logical thing to do was more Cafe Rio! Honestly, even though we ate there for lunch two days in a row, I still could have eaten it more on the trip… and I kind of wish we did. It’s just that good.
Kevin, Eloisa, and I met up with my cousin for a quick sweet treat, since that day was actually her birthday! I say “my cousin,” but technically, she’s my cousin’s wife. But as my mom would say, boys are gross, so as far as I’m concerned, she’s my cousin and her husband can deal! I got to meet her baby for the first time — who is over a year old and heading steadily into toddler territory — and we all had a great time catching up, even if it was brief.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring BYU campus, from the bookstore to the creamery, which was extra fun because Kevin had never been before. Eloisa was super excited to adopt a stuffed cougar, which she creatively named “Cougy,” despite my dad’s attempts to get her to name it “Cosmo” after the BYU mascot. Now, my daughter was toting around a squishy red weenie dog and a stuffed cougar!
The last hoorah of the trip was the wedding reception! There was a lemonade bar, paninis, and cupcakes, as well as some great music. I had a lot more fun dancing than I thought I would (which isn’t me knocking on my expectations for the reception, I’m just not usually much of a dancer), and I even got in some dances with my husband. It’s hard to believe that just over a year ago, we were dancing at our own wedding! We enjoyed reminiscing over our wedding and reflecting back on our first year of marriage while also celebrating my brother’s new chapter in life.
Day 4: Home to North Carolina
Kevin and I woke up extra early to make sure we could finish packing, and for the first time since the twins were born, I pumped and dumped — over ten ounces of breastmilk had to be dumped down the sink — since I could only take twenty ounces back with us. That was definitely a weird feeling, but at the same time it also felt nice to not have to stress about it because I knew we had plenty of milk at home!
Once the car was all loaded up and the AirBnb cleaned out, my parents, Kevin, Eloisa, and I headed to IHOP to have breakfast with my sister, who lives in Provo, before leaving for the airport. We recapped some of our favorite moments from the weekend over our pancakes and French toast, before saying goodbye in the parking lot. My sister will be home to visit in just under a month, but it’s still always bittersweet to say goodbye. She is crushing it in Utah, but we sure do miss her in North Carolina.
The whole drive to the airport, Kevin, Eloisa, and I just stared out the window, mostly in silence. Utah is so different than our home in North Carolina, and I was just trying to soak it in one last time before leaving, and I’m sure Kevin and Eloisa were, too.
We returned the rental car, made it through security, and found our gate without any issues. I bought some Utah magnets at a gift shop, since we needed more magnets at home anyways, and I bought a Diet Coke to take my meds with on the plane.
Takeoff was a little rough, but beyond that, the flight was pretty uneventful. My husband was sitting with Eloisa several rows behind my mom and I, so I took advantage of the alone time, took my Xanax (though not as much as I did on the flight out there!), and slept almost the whole way home.
The second the plane touched down in North Carolina, I immediately texted the babysitter our ETA and we hightailed it for the car. The twins had both developed fevers while we were out of town, and Emersyn had an ear infection, so we wasted no time getting home to see them. Being reunited with them after four days felt so, so good!
All in all, it was a fantastic, albeit short, trip out to Utah. We left Utah like we always do: exhausted from a packed itinerary, but hearts full from all of the time spent with loved ones and all of the memories made.
Theoretically, by next summer I will be working as an attorney (anyone reading this, send a prayer up that I pass the bar), so we’re hoping that we will be able to swing another trip out to Utah. I never envisioned myself being someone who visited Utah every single year, but for one reason or another, my husband and I have found ourselves out there every single year we’ve been together. It would be nice to be able to take his kids for the first time, but only time will tell!
Step by Step Parenting 