the day after moses’s birthday, we flew across the ocean to utah! we spent two weeks with family and the mountains and it was so wonderful. ten of our days were spent at beloved bear lake, sandwiched between a few days on either end in salt lake city and provo.

every time we go to the states, the first couple of days are pretty bleary. i keep thinking i kind of have learned how to deal with jet lag with the kids, but by the next time we need to deal with it they are in totally new stages and react totally differently! we woke up at 3am on our first morning to moses chanting, “i wanna wake up, i wanna wake up!” his little body told him he had slept in until 10am, so we couldn’t blame him! we were staying at my parents’ condo in downtown salt lake, and ian took mo out on a little stroll to the state capitol building in the still-dark wee hours.
 
gabriel woke up not much later, and we enjoyed watching the light of day start to cover the city while daddy and moses made their way back.
 
i got to spend the day with two of my best friends from childhood (can’t believe i don’t have any pictures!). the next morning was still a pretty early wake-up, but better! this sunrise is what we woke up to!:

and then we headed down to provo (where two of ian’s sisters live). on our way, we stopped at sundance and rode the chairlift. the scenery was astounding. i firmly believe that mount timpanogos is the most beautiful mountain in the world. utah had a super rainy spring, so everything was so green!

riding the lift was a fun family adventure. but it was more fun for me than for ian, who has a pretty intense fear of heights (especially with his kids!). i love that he keeps facing that fear 😉
 
then we met up at a park with ian’s sisters and their families and also ian’s oldest brother and his family, who happened to be in utah (visiting from pittsburgh, where they live) the same time as us! it was an awesome wright family party!!

we got to meet our new baby niece and moses had sooo much fun playing with his cool older (and redheaded!) cousins. i thought the view from the grass they were chasing/wrestling in was pretty spectacular – the other side of the same majestic mountain we had passed on the chairlift!

we stayed one night at ian’s sister rachel and her husband taylor’s little student apartment, and one night at ian’s sister sarah and her husband michael’s beautiful home. we got to go to church and have dinner with sarah and michael before heading back up to salt lake. love these people!!

on our way up to bear lake, we detoured to antelope island – an island in the great salt lake where a herd of bison live. moses is obsesssssed with bison so we figured we better go there and see them in the wild! we actually ended up seeing only one, haha, but it was still a fun little adventure.

after our time at bear lake (and in oregon, where ian and moses went with uncles and cousins for a camping adventure), we spent a day back in salt lake/provo before we headed back to london.
i loved walking around temple square with my mo:
 
we visited both sets of ian’s grandparents.

and the boys and i got to spend a glorious morning picnicking (with my favourite meal ever – from a random restaurant in slc) and playing at a playground with three of my best friends from high school and their kids. don’t you just love friendships that pick up right where they left off when you don’t see each other for long periods of time? these girls are truly forever friends. love them dearly.

and then we flew back over the ocean, filled up with the goodness of family (and a few friends that are like family).
pictures from bear lake coming next 🙂