Lady Therapy Trip

While Josh was camping out with some of the Young Men, I decided to take a ladies trip for myself. My sister Tawna gave birth to her first child Fynn the previous week, and I was dying to go see him, so I decided to trek to Utah. 

I left on Thursday morning, drove to Mud Lake, and attended the funeral for one of my student's moms who passed away from cancer. It was a super sad funeral--and very well attended. I've also never seen so many flowers at a single funeral before! She was very well loved, and she leaves 5 young children and a loving husband behind. After the funeral, I drove to Rexburg to go pick up Eve. Her college had just ended, and she was leaving for the summer. She had recently sold her car, and her mom was flying in the next day in Salt Lake City. They were going to vacation for a week, go to her friend's wedding, then fly back to England together for the remainder of Eve's break. I drove to Logan to have a different color decal placed on the Chevy logo, per the dealership's agreement when we'd purchased the new Equinox car there a few months earlier. While we waited, my sister Trina picked us up and we went to eat out at an ice cream parlor. We had rolled ice cream for the first time. It was yummy! We all got to pick the flavors, and the toppings, so it was very individualized, which I liked, too! After the car was done, Eve and I drove to Ogden where we met up with my friend Amanda. She had just gotten off work, so we went out to dinner. We ate at Waffle Love. I remember watching the owner when he was on the Great Food Truck Race TV show a few years ago, and was so excited to eat their food! Amanda got a sweet waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, but Eve and I got savory waffles. Mine was a grilled cheese with Tomato Bisque soup, and Eve got an avocado chicken sandwich. Their food was delicious, and the waiter was hilarious, but he kept forgetting to bring my lemonade! Finally, after reminding him 3 times, I just went up to the counter and got one myself! We went to the theater at the Newgate Mall that night and watched the movie "Skyscraper". We loved their reclining seats that also have heat adjustments. It was so comfortable, and made the intense movie just a little bit more relaxing! 

I got mango-coconut rolled ice cream

The next morning, Eve and I did a bit of shopping on our way to Salt Lake City. We stopped by Tabbi's office and visited her for a bit, then took Eve's luggage to her hotel before heading to the airport. The airport was under construction, so I ended up dropping her off near the International Flight area, and she met up with her mom there, took a shuttle to their hotel, and got a rental car the following day. I drove back to Amanda's place in Ogden, and we sat outside for a while with our feet in a pool, talking and catching up. We treated ourselves with some Italian Ice from Zeppe's that afternoon (I'd never been there before!) before heading to a matinee movie at the theater. We had thought of different things to do with Ryan that evening after he got off work--like the rodeo or a movie, but ultimately, we just stayed home, ate dinner, talked and laughed, and watched the movie "The Equalizer" in bed together. 

On Saturday morning, I said goodbye to Amanda and drove back down to South Salt Lake. My mom's cousin was hosting a Sorenson cousin mother and daughter party (my mom's mom's maiden name was Sorenson) at her home near West Jordan. Tawna lives nearby, and my mom had been staying with her for the past week after the birth of Fynn, so I picked mom up and took her to the luncheon. Tabbi and Trina drove down and met us there, too. It was fun! Some of the women I had never met before! Mom was so happy the entire time, she was giggling and laughing and remembering fun things from her childhood. It was awesome to see her so happy! After the luncheon, we chatted for a while, and then Trina took mom back home to Logan. I went over to Tawna's house to visit with her and see Fynn. I stayed for 2 hours and started driving home. I was getting tired, so on the way I stopped in Arimo to see my friend Marie. I haven't seen her for a few years, so that was fun to catch up! I got home that night after 10pm. 

See all those "Big Gulps" on the table? I always remember Aunt Linda drinking
one, and she and Aunt Connie brought them with them to the dinner, too!
It made me smile, that they still do some of the same things now that I
remember about them from my childhood!

I hadn't talked to cousin Angie for years (she's the blonde on the right).
I love Aunt Lois' face in this picture! She is Great Uncle Leonard's wife.
My mom is in the center of the photo, talking to Aunt Linda's daughter.
My mom's sister Connie is on the far left. 

This is an aunt/first cousin picture. The cousin who hosted the event is sitting
in the chair on the right. Great Aunt Linda is the youngest Sorenson, and is the
only living daughter--she is sitting directly in front of my mom. The cousin to her
right in the purple shirt reminded me so much of my Grandma Betty!!

All the ladies who came to the luncheon. 

Fynn is so adorable! It's so fun to have a baby in the family again!

I got to have lots of snuggles, and absolutely loved it!

Tawna is going to be a wonderful mother!

Bryce is going to be a fun daddy!

He is one proud papa! I love how Fynn is
admiring him in this photo, too!

I totally surprised her! Lucky me--she was home alone, too! We had a great
time catching up together!

Sunset on the way home as I was entering Pocatello

This trip was SO good for me. I really needed to get away from Salmon. It was weird coming home this summer after being gone most of the school year; I couldn't figure out where I belonged, and I really missed my friends. I needed to vent, and work through some things in my mind and heart, and spending time with my family and friends far from home really helped me do just that!