Recent travels...

Grace and I returned home earlier this week from being in Colorado and Utah for 2+ weeks. We drove to Colorado the end of July to see my sister Cathi and her husband Bryce in the midst of their move from Provo to Maryland where Bryce will attend medical school at the University of Maryland. It was really great to see them. And for those of you who I haven't already told, they are expecting their first baby in February - yeah!

Grace and I stayed a few days in Colorado Springs and then flew to Utah.

The main purpose of my trip to Utah was to visit my Grandpa Darrel, who has been seriously ill. I was able to see all of my grandparents on this trip, for which I am extremely grateful. I know it will mean a lot to me someday to have these photos of Grace with her great-grandparents.

We went to Logan to visit my Grandma and Holly just before they left to return to their home, and the heat, in St. George.

We also were able to visit with Papa Augie and Carol at their home in Ogden.

We stayed with Grammy and Grandpa Ted in Ogden for the duration of our trip.

And we were able to visit a lot with Grandpa Darrel (and with my mom, who is staying in Utah to take help him right now). We had some great chats and laughs. It was terribly difficult to say goodbye this time, both of us knowing it will probably be the last time we see each other on this earth. But I am so grateful we had the chance to have some more memories together and for him to see the "big girl" Grace has become this past year. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that I will see him again someday in a pain-free and happier sphere.

We also visited with my Smith-side cousins at John and Cassie's home in Clinton.

Here we lined all the kids up and bribed them with suckers to get a photo:

We stayed up way too late most nights watching the Olympics. Grace really got into the swim races. Here she is cheering on Michael Phelps in one last race before bed...

...and here Grammy and Gracie are snuggled up on the couch watching the games.

We also had a great time going to the zoo and getting Gracie's first haircut, which I'll post below. I wish we could have visited with more cousins and family and friends, but there just wasn't enough time in the week, nor a lot of advance planning that went into this trip. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can visit Utah again.

We flew back to Colorado just a few days shy of Grace's second birthday - her last free flight - BUMMER! Brian got her birthday weekend off and flew up so we could celebrate in Colorado (more in a future post) and then we all drove back to ABQ together. It was all a bit crazy, but it worked out considerably well in the end, and we had a lot of fun!