Traveling the Globe (or maybe just a few western states)

Doug went on a work retreat to Seattle two weeks ago to go salmon fishing. Since he was leaving me behind, I decided to capitalize on that and went on my own vacay (Doug is a little bitter that his trip was 2 days and mine was 10) :) Doug's tour guide got them lost a time or two but the fishing they DID get to do was pretty cool. They caught a ton of HUGE fish and he came home with 30lbs of salmon! Too bad he doesnt like fish. Here is Doug trying to reel in a big one: Turns out they went fishing where the Twilight series was filmed. Maybe we will actually watch one of them now. But Probably not. :)

I, on the other hand, went to Salt Lake City to spend time with his family (and let them spend time with Averi). Even though it felt like the North Pole to me compared to AZ, I had a blast and it was so fun to catch up with family and friends. This is how is all went down:

Day 1 and 2: Let Averi get re-aquainted with Nammy and Papa while I (with a little help from Nancy) gave her two bathrooms a facelift. I re-painted the walls, crown molding, and mirror frame, and we made some adjustments to the decor with a new shower curtain, wall hanging, and towels. Here is a before and after shot:

Day 3: Went to Garneder's Village with Nancy, Deanne, Payton and Macy. They all dressed up in their costumes and we went around to all the cute festive shops and got a Halloween treat.

Day 4: Went to Payton and Macy's soccer games. It was SOO fun to see them play (minus the getting rained on most of the time). They are so cute and full of personality. We couldnt get Averi's super duty waterproof wiskers off from the day before so she sported them for 2 1/2 days... as shown :)

That night I got to hang out with my good friend Mikell whom I hadn't seen in almost a year. We got some dinner at Pei Wei then of course did a little shopping at The Rack. I forgot to get a picture :(

Day 5: went to church (did a lot of walking around with Averi in the hallway since she was being a little crazy girl). Then later we had dinner at the house with the whole family over. It was so fun getting to see everyone again and catch up. Everyone thought Averi had grown quite a bit.

That night my sister Jody (and fam) picked me up on thier way back from Provo. Meanwhile, my other sister's Kristy and Maria drove up from Boise and we all met together for a fun "sisters" night in Logan. We stayed up all night (or til 4am or so) gabbing and watching chick flicks then...

Day 6: went to IHOP the next morning. Averi and Kenley were (and are) so cute together. Averi enjoyed feeding Kenley throughout the meal and Kenley enjoyed being fed. Then of course after breakfast we did some shopping at Down East. Got some great deals!

Me, Maria, Kristy and the girlies drove back to Boise that evening. To my delight Averi was a good little girl the whole way home. She even slept some. I am not always so lucky. I think she enjoyed watching Kenley and 'socializing' with her long lost BFF ;)

Kenley and Averi bonding while playing with the toy magnets.

Day 7: Me, Aves, Maria, Mike, and Kenley all went to the Linder Farms pumpkin patch and corn maze. The corn maze was amazing and super fun. This is what it looked like (from the sky, of course):

We got quite turned around as you can imagine but we made it through and rewarded ourselves with some delicious home-made-equivalent donuts. Then after that we went to the Cobb's for dinner and the BSU game. SO FUN! Here is a pic of me, Maria, and the babes, Averi trying to eat a cracker with her mittens on, and the two girlies acting like they cant move in their multiple layers of clothing. :)

Day 8: Mike was kind to watch the girls while Maria and I went on a horse ride in the foothills. Even though we had a lost camera AND cell phone scare, it was so great to be on a horse again and enjoy the [freezing!] outdoors. Then that afternoon we all went downtown to shop around and grab some dinch (lunch-dinner) at La Cafe de Paris (highly recommended). That night we honored Halloween by carving pumpkins and watching Cujo... Spooky!

Day 9: We took the girls to Kiddie Kandids to get their pics taken in their costumes. We knew going into it that we werent going to get two coorperative smiling babies. However the pics could have turned out much better had the photographer not been such an idiot. ugh, long story. Since we were at the mall and all we HAD to do a little shopping afterwards :) Then we went to dinch again at Cheesecake Factory (always a sure bet and is slowly becoming a tradition). Averi was so tired that she was totally content just letting Kenley poke and prod at her most of the meal. They are so cute together.

That night we bought some supplies at CosmoProf and dyed Maria's hair. It turned out fabulous of course!

Bed time stories. Does it get any cuter than this??

Day 10: I slept in and had the daunting task of packing and going home... tear :(