Grandma's Wedding in SLC

On Friday we drove up to Salt Lake for Jason's mom's wedding. The kids were fantastic on the trip up... real troopers! We stopped a few places along the way including Provo, where I'm pretty sure a small piece of my heart still resides. We didn't have time to really stop and smell the roses, but we did make a fruitless stop at an antique store, and another one at the DI. Just being in Provo brings me joy, but we had to hurry up north.

The kids were beyond excited about staying in a hotel. We stayed right down town, and you would have thought they were in HEAVEN! It was adorable. Here's a pic of them checking out the room.

We dropped off our bags and headed straight for the Beckstrand's house. We were excited to see Jolee and Steven, who just had a baby less than a week prior (okay, Jolee is the one that actually had the baby, but you get it). We were pleasantly surprised when they offered for both of the kids to have the chance to hold Baby Noah! Sophie was especially thrilled...

What a cutie he is! And Sophie did a great job holding him and keeping his neck supported.Weston took his task seriously too...

And yes, I got a turn too!

Me and Jolee. I have missed this girl!

Sophie kind of has a crush on Steven...

She was showing him her nail polish, which she takes great pride in.

On our way up to SLC we had stopped at Old Navy in St. George to get Weston a winter coat. He really likes it. He also really likes wearing these earphones, even when they aren't attached to the portable DVD player (which is the case in this particular picture). He also wore that random lanyard the entire trip, and I have not a clue what he finds so great about that either. He is such an irresistibly funny little guy!

After visiting the Beckstrands, we headed over to the Gateway Mall for some dinner. I really really wanted to go to Z'Tejas (one of my favorite restaurants), but we opted for Applebee's since it is a more kid-friendly environment. I'm glad we did. The kids were well behaved (or maybe it just seemed that way because there were so many kids in that restaurant?) and Sophie was a real charmer. I think the kids kind of made our waitress' night. She told us they were the best kids of the evening, and kept gushing about what a doll Sophie is. I almost choked when she said that our kids were the best of the night!

Something else that I thoroughly enjoyed about our dining experience was this huge group of teenage boys sitting next to us. I know, it sounds crazy. But I cannot express how utterly refreshing and adorable it was to hear bits and pieces of their conversation. The worst word I heard was "freakin'." I obviously didn't listen to everything they talked about, but all the tidbits that were too loud to miss were unusually wholesome. And that is one of the things I genuinely love about Utah. Sophie, the social butterfly, kept trying to talk to them. They were very respectful and sweet back to her, and I jokingly mentioned that I guess it was ok, as long as she isn't that friendly to boys when she gets to be their age! Good luck, I know.

Back to the hotel we went, where Sophie and Weston kept fighting over who got to push the buttons in the "alligator." Sophie called the elevator the alligator, and I kind of didn't want to correct her because it struck me so funny!

I'm not sure what it was about the hotel that got these kids so excited, but they were wild every time we were in our room. Weston asked me if we were going to live in the hotel forever, honestly hoping that we would!

The next morning (Saturday), Jason headed off to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for his mom's marriage while I let the kids get a little more rest before another huge day. We got all ready for the reception and even got to have the complimentary hotel breakfast... where Sophie again made a few friends. When she starts talking, Weston always grumbles something about how much she is embarrassing him. It is so funny to me! I guess it's funny because I'm a social butterfly too, and I am never embarrassed by that stuff. Poor Weston. I guess he'd better get used to it... he probably has a lifetime of such moments ahead of him!

Sophie and Grandma Laurie at her reception. It worked out well that Sophie and I both wore purple... we didn't even know that was the color everyone would be wearing!

Weston would rather sweat and be uncomfortable than take that coat off! At least I know it will get use.

I adore my affectionate little Weston!

Apart from seeing Grandma, Sophie was most excited to see Aunt Sadie and Aunt Shae-Leigh...

I guess she didn't get in a picture with Shae-Leigh... but I did!

I don't know why I didn't take more pictures, but I guess what I've got will have to suffice! It was a lovely reception. We left after a couple of hours and headed back home around 1:00. The kids were once again amazing little travellers, for which we were super thankful. We got home around 8:00 in that evening. Even though it was a bit of a whirlwind, we had a successful little trip, which is really saying something when you're travelling with a four year old and a two year old.