Northern Utah

What trip to Utah would be complete without a day or two spent in the car to visit our family and friends in the northern part of the state?  That's exactly how we felt, so last Saturday we loaded up the car and headed North to Logan - to attend Logan & Jamie Brand's wedding reception.  The kids were great in the car and we were able to make the trip with minimal stops.  Once we got there, we met up with John & Liz Evans and had a nice visit with them at the reception and afterwards at the Merlin Olsen Park on Center Street in Logan.

After visiting with them, we headed over to Teddy & Brit's place so the kids could take a nap and Bryce could go see how his design for The Flying Dutchman turned out at the Utah Festival Opera.  When Brit got home from work we got to meet her (she and Teddy were married on May 24th, but we weren't able to be there so we were super excited to get to meet her on this trip).  We then had dinner and got to play a game and stay the night at their apartment.

The next morning, we hopped in the car again and drove to Kaysville where we went to church with Mom Allen  then had dinner with the Allen family.  Part of the joy of that evening was that we were able to meet Laurie - Jon's fiance.  They are going to be married on October 18th and we are looking forward to having her as part of our family.  After dinner and games, we drove back up to Brigham City to spend the night with Grandma & Grandpa Christensen.  The next morning we got to visit with them and have a delicious Grandma-made breakfast before we left the relative greenery of Northern Utah to return to Blanding for the rest of the week.

On our way home we stopped in Salt Lake City to see the City Creek park/shopping complex and to see the temple.  The kids tolerated the shopping, but they really enjoyed the temple.  I've seen the Salt Lake Temple many times, but during this visit I came to really appreciate it.  Our trip over the past couple of weeks has been made to see our families and to strengthen our family bonds. The temples and the ordinances that are performed in them are central to the importance of families.  Being sealed as a family makes it possible for us to not only enjoy our families while we are living on this earth, but for all eternity.