a breath of fresh air

that is how i would describe our most recent vacation in utah. not because we aren't enjoying our time in wisconsin, because we are. but becasue it was so nice to get away from real life for a bit, and to completely relax and be surrounded by family. you know the feeling, right?

we traveled down to utah for 10 days. we spent the first three days down in the provo/orem area visiting with my sisters and their husbands. we decided it would be fun to play some miniature golf together. the weather wasn't too hot, so it was the perfect day for it. plus, katelyn loved that she got to hold her own golf ball and golf club. she was thoroughly entertained the whole time.

don't be fooled. katelyn let tyler help her golf only on the first hole. after that it was, "all by myself."

wish i could take credit for this cute picture, but my brother-in-law, thomas, took it.

future golfer? her dad hopes so.

apparently she has learned to cheat quite young. she's throwing the ball in instead of hitting.

the sisters. at least two of them. i'm really excited because camille is due with her first baby in october, erin is adpoting in september, and i am due in september. all three are little boys.

the studly men + katelyn

we also hit up the small water park in provo. the water really was the perfect temperature. we were able to sit in the shallow water and talk while katelyn splashed around. i didn't get a ton of pictures in the water. they have a strict rule where no cameras are allowed, so i was only able to get a couple water pictures before i had to put my camera away.

every so often a bell would go off and everyone had to get out of the water for 15 minutes. i'm pretty sure katelyn spent the whole 15 minutes pretending to apply sunscreen.

that is a look of intense concentration.

camille was even nice enough to let katelyn pretend to put sunscreen on her too.

the visit with the sisters went much too quickly, but it was nice to see the three of them again. i realize i only have pictures of two sisters though. my sister rachel wasn't able to go miniature golfing or swimming with, so i ended up with zero pictures of her and her husband.

we spent the rest of our trip up in the centerville area with the hedin family. everyone was highly anticipating the return of tyler's brother from his mission to brazil on tuesday. sadly, andy called at about 1:00 in the morning the day he was to arrive to let everyone know that his plane door was broken, and he would not be returning. i think tyler's mom spent most of the next day on the phone trying to figure out the new flight arrangements. the best they could do at that time was to get him home mid-morning on thursday.

on wednesday we found out that andy would actually be coming home late that night. we actually decided to put katelyn to bed pretty early so we could just wake her up when it was time to go the airport. i guess she thought we were putting her down for a nap because she woke up around 8:00 ready to play. so by the time we headed to the airport around 11:30, she was pretty tired and ready to go to bed.

anxiously waiting for andy to come down the elevator.

katelyn even got her own sign that said welcome home uncle andy.

andy looked great and was very happy to see everyone again.

katelyn didn't know what to think of uncle andy or the late hour.

when andy packed his suitcase in brazil, he basically brought the clothes he was wearing home. so the next day we headed out to park city to do a little shopping. the hedins were so nice and generous and gave everyone a some vacation shopping money to spend.

shopping sure doesn't keep katelyn entertained all day, so she found other ways to enjoy herself. of course, grandpa helped out some.

we also had a chance to get the boat out while we were there. it was quite a hot day, so the breeze from the boat felt so nice, but it wasn't quite enough. we eventually all jumped into the water and swam for a bit. the water felt wonderful! even katelyn enjoyed it despite the fact that we made her wear a life jacket.

katelyn and daddy soaking up some rays. well not really. can you tell that i always douse katelyn in sunscreen?

cuddling with emily on the boat. i think katelyn does a good job of showing how hot is was outside.

although i didn't go waterskiing, i was able to take pictures of the waterskiiers. they all did a great job, especially because none of them have been out on the water for a long time.

my hubby. what a stud.

andy waterskiing.

emily waterskiing.

to top it all off, we were pleasantly surprised to receieve a visit from my brother and his cute family. they made a quick trip up to utah to visit my dad's mother.

we had such a great time with the hedins. i just couldn't believe it when sunday came and we had to start packing. i was not ready to go back yet. i did decide though that being away does make me appreciate family that much more and the time we get to spend with them!

thanks for the great vacation.