singing in the 801 rain

last summer i volunteered my seat on two flights and received a couple vouchers for free flights in return. what a steal.

i needed to use them before may, and mia and i wanted to visit some friends in utah, so we booked the trip. the closer we got to departure, the worse the weather forcast in utah looked.

but, we went anyway. we had 2 lists. people to see and places to visit (which happened to mostly be restuarants). so we paired them all up and had a fab trip ... in the rain/snow/sleet/hail. it was lovely.

day one: lunch with jen and her girls. i haven't seen jen in 7 years (i think that's what we decided) and had never met either of her girls. they were all fantastic! we did lunch at the thanksgiving point cafe (yum) and then just sat and chatted for a while. so fun! (thanks, jen, for the memories & good times!) i'm a little bummed that i didn't get a picture. will we both look the same in 7 more years?

we went to spend some time with billy, josette, and chuck that night. that little girl is adorable. seriously. and it was SO good to see that little family again ... plus a little dinner at cafe rio ... what's not to love?

day two: i've been wanting to visit welfare square and the humanitarian center for a long time. probably since i heard that you could tour them a few years ago. these tours were high on the priority list. we went to the humanitarian center first. they have you sit and watch a movie before the tour, which was a.maze.ing. it made me cry. we've done some service projects for them in the past, but it will most certainly be on the top of my list of service opportunities in the future. i had no idea how many countries and people they serve.

welfare square was good too. i think i had a better understanding of how the program worked before i went. but it was so great to see the facilities where many of the welfare food was made, packaged, boxed, etc. loved both tours.

for lunch that day we went to the garden room at the joseph smith memorial building downtown salt lake. yummy food, excellent friends, and a nice view of the temple (minus the snow). i still want to see how that garden room roof opens up ... i'll have to go sometime when it's sunny.

{stephanie joined us for the tours and then for lunch ... and actually dinner that night too ... it was fab to see her again!}

{josette will probably hurt me for posting this, but if it's ok for facebook, it's ok for the blog. they met us for lunch at the garden room too!}

that night we ate dinner at tucanos with stephanie & her fiance and pamela & her husband. tucanos was delish, and it was so good to meet up with pamela again too. yahoo!

day three: a quick (hour long) run on the treadmill ... because i felt the need to work off some of the food we'd been eating all weekend. then shopping at fashion place mall with josette (i bought a couple new pairs of shoes ... aren't friends supposed to stop you from spending money?) then we made billy swim with chuck in the hotel pool.

{i took a bunch of these pics while she was sitting/splashing in the pool, but this face was my fave!}

{the girls playing with the camera during swim time}

that night we went to see gina in provo ... good (and strange) times. we ate at denny's, in provo, after midnight. there are some real weirdos you run into in that scenario!

day 4: a little church with billy & josette, then in & out burger for lunch. we couldn't leave utah without our burger, fries, and shake from in & out!

overall ... fantastic long weekend. i didn't want to come home. is there a way to get all of my family and friends in one place so i can see everyone anytime i want?

{i just love this pic of me & mia ... we were just driving around and decided to take a picture}

{i was putting gas in the car ... it was a purple taurus. purple. and that's what we called it.}