...And We're Back

We got back from Salt Lake on Monday after a grueling 4:30 am wake-up call. Ugh. We're still trying to get back to Eastern Standard Time, but it was all so worth it.

We got to spend lots of time with our wonderful families and friends--I got a full two weeks off work this time around and it was soooo much better.  It was just so nice and kind of strange being back in Utah. My goodness I took how beautiful that place is for granted growing up! "Mountains Gandalf! Mountains!!!"  We dined at almost all of our favorite Salt Lake haunts and saw lots of movies. We drove. A lot. And by golly if we didn't just park right in front of where we were going. And the freeways, you can get up in the 70's and not have to worry about traffic around every bend!  We really miss some of that convenience. And it only cost $6 a person for matinees!  We saw The Hobbit (underwhleming, but I loved Bilbo), Lincoln (super slow although Tommy Lee Jones stole the show), and Les Mis--which was fabulous, although I really wish they'd cast Ewan McGregor as Jean Valjean and Jim Sturgess as Marius but what can you do?  Anne Hathaway, however, blew me away and totally had me in tears.  And is it just me or did Eponine's waist have to be digitally altered in some way? How could she have breathed let alone sing?  Borat and Helena Bonham Carter were perfectly cast.

But the best part of being home, obviously, was getting to spend time with our people.  I finally got to meet the twins, and sweet baby Dru.  And...if I may be so bold as to say...we just relish being the "fun" aunt and uncle.  Well, it's mostly just Brody and I ride his coattails. But the kiddies all adore him and it was so hard to say goodbye to all those sweet little faces.  We got to see McCall's cute little baby bump and can't wait to meet their baby boy sometime next year! We are keeping our fingers crossed for some cheap airfare...stranger things have happened right?  Brody played tennis to his heart's content and I got to catch up with most of my favorite girlies and see the new CityCreek Center. It was a fabulous, whirlwind of a trip, and we are already missing everyone.