1st Family Vacation

Brian and I love taking little weekend trips to Park City and Deer Valley. 

We figured taking Rylan on one would be a good introductory vacation because if it became too annoying, we could easily drive home without problem.We had fun and Rylan did okay.

However, I now know why my parents always seemed to be in a bad mood on vacations.

Vacationing with children = exhaustion.

I felt like I needed a vacation from the vacation!

Here are some photos of our first family "vacation" (lol!) to Deer Valley:

Before we drove up to Deer Valley, Brian wanted to take us to a place he has been raving about since he started working at Overstock. It is a super delicious Vietnamese restuarant called Oh Mai. I got a honey glazed pork sandwich... Delicious! Brian got Pho and I snuck a few bites of that as well... delicious again! 

Then, we drove to City Creek to do a bit of shopping. Rylan was mesmerized by the water/light show in the middle of the mall. If we turned to leave she would start to fuss. She was completely entranced by it. 

Rylan lives a very posh lifestyle...

It was a bit cold on our way up. We enjoyed warming up by the fire together. 

This fireplace kept us sane.

If Rylan started fussing, we would set her up next to it. She would watch the dancing flames and the warmth often put her to sleep.

Rylan had a rough time going to sleep, most likely due to her unfamiliar surroundings. 

Much to our dismay, she fell asleep around 3 AM.

Yeah...

The next morning we woke up around 9:30 and rushed downstairs for breakfast. They serve an amazing breakfast. Cheese blintz, canadian bacon, eggs, potatoes, oatmeal, banana walnut pancakes, fruit... scrumptious!

After we got back to our room, we took a nap.

We let Rylan have the bed and we slept on the sectional. 

Then we all got ready to go on a drive/nature walk.

On our way to Brighton. 

Brian pondering life alongside a cliff... 

:)

While the colors of the leaves changing were incredible. My favorite were the mountains covered completely in pines. 

Christmas Mountain.

While Rylan was sleeping, we ran out of the car for a grand total of 45 seconds to take a scenic selfie.

When we got to Brighton, we spotted a loud waterfall and decided to take a very short, very very short, nature walk to it.

This picture cracks me up because Brian looks like a mountain man.

Ugh, that beard and mustache though....

CREEP FEST!

Chilling by the "waterfall"

It looks small, but it was seriously loud.

Kind of like Rylan!

Later that night we decided to go into town and eat dinner. We went to a pretty good Greek place. It wasn't anything like Greek City Grill, but it filled us up.

Afterwards, we went to the store and got a couple of yummy treats and a scary movie. 

We enjoyed a relaxing night by the fire and jacuzzis. 

While also judging people walking around outside in their robes.

We seriously saw a lady in our hotel 6 or 7 times through our 3 day stay and every time we saw her she was in a robe... 

The next morning we woke up early to eat breakfast (seriously, it's gotta be good if I'll wake up early for it!)

But as we were heading out, Brian noticed it was snowing!

We took a couple of shots of Rylan's first snow fall.

It's kind of hard to see the flakes, but you can see it on the roofs.

By the time we left the hotel, all the snow had melted. 

I'm glad it didn't follow us home.

I'm not ready to start cleaning snow off my car in the morning...

I don't even want to think about it!

It was a super fun vacation. Rylan made a ton of friends. Seriously, that kid has way more friends than I do.

But I don't blame them.

It's easy to become obsessed with a chubby, red haired baby.

Especially when she has a smile that lights up the room along with her Emerald green eyes!

Who could resist?!

And speaking of resisting....

She must get her irresistible nature from her dad

Oh gosh...

Sorry if this image haunts your thoughts for the rest of eternity.

It's finally October!

Oh. My. Gosh.

Can we just soak in the fact that it's October right now?!?

I freaking love October! 

It is my favorite month... and my birthday is in August so that's saying a lot!

Before we get to October though, let's recap September.

Brian, Rylan and I went to Chalk the Block at the Riverwoods. Rylan saw half naked men play (pathetically) with fire. Brian had his first funnel cake, yeah. 

Seriously?

Who did I marry?

We also went to the women's expo at UVU where we ran into the first human Rylan ever met! Our sweet Obstetrician, Dr. Allen. 

I tell people when this man retires, I stop having children.

People laugh, like it's a joke.

But I'm dead serious.

Brian and I went to Boondocks to go-kart with his brother and sister and their spouses. 

Emily, Suzie and I discovered we are a walking joke.. literally.

Rylan bonded with her dad on her first date.

Last weekend, Brian and his brother Ben went to the Olympic Park in Park City, Utah. Suzie and I had purchased Bobsledding living social deals so they could go together. They had a great time. Rylan joined in on the fun and went snowboarding. She is a natural.

This month is incredibly important and dear to me as it will be the last month that we will spend in this home, in this neighborhood, in the ward, in Utah County. 

I am so sad.

As you guys know, Brian accepted a job at Overstock.com in April. He loves it. However, it is located in Cottonwood Heights, which is about an hour away from where we currently live. Sometimes with traffic it takes an hour and fifteen minutes...

and it's not even snowing yet.

After a lot of discussion, a lot of apartment hunting and a lot of tears (mostly from me) we found a place closer to Brian's work.

I know it is the right thing to do. Brian will be closer to work so he will have more time to spend with us and more time to sleep. I have lived in Utah County for six years. It's probably time for a change. Our new place is more than twice the size of this place. It has 3 bedrooms which allows Rylan to have  her own nursery (instead of sleeping in our room... awful! Her noises are sweet but not at 4 AM!) and Brian will have a little office and I will have a little craft room. We will have our own backyard and patio and the place has just been remodeled. And... they are letting us bring Kyoto! We are probably going to get fat since all of our favorite places to eat are up there!

It's just heartbreaking to me because we have made some really great friends here. I love my neighborhood. Everyone is so friendly and they really took us in when we moved here. I love working with my young women. I have recently gained a lot more responsibility in my calling which I love. Brian just got a calling after somehow dodging one for a year and five months... 

In our first apartment, before we moved to this one, we were in a neighborhood that was NOT very friendly. No one in our ward spoke to us and our bishop only spoke to us one time in the whole year and a half that we lived there. We felt like outcasts in our primary calling. In this neighborhood, we have felt so much more involved and accepted. I guess I'm just afraid that this new ward/neighborhood will be like the last one we were in. 

Ugh.. yesterday after coming home for Young Women, I became very emotional. It's a scary, daunting realization that I will have to start all over again. But, it will be good (I keep convincing myself). 

*sigh*

In other news... Rylan is cute. She is a also a creep.