We have had a lovely couple of weeks in Utah. We’ve been able to rest and recover from five months of travel, help Nathan’s mom at her house, and spend time with family.
One of the big projects we had to tackle was what to do with cars. Margaret had an older Toyota Camry that was a good car, but didn’t have some of the modern safety features that make driving safer. We left our Kia Sportage with her while we were in Europe and she was driving it while we were gone. She discovered that she really likes it, so even though we just bought it last summer, we decided to sell it to her. We’ve wanted a plug-in hybrid or another electric vehicle for a few years. We had a Nissan Leaf that we really liked, but it was definitely just a little commuter car. But EVs have come so far, so we wanted to revisit the subject. We did our research and our test drives and ended up buying a Kia EV6 and trading in the Camry. It all worked out beautifully! We took it for a spin this weekend and did the Alpine Loop to see the GORGEOUS autumn colors.
Nathan’s been busy taking care of things in the house and yard here, including the redecoration of one of the basement rooms. He’s always likes doing projects, and since he can’t do them at our house, he does them at other people’s houses. He’s also been back at the piano and loving some extra practice time.
I’ve been helping with projects, doing the grocery shopping and a lot of cooking. Since Alex’s family was visiting his in-laws for a wedding, it was a great opportunity to get our extended family together a couple of times to eat, talk, and play games. I’ve also really loved having more time with my sister.
We also did a couple of outings with the kiddos. We went to the Clark Planetarium one day and had a great time with the boys as they explored the exhibits and played. We spent a very warm afternoon at the Wild West Jordan playground and the West Jordan library. The boys had a blast swinging and climbing everywhere. Our big outing was up to the Golden Spike National Historic Park to check out the beautiful steam engines, Jupiter and No. 119, with our little train fanatics. All of it was so fun!
On Wednesday we are going to switch things up. We are headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon to stay in a condo at Solitude for October. We absolutely love that canyon and have talked about spending more time there for a long time, so this is a fun opportunity to hike and enjoy the beautiful Wasatch Mountains. We’re looking forward to it! We hope you have a wonderful week!
Paradise
Happy October! We hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of year! Some people dream of paradise on a quiet tropical beach, listening to the surf with a drink in hand. Not this girl! Give me mountains, especially drenched in autumn color, bursting with new spring leaves, or covered in snow. We are spending October in one of our favorite places–Big Cottonwood Canyon just east of the Salt Lake Valley. We are loving the gorgeous golden aspen with the deep pine greens. Hiking is great and so is the smell of fresh forest! Nathan’s sister, Liz, and her husband, Christian, joined us one morning for a lovely hike through the woods. We got to experience a powerful thunderstorm and then a full day of snowfall. Our condo for the month is just right for us and we love having access to a pool, hot tubs, sauna, and workout facilities. We especially like that we can pop back to the valley to do some shopping or see family and friends. So far, so good!
Full Circle
Five months ago we flew to Rome from Utah. We had a summer of trying new places and experiences and revisiting old favorites and now we’re back where we started. Since we get the question a lot, I thought I would share some of our favorites from our travels in Europe this year.
Feels Like Home, pt. 2
We're in Missouri hanging out with Alex's family this week. We've had lots of bike riding, swingset time, and stories. We spent a day at the Science Center and ate lots of yummy meals together! Have a good one!