Monday, July 20, 2015

Final Utah Goodbyes :(

I have said I don't like a lot of things recently, but I REALLY don't like goodbyes :(

Rachel Bronson was super sweet and drove down the day before Jordy and I were going to drive to WI with my parents (July 16th). It was fun to see them again! Good thing for video-chatting now, because we'll miss seeing them! Jordy sure has fun playing with Logan and Bennett! :)



 
I'm excited to hopefully see them again when I come back to Utah for my thesis defense...and hopefully I'll get to meet baby Bronson #3!

The "Hyatt" siblings were able to get together briefly during my parent's quick stop in Utah as they dropped Lance off and helped pack up some of our things to take back to WI. (I guess I'm including Jordy and I in that list!) We have been so lucky to have 3 of my siblings nearby these last couple of years. And just when there could have been 5 of us in Utah-- we had to go and move :(
Sorry Lance, we promise it wasn't JUST because you were coming! :)

Jordy is going to miss this much attention! I can't believe I stood there taking this picture as Ben threw Jordy that high! (I also love that Lance and Ryan are just looking up with the look of "glad I don't have to try catching him!")
I wanted a "Utah Uncles and Aunts" picture (sorry, we're missing Bradley)- and they decided to do it in Jordy fashion: the good ol' squat! :)
Jordy seemed a little confused wondering what THEY were all doing! :)
And then Jordy was photo-bombing our sibling picture!
Lance and his "significant" other :)
 I always enjoy "sequence" pictures...because we all know everyone isn't looking when they are supposed to on the first try! :)
Jordy was being a bit of a grump this night (he apparently wasn't ready to say goodbye to everyone either!) SO- what do you do with a grumpy kid?! Swing him dizzy! :)

There is an explanation for this: No, we weren't torturing Carly and Jordy. Jordy was already upset, so it seemed a perfect time to re-enact a picture Carly took with Cade about 5 years ago, when he too was upset while Carly was holding him. See any similarities?! :) (Jordy really does like Carly, by the way!)


Donut Falls

During the short time my parents were in Utah before we left, several of us were able to get together to hike to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon...another great hike! (Not really making leaving the mountains easier...)



See- Jordy has inspired others with his "Jordy pose!" (They really did that on purpose Ü)


Yeah, that's right- don't mess with us! :)
Whether on Dad's back or on his shoulders...Jordy had a good view! :) 







So fun!
Goodbye little Orem apartment (and Dad for almost a month)
 I may have mentioned it before, but when I came to Provo as a freshman in college, my first thought was "I can't wait to finish and leave." But now, almost 9 years later (minus the almost 2 years when I was gone before/after my mission in Brasil), Utah has really grown on me and feels like home. I don't know that Tyler and I want to live right in Provo area again, but we have really enjoyed our time at BYU and the other activities that have been available while we lived there.

Kaisa was also able to stop by and say goodbye to Jordy before we left. She even gave Jordy a water bottle (like the one he always tried stealing from her! Seriously, I've never seen another 18 month-old with the water bottle-obsession that Jordy has! Ü) We feel so blessed to have met Kaisa and for her being so good with Jordy these last 6 months...he adores her and had so much fun with her! We'll miss you Kaisa!!!

These are pictures Kaisa shared with me. Jordy really liked taking "selfies" with her! :) 
 


(Because I'm writing this so much later- I'm also including the final pictures Tyler took of the "moving process.") I'm so grateful Tyler was willing to stay in Utah and work for another 3.5 weeks and then pack up the rest of the apartment so I could start my internship in WI. He really has been so supportive in making things work, even when that means we were separated for several weeks. And a HUGE "thank you" to Ben and his roommates and Lance for helping pack/load up the truck. But it really wouldn't have been possible without Tyler's Dad's help! He came down from Idaho and helped load the truck and then drove with Tyler across the country and helped him get settled in Madison.

Seriously-- we can't thank (both our parents really!) enough for their help in this big move for us...but know we never will forget your kindness and help and will always be indebted to you!! We love our families so MUCH!! :)

Thanks, Lance, for keeping Tyler company the last few weeks he was in Utah (Lance came out to start a campus job during the summer and so it worked out for him to stay with Tyler at our apartment instead of having to pay rent for just a few weeks) and thanks for taking him to the Imagine Dragons concert in SLC! Ü


Tyler just promised to "get it all to Madison"-- he admitted the packing may have been a little random towards the end of the process! :) As stressful as hearing that was for me- I am so thankful Tyler was willing to take on that big task alone (or just with the input of other guys!!! :) )  But he was true to his word, he got everything to Madison Ü
Dad Davis on the couch we actually bought when they got to Madison...he deserved a break! You can also see the car dolley behind him- that was what our Kia was on across country- so Tyler and his dad were driving a 17 foot truck with that...I'm just glad I wasn't the one driving! :) 

Monday, July 13, 2015

Bryce Canyon

As mentioned in another post- there were still so many places we wanted to visit while in Utah. Bryce Canyon was on our list, so we planned a last-minute day-trip there just before my parents got to Utah! (Just over a 3 hour drive...not too impulsive, right?!) We know we could have spent a lot more time there, but it was good to get to see some of the park at least, AND it was perfect weather (not too hot!) and there were places we could see with Jordy in his stroller...which was definitely a bonus (seeing as neither of us had really recovered from our Y-meadow hike yet and weren't ready to have Jordy on our backs for miles and miles!)

We took a LOT of pictures (okay, I DID!) and I know there are better-quality pictures available online, but I can't help showing that we were actually there ourselves seeing these amazing sights, so I apologize in advance for the picture overload! :) A lot of what we were able to do/see in one day was driving to different look-outs and doing really small walks to the vantage points along the ridge. So a lot of it looks very similar, but we actually made 10 or more stops to see different markers.
It really looked this "fake" in person too! :)
I had to include this- 1) it shows our car and our first real trip in it(besides going up to Idaho) and 2) it's to remind Tyler of a mean joke he played on me: I got out and ran ahead to take a picture of Tyler driving through this fun tunnel. Then, he pulled up and before I got back in, asked me to listen for a sound in the front of the car. I did (paranoid something was wrong already with the car) and then Tyler honked the horn with my face right there. Yup- really funny! (He sure thought it was- said it was a "classic" prank and he couldn't believe I fell for it!) Hahaha Davis! Ü




I love this picture: Beautiful view and my favorite two guys in the whole world!!!
I really wasn't going to include this (I mean, it's so flattering of me! ha!) BUT- I hadn't realized that one of the most "recognizable" rock formations at Bryce Canyon is called "Thor's hammer"! (So that's what I'm trying to point to). If only we had seen Thor on our visit! :) 
This picture is from the internet...but it shows Thor's Hammer much better than my camera could capture it! :) 
A little awkward self-timer-family pic! :)

One of my favorite pictures...
...until this one! :) Oh Jordy! 



Don't worry- he wasn't on as dangerous of a ledge as it looks in this picture! :) 

Seriously, I couldn't get over how amazing and literally breathtaking the views were! 


 Jordy was getting pretty anxious to do some "hiking" of his own, so we let him go! Good thing he has so much energy! People made several comments they were impressed he was making it up some steep climbs on his own. The picture on the right shows just how steep and far one of the vantage points was from where we started and Jordy climbed a good part of that himself! Ü




Such a beautiful park! We only wished we had had more time to really hike around- but we were just happy we decided to go for our "last Utah family vacation" Ü