Star Valley!

Back in July, someone sent us information about $200 round trip tickets to Utah in the fall time which is an amazing deal! I couldn't pass it up so I bought a ticket to Utah for the end of September. I went and had a lovely time there!

My mom grew up in Star Valley, Wyoming and a few years ago they announced a temple to be built there. The Star Valley Temple open house happened to coincide with the time I would be in Utah and so we decided to go to the open house that weekend I was there.

It's been a really long time since I've done the drive from Utah to Star Valley and I forgot how beautiful it is!

Dad, Mom, Heather and I stayed in Evanston, Wyoming on Friday night and we woke up to snow. It wasn't cold enough to stick to the roads, but look how beautiful it made it with the snow and fall colors. :)

Most of the photos from this post were taken by Heather.

Star Valley! This is the only picture I took in this post and I took it while we were driving 50 mph. ;)

I love this selfie of H and I in Star Valley on the land that Mom grew up on!

The Star Valley Temple! My second temple open house in two months. Look how beautiful it is with the mountains, snow and clouds!

Look at this awesome shot that Heather took! This is the view from the land where Mom grew up.

On the way back home, we took the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway and can I just say that that was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on?! With the snow, fall colors, mountains, lakes etc. it was just so magical!

Overall it was an awesome trip to Star Valley! We got to see an aunt and cousins I haven't seen in a long time. We saw beautiful scenery and Dad, Mom, Heather and I got quality time together.

Philadelphia and Lincoln's baptism!

As I mentioned in my previous post, my parents came to visit in August and that was a fun time! I got lots of quality time with them as I drove up with them to Philadelphia for the temple open house and then on to Somerset, PA to see my nephew get baptized. :)

We had tickets for the open house on a hot but beautiful Friday morning! The temple was beautiful, inside and out!

That was actually my first time ever going to a temple open house. I went inside the temple with my shorts and t-shirt on, there were lots of children there and it got pretty loud at times, but despite all of that stuff I could still feel that it was a temple, a House of the Lord.

 Papa, Mama, and Me after our tour!

After Philadelphia we made our way to our hotel in Carlisle, PA, which was about halfway between Philadelphia and Somerset. Lara and Glen and family, Pete and Mika and family, Matt and Karey and family and Mom, Dad, and I all stayed at the same hotel that night. I tried to get as much Benjamin time as I could since he actually let me hold him and I don't get to see his family as often as the others.  ;)

I love the progression of the photo above and the next two photos. Benji has a smile on his face.

 His smile is a little bit bigger.

 And he's laughing! :) Isn't Benji adorable?!

There was a Lindt Chocolate Factory a mile from our hotel in Carlisle and we may or may not have gone there and got some discounted Lindt truffles on Saturday morning before leaving town. :)

On our way to Lincoln's baptism, we stopped at the Flight 93 Memorial. It was a beautiful tribute to the people who died on the flight.

 All the siblings and nieces and nephews that were at Lincoln's baptism from our side of the family.

Overall it was a fun weekend with family and good quality time with Mom and Dad!