In search of family time, land, and some dry heat!

Covid was not going to stop us from going on our annual summer trip to Utah. It may have caused a backlog at the passport agency preventing me from traveling internationally as I wait for my renewed passport to arrive but Utah was in the books! This trip we were determined to focus on finding some land to build on or a house. Jack's getting very tired of the commute and I'm getting very tired of him not being around. So that was our number one priority. The other priority was going to be somehow figuring out how to squeeze Nova into his carrying case long enough to get to Utah. We already stretch the rules by using a case that is slightly bigger than allowed but now we had to squeeze him in it. It goes without saying he was on a diet the week before we traveled... Luckily due to Covid, Delta isn't putting anyone in the middle seats so I was hopeful this extra space would allow a bit more comfort for him and us. Geesh, who knew the most expensive carry on bag of the bunch would create such stress...




We kicked off 4th of July with our traditional celebratory golf outing. This year we tried out a course in Alpine since Soldier Hollow was booked. Apparently with Covid, everyone is looking for ways to get out of their house. Of course afterwards we enjoyed celebrating Grandpa and Teagen's birthday! You know you are living in a different time when you no longer blow out your candles but instead use a paper plate to put out the flames with...haha!









Two things we can always expect to see on our trip: Grandma working in the yard and kids on devices...



We knew on this trip we had to make time to look for land. One of the areas we've continued to be drawn to is a neighborhood in Heber City. It's a golf course community with spectacular views of the mountains and is centrally located between Provo, Deer Creek, Jordanelle, Strawberry, and Park City. While Jack has already played the course we had never tried the golf park which is a par 3 course. This was much more up my alley...



In between our search for property we managed to escape to Brian Head for the weekend. Somehow I got talked into mountain biking down a mountain!!! Thank goodness one of the workers who was getting me outfitted in all my gear could tell I was a bit nervous and offered to take me down the mountain sharing pointers before being let loose on my own with Jack and the boys. I am so glad she offered because apparently Brian Head doesn't yet have beginner trails for the bikes so it was good to have her giving me pointers on what to expect. It also made it much more enjoyable to do with Jack once I had gone down it with her. I hadn't been mountain biking like this since my Provo days. Let's just say by the end my legs felt like jello!!! But it was fun and no bones were broken in the process!







We always love our time in Brian Head and are so grateful to Ted and Christina for always being so welcoming. The boys loved doing their ATV adventure with Charlie and of course I always love the beauty of the Cedar Break National Monument.




While we were enjoying our time in Brian Head, Sage was thrilled to finally be getting to spend some time visiting Issy after all these years. Rachel was kind enough to meet us in Cedar City where we dropped Sage off to spend a couple nights with them. They had such a great time together and clearly made sure they were dressed comfortably for the drive...



Of course, it wouldn't be a trip to Utah without a trip to the BYU campus. How different this visit was. Instead of dreaming one day of being a student on the campus, the boys can now proudly say they will be students. While the campus felt unusually quiet due to Covid, it didn't take away from the excitement they felt knowing they would be back here in a matter of weeks, moving into their dorm. As we were walking the campus with Connor, Jack was excited for us to look under this bench. I was expecting to find some old piece of gum he would claim was his from back in the day...instead we found this engraving he had done. I couldn't believe in all these years he had never shown us this before. Back when he was here at school he had a campus job and apparently this project was one he worked on. While it's a bit hard to make out under one of the benches it reads "John Joseph Roddy IV Memorial Gazebo". lol! I told Connor not to get any ideas...



As the trip was winding down, it was time to really get serious and make an offer on some land. We spent a great deal of time in Heber on this trip looking and are happy to report we finally found some land to build on! It's located just across the valley from our other lot we own in Midway which we will now look to sell but we think it will be a great place that hopefully the kids will all look forward to visiting after they leave the house. We started going into negotiations on one lot but then when I reminded Jack about these other two lots that we could combine for one beautiful view, he decided to rethink it. After walking the lots he was determined to close the deal since I was leaving back to Florida a couple days later and he didn't want us having another summer where we came up empty handed. So here is our slice of heaven! Hoping to break ground by the end of Feb 2021. Let's just hope this build goes much smoother than our last one.



So that's our Utah summer wrap up! Thankfully it was very productive! And a special shout out to these two for always making us feel so welcome and being such gracious hosts! We love you! Oh, and I'm not talking about Nova and Luna...but they do deserve some credit for providing some interesting entertainment even if it is at the expense of Luna's leg...lol!