Olivia's First Trip to Utah: March 12-22

For Daniel's law school spring break, we decided to go to Utah. Since he doesn't have class on Thursdays or Fridays this semester, we were able to take an 11-day trip. We had a lot of fun, and our families really enjoyed meeting Olivia. And you can tell from the pictures that Olivia enjoyed meeting them too.

Of course, for our first trip to Utah, we had to take Olivia to see the Salt Lake Temple where Daniel and I were married almost three and a half years ago.

We noticed right off that Olivia got really confused every time she woke up, since she was sleeping in so many new and strange places. Our new travel crib served us well as we traveled around.

So what did we do in Utah? Well, the official reason for going was for Daniel to recruit for NYU Law, and the law school paid for his plane ticket to Utah. Daniel went to BYU on both Monday and Tuesday for various meetings with students. He really enjoyed visiting our alma mater, especially since two of his siblings--Adam and Whitney--go to BYU.But the most important reason for going to Utah was for Olivia's baby blessing (an LDS ceremony where an infant is given a name and a blessing). Olivia looked like an angel in her beautiful blessing dress. My sister Lauriann made the hair bow and my sister Melanie made the bracelet.

While we were in Utah, Daniel's Aunt Kim hosted a baby shower for Olivia and me. It was fun to see Daniel's extended family and it was fun to go to a baby shower with Olivia! Doesn't she look cute in her little tutu?We also went to the Viewmont High School musical to see Amanda (Daniel's sister) perform in Aida. It was an amazing performance, and Amanda made a great peacock!

We also got to visit some friends in Utah. Richard and Katy's twins, Eli and Anna, have grown so much since we last saw them!It just so happened that the annual Moab half marathon fell during Daniel's spring break, so he decided to run in it again. Daniel and Adam have been training for several months, but after Olivia was born, Daniel's training basically fell off a cliff. Adam finished in 1:33 (his best half marathon time ever) and Daniel finished almost a half hour later at 2:01 (his worst half marathon time ever). We didn't get a picture of it, but Daniel also spent a day helping my dad finish tiling my parents' kitchen and family room and assembling new furniture. Their house is really looking nice with all the recent remodels.

We took a lot of pictures of Olivia with her family members. This first picture is of Olivia with all five of her girl cousins.

My parents.

My three sisters.

My niece, Lexi (short for Alexandria).

Olivia with Lexi's older siblings, Karynn and Shane.

Olivia's four-year-old cousin Isaac might have been the single most excited person to meet Olivia. He is our blog's biggest fan and sometimes calls us, on his own, to remind us to post more pictures. But after holding Olivia for about 10 seconds, he said she was too heavy and then ran off to play when I took her from him. As the youngest in his family, Isaac was sure curious about a lot of things, including what Olivia eats and how she fills her diapers. We let his mom answer those questions :)

Olivia with her aunt Sharesa (my youngest sister).

Don't worry, we got pictures of Daniel's family too. This first one is definitely one of the cutest pictures we've ever posted. Six-month-old Belle is Olivia's oldest and only cousin on Daniel's side. One day, they happened to be wearing the same onesie, so we had to take some pictures. During the photo shoot, they were looking at each other when Belle reached over and grabbed Olivia's arm. So precious! Luckily we snapped this picture before Belle started putting her feet in her mouth.

Olivia with Daniel's dad. He was so excited to meet Olivia.

And we think Olivia remembered Daniel's mom from three weeks earlier when she was here in New York. An astute observer will see Brigham Young's picture in the background. Yes, we ate at the Lion House twice during our trip to Utah.

The Ricks family. The only missing person is Platte, Heather's husband.

Daniel, with his four younger siblings. They are in order from oldest to youngest.

Daniel's parents.

Olivia with her great-grandpa Gardner.

Olivia's parents love her so much!

These are the men that participated in Olivia's blessing. Daniel was the one to pronounce the blessing, but he was assisted by his grandpa and brother, my two brothers-in-law, and both of our dads.

The baby blessing provided an opportunity to take some four-generation photos with all three of Olivia's surviving great-grandparents.

Olivia with Daniel, his mom, and his grandpa Gardner.

Olivia with me and with my dad and my grandma Larson.

Olivia with me and with my mom and my grandma Beardall.

In Moab, we fit five people into our small hotel room. Daniel and I shared the hotel bed, Olivia had her travel crib, and Adam and Whitney both had cots. Although it was a tight squeeze, we were only in Moab for one night--the night before the race. It was a fun roadtrip, and it makes us excited to live in Utah again for the summer. Well, at least I'm excited. Daniel has to study for and take the bar exam this summer. :(

Hopefully, I'll be able to run the half marathon with Daniel next year. The course runs down a redrock canyon alongside the Colorado River for the first 11 miles. It is a beautiful run!

This is Olivia on Monday, the first day after we got back to New York. I think the trip just wore her out!