Austin's visit

 Austin has finally come for a visit! We hadn't see him since we went to visit him in Wales before Covid...so it's been way too long.

He wasn't able to get a lot of time off of work so he was just here Wednesday-Sunday morning.  We tried to pack a lot into those few days!

Wednesday I had to work so Ryan picked him up from the airport and they spent the day together: went to Top Golf, ate food and played some games at Ryan's house.  

Austin basically had no sleep the night before his early flight so he was ready for a nap when I picked him up after work.  We had a nice dinner  and just relaxed with a tv show he recommended before heading to bed.

Thursday, Frank and Austin played pickleball while I went to a doctor appointment. Despite his boots and jeans, he was a natural and played quite well. We went out to brunch when I got home at a nice biscuit/breakfast place nearby.  Then we went on a drive through the canyon to see the fall leaves. 

I thought I took more pictures than this of our drive...

Since Austin is coming from back east where the fall foliage is truly spectacular, we knew it wouldn't be that impressive but we all enjoyed the bright yellow Aspen trees and the nice drive. We did a small hike before returning home.  We played more pickleball in the evening (my first time playing since my surgery) and had a good time. Austin had forgotten his language lesson that he was supposed to do online so we went home and he did that for an hour or so.

Friday, we drove up first to Logan to visit Carter, Harley and William. We hung out at their house for a bit and then got lunch. 

Logan Canyon looked so pretty. Colors were more vibrant IRL.

From there we drove to Bear Lake where Doneen's family was staying for the weekend. Her kids are the cousins that Austin knows best so we wanted to make sure they could see each other. They had a really lovely cabin right on the lake. We did some paddle boarding first thing. Austin had several mishaps with leaky kayaks before I finally gave him my paddle board to try. He was completely soaked by then! The water was pretty chilly but it was very nice and we all enjoyed it. Chelsie and Chris joined us on the water. Frank and Alan went for some mountain biking. 

After everyone was home and Kari and Josh had arrived, we had vegetarian lasagna (thanks Doneen!) and played games. Carter, Harley and William also came up for games.  It was so loud and so much fun!  We went to a little local shop (walking distance) for ice cream and little bit of corn hole. It was a bit chilly out so I didn't get any but several people enjoyed it despite the cold. Afterwards, we watched Hocus Pocus II in the spirit of the Halloween season, but I fell asleep on the floor in the middle of it so I went to bed. Austin did not give it a good review overall. ha!  But it was a super fun day and I was so glad we went.

At the ice cream shop

Saturday, we slept in a bit and just had a nice breakfast with the Larsen clan including Mark and Marissa who arrived later on Friday night. We then drove the 3 hours home to get ready for a family party Saturday night.

Austin and Ryan hung out for the afternoon and did a hike in the canyon. Frank and I made soup and rolls and even fit in a little bit of pickleball.

The evening party included us, Diane's family, Carter's family, Ryan and Krista, Jenna, Lauren Davidson, Corey and Randy and Heather and Jansen. We had soup, rolls, salad, homemade breadsticks from Kristal and lots of desserts. It was really fun and it was the first time for Austin to even meet some of those cousins! I didn't think to take a single picture. Luckily Austin took a few!