Our filmaker brother-in-law Nick had a short flim called Wir Malen (We Paint in German) playing in the Logan film festival this weekend. Months ago he invited us to join him some of the festivities associated with the event.

We initially planned on staying the weekend and going to church with our Hicken cousins. You see our cousin Melanie is on her way to the MTC, and then Argentina this coming Wednesday and will be speaking today in church. Then we remembered that one of the MAJOR cons on the pro/con list of being managers of our apartment complex is that we can only be out of town over the weekend 6 timed a year, never twice in the same month, and never for more than seven consecutive days. We started to count the trips we have planned for the year and realized that we have already planned on using all of our remaining weekends.

 When we came to this realization we thought we would just have to skip it, then after being overcome with a sense of adventure and heartened by the realization that Logan was really only a couple hours away (just like one of our frequent day trips to San Diego as a kid) we decided to make it a day trip!

It was the first trip like this we had ever done. We wanted to maintain as much of Mirah’s schedule as possible while going with the flow and being as flexible as possible. So we woke up at 7 like we normally do, did her whole morning routine of breakfast, getting dressed, nursing etc. Then when it was time to take her morning nap we got on the road. We had hoped she would get a nice long nap in on the car ride up, but no such luck. She didn’t fall asleep until we were approaching Brigham City, so we only got about a half an hour then.

We met Nitsy and the boys at the Hicken’s house. We saw Mel and Dustin. Both super excited about being missionaries. Melanie was attempting to prepare her talk, and our arrival did not help one bit. We didn’t see her much because she was working on it or avoiding it 😉 the rest of the day. Uncle Greg arrived after having a spill while skiing, and Aunt Shirlene was ever the wonderful hostess.

We said goodbye for a bit as we left the boys and headed over to our first event. On our way over we stopped for a bit at the Center Street Grill. A local treasure if you ask me. 

Nick was anxious about time because he needed to be on time for a pannel discussion that he was speaking on right after lunch. BUT I think he was happy to be at the restaurant.

 Mirah, attempting to drink out of a really long straw while holding out numbers for us.

 Like a flash our food arrived.

 My Burger. The Southwesterner. Bacon, Avocado, Ranch. So So So good!

 One of my many weaknesses, Chili Cheese fries.

Nick left us to finish lunch. We arrived at the venue just in time for everyting to begin.

Karl and I thought we might just skip it because we were worried about Mirah. We asked Betsy if she thought he would miss us. I am guessing he would have noticed.

Mirah actually did really great. She was just a little bit chatty for this very serious venue. So I had to go on a walk with her. I walked over to a little thrift store, and a local bike shop, then even this little homemade shop shop too.

We snuck back in and caught the end. Lost of questions about being a screen play writer, and what do you do about giving over your baby to the evil studios. It was interesting.

After it was over, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Barney’s house. Mirah fell asleep on out way over. It was past he nap time and she was tired. She tolerated being passed around very well. Even  Grandma Barney had a chance to hold a sleeping baby.

They are the best people. I just love them.
Grandpa Barney, always being silly.

We had only been there for a few minutes when Brent Matthews and his family arrived.
They had four kids, one was just about Mirah’s age. 8 months in fact, and her name, Mariah. Small like Mirah. I think that small babies may be a Barney thing. Her mom was telling me that all of her kids were small. The other kids played loudly in the other room, and the girls just played on the carpet as we talked.

Betsy and Nick soon arrived.

Then the photo albums came out.
These two pictures of Betsy. We were all agreeing that Asher looks just like her here. Also that Judah looks just like Malia.

The boys (Karl and Nick) went to the animated film segment and Betsy and I went back to Shirlene’s to get the boy and hangout.

Oh, did I mention:
Barkley?

The kids LOVED this little dog. Just like the rest of us really.
Mirah loved him.

The one thing that I wanted to do while in town was to clean the sink at Angie’s. More on that in a moment.

It was getting late, Mirah fell asleep in the car again.  Us feeling bad as we arrived.

The boys were also starting to loose it. It turned out that most of the out burst was that they were both
really hungry.

 They sat us, we all ate. Then they brought:
The Sink.

Just so we are clear, most of that swirl on top is soft serve, not whipped cream.
Taking a bite.
Nick’s photo bomb was perfect because it perfectly illustrates his attitude about the whole thing. He didn’t want to do it. So he ate a little then left us with the majority of the dessert and the boys.

You know who did help?
The kids. The boys each had a banana. Judah had a TON of ice cream.

Mirah helped out too. Oh man you can see her missed nap in her eyes.

Karl and Betsy did the lions share of it all.

Looking good!

We had to totally empty it. Karl finished it.

Yeah!

We did it! But only on sticker?!

Back on the road, Mirah slept most of the trip home. Back before 11, tired and full, we went right to bed. This morning Karl and I are feeling totally grose. Worst of all, Mirah has a little fever. Ugh. Probably from all the kids, missed naps and being outside in the cold. Thank heavens for Sunday.