New Year's

We drove up to Utah for the second week of Christmas break. It was a last minute decision, and we didn't really tell anyone we were going, so we didn't have a plan, but we had a really nice day together in Provo. 

Ryan wanted to hike the Y, but of course weather didn't permit that, and we wanted to walk around BYU, but it was closed for the holiday, so we created our own 

TOUR OF PROVO:

Breakfast at Denny's (mostly just to have breakfast, but also famous for the blind "date" that started the Severson family)

The Wash Hut-famous for its root beer-not its washing machines

And, good ol' Southridge. The place where we lived and essentially met. The place on campus I think we met was under construction. And the park where Ryan thinks we met was turned into an apartment complex. That made us a little sad. But...there will always be Southridge. It had changed some, but not enough. It's still a death trap.

Look at us now

 My great gma Lucile's house. Brooke is named after her, and this is where we had our first kiss. But I would never tell you that.

 Our first house. We rented the basement our first year of marriage and then bought the house as an investment property. We just recently sold it. We were kind of sad about that until we drove up and noticed all of the repairs that needed to be done. Not our problem anymore!

 The tour continued to two cemeteries. First, we visited Wes. We thought he would appreciate a snow ball fight (just pretend--we didn't really throw them at him).

 And then to Springville to see Gpa Jones, and other relatives. This is Brooke Lucille visiting great gma Lucile (yes, we spelled it wrong, but she has two great great gma Lucille's :)

It took us awhile to find the graves in the snow, but thanks to FaceTime and Mom's plot map, we did. The kids had a good time uncovering the stones.

 

And where did we go to warm up? The creamery of course :)

 

Another sad change is that Ryan's source of income for years 5 Buck Pizza was closed down and turned into this place--but it still had surprisingly good pizza for a good prize. And I was just glad that it didn't smell like 5 Buck. I will never forget that dough smell as long as I live--it permeated Ryan's clothes and car even long after he worked there.

 Not pictured--the Nickelcade. Also very different, but still fun nonetheless.

And, we were lucky enough to have Nate and Joe visit us at the hotel. It was really good to see them, and I was happy to tell them that Ryan has improved from his sloppiness as a roommate (although that could be that I just do all the cleaning).

As far as I'm concerned, this was a good way to say good-bye to 2013. After visiting all the cemeteries I think Rachel was a little concerned. "I don't want anyone in my family to die," she said. I was so glad that I was able to tell her that we married in the temple and so no matter what-we were a family forever. And that when we die we'll be happy together. So even though Provo has changed since we were there-that fact will not.