A Family Reunion of Sorts

After a smelly flight on Wednesday (seriously, the plane smelled like B.O), I arrived in Salt Lake City to be greeted by my beautiful cousin, her sweet husband and 2 adorable sons. They had a little sign and everything!

The original plan was to attend the DMB concert that night and then spend some quality time together for a few days. Unfortunately for us, the show got postponed. It's understandable, but a bit disappointing. So that left us with plenty of time to just hang out. That night we went out for a yummy dinner - though now I can't remember the name of the place. We ate lots and lots of beef though. Delicious. She and I stayed up way too late just talking and catching up.

On Thursday, I woke up to the pitter-patter of little feet running through the house. When I looked up, her boys were standing outside my door. I waved and they came in and gave me big hugs. What a fun way to start the day! After a little running around town, we stopped in to see her sister with the 9 month belly. She looked so great, and is ready for that baby to come. Most of the afternoon, we drained our brains talking about so much. It was good for me and I got some much appreciated advice. That night, us two gals got to galavant out on our own to go shopping and catch a movie. We were the only 2 people in the theater watching Mamma Mia and it was hilarious. We talked and sang and threw in a few dance moves as if we were watching it in our own living rooms. I think both of us felt young again being together out on the town. Just like old times. Mission accomplished!

On Friday, I started the day playing cars and guns with her boys and then we went shopping again. When you have a girlfriend to shop with, it really fuels that addiction! She took me to her favorite decorating store Rod Works. It is seriously the cutest. And then an outdoor mall in Salt Lake. We grabbed a good lunch too and stopped on the way home to take a few pictures. My cousin is an AMAZING photographer. (A. Chamberlain Photography) She noticed this bright blue building in the city and thought it would be the perfect backdrop. She took a few pictures of me and I thought they turned out really cute! I'm sure I'll be using it for all my profile pics from now on! We rushed to get home and get ready for their family picnic. It was a family reunion of sorts for me. I spent every summer with their family from the time I was 11 until I was 17. Now everyone is grown up with families of their own. So its different, but strangely the same. It was just so good to see everyone.

On Saturday, we had a couple goals - get an updated cousin picture together and be at the airport on time. Done and done. We had to get up early to do it, but we did it! We went to an area where she takes a lot of her portraits and her husband was kind enough to shoot us together. Then we headed off to the airport, the whole way trying to convince her husband that now they need to come to California for a visit. I think we've just about got him. :)

So I headed home on another smelly plane and here I am, back in L.A. The trip completely wore me out and I took a 2 hour nap as soon as I sat down to watch TV. Of course, it was totally worth it.

Pics: http://paulpeltekian.com/fotoalbum/cousin_reunion