A visit with the Gardners

This past week, we finally went on vacation. Though we had initially toyed with the idea of taking a roadtrip to Colorado to escape the heat and because we love the west, we finally decided that it would probably have been a disaster riding with the boys for 2 days each way and so we settled a little closer to home- Chattanooga, TN. One of the routes to Chattanooga from Simpsonville goes through Atlanta, so we decided to pay a visit to one of our favorite families. Sadly, it had been one month shy of 2 years since we had seen the Gardners. Our last visit was when Nathanael was a baby and we had never met their newest, Addison.

We met the Gardners back in 2003 while both Paul and Sarah were attending BYU. Tyler and Sarah lived in the apartment directly below us with their sweet little boy, Jason, who was just a little baby at the time. We all hit it off pretty quickly because they are so down-to-earth and a little bit rogue (in a good way), kinda like us. We have so many fun memories with the Gardners. We spent many an evening watching movies and eating delicious sweets Sarah made, at their apartment. I would usually go down in my pajamas because I frequently got too tired to finish the movie and would just go upstairs and go to bed. We loved spending weekends with them at Sarah's family's condo in Park City. We would usually just spend the weekend watching movies and eating more of Sarah's goodies; she makes the best 7-layer dip, fruit pizza, puppy chow, and caramel corn. But Park City with the Gardners was the best place to be when it snowed!

Once, near the end of our time in Utah, we decided after dark one evening that we should all hop in the car and drive to Vegas. Tyler's mom lives there, so we had a place to stay, and we knew it would be our last chance to do it. So we did! We drove into the early morning hours and scared Tyler's mom as we crept into the house. Then we proceeded to have one of the best weekends.
Not long after that trip, Paul and Sarah graduated, and it was time to move away. Saying goodbye to the Gardners was a sad day. They are one of the things we missed the most about Utah. Luckily, a relatively short time after we moved back east, so did they! We are so glad they now live outside of Atlanta and we are still able to see each other from time to time. Visiting them always feels just like old times, just with 4 extra kids. And just like old times, Sarah fed us lunch. Thanks, friend. We love you guys!