Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert - Utah

I've been trying for years to score tickets to this Christmas concert but have not been selected for a very long time. Shortly after getting back from the S. Korea trip in October, I remembered to apply and I was super stoked to find out towards the end of November that I was selected for 4 tickets!! Squee!

Christmas Lights in Salt Lake City

A friend of mine shared on Instagram about a street in Salt Lake that had lights in all the trees lining part of the street so that was high on my list to go do while Tony & I were in Utah. We took my niece and nephews with us along with some Krispy Kreme donuts and had fun walking up and down the street looking at the lights. Then we headed elsewhere for more lights and fun!

Loveland Living Planet Aquarium Lantern Festival

Tony & I took my sister's kids to the aquarium for their lantern festival. Tony & I are not new to this but I find it to be so much fun every time. The theme was sea creatures (since it is an aquarium) but the other added animals were a fun touch too - especially the birds!

Mo'Bettahs Grand Opening - Murray

I was able to snag Tony & I invites to the grand opening of this Mo'Bettahs location in Murray. Hawaiian food that I have had often before, both in Utah and Idaho.

Dreamscapes Experience at the Gateway Mall - SLC

 

THESE owls. One of my top favorite parts of the new Dreamscapes location!

I got invited to attend the re-grand opening of Dreamscapes in SLC at the Gateway Mall. Tony was my +1 for this event and we headed down on Thursday evening, easily found free (yay!) street parking walked over to the event.

Snow Canyon in Utah

We took a break from the Parade of Homes in St. George and headed to Snow Canyon State Park. There is quite a lot to do in this area. Hiking trails, horseback riding, biking and rock climbing. People were out on the day we went enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery.

Finding the Red Poppies in Alpine, Utah

I am not exactly sure how I heard about the red poppy fields in Utah when I was up there this past week. Manuta has a location that I almost went to on Saturday with a friend, but then I ran out of time. I opted to go to the location in Alpine and a couple nice people in Instagram helped me with directions as well as a fellow blogger. Ultimately, I got lost trying to follow various directions and I am terrible with maps. So..I thought I would do a blog post about how to find the area in Alpine exactly so you don't end up like yours truly, hiking around the wrong area completely!

Parrot Garden Tour - Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

We had signed up for the Parrot Garden tour at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab and arrived a little late but were still able to join the tour of learning about the birds here. I have wanted to do this tour for a few years now so it felt magical that it was finally happening!

Balloons and Tunes Roundup in Kanab - Day 3

Sunday morning in Kanab brought another layer of snow and another pilot briefing that announced no balloons would be flying but Smokey the Bear would be inflating. So...that was cool at least and I was able to get some fun pictures. 

Night Glow and Lantern Liftoff

After our short hike, it was time to get ready for the night glow which turned into a candlestick (just the burners) because of wind and also another storm was coming in that would bring a light dusting of snow Sunday morning. It was still a fun evening though!

Belly of the Dragon hike - Kanab

Short hike means not a lot of pictures. I did take some on my Snapchat Spectacles and some cool video too. It was so cold! But worth it to check this place out.

Balloons and Tunes Roundup in Kanab - Day 2

Day 2 - Saturday - we woke up to SNOW! We had heard it might snow and sure enough, there was at least an inch on the ground by 6am when we woke up. Okay, Tony woke up and got up. I didn't really wake/get up until around 6:30. Pilot briefing was at 7:30 but we wanted to get some breakfast by the lobby in the hotel we were staying at beforehand. So...this was new. I have never been to a balloon festival where there was snow. Made for some good pictures though!

Balloons and Tunes Roundup in Kanab - Day 1

We left Ridgecrest on Thursday evening and drove for 7 hours to Kanab, Utah. There is a festival in February called Balloons & Tunes Roundup. It's in it's 5th year and we have gone to all of them I believe except last year because my brother got married the same weekend.  It was an interesting weekend for the festival starting out with Friday morning having the wind going the wrong direction and being a bit too strong. Check out how we spent the day instead...

Cedar Breaks National Monument

It's been quite a few years since Tony and I went to Cedar Breaks in Utah. Our friends Heidi and Andrew recently moved to Duck Creek which isn't too far from Cedar Breaks so while we were in Panguitch for a hot air balloon festival, we met up with our friends and caravan-ed to this National Park.

#LightTheWorld Vending Machine

Most people I know probably have heard about the vending machines where you can buy water, food, glasses, animals even, for people in need. I badly wanted to check it out so while we were on Temple Square in December, we got to go in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to take a look.

Fun on the Red Rocks

 

Photo by Tony Hoxsie

I love the red rocks in southern Utah and whenever I get to play or hike on them, it's so much fun! Following are some shots Tony got before we left St George on Sunday afternoon. 

Best Airbnb Experience Ever!

Tony found this Airbnb for our weekend seeing Newsies at the Tuacahn and it did not disappoint. He did a fantastic job finding one of the best places (imo) we've ever stayed in. I took pictures of all my favorite parts (basically everything)...

Newsies at Tuacahn!

Photo by Tony Hoxsie

I have been wanting to see a show at Tuacahn theater in St George (Ivins) , Utah for forever long! Tony said he would get tickets for our anniversary but unfortunately the season had not started quite yet. But he did get tickets and just this past weekend we finally got to go. Squee! Super excited to finally go here and see a show for reals.

Panguitch Valley Balloon Rally 2017 Day 1

Smoke covering the sky from the fire going on at Brian Head Ski Resort

We headed out mid-afternoon on Friday and stopped in Las Vegas for some Cafe Rio on our way. So good and I was excited to use my $5 off any meal because I have the app. Woot! Plus Friday is my favorite meal deal and they only do it that day so it was a double win. 

We made it to the campsite pretty late (almost 2am) and after Kylee's dog had a confrontation with a rattlesnake, we all decided car camping would be best and we'd set up the pop up the next day for them.

We got up about 5:45am and headed into Panguitch from our camping spot, to the field by the school where the balloons would be setting up. They had donuts which was so nice and I got a maple bar. What did I not get? A picture. So did I really eat a maple bar?

Eyes to the Sky Hot Air Balloons

Salina, UT has a hot air balloon festival called Eyes to the Sky and it's every June. Tony and I got engaged here in 2010 up in a hot air balloon! It was soo amazing and my first time up every in a balloon. It's been our tradition to go back every year to see the balloons and camp for the weekend and this is our 6th time going. Every year has gotten better and better and lucky for me to have 4G this time with my phone so I was able to Snapchat a lot of cool stuff we did as well as stay in touch with family and friends throughout the day.