Summer 2015 | Utah

After a wonderful couple of days with precious friends in California, we were sad to say goodbye...but so excited to see our Utah friends again!

We took off from San Jose...

(fluffy white clouds are our favorite)


...and landed in Las Vegas.


We were so happy.
(I was wearing my Vocal Point shirt, of course.)


We practically screamed with joy at the first sight of Utah Lake and Y Mountain.

(See it? The big white Y up on the mountain? That's where BYU/Provo/most of our friends are. :))


We looked for familiar landmarks...here's the South Jordan temple, just south of Salt Lake City.


We jumped on the TRAX and switched to the Frontrunner after we landed in SLC.


We were tired after a long day of traveling, but we were so excited to be back in Utah. It's beautiful!


Here's our ecstatic faces after getting off the Frontrunner at the Provo station. We were thrilled to see Aunt Pam when she came to pick us up!

She took us straight to the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU...


...where we found these wonderful people.

Of course it was great to see Bryce again, and we were SO happy to finally meet Krista and Melissa in person!

We've become good friends with Krista over the summer (she knows Bryce, so we have him to thank for the fact that we know each other). :)

We wandered around the lobby of the HFAC, finding and visiting with friends.
One of the funniest moments was when we saw Andy and Devin from VP. Andy knew we were coming, but Devin isn't on social media very much and had no idea we'd be there. He was SO surprised.
Robert Seely, who we met in March and who was in VP when they were on The Sing-Off in 2011, saw us across the lobby... "Whoa! You guys are really lost!! Do you know how far from home you are?!" We laughed so hard.

Note to self: don't give Bryce Romney your phone to take pictures. You'll end up with this. (I died laughing when I found it on my phone a few hours later.)

We were so, so happy to see our dear FVPFF! (Aka the Fabulous VP Fan Five. We dubbed them that, but we can't take credit in any other way for their amazing love and support for Vocal Point.)
Callie was out of town, but here's Kaylie, Madi, Kayla, and Dia!

These kids (ages 13-18) had spent all week learning from some of the best in the a cappella world. They opened and closed the concert with big group numbers, and each small group sang one song.


Adam from Vocal Point and Trent were pretty much the most hilarious emcees ever.
Adam was getting married that next morning, and every time he came out on stage in between songs, he would update the audience on how many hours and minutes were left in the countdown. We were almost as excited as he was!


Some of the counselors and instructors performed, and we happily realized it was the first time we'd heard Robert, Keith, McKay, and Trevor sing live! (VP alumni)


We totally fangirled hearing Keith. He was such a big part of the 2010-2011 group that competed on The Sing-Off.


The kids totally blew our minds with their talent. Check out ReMix on YouTube to hear some of what they've performed in previous years!








We came back out in the lobby after the concert was over and made a beeline for Scott. We could hardly wait to say hi to him and his darling wife, Ryceejo.

I took this picture the moment Scott realized we were there! 

Sadly, we didn't get to spend any more time with them that weekend...maybe next time, guys? We love you two!!


We were all so glad to meet Logan Shelton, one of the new Vocal Point members this year!
In fact, he recognized Sarah and me before we recognized him, and as soon as he saw us he gave us both big hugs and told us how excited he was to meet us!
Just letting all you VP fans know, you're going absolutely love him. We sure do. :)


It was fun being in the lobby since that's where VP filmed the video for God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen last fall.
I wish I had thought to take more pictures that Friday evening...we saw so many people we know!

I guess we were having too much fun to stop even for a second. :)


The next morning--Saturday--we met up with the girls at Provo Towne Center...

Because...well...the VP guys rode those animal scooters, so, why couldn't we?! :D
We had entirely too much fun.




We ate lunch at Café Rio and now we finally know why everybody LOVES Café Rio SO MUCH.
It's SOOOOO good, y'all.




The mountains in Utah are so beautiful.


We had fun coordinating with Jordan's wife Zoë to meet us at a park and surprise the girls!

We'd all wanted to meet Toby the Bulldog for a long time and it worked perfectly...the girls had no idea!




We drove by Qualtrics since we were in that area - Bryce worked there this summer.


We wanted to see the historic Utah County Courthouse since that's where VP filmed their Newsies Medley video!


It was closed, since it was Saturday, but we had a great time looking in the windows all the same. :)


The new Provo City Temple across the street is nearly finished.




We recreated this one shot in the Dark Knight Changes video Bryce was in...


...and this shot from the end of Newsies. (Sorta.)


Ice cream from the BYU Creamery was the perfect treat on a hot summer afternoon!


I got German Chocolate Crunch. Mostly because of an old joke from Totally Missing the Point...


We love these girls so much. Many thanks to Kaylie's mom, Jonae, for driving them all over Provo with us that day!


A familiar sight - we took a picture from this same intersection when we were there in March. :)


Later that afternoon, we drove down to Springville for...


...Adam and Kelsey's wedding reception!


:)


Adam is 6'10" and Kelsey isn't short, either! They're SO perfect for each other. We love them to pieces.


We were so happy to see Robert and Katie (better known as Bobert and Mrs. Bobert :)) and Jake and Sadie! Yay for VP alumni. :)


Adam got everyone's attention and told them that Kelsey wanted two things at her wedding reception: snow cones, and for Vocal Point to sing to her.

"So, Devin is going to sing to my wife!"
Devin took the lead on Some Kind of Wonderful and we all LOVED it. We got it on video. :)

(Also, if I'm not mistaken, this was Logan's first performance with VP!)


Jake and Sadie (who's expecting!) and Devin and Heather! Color coordinating and they didn't even plan it.




We were super happy to see Kyle. :)


Sarah and I were hungry as we drove back up to Provo, so we decided there couldn't possibly be a better place to stop and get a bite to eat than J Dawgs.

We went there with some of the VP guys in March and it was seriously so good.


We got up early Sunday morning and drove up to Salt Lake City to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!


There were a couple thousand people there for the weekly broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word.
We loved hearing the choir sing - it was such a surreal experience, honestly. I had happy tears in my eyes more than once as I listened to them.
Sarah and I were entirely unprepared emotionally for the end of the broadcast, though. We had no idea the choir would be singing God Be With You Till We Meet Again. It's such a beautiful hymn, and one that we have fond memories of singing at the end of every year in Bible Study Fellowship.

We both totally lost it and sat there with tears streaming down our faces.


We left SLC as soon as we could and headed back down to Lindon to worship at Fellowship Bible Church. What a blessing it was.


We went back to Aunt Pam's and looked in the pantry and couldn't find anything to eat for lunch, so we went to In-N-Out. Duh. Of course. (Right, Cody?)


Speaking of Cody, we spontaneously met up with him and Mikayla that Sunday evening and drove up to a trailhead that overlooks the city of Provo.

We spent a most enjoyable couple of hours sitting at a picnic table talking about everything from folk dancing to choral music to Vocal Point stuff to Disneyland.

We love them to pieces.


Monday was Sarah's and my "drive all over Provo and see random places" day. Before our adventures began, we had lunch with Logan and had a great time getting to know him better! Our next stop was the courthouse, since it was now open and we could go inside.






(Sorry for the overload of pictures but it's just so gorgeous!)




Here's Sarah showing you where Parker stood when he sang Santa Fe. :)










The Star of David on the floor has always intrigued me.




We went back up to the same trailhead where we'd been the night before so we could see Provo in the day time! That's Utah Lake in the distance.


We drove by the Provo Temple...


...and then went to Rock Canyon Park. Just because it's cool and we've seen pictures of it and wanted to see it in person.


The last thing we wanted to do before heading back to Uncle Bob and Aunt Pam's was get coffee and bagels from Einstein's. :)


The mountains are so close in Provo and we never get tired of seeing them.


The view down Stadium Avenue, where Uncle Bob and Aunt Pam live, towards the BYU football stadium...


...their house...


...and the view to the east.

 

We spent a wonderful hour or so in their office, the two of us sitting on the floor and chatting with both of them about all sorts of things.

We miss them so much!


Bryce and his sister Brooke came over for dinner - it was so good to spend time with them! Brooke plays basketball for BYU. (Yes, she's over 6' tall, and Bryce is 6'5". We joke that they look like they're Sarah's and my parents in this picture with the height difference.)


Tuesday was a fun, full day. It began with a stop by Qualtrics so Bryce could show us around (such a cool work environment!).

We met the CEO's Labradoodle, Barnaby, who was quite sleepy. :)




The weather was unusually cool that day and it felt wonderful.


We picked Krista up at her house and drove out to the Great Salt Lake! Which wasn't much of a lake...just salt. We would have had to walk quite a ways to get to the water and it smelled like rotten eggs or something out there...




We came back into town and decided where we wanted to go next:


Salt Lake High School East...aka East High, where High School Musical was filmed!


If you've seen HSM, you'll recognize these tables from...


...the cafeteria. :)




The red cutout designs on the walls were put up as props when they shot the movie, and they left them there!




They also left Sharpay's locker painted pink. :)




I'd switched my camera to manual focus a few minutes before we left, and forgot to switch it back to auto focus...so here you have a blurry attempt at the famous High School Musical jump shot. :)


Next, we stopped by the Mormon Tabernacle because it's just so pretty and we wanted to see it again.


We love Krista and were so glad to spend the day with her. :)


Temple Square looked lovely with all of the flowers in bloom!


We also wanted to see the Conference Center again, because why not...


When we were there in March, there wasn't any water running in the fountain on the roof, so it was cool to see it working this time.





We miss you, Krista!!

The view of the area around SLC from the roof of the Conference Center.


Take note of the white building to the left; it's the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and we went inside it later!


I love the architecture in the Conference Center. Really, I just love lots of windows.


It seats 21,000 people!


We recreated a picture we'd taken with friends in March...in nine years as a tour guide at the Conference Center, this kind gentleman had never taken anyone from Mississippi on a tour before! We enjoyed chatting with him.




They were working on the fountain in March, so it was neat to see it this trip. So pretty.








Here's the lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It's beautiful, and the piano music was even more so. :)


Here's the view from the 10th floor, I believe it was! That's the Tabernacle on the left, and the Conference Center on the right.


Looking west, towards the airport.


We headed back down to Provo...lots of traffic but the view made it bearable. :)


I've never seen Cholula here in Mississippi, but we have a friend (cough) who (cough) carries a bottle of it in his car.

So when Uncle Bob and Aunt Pam took us to Café Rio and I saw it on the table, I had to take a picture. (Still didn't use any, though...sorry Bryce. :))


We had a "dessert send off" at the Openshaw's since it was our last evening in Provo. Parker came by for a few minutes, and it was so good to see him.

(He's *the real* Troy Bolton, by the way.)


We made homemade peach cobbler, and Aunt Pam got ice cream from the BYU creamery...let's just say we ate most of a (really big) pan of it...


Such a happy sight...Jordan and Zoë came and visited for a while. Love those two.


Later that evening, everybody else showed up all at once haha!
Kyle, proving he's the biggest goober in Vocal Point...Logan and his younger brother, Hyrum, who was there for ReMix...Cody...Bryce...Janae from Noteworthy (good grief that girl can sing!!), and Mikayla...


We were so glad Trevor came by for a few minutes, especially since he'd been out of town and left again not long thereafter.

Of course we had to recreate the picture we took in March. :)




The Whitehead girls came over to discuss a music video project with Bryce, and Cody, being a talented videographer himself, ended up volunteering to help with it. It was fun to hear them tossing around ideas. (Still laughing about that red coat, Bryce.)


Hey, look! We color coordinated!


Oh, the jokes that are gonna fly in VP's concerts this year about Logan being the shortest member of the group...




They are the sweetest, and if we make it back out there again, we are definitely going to plan on spending more time with Mrs. Sherry, Melissa, and Angelina!


We're actually kinda obsessed with Cody and Mikayla. They're just like the world's sweetest most adorable couple ever.


See?


Everybody left around midnight...we finally got to bed around 1:00am...and had to get up at 4:00 to catch the Frontrunner. ::groan:: We didn't shed any tears saying goodbye to all of our friends that evening, but we sure cried the next morning saying goodbye to Aunt Pam. Somehow we didn't get a picture with her and Uncle Bob! But there's a picture of them in this post. :) We were so thankful for their kind, gracious hospitality to us...we ended up spending Sunday evening with them and their children and grandchildren who live nearby. They all treated us as if we were their own family and made us feel so welcome and loved.






Seeing the sunrise as we rode the Frontrunner to SLC was wonderful. We were just glad to not have to drive an hour having had only 3 hours of sleep!




I love the mountains in the tile at the airport.

This trip in August was the best way to end our last summer at home before starting school. College freshmen don't have a lot of extra money to spend, y'know...but we would love to go back to Utah at some point next year to see our friends. We'll see how the Lord provides...and we'll let you know. :)