BYU Employees Summer Memories 2023

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One of my favorite summer trips was going backpacking with llamas for the first time! –Nathan S

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I was a Fulbright Scholar representing the College of Engineering this past summer in the Philippines. –Scott B

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Best trip ever! –Jane L

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My summer took me from coast to coast and places in between. Even with all the travel far and wide, I chose this picture of me and my man right here in Utah Valley at the top of Spanish Fork Peak (part of my quest to hike to the top of all 7 peaks in this valley). BYU is located in such a stunningly beautiful place, and I feel lucky to work and live here. –Jocelyn W

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My favorite memory from summer – exploring northern Utah’s lakes on kayaks with my daughter. –Emily S

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My favorite trip this summer was a climbing trip in the Alps with 2 of my old BYU college roommates… summitted Mont Blanc (tallest peak in western Europe) and Gran Paradiso (tallest peak in Italy). –Ben D

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I went to Mexico with the Tabernacle Choir! This is a picture of me in the Cosmovitral Jardín Botánico in Toluca, Mexico. –Jennifer H

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My favorite summertime memory is making it to the top of the "Y" with my son Christopher. We had been wanting to complete this hike for a few years and finally made it the morning of my birthday. There is a great view of BYU campus below us – or pictorially just above my son's yellow bucket hat. –Brendan Wright

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This summer I went to Ghana. This picture was taken in a village outside of Lake Bosumtwi in the Ashanti Kingdom where we met with a village chief and his council of elders to collaborate and discuss plans for building a family literacy center for their village. –Krista M

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–Josh M

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My summertime memory is river rafting the San Rafael Swell in Central Utah near Green River. –Aimee C

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How I spent my summer: at the the Oregon Coast. –Jared C

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I took a bike ride up to Bridal Veil Falls with my parents this summer. It was a great memory. –Rob G

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My visit to Caesarea in Israel this summer. Proudly sported my Cougar gear everywhere I went! –Josh S

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This summer we celebrated my parents 50^th anniversary with a Gold and Green dance party. They were floor show partners at a Golden Green Ball when they first started dating and have loved to dance together ever since! –Sarah C

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One of my favorite summer memories is of my son catching his first trout while on his first backpacking trip. Grandaddy Basin, High Uintas, Utah. –Darin C

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–Matt B

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My favorite memory from this summer was traveling throughout Europe with 23 students by train while co-directing the Fashion and Design Study Abroad. There truly is nothing better than seeing the growth and confidence in the students as the program progressed! –Natalie H

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My favorite summer memory was hiking with my son in the Cascade mountains. –Bryan T

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Athens, Greece. May 2023. –Natalie B

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This summer my husband and I went on the most amazing trip to London, where we saw an incredible blend of architecture, history, and culture. Some of the places we went included the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Hyde Park ward, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and one of my personal favorites, Stonehenge. And of course, we had to try authentic fish and chips. It was an amazing experience! –Courtney L

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Panoramic of Cedar Breaks. –Ben M

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This summer, we were blessed to be able to travel a lot with our young baby. We were able to fly to visit so many family members — we went to Spain, Colorado, Texas and beyond! But from all of these places, the thing I noticed the most about my little winter baby is his absolute obsession with the water. Splash pads, ponds anything. But the memory that cracks me up the most was while we were in Spain visiting my in-laws. There wasn't a tub in their house, so we had to bathe my baby in an igloo cooler...and he loved it!! – Sarah H

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Going back to see the areas where I served my mission…40 years ago. – Pat N

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My favorite memory of the summer was being with family. A new grandbaby was born on my parents 61^st wedding anniversary, and I got to be in Colorado the day he was born! This is a picture of daddy (who is active duty in the army, stationed at Fort Carson, CO, recently to serve in Korea just 8 weeks after this photo was taken) and his 3 boys, just hours after the new boy baby arrived! This is my favorite memory of summer! –Rebecca Gridley

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My favorite memory this summer was a first-time trip to Alaska. –JoNell S

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–David H

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Our favorite summer memory was announcing to our families the gender of our first baby (and our parents' first grandchild)! It's a boy! –Morgan A

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When you work throughout the summer doing FSY in Texas and Nevada, the best part to the ending of my summer was a hug from Mickey. August 2023. Disneyland. –Alisa H

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I went to Lancaster, England, to present a paper at a conference in July and spent a couple extra days in London with my wife on the way home. –Earl B

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Spending time with my family in Yellowstone National Park and seeing things really boil over. –Ernest M

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Among other fun things, I went four-wheeling with my dad and my parents’ dog. It was their dog’s first time four-wheeling, and she loved it. She was securely tied on. –Brooke A

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My husband and I celebrated 20 years together by visiting (for our first time) Lower Antelope Canyon along with Monument Valley and Michael Jackson's Cirque de Soleil. –Amber H

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–Steve M

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This is perhaps my most favorite memory of all time: to see a grandson looking adoringly at his uncle. –Joseph A

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My favorite memory was picking up my nephew from his mission in Denmark. –Melanie B

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–Nate S

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Creating memories with the kiddos… 28 miles of hiking at multiple national parks in one week. Here’s a picture of us in a spring meadow surrounded by glacier snow. Reminds me of our recent university president's reminder to be inspired by our nearby mountains in his speech "To the mountains we go" for instruction and transfiguration. –Robert C

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We were not able to do anything big this summer, but we did make time for a short vacation to St. George before our daughter left for a mission to Brazil. It was a fun opportunity to be together and to teach our younger kids to mountain bike. –Monte M

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I took my daughter and my niece on a day trip to NYC. We left on the 11 p.m. flight, slept 20 min, got to NYC at 5 a.m., then ran as fast as we could to see as much as we could before boarding our 9 p.m. flight back to SLC. We walked 15 miles and saw dozens of NYC sites but the most poignant to them was the 9/11 memorial. These sweet 16-year-olds weren’t alive when the twin towers fell but they felt the somber reverence on the plaza and commented how impactful that experience was. The white roses seemed to symbolize that hope and peace that we as a nation strive for. Nothing was ever the same after 9/11, and my girls never knew that innocence we had before that but understood the powerful significance of that event and how we as a nation united. –Rachel G

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Enjoying outdoor theater performances with my family! –Alayna E

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This was a beautiful day for me. –Roger D

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My summer was spent partly at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center’s ICU and cardio floor, watching skilled nurses and many machines keep my husband alive after bypass surgery. –Tessa H

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–Jim W

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I spent my summer on work trips, and my favorite one was my first international trip in Canada with one of my favorite coworkers! –Kalen A

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Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site in British Columbia. Finding the red beach chairs in the area is a fun challenge – such a great day! –Laura M

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My memory this summer was visiting Chicago with colleagues in the University Advisement Center, where we attended NCDA (National Career Development Association National Conference. –Hayley A

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I went to a conference in Rome, Italy, with my colleague Valerie Hegstrom. Here is a picture of us eating gelato in front of the Trevi Fountain before the conference began. –Anna-Lisa H

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One of my favorite memories from this last summer was attending the BYU GIRLdad Camp with my daughter, Rachel. –Marshall M

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My favorite memory of this summer is when our entire family gathered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The view from where I was sitting touched my heart: my Sweetheart, our sons and daughters-in-laws and four of our five grandbabies having a beautiful day on the beach. Our youngest grandbaby was asleep in my arms. I was one happy Momma. –Roni M

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Spent a week in beautiful Puerto Rico 🇵🇷. Awesome sunsets. –Michael D

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Our best trip memory of the year, and maybe our lives, however, was our 14-day cruise to Norway in late May, early June. –Phil K

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My husband and I went to London, Scotland, and Ireland at the beginning of August for our anniversary. –Bethany D

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Rome Italy Temple. –Graeme G

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I was able to go to Lake Powell in June. It has been three years since I’ve been there. I’m happy to report I can still water ski, yippee! Lake Powell is so gorgeous. It is my happy place — and the feeling after a good waterski can’t be beat. –Jearlene L