Sunday, October 30, 2011

Utah Trip June 4th-8th 2011

 Can you believe Ryan's grandmother is 91?  We can't either, she is so full of life and never sits still.  Her joke is that she takes care of the old people in her ward.  Only it's no joke it's true- she and Mike regularly bring in meals for families, widows and widowers and Grandma picks up a few ladies for the Book of Mormon reading group and says that if she didn't pick them up they wouldn't come.  We had the best time visiting with her and her third husband (she has outlived the other two) "Grandpa Mike". 
 We loved the view of the snow-capped mountains.
 There was never a shortage of sugary treats.
 I loved relaxing on this outdoor love seat Sunday afternoon.
 Monday we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  We had a great time, we visited the Beehive House- a favorite for the kids, learned a lot at both Temple Visitors Centers and the Church History Museum.  We picked up a mini hymn book for Morgan and let the kids each pick out a temple picture for their rooms.  That day we ate lunch at the Lion House Pantry- it was my first time- I was not dissapointed.  After spending our day at Temple Square we made our way to Saratoga Springs to visit Ryan's brother Jon, his wife Rebecca and the kids "Jon Bosley" cousins, Brent, Jessica, Josh, Katie and Matthew.  We didn't take any pictures at their house but the kids enjoyed playing and helping set up the new trampoline.  We were going to do an outdoor cookout- but the wind was too crazy- at one point Cambryn had a look of pure terror on her face, because she almost got carried away with the wind.

 Tuesday a full day was planned, we started out at the BYU Dinosaur Museum, the kids had a great time, I was mostly just tired- the night before I came down with a migraine that made me throw up, so I was still feeling a little weak.  After the museum we hiked to the "Y".  The hike isn't really hard but the hills are steep.  So we(the kids and I) did need to stop and rest a bit.  The hike back down the hill went much faster than the way up and the view from the top was stunning.


 A stop at the BYU creamery was not planned, but was perfectly delicious.
 We then hiked Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove.  It was beautiful and Bristyn walked almost this entire trail.  Cambryn was definintely not excited about getting this close to the water.  These two hikes were our first hikes we did as a family and we all had such a blast- we will be going on many more.
 I couldn't resist snapping these pictures of our children sleeping.

This was breakfast Wednesday morning.  Grandma and Mike planned out such yummy food to feed us.  Ryan and I would try to help cook or clean up the dishes after our meals and Grandma would have none of that.  She truly spoiled us, telling us we were on vacation and let her take care of it.  I thought a lot about how I treat people when they are visiting at my house.  I know I am not as gracious of a host as she is.  I now have a goal of doing more for the people who are visiting, whether they are staying for a few days or for a few hours.  After breakfast we left to drive home.  We planned to visit the St. George Temple on the way out of Utah.  Well we never made it to the temple, because when we pulled off the freeway the car sounded so bad.  After two mechanics telling us we needed to replace or rebuild the engine.  We carefully and prayerfully made our way back to AZ.  The second mechanic told us we could probably make it back home.  So we arrived home considerably later than we thought we would.  And we were grateful Ryan didn't have work the next day because he spent the day trading in our old van and purchasing a new one.  The cost to repair our old van was more than it was worth so we decided to get the new one.  I didn't go with Ryan- a car to me is just a way to get around- I don't need fancy bells or whistles, plus he has done fine the past two times- so I am happy to not need to wheel and deal the car salesmen.

2 comments:

Watson Family said...

What an awesome grandmother, family trip, photos and all, with your beautiful family! :) Always loving you, your life, and posts, lovely Darice!

Rita said...

Sounds like a great trip! I love the temple picture! Fantastic!
Love you all.