This summer we went to Utah to visit our family for a month. We made a road trip out there so that I could have the van to drive the kiddos around. We had tons of fun visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt, Uncles, Cousins, and Sisters. I was thinking it was going to be a good trip but you just never know. We came out on top though... the kids had a blast and we were able to enjoy some cool mountain air and spare ourselves a month and TX heat!
Road Trip
We did the trip overnight which was great on the kids, hard on the mom and dad. They slept pretty well in the car and watched enough TV to fry their brains completely.
Bowling
Jen found a great deals on Seven Peaks season passes so we were able to do lots of activities with our cousins. I had been telling Samuel about "free bowling" so of course he wouldn't let up about it until we went. Here we are bowling with the Barnes's on one of our first days in UT:
Neighbors
Harry and Dianne live in a great neighborhood full of kids. Our kiddos made fast friends with the neighbors. They loved always having someone to play with!
L to R: Reese, Lizzy, Lillie, Abby
G-ma and G-pa had a great front yard for rolling downhill.
Trafalga
This place was part of our pass as well and we got good use out of it. Two months later and Grant is still asking if we can go to "Falga".
The kids on the hopper:
I kindly offered to take Grant on a boat ride. And Christian kindly soaked me completely! I was having a good hair day up until that point too!
Grant, Emma, and Samuel were my three mini-golfers. There was an indoor blacklight course and an outdoor course as well. We played them enough for me to never need mini golf again!
Dallin and Aunt Becca
A few days after we got in Aunt Becca and Dallin came to visit. This was the first time for all of the kids to meet him and they were excited to have a baby in the house! Dallin was such a good boy and we had a great time getting to see him for a little while.
Lillie and the Barnes's new cat Percy. Percy turned out to be a girl later. I'm not sure if the name changed ; )
Lillie was completely twitterpated by Dallin!
Spider Man Park
This place isn't really spider man park but that's what the Barnes's call so that's what my kids call it. It has this awesome 40 foot climbing pyramid. Of course Lillie hopped right up to the top the moment she saw it. Samuel was nervous at first but after a little while he found his courage and made it to the top himself. Grant always wanted to go up but I'd only let him go up about ten feet before I brought him down. Poor Kid.
Some of the cousins:
Samuel, Emma, Lillie, Abby, Grant
Hiking in Provo
While Becca and Dallin, (and so was cousin Noelle!) we took a day hike in Rock Canyon. The kids had a blast climbing all over boulders and at one point or another I believe every child there professed that they would one day become a professional rock climber : )
Here we have:
Abby, Lillie,
Audrey, Grant, Samuel, Emma,
Dallin, Becca,Noelle
Lillie loved to feed Dallin. No really, while she doesn't look like it here she actually really did!
Family Picnic
Before Becca left we had a family picnic up in Alpine. Everyone accept Tim was there. Sorry you had to work babe : ( We had the Doolittle's, Barnes', Busath's, Costello's, & Whaley's! It was great to get together with everyone.
Grant and Uncle Brian who came over to visit from Colorado
Noelle spinning the kids
Grant and Grandma hanging out playing computer games
Grant was very interested as Brian showed us the contents of his Army Medic bag
Grandma teaching Grant how to listen to his heartbeat
Listening to Grandma's heartbeat : )
Sister's Trip to Rexburg
Since I was so close to my old Alma Mater, and the place of Tim's and my meeting, and Lillie's birthplace, and the place where two of my sisters currently live, I decided to take a trip up to Rexburg, Idaho. Laura came down from Washington and we had a wonderful four day visit with Katie and Allison. Dianne and Harry were kind enough to wrangle in my children for those four days!
This is the apartment complex where Tim and I lived when Lillie was born
Laura and I walked around campus a lot while the girls were in class. I also got to go and visit one of Tim's and my favorite professors, Stephen Smith and his family.
Cheesy I know, but this is exactly where I was sitting the first time that I met Tim. Second floor of the Taylor building.
And this is where he was sitting ; )
Ah Fongs. I love this Chinese Restaurant. It's good. Not just good for Rexburg Chinese, it's good. I dream about eating here a lot so it was great to fulfill that food desire.
One of many late night's in the apartment talking and waiting for Allison to make us some amazing baked goods!
Chef Allison
Gotta love these girls! I am so lucky to have 3 wonderful sisters!
Allison had to go out of town a day early. The rest of us spent the afternoon at the local farmer's market.
On our last day there we spent some time walking around the grounds of the Rexburg Temple. It had only been announced when Tim and I left so it was amazing to see it in person.
Lillie helping Tim got through all of his memory boxes. His parents are finally making us take our crap home with us. The kids had a good time seeing his memories and they got a kick out of the old toys that he handed down to them.
Sunning at the local splash pad
Tim is back! Hooray! Him and Samuel celebrated by rolling down a huge hill!
Happy 31st Birthday Timothy!
Spending the Day at Temple Square & City Creek in Salt Lake City
The kids in front of the Church Office Building
The Salt Lake Temple where Lillie has announced that she will be married one day. I believe Samuel announced that as well : )
L to R: Abby, Samuel, Lillie, Emma, Christian, Grant
Waiting for the train
The kids thought it was awesome to stand in the train without holding on and then fall over when the train started. I'm sure our fellow passengers just loved us...
Utah Wildfires
All the wildfires that happened in Utah this summer? Yeah, they happened when we were there. And they were all really near us. The first one came super close to the Barnes's new home and they had to be evacuated less than a week after they moved in! Luckily everything turned out alright for them.
This is our view of the Alpine fire from Harry and Dianne's front step:
This is the nighttime view. Plus my camera did something cool and caught a reflection of the moon which was over to the right:
Lillie and her favorite animal in the world: Grandma and Grandpa's dog Sandy
Happy 4th of July!
Aunt Jennifer, who is amazingly talented with hair, designed stars in all of the girls hair for the 4th.
To celebrate the Busath family had everyone over for a backyard BBQ and fireworks
Tim had dared Samuel to touch Grandma's hair. She came out with her classic "don't touch the 'do'!"
Playing with cousins
Getting ready for fireworks
Uncle Ed put on a great show!
Grant and his favorite cousin Ben. I think Ben might be everyone's favorite cousin!
Throwing pillows with Grandma. This game went on for a long time. I believe it ended when the lamp got knocked over...
Kennecott Copper Mine
We went with Grandma and the Barnes's to the copper mine one day. When we first got there it didn't seem like much and I was initially disappointed with the time we had spent driving out there. However the kids had a blast and we spent a good 2 or 3 hours there. It was super informative. Plus Lillie went around with Tim who helped her earn the Kennecott Girl Scout Patch... Sweeeeet!
Getting ready to watch the copper movie with Grandpa
Blowing bubbles with Grandma
Lillie and her new friend Lizzy, one of the neighbor kiddos
Samuel and his favorite cousin : )
We went to the Busath's before we left to help Ben with his Eagle Scout Project
We had a great time visiting with all of our family. We can't wait to see you next summer!
