We had a long, but fabulous trip to Utah. We were gone for about 10 days. While if felt good to get home, we had a great time and made a lot of memories.
Our first stop was Logan to visit my grandma (Nana to me, Great-Gran to my kids). The Princess was so excited to see her. She most loved Gran's dog, Robby, a King Charles Cavalier. She would throw toys for him and loved to have him sit on her lap. Our main purpose in going to Logan was so I could go through some family history information with Nana. She had a lot of documents about my grandfather during World War 2. It was also fun in Logan to introduce my kids to the Island Market across from Nana's house - candy & soda galore! We had fun playing at the park down the street, visiting with the Dad's cousin in Providence & eating Aggie ice cream.
Our next stop was Jackson Hole for a big reunion. We were there to celebrate Nana's 84th birthday (nothing significant about that number) and all of her posterity was there: her four daughters & their husbands, 11 grandkids plus spouses, and 5 great-grandkids. To say my family loves Jackson & Grand Teton National Park is an understatement. My parents go there every year and it is definitely one of my favorite places. We spent the days hiking, riding our bikes in the Park, looking for wildlife, splashing in the lake, eating, & playing with cousins. One day, we hiked to Phelps Lake in the new Laurence Rockefeller Preserve. The kids did great. Once we were at the lake, we soon heard a rumor that former First Lady Laura Bush was on the trail, and sure enough, after a little time had passed, she made it out to the lake with her group, including about 5 Secret Service officers. We had a great family dinner picnic for Nana's birthday and it was so cute to see at the great-grands play together. We took a family picture with the Teton mountain range as our backdrop. We saw 6 moose (the Princess was SO excited) including a baby. We also saw deer & elk. I enjoyed hanging out with my little cousins (who are now teenagers) - they are really amazing young people! It was great to have everyone together - and I know my grandmother loved it.
After Jackson, our family headed back to Utah, staying with our friends the Siposes in South Jordan. We've been friends with them since we all lived in Walnut Creek, before our first kids were born. We were so grateful for their hospitality. We enjoyed seeing the floats for the Days of 47 Parade with them, going to dinner & to a water park.
Our first full day in Utah, we went to downtown Salt Lake to take in the sights and visit with Matt's grandma, Grandma Madsen. I was so excited to take our kids to Temple Square. The Princess was too little to remember our last trip, and the Buddy seemed to like our visit as well. We hit all of our favorite spots for viewing the Temple. Now you can also walk right up to the temple and touch the beautiful doors and take pictures. I think there is something so powerful for kids about being able to touch the temple. We also enjoyed a great exhibit in one of the Visitor's Centers about the building of the Salt Lake Temple. There is also a beautiful to-scale replica of the temple and see where all the rooms are & how they're decorated. It was amazing! We had lunch with Grandma at the Lion House. If I could have only eaten their rolls & carrot cake, I would have been happy! The Princess said she wanted to eat there every day. We had a mice visit with Grandma at her apartment. We did some shopping and the kids splashed in the fountain at the Gateway. For dinner that night, we met up with our friends the Hoggans, who recently moved from our ward to Utah. It was great to catch up with them. And we all enjoyed pie from the Lion House for dessert!
The next day, Wednesday, we went out to This Is The Place park. There is a great pioneer village that has been recreated there. There were so many activities kids could do to give them a glimpse of pioneer life. We panned for gold, took our gold to the bank & got a little piece of candy. We rode trains & on wagons. The kids pounded designs in leather at the saddlery. They rode ponies & got to see other farm animals. The Princess made a candle. And we enjoyed some treats. We had a wonderful time there! Later that day was when we went to the waterpark with our friends.
On Thursday, we rode bikes in the morning with our friends. Then we headed down to Provo to make the rounds there. For lunch, we ate at our favorite Brazilian restaurant, Tucanos. The Dad swears he at his body weight in meat! Then we went to BYU Campus. We stopped in at the new (to us at least) Hinckley Visitor's Center. We took a little golf cart tour of campus, because so much has changed since we were there. I found myself getting very emotional as we walked around campus and I was flooded with memories of the 6 years I spent at BYU. I LOVE BYU. I consider it a great blessing to have attended college there. I have so many wonderful memories on that campus. Later I realized that part of what I was feeling again was the Spirit that is present on that campus. After our tour, we had fun at the bookstore and eating BYU ice cream. We did more shopping on our way back to South Jordan.
Friday we spent the morning packing up and we said goodbye to the Siposes. Then we drove to Bountiful to spend the afternoon & evening with Aunt Louise & her family. A lot of her grandkids were at the house and the kids all played on a little waterslide & on the trampoline. We had a great BBQ with everyone and then went to the Bountiful 24th of July Parade. Later, we watched fireworks with everyone - and it was probably one of the best fireworks shows we've ever been to. We love spending time with Aunt Louise & her family. A few of her grown kids are our age and we've always enjoyed seeing them. She is always so gracious to our family.
The next morning, we left for home. We had a great trip and saw & did a lot of things. It was nice to be together as a family for the time we were gone. And the Princess is already talking about our next trip to Utah!
1 comment:
I love BYU too! So much.
Sorry we didn't get to see you. Let me know when you are in town next. If you have some time we would love to see you. I know it is hard to see everyone though when you are traveling.
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