For the last week of summer, we decided to take the long drive down to Utah to visit some friends and family. To be honest, I was a bit nervous about taking the long drive with all of the kiddos. About 13 hours in the car is a long time for two six year olds and a two year old! :) But I have to say, these adorable kids did amazing!!! We drove through the night on the way down, and the boys did not wake up once. Miss E woke about every two hours, but once I pulled over and held her for a few minutes, she was ok again and went back to sleep. I was extremely thankful.
Once we made it to Tawna and Stuart's home, the kids automatically went off in their separate directions with their cousins, laughing and jumping around like crazy! They were so excited to see their friends, and I love that they always pick up right where they left off. :)
During the whole week we also played a game, searching for all of the license plates from the 50 states. The boys were so excited the whole week to look at just about any car and truck we passed. And I am happy to announce, our family found 47 out of 50 states!!! All we were missing was Rhode Island, Louisiana, and West Virginia. I can't believe how much fun we had with it also!! I love the little things that bring our family closer!
On our first full day, Tawna showed us around their town which has a beautiful lake in the middle of their community. The kids loved it. We walked around, sat on the dock and put our feet in the water, looked for geocaches, and just loved hanging out with our Auntie!
Day two was spent pulling Kiana out of school and playing hookie! We went to this amazing waterpark with her and our family, and had a blast for the entire day!!! The kids absolutely loved this place, they never wanted to leave!!! They also had a huge waterslide that Kiana, Teage, and Dylan kept going down over and over again. What a fun day!!
Day three was full of fun and laughter with family and friends. We hung out with baby Damon for hours, making him laugh hysterically. My kids adored him, and Emery kept wanting to hold his hand. It was pretty adorable. That night, Teage and I were blessed to be able to go on a date with our buddies that now live in Utah, the Atkinsons and Krista! We had sushi and went to the temple in South Jordan, pretty much the most amazing night ever!
Day four was filled with beautiful temple square. It was a gorgeous sunny day, the kids had fun running around, looking at all of the flowers and the temple, and we ate at the famous Lion House Restaurant. Definitely worth the wait! :)
While we were there, we took some fun pictures of the family, and some of Teage and Tawna. We wish that we lived closer to these guys, we sure miss them!
The other amazing thing that happened was when we went to the statue of Jesus in the visitor's center. At the very top of a windy hallway is a large marble statue of Christ that is absolutely beautiful! I was a little worried that Emery would be a bit scared, since she usually doesn't like statues or anything that she doesn't know and is bigger then her. But the minute she saw Jesus, she went straight up to him and all she wanted to do was touch his foot. She stood there, for almost 15 full minutes, not saying much, just looking up at him and touching him. It was so beautiful to watch, I absolutely loved the moment.
Day five was a day for looking back. We made the drive up to Portage, Utah where my Parkinson side of the family is from. I used to spend a few weeks every summer there with my Dad, aunts and uncles and cousins. It is one of my very favorite places in the world, even though it is out in the middle of nowhere. The kiddos and I visited my Grandparents and found some of the other headstones where my ancestors are buried. It was very special for me to have my family there. Afterwards, we found a hot springs pool and swam the rest of the day before heading back to Salt Lake.
Day six was a ton of fun! We hung out with adroable Baby Damon again, and then went out to Park City with our buddy Kenley from college. And it was SO MUCH FUN!! They have this huge luge type slide that is open during the summer, and all of us went down! We travelled up the ski lift, was able to take in the beautiful scenery, and then slid down quickly with the kids on our laps. All of us had a blast! I was worried the kids were going to be scared, but both the boys asked if they could go again the minute they were done! It is definitely going to be something we do again!
And of course, there was the trampoline!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Day seven was all about family. We went back up to the lake and Uncle Stuart taught the kiddos how to fish. They loved it!!!! They were so patient and were a bit disappointed when they didn't end up catching anything. :) We had fun though!
That night we were able to hang out with some of the Christensen extended family, my father-in-law's sister, Aunt Bonita, and many of her children. We always love being able to spend time with them! Sweet Aunt Bonita made yummy dessert and we had a big picnic with all of our extended family!! :)
The day we left, we first went to church with the Christensens and Pippins and had the opportunity to see Baby Damon's blessing. What a special day, and special little boy. Brook did such a wonderful job at the blessing, we were all crying by the end! After the blessing, Brook and Susie had a fun picnic to celebrate. All of us ate a ton, had fun with the cousins, and said our tearful goodbyes before climbing back into our minivan to head home. Unfortunately, the journey home wasn't as much fun as the one there, but still not too terribly awful. I sure love these kiddos, and am so thankful we were all able to all go to Utah together as a family. We relaxed, had so much fun with friends and family, and were able to just take a breath and enjoy each other for a while. And were were blessed and protected on the way there and back...... I couldn't have asked for anything more.
Thank you Tawna and Stuart, and Brook and Susie!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
