Saturday, August 16, 2008

Finally a New POST!!

It’s been a very long, long, long time since I have posted. We left for Utah on July 23rd and were there for about 2 weeks. It was soooo nice to get away. We stayed with my Aunt Dorothy in Utah – she's like my mom. I was so happy to be staying there. They have a basement that is like an apartment that our family could stay in – however there was no WI-FI. I was a little uptight over this at first. I constantly wanted to go to a coffee house or somewhere that offered it. We went to a hotel a couple of the days and I could not log onto their system for some reason. I even went to BYU a couple of days and couldn’t log on there as well. I decided to not bother with anymore, enjoy the vacation. I shut down my computer and had a GREAT time

Some of the fun things we did do – was first celebrate Tucker’s Birthday. His birthday is pioneer day, so we of course had to go to Pioneer Village (Deseret Park “This is the place” Monument).  He was gifted his first $100 dollar bill!  He was smiling for a very long time!  This park is a must do sometime if you haven't ever been. If you miss the parade in the morning you still get to see some of it later on at pioneer village. They had so many fun events that really made you appreciate your pioneer heritage. The Mormon battalion came up from San Francisco and had a booth there – it was sooooo cool to hear some of the neat stories of some of those brave, righteous men. We found out that they have been reenacting the trek and doing little events like this along the way. They will be in AZ - Tucson area this December. We think that would be a fun overnight and go and see them marching. For more info here is their web site. www.battaliontrek.com
That night we were able to hook up with some friends from Idaho that were passing through back home to AZ.  (the Morris Family)  We went out to dinner & watched the fireworks.  This night was so lovely!  The weather couldn't be more pleasant.  It was almost raining but not quite - I LOVE weather like that!!!!!  We went up to the U of U to see the show.  It was a fun spot - the kids were rolling down the hill  and being silly and stuff.  We thought their was only one show to catch - but from where we were sitting we were able to see 6 - SIX shows throughout the sky!!!  I have never seen that in my whole life so it was pretty fascinating.  I was bummed that I didn't know how to take night pictures of it to be able to capture the view.
We always make it over to see my mom’s grave in Springville Cemetery. It was great to reminisce and share family history with my kids.
This is my mom's grave
My grandparents are here as well as my great aunt who served in WWII

The next day we headed up to Ogden and spent a few days there. Of course we went to Lagoon – my kids love going there. This year was a little to busy for me . . and just as hot as AZ.  I guess in the past we never went on a holiday weekend – sooo note to self not to go on holiday weekend again.  We had hoped to catch up with our good friends the Caccicarne's, but they had softball tournaments to go to – but regardless it was fun.



Rowdy did well - all the kids helped take care of him!


We dropped off Carson and her friends at EFY @ BYU.  They were so excited!!!!  Such a teenage thing - but they also were so excited that they were all wearing the same MEK jeans & with their EFY T-shirts they thought it was pretty cool to be not just twins but Quads.
Aspen, Kassidy, Carson and Savannah

I hooked up with one of my favorite cousins growing up.  We spent every summer together.  I could consider her a sister.  She is living in Springville now & we got together for the day and had our kids hang out.  She gave me a gift that she found at DI or something.  A set of dishes.  This pattern are the dishes that my grandparents had all growing up.  Every morning my grandpa would make us oatmeal and serve it up in this dish set.  Well the dishes are long gone now - but she found some of this pattern.  There wasn't much to the set, but she gave me a few for remembrance.  I'm kinda sentimental about things like that!  Thanks Lisa!!!!
A new game for me now is to find more of this pattern
Uncle B and Aunt D - I LOVE these guys!!!!!!!!


Probably the best day there was (the most SIMPLE – go figure!) we went up Diamond Fork canyon (off of Spanish Fork Canyon). Nothing can replace – enjoying nature, spending time with family.  We brought a picnic and watched the kids wade in the creek, catch bugs, hike up the hill, find that perfect walking stick, skip rocks, have that good ol fashion fun!



We challenged the kids to go all the way in the water and earn $20 - they all really wanted that money - it was pretty funny!


Rowdy could not leave Aunt Dorothy’s cane alone! Luckily she had two – you could count on him always taking the other! 

The day we picked the girls up from EFY we all went on bike rides and took the girls shopping and to Temple Square - it was a lovely afternoon!

Our last night we had FHE under the stars. We went up Hobble Creek Canyon (my home town canyon - the most beautiful place on earth) We had Carson share some thoughts from EFY – share her testimony.  There is nothing greater then knowing that your kids believe in God! That they know Christ lived and died for them and that he is the Son of God.  At EFY they talked about the atonement – to have your 14 yr daughter share her testimony about that is really touching.  EFY a must do with your teenager – it was so organized, had some great leaders and a lot of fun – it was worth every penny for us! We were interrupted by Tucker seeing . . . a SNAKE – Yeah we got out of there – F A S T! We weren’t ready to go home yet so we drove over to see the Provo Temple.  It was so beautiful at night . . all lighted up, with fountains, and the beautiful gardens.  It started to rain while we were there – we let the kids stay in it and play – even Rowdy.  It was a fun, loving, silly way to end the night. I was so happy with my family.  I felt really close to every one of them.  With the view of the Temple in front of me . . I said a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for the blessing of the Temples and knowing that my family is forever!

4 comments:

Lori said...

Yay!! I was wondering what happened to you! I love all your pics! So glad you had such a great time. I love Utah in the summer!!

The Turner Family said...

It looks like you has a lot of fun!
I loved all the pictures. soooo cute, the ones of Roudy with Aunt Dorothy's cane.

Anonymous said...

Andi! That sounds like such an awesome vacation. I'm glad you had so much fun. I am pretty sure that my mom has those dishes as well. She had some from her grandma and framed them and hung them up. I'll ask her.

Unknown said...

Hey girl, glad you're back, but happier that you all had a great time! I bet the girls loved EFY together what a great experience to be able to share. Thanks for sharing the pix they are all so great, looks like it was a great trip for all!