Utah trip - Summer 2010

On July 27 the kids and I flew to Utah to stay with my parents. Brittany flew in from Oregon on the same day. We had a blast staying at Mom and Dad's house. Our husbands met us after a week. Here are some of my pictures!

Hanging out at the house...

Mom holding baby Sam. He is 4 months old.


Brittany and I holding our babies. Sam and Nyah were born only 2 weeks apart!

One afternoon Brittany and I had to make a 'quick' run to the store to pick up some groceries... and we left Dad with all the kids and babies! When we came home we found him surrounded by grandkids absorbed in the storybook he was reading them. What a guy!
Matt had a cast on his leg while we were in town, poor guy! We were all visiting one night and he was laying on the ground on a pillow and Eliza came and snuggled up to him. He must have seemed so inviting, she couldn't resist!

Dad giving Eliza tastes of his icecream.
After each bite, she had to give him a big smile before her next bite. :)

Riding the Horses...

At first Eliza was scared to be up on the horse. (I mean, at the grocery store she will hardly ride the plastic horse ride.) But after a few minutes, she was loving it! She kept saying, "This is fun!"

Ben's favorite horse is Chief. He loved the horses!

Backyard Wildlife... I found a garder snake in the backyard and the kids took turns holding it. I confess that I love finding and catching snakes, frogs, turtles, and caterpillars. :)

The Great Salt Lake...

I really wanted to visit the Great Salt Lake while I was in Utah. I haven't ever been there, but I had heard about people 'floating' in the water, and by george, I wanted to experience it for myself! I mean, how could I have lived in Salt Lake since I was 9 years old and not been to the Great Salt Lake?! Anyway, we remedied that and took a trip to the 'white sandy beaches' of the saltiest lake in the world. To get to the said beach, we had to sludge through about a mile of sand, carrying towels, umbrella, cameras, and children. Oh, and the car seat carrier too. It was like a reenactment of the handcart pioneers travailing across the plains. When we arrived we had a bit of a surprise... The beach was white and sandy, but you couldn't really see the 'white' of it because of the hordes of gnats. The kids pretty much freaked out when we walked onto the sand and clouds of gnats rose in the air... haha! But they had a great time when we walked out into the shallow warm water. Ahh! The water was so warm! That's all I ever want in life. Just give me warm water. Murky? I don't care. Leeches? I'll take my chances. Just give me a nice temperature and I'm happy. Anyway, we had a great time! With nearly 25% salinity, the water is very buoyant. I had three kids hanging on me wanting constant bouncing, but it was easy because of the buoyancy of the water. I got a chance to go to the deeper water and it was amazing how I would just float, even if I was tucked into a cannon ball. It was awesome!

Thanksgiving Point Gardens...Brittany and I took a trip to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. Very pretty!

The Children's Museum...
We went to the Children's Museum at the Gateway one day. Brittany & Eric came with Gabe and Nyah, Amy came with Wesley and Logan, and Mindy came with Jack. This museum was amazing! Benjamin and Gabe absolutely LOVED the construction zone, where the kids could haul 'concrete' blocks using a crane, and make buildings using patterns on the wall. I could hardly tear Ben away.

Mindy and I took Eliza and Jack into a toddlers corner for a minute and
they had fun in the bird's nest and the beaver's den.

The water exploration station was a big hit as well.
Eliza played next to her cousin Wesley (who is only 5 months older than her).

Dinosaur Museum...

This dino museum is apparently the largest in the world. It was very neat!
Ben was a little spooked to be up close to the big shark (and the T-Rexes for that matter)!

Timpanogos Caves...

This is another outing that I just had to do while we were in Utah. I mean, Mount Timpanogos is just up the street from my parents' home. Literally. Up the street. The last time I went to the caves was when I was like 11. I just had to go again while we were visiting! And I'm glad I spearheaded it - It was a blast! We planned this excursion for when Jed would be in Utah, and Dad took off work so he could join us. So we had Dad, Eric (carrying Nyah), Brittany, Griff (carrying Jack), Mindy, Jed (carrying Sam) and me.

Inside the caves there were really neat formations. And it was cool to walk around, and go through some tight passes. It was cold inside the caves, and dark and damp, and so it felt like a whole different world in there. Very neat!

Dad showing the view on our way back down the mountain.

Sammy was a good sport the entire time. Not a peep!
Just enjoyed the ride, and slept through the cave part. :)

That's all folks! We had a wonderful time in Utah. Thanks Mom & Dad, Britt & Eric, Matt & Amy, and Mindy & Griff! We love you!