We spent the most of June in Utah with our family and loved ones. We love escaping the heat and spending a good amount of time with family to make memories. This trip could not have been better! Here's what we did:
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| We love love LOVE stopping to see the grandparents on the way. First, we stayed with Grandpa Steve and Grandma Dana in Las Vegas for a few nights. We visited the Desert Museum and enjoyed some tasty root beer floats. Then we saw Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Bickmore in St. George. The boys sang a few songs. William even came up with his own rap, something about the toilet--a typical subject for 7 year old boys. |
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| Van and Nellie are the best "frienemies." |
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| Will loves playing with baby Naomi. |
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| Gwennie and I had a lot of fun together playing restaurant and singing songs. |
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| We went to music weekend at Doug and Linda's Solace Ranch. There were over 60 people there to celebrate Linda's 60th birthday. Doug hired a band, "Otter Creek" to play. They were amazing! |
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| Here's what the ceiling of the teepee looks like that we slept in. |
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| The entrance/exit to the teepee. |
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| Our place of lodging at Doug's ranch. |
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| The boys spent time with Grandma Mayzee while we were at Doug's. Here they are eating sandwiches on the front runner train to Salt Lake City. |
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| Hikes in Utah do not disappoint! Sophie led us on a 6 mile round trip hike to Desolation Peak. We could see the Salt Lake Valley as the sun was setting. Beautiful! |
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| Feeling amazing at the top of the hike! |
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| You have to see the mountains in person to really capture the beauty. |
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| We had fun bowling at Fat Cats! |
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| How lucky am I that I've been with my mom on every one of her birthdays since we moved to Arizona! This year we celebrated at the City Creek Center. |
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| Trish and her kids joined us too. We're always talking about how awesome it would be if these two fell in love and got married one day! |
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| Mom, Ava, Lauren and me in front of the beautiful Salt Lake Temple. |
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| We ate dinner at the Lion House. It was my first time trying their delicious dinner rolls...yummy! Ava is such a jokester! |
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| One of the highlights of our trip was going to the Homestead Resort in Midway to celebrate Great Grandma and Grandpa Orme's 60th wedding anniversary. I'm so impressed with all of Isaac's grandparents. Their minds are sharp, they can walk easily, and they always have a smile on their faces. They are my heroes and I hope I can age as well as they have! |
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| Jackson, Isaac's cousin, was so cute with his second cousins. Aunt Faye planned some fun games for the family. We also went swimming and walked up to the crater to see the hot springs. The last night, we did a picture presentation for Grandma and Grandpa. It was neat to see how much their legacy has impacted all of us. |
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| Midway is gorgeous country. Look at that backdrop to the golf course. After Midway, we went to Roy to hear my mom speak at Stake Conference on Father's Day. She talked about serving others. It was excellent and I'm grateful I could be there. I also got to see some old friends while we were there. |
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| We went with Sophie and her kids to Cowabunga Bay, a water slide park in Draper. It was non stop fun for three hours. Will and Deacon went down every single slide. I went down most of them and floated about 25 laps in the lazy river. |
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| The day before we hiked up to Donut Falls. Sophie and Isaac took the older kids up the rocks to the Donut Cave. |
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| They made it to the cave! |
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| We spent a few days in Roy with my mom. We treated ourselves to a tropical fruit shake from Burger Bar. They are seriously the best. We also got to see my friend Tara and her family. Her dad Russ fixed us his tasty waffles and made chocolate milkshakes for us. |
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| One day we met up with Brittany and Tyler at the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. Afterward we ate lunch at Even Steven's. I can't believe how much Roy and Ogden have changed over the last 20 years. Downtown Ogden is so inviting and fun now. |
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| Tyler and Isaac |
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| The Treehouse Museum had lots of cool exhibits surrounding American and Utah history. Here is Van, practicing for his future job--President of the USA. |
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| William- part pioneer, part indian. |
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| Van climbing up the tree house |
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| Isaac, Tyler, and Van working on their animation skills |
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| Cutest firefighters ever! |
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| Here's Lana and I sharing a bed at the hotel in Park City--just like the good old days when we were little. We love going every year with Trish and Natalie. We found out Natalie is having a BOY in November. I can't wait! |
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| What's summer time without a slip n' slide and a BBQ? Oh, and a cute summer baby! |
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| Will is getting better every year! |
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| Our last night in Utah, we went to Highland where Sara was housesitting for her brother. For the first time in four years, I got to see my brother Reid and his daughter Caitlin! She just returned home from her mission to Argentina on June 21st. They were in Salt Lake for a day for Reid's job so we all got together. We spent 4 hours swimming, eating, and visiting. I lost to Lana and Isaac in ping pong. William fell in love with Sara's dog Chewie. He held him for a good two hours. Lana led us in a 15 minute routine of water aerobics. It was so much fun and I'm glad most of us could be together. |
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| Me with my bros Ryan and Reid |
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| Mom, Me, Caitlin, Sara, and Lana. Caitlin was kind to play with Van and bond with him. She would stand in front of him while they would sneak up on different family members and scare them. |
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The next morning, we had to say goodbye and head back to Arizona. This was right after we drove away from John and Lisa's house. Sad!
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The good news is when we came back to Arizona, Grandpa Steve and Grandma Dana came to Tempe so Steve could ordain Isaac as a High Priest. About a week ago, Isaac was asked to serve as the second counselor to the Bishop in our ward. What a special opportunity for Isaac to have his dad ordain him. Isaac is excited about his new calling. I know he'll do a great job!
Today we went to the McCormick-Stillman park in Scottsdale to see the model train sets. We couldn't leave without taking a ride on the big train! |
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| I found these delicious 4th of July treats on Pinterest. My generous Van said, "Let's make some for our neighbors!" We made some and then he and William went and delivered them. |
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| You take a graham cracker, spread some cool whip on it, then place blueberries and sliced strawberries to make the American flag. It sure hit the spot on a hot summer day! |
Overheard on our trip:
William to Grandma Dana: "If you had windshield wipers on your glasses, they would be futuristic."
On our drive through the Virgin River Gorge, Van said, "We are in the gorge of wonderness."
William to Grandma Lisa, "Grandma, I can count to 1000. I just don't want to."
Van: "I'm having a rough day!"
Van: "Ugh! I just want to give all the money in the bank to us so we can get a Wii U."
Van, after eating an entire bag of Peachios, "My tummy is going to be hugh-normous."
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