Weekend Getaway

Ryan and Christine are amazing and so kind and took the family up to Park City this weekend.  We stayed in some beautiful condos and had such a good time together.  We arrived on Friday, and the little kids went straight for the hot tubs.  We had a hike planned (next year, don't wear flip flops, I hurt so bad today) to all do together, but other then that it was up for grabs what there was to do.  We brought bikes, there was shopping, paddleboarding, concerts, and a new phone app that the boys thought was the best thing ever.  Saturday morning, the boys tried to explain the app to me, we went for a long walk, so right off the bat, I think the app is great.  We walked forever, beats them sitting around inside on the XBox or phone games.  I didn't understand too terribly much except for they were basically on a scavenger hunt collecting eggs, pokeman, and tokens.  Kinda like geocaching.  The app is all over the news this weekend though, so it must be pretty popular.  They had a great time.  While the boys were doing that, the little girls went for a bike ride.  Park City is very pretty and they biked around the ponds and saw birds and ducks, flowers, and insects.  After lunch, a group went shopping at the outlets, but I am just not a shopper, so I took my kids paddle boarding.  Ryan, Jess, Gabe, and Kezi joined us.  It was a great little pond, the kids loved that there were no boats to make waves.  My kids love this sport, I really need to look into buying our own boards.  We all met back at the condos and rode the ski lift up the mountain and hiked back down.  The hike was beautiful, but longer then we had planned on and we didn't bring enough water, so we had some whining going on, but I think other then that everyone enjoyed it.  Like I said, it was a lot longer then we knew, and at the end the Owen, Davis, and Chris got tired of the trail and just took off down the ski run and they made it back a lot quicker then the rest of us.  We tried to take the shortcut, but my shoes wouldn't let me, and it was quite a bit steeper which made it rough on the little kids.  But, eventually we all made it back for a nice dinner, movies, visting, and listening to the wild made up game of "pool" going on in the loft.  I put my suit on around 10:30 and soaked my achey body in the hot tub, it felt so good.  It was a great weekend away, so beautiful and relaxing, and so much fun to be with everyone. 

Paddle Boarding at Pineview

We decided to go to Pineview today instead of Causey.  We will plan a day in the next couple of weeks to get to Causey, but for today Pineview worked out better.  Plus I was able to tell my kids how I came up here and swam all summer every year with my aunts.  I rented some paddle boards from Weber State, and it was so easy and not a bad price, and so much fun!  Ryan and Christine were able to join us, hope they don't get sick of us, because tomorrow we all leave for a weekend in Park City. 

Temple Date

 

 The boys and I went to the Ogden Temple today.  I love that they love to go with me.  Ally was bummed for about 2 seconds that she couldn't go, until I told her I had arranged for her to go to her friend Sydney's house.  She did say she was excited to be 12 and able to go into the temple with us, but that she would play with her friends after she goes to the temple with me.  I wanted to do a session today, it's been  awhile since I've done one.  Baptisms went quick this morning, and my session was very full, so they were done 1 1/2 hours before me.  They walked over to Fat Cats and bowled a few games in their church clothes.  I walked out of the Temple and my handsome boys were there waiting for me, with a gift.  I love the chello player from Piano Guys, Steven Sharp Nelson.  I love to listen to him play with so much emotion.  Owen and Davis had gone to Desert Book and bought me a CD of his, and they picked out the one that has one of my favorite hymns on it, Come Thou Fount.  I love this CD, it means so much to me that they thought of me and knew I love this certain chello player and this hymn.  I've been blessed with amazing children and I thank my Heavenly Father for them all day every day. 

Happy 4th

The 4th of July is  a very traditional holiday for us.  Every year, we have breakfast, go to the Layton parade, have a BBQ at Jones' in Kaysville, then head back to Layton for fireworks.  I've only dared stray from this schedule once a few years ago, when I took the kids to Toquerville.  Although we had a good time, my kids have never let me plan anything other then the usual on the 4th of July.  We have a great holiday though surrounded by family, we are blessed to live by so many loved ones that we can spend fun days with!

 The beginning of the parade, and we were wondering if it was going to be the end too. 

And 45 minutes later......we enjoyed the rest of the parade.  Not sure what the long delay was, but we got yummy popsicles so it was okay. 

Gator went with Carrie, Wayne, Lu, and Krissy's family over to the carnival at Layton Park after the parade.  Clark is scared of crowds, I don't like heat, and the boys just didn't want to, so I'm so happy Gator has awesome aunts and uncles to take her along. 

Onward to Kaysville for food at Grandma and Grandpa Jones.  At this point in the day, we are starting to get tired and hot!  Good thing, we get to relax in the shade and visit with family, and enjoy yummy hamburgers and salads, while the kids that want to play in the water can. 

One last tradition, that just so happens to be my favorite.  We go back to Layton and sit on my moms lawn and eat snacks and visit and light fireworks.  I love this part of the day, it's cooled off and the sun is not beating down on us and we can just enjoy the evening.  I thought a lot about my mom, these firsts after her death are not fun.  The 4th of July was kinda her holiday, we were all around since her home is in the perfect location and also because she loved sitting in the shade with the babies at the parade, or having us all over in the evening for the fireworks.  I love the memories we have and for the new ones we are making. 

 

 

 

No plans

 

 We didn't have any plans yesterday, so the kids and I went to Salt Lake.  We had nothing we had to do, so we just walked around the church history museum and City Creek.  I took along a scavenger hunt just in case, and we ended up doing that around Temple Square and the mall.  It was hot and we were tired of walking, so we took a break in Johnny Rockets for an ice cream treat. 

After the long day, everyone still had lots of energy, so at 10:30pm we took the old TV outstide and a bunch of blankets and had a movie night.  Once the movie started, all our energy was gone and we all ended up falling asleep, the boys just spent the whole night outside.