Heading South

On Sunday, we loaded up again and headed south to Salt Lake. My sister, Shay, had gotten back from Spain the night before - so, now it was time to hang out with her! We had a great dinner and then Shay and my mom went to a meeting (Shay was speaking about her trip to Nicaragua with some of her volleyball players). I think it would have been interesting to hear about her trip, but I didn't think the boys would do that great. So, the boys and I found a park and played (actually, Sam slept in the car). We had the park to ourselves and had a great time.

Gabe practiced his karate moves.

The boys rolled down hills.

Will was goofy.

Unfortunately, Shay's house was being remodled and wasn't quite suitable for kids. So, on Monday, the boys and I headed south again!

As we were leaving Salt Lake, it started raining again. We really had put up with quite a bit of rain on our trip. As we were getting on the freeway, I said, "Rain, rain go away!" Will added, "Yeah! We didn't come for rain! We came for FUN!!"

We wanted to stop at the cemetary in American Fork at my Grandma Pearl's grave, but it was raining...and the sprinklers were on! So, we drove through and decided that was good enough. We then drove to the Mount Timpanogo's Temple, where Mark and I were married. Initially, I was going to take the boys for a walk around the temple...but, it was raining.

The boys in front of the Mount Timpanogas Temple.

Next, we dropped in at the Parkes' house - for some reason, I never tell them I'm coming. Once upon a time, I worked for this family. I helped take care of their severely Autistic son. They became a very important part of my life and really helped shape who I am today. They are amazing! Not to mention all grown up! Mark and I moved to California not long after their oldest daughter, Natalya, turned eight...now, she's 18! Yikes! I'm getting old! Anyway, we had a great visit - I love dropping in on them!

After leaving their house, we decided to go surprise Natalya at work (after all, she works at an ice cream store!). The look on her face was priceless! She had no idea we were even in Utah. She made us some great ice cream...how often do you get to watch your ice cream be made with nitrogen??? The boys thought it was so cool!

Natalya blowing "smoke" on the boys, while she mixed our ice cream.

Sam made the rounds - looking for bites of ice cream.

Mmmm...good to the last drop!

Following our ice cream, I took the boys on a tour of Provo. We drove past the house my mom grew up in, through the BYU campus, the apartment complex where Mark and I lived when we met, etc. After I showed the boys where Mark and I met, Gabe and I had this conversation...

Gabe: "Did anyone else fall in love with you?"
Me: "I don't think so."
Gabe: "What? They didn't think you were cute?"
Me: "Well, maybe someone thought I was cute. But, I don't think anyone else fell in love with me."
Will: "Did daddy really fall over?!?"

After our tour of Provo, we met Nana and Aunt Shay for lunch then headed over to BYU to see where Aunt Shay works. The boys loved going to the fieldhouse...there was a basketball camp going on, so there was a lot of excitement. They ran on the track and played with the balls in Aunt Shay's office.

Sam decided to try to take a bite out of Aunt Shay's volleyball.

Sam is Aunt Shay's (and BYU Volleyball's) biggest fan!

BYU Fireman Gabe.

Wahoo! for Aunt Shay and BYU!!

We headed to Payson next to stay with Shannon again, but you'll have to read about that adventure in the "Rock'N'Rollers" post.

The boys were great on the whole trip. But, I think they were ready to go home...I certainly didn't hear any complaints when it was time to get back in the van and head back to California. We broke up our trip by stopping in St. George, Utah to spend the night with Great-Grandma Bea.

It was tough getting everybody to sit still...

it got even harder when we added Sam!

I kept my promise to Gabe, we stopped at the Bass ProShop in Las Vegas on the way home. It's an amazing place, so I certainly don't mind stopping!

Sam decided that the older boys were right...the HUGE aqarium really is quite amazing!