Our Vacation to Utah

We left at 3 a.m. last Saturday morning and headed to Utah. The plan was to arrive at Jon and Laura's house by about 8 or 9 that night. Somewhere in Colorado, Adley started complaining of a tummy ache. She took a little nap, woke up and started coughing. Then blew chunks all over the back seat. I grabbed a cup and tried to catch as much of it as possible but she was pushing the cup away. She was strapped into her car seat so it went everywhere. We had to stop and clean her and the van as best as we could. I think it was a combination of car sickness and the fact that she had eaten an entire extra long beef stick (ew). But we weren't sure and worried that our vacation was going to be ruined by a dreadful stomach bug. Luckily she started feeling better and it didn't happen again. Then a little past Denver we got into some horrible traffic. Anyway, the drive is supposed to be 18 hours. An hour or so away from Jon's house the kids and I were getting pretty giddy so that was fun. We were laughing so hard we cried. We finally got to Jon and Laura's house at about 11:45. Next morning, we got up and went to church. Came back to their house for a yummy lunch (pot roast, funeral potatoes, rolls, salad, etc.) Alex and Camille came by, as well as Jon Carl and his girlfriend Bree. We drove to the Provo City Center temple and Dennis met us there on his long board. We went back to Jon and Laura's and played games. It was a lot of fun. Monday we went to Bridal Veil Falls. And then we tried Sub Zero ice cream because it was featured on Shark Tank. It was not very good.

Then we went to the park and Olivia twisted her ankle. The following morning we headed to Deseret Industries and found Olivia some crutches. We also did some shopping at Deseret Book, Emergency Essentials and Seagull Book. And of course, we had to eat at Cafe Rio. It is so yummy. We went to an art museum in Springville. They were having a quilt exhibit. It's amazing what people can do.

This quilt was probably my favorite mostly for sentimental reasons. It's called Remembering McKensie. A 16-month old baby girl had died of leukemia and this woman made a quilt out of her clothes. Tuesday evening we met a good friend of mine from high school. We hadn't seen each other in over 18 years. She played a big part in my joining the church.

Our kids are all about the same ages and they got along great. We ate at Cafe Zupas and then went to a park. The kids played football and did some ice-blocking. Greg and Jon went to scope out the Spanish Fork River and found a place for us to put in and take out. Then they went and bought some tubes and aired them up. We got everybody ready and headed out. Turns out the river is WAY more swift than anybody realized. Noah and I took off together and then I heard Zane SCREAMING but I was so far ahead of him that I didn't know what was happening. It sounded like he had been split open the way he was carrying on. It really shook me up to know that my child was in danger and there was nothing I could do for him. Turned out he ran into some tree branches, his tube popped and he wouldn't let go of the tree even though he had a life jacket on. Finally he did. Laura decided to get herself and the little kids out and she would walk back to their van and head home. I ran into a bunch of tree branches with my face and fell off my tube and since my nerves were already shot by Zane's screams, I was done by this point too. But we couldn't get out of the river! Greg tried to convince me to keep going but I was not having it. I found a spot where I could exit and I ran for it. So Greg and Jon, Noah, Olivia and Chase joined us. Jon ran back to the van to try and stop Laura. Luckily she had just gotten there and didn't know where her keys were anyway. So we were all able to get on dry ground and we went back to their house. We made some tin foil dinners and went to a park to cook them while the kids played. We kinda got in trouble because we were supposed to pay to rent the pavilion and grill. Even if there is nobody using it you have to reserve it and pay a fee. For just a picnic table and one grill, it's 20 bucks! I may have to start calling it the People's Republic of Utah! On the way home I picked up some ice cream novelties for everyone. Thursday we went to Salt Lake City. We mostly just stayed at Temple Square. There is plenty to see and do there: Visitor's Centers, Tabernacle, Assembly Hall, Joseph Smith History Museum, Church History Museum and we went to the Conference Center that evening to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearse.

Friday night we went to a place called Comedy Sportz. It is an impromptu comedy show where two teams of 3 compete against each other. We had a really good time. Those guys were hilarious. Saturday was the wedding. We got to see Linda and her family (including Rager Starlord-he's adorable by the way), Katya, and Daniel.

and Sunday morning we headed home. We left there at about 9:30 and got home at 4:30 Monday morning. We are all really tired but had a great time. Can't wait to go back! It was an improvement over our last trip to Utah for sure.