Thus Far...

After nearly 14 hours in the car we arrived in Utah late Friday night. Because of snow storms we took an even longer route through Portland in order to avoid having to put chains on the van. The kids did amazingly well during the long drive, they have much more patience than me. Jason didn't lose it even once (however, he did lose his lunch) - that's always fun.

Saturday morning arrived way too soon as me and my Mom took an early train to SLC to attend the first session of General Conference at the Conference Center. Neither of us had been before. It was a neat experience to hear from the leaders of our church. After a quick lunch at Z'Tejas we heading back home in time for Justin to attend the Priesthood meeting in Salt Lake. Sunday was another full day of conference, but it was enjoyable to watch it on TV, in my PJs, surrounded by family. Lots of great talks.

I can't believe we're already nearing the end of our visit. The kids can't get enough of their cousins. My younger brother and his family are living with my Mom so there's always someone for the kids to play with. We've had some fun outings this week.

We took the kids to the Dinosaur Park

After the Dinosaur Park we visited my Dad's grave.

Girls night out with my sisters (and sister-in-laws) at the Melting Pot was lots of fun and super delicious... thanks Mom!!

Another first for me was visiting the Hill Air Force Base Museum. I can't say I have much interest in history or airplanes, but I wanted my kids to see the place where my Dad enjoyed volunteering as a tour guide for many years. In a way it was sad to be there and I felt regret that I never showed any interest in something my Dad enjoyed so much. He loved showing the planes to kids and was a favorite tour guide among all that visited. Despite my disinterest in history I wish my Dad could have told us every boring detail about each and every airplane in the museum.


I hadn't been back to my childhood home in five years so we decided to drive through my old neighborhood. Things certainly have changed. The owners of the house removed most of the trees I grew up playing around and put in a huge RV pad. My Dad's flower garden (we called it his "park") has been torn out for the new pool they are putting in the backyard. The deck we watched lightening storms and the sunset over the Great Salt Lake has been removed. Strange to see. Someday I'd really like to go back inside even though I know walls have been removed and little would resemble the place I called home for over 25 years.


Today we took all the kids to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the theatre. Abigail described it as "ok"... it was entertaining, but certainly not a DVD we will purchase. This was Jason's first time at a movie theatre - he did great.Of course there's been lots of eating out, running errands, and spending time with friends and family. Good times.