UTAH

I can't believe our month in Utah is already over. We had such a wonderful time playing with Justin's family: going to the zoo, the pool, the temple, the cabin, girls night/day out, visiting (Amanda's) extended family in Utah County... :) There were over 900 pictures taken during our month of fun... so over the next few posts I've picked our favorites. :) enjoy!

Saturday, June 11
Amanda and the kiddos left BWI at 1:10 p.m. and stopped in Detroit, and then headed to Denver where they had a plane change and then finally arriving in SLC! for our first leg, Caitlin sat across the isle from us.
When we stopped in Detroit the people next to Caitlin got up, and she wanted to sit by the window... there was a nice lady sitting behind me that said... "If you want i could sit next to her and help her if she needs any help... I'm a 1st grade teacher and I love kids!" Caitlin was SO happy to have a new friend who read her books and told her fun stories, helped her with her snacks... (and i was grateful for this angel Heavenly Father sent me, i was a bit nervous to travel by myself with 3 kids!)
After we got off our plane in Denver we got talking about our destination in Salt Lake. she told me she lived there, and i told her i was visiting my in-laws... and used to live there. She asked my last name... and I told her... she said with wide eyes..."Do you know Dave and Terese?" I was like... "What? They are my in-laws!!" She then began to explain to me that she used to babysit Justin and Jon when they were little and that she and Terese were BEST friends... she even came to our wedding!!! She then looked at Will and said, "OH, he is SO a Mini-Justin!"

Of all the people that could have been on that air plane and of all the seats i could have sat in... Heavenly Father placed us together and I'm forever grateful for her service and love towards my family! It was a beautiful beginning to our stay!
WE LOVE YOU LINDA!!!
Auntie Lou...
Dinner at Noodles...

Sunday, June 12th
Kids being on Eastern time woke up at 5:30 (mountain time) and asked Pops if they could play in the 'hot pool'... they were in there for 2 hours before church!

Monday, June 13th
We're ZOOin' it! Linds, Nans, Parker, me and the kids went to the ZOO... for a fun afternoon! :)

what are you look at?



sipper...
we came home and the kids ran through the sprinklers!



Tuesday, June 14th
Parker taught the kids how to SLAM themselves into the LoveSAC!WE headed over to Steiner for a little POOL action!!


BK kids meal hat... classic

Wednesday, June15
Laird Park Happiness

this picture below cracks me up. Will climbed up into this swing... and then called over to me to help buckle the strap (i'm not sure he knew he was in it backwards)... just look at his little chicken legs!...i couldn't stop laughing...


Thursday, June 16th
We spent the day with Nana and Papa Great! We had a wonderful time being with them! One of the things we did was to help them tend to Ellen's (10 yrs) animals, because she was out of town! Caitlin was SO thrilled to help take care of CHICKENS!! She left there house wanting her own, and was already thinking of names for them!! (I told her about my childhood in CA, and how my dad turned my playhouse into a chicken coop!! I loved having chickens when i was little, and would like to have a few some day also! That got her excited!)

Nana Great and Caitlin

Will helped feed them a special treat... worms.
Ellen gave good instructions for Nana and Papa, "to pet them every day, make them feel like a cat or a dog and not like chickens that live on a farm." something like that, it was really cute!
Will told me to take a picture of his "Parker, Utah outfit"... he would have worn this everyday if we would have let him! :) Thanks Park for thinking of Will, he's so proud to be a Ute Fan!
kissing the chickens goodbye...

Friday, June 17
Friday afternoon Terese, the kids and I drove to Snow Basin to see Jon, Lindsey, Bart and Don at a resting spot for the RAGNAR race. We saw Jon, aka "Joggy" (runner #11) during his leg of the race... (Bro's got some mad skills to run UP a mountain! that's all I'm sayin') and then got to take pictures and visit... and hung out long enough to see Uncle Bart (runner #1)off on his leg of the race. It was a beautiful day!
Our RAGNAR Runners! WE WERE SO PROUD OF THEM!

Way to go, BART!!

After Lindsey finished her 2nd leg... :)
Saturday, June 18
RAGNAR FINISH LINE!!!
Park City, Utah. Team name, "Killers on the Run."

yay, finish line!
Judy and Terese
Killers on the Run

Will and Caitlin were having a little fun with Joggy's wig!



Will got a lot of laughs!


Terese's sweet friend Jane brought the 'grand babies' a fun coloring present!

Snuggle time with Uncle Joggy!!

UTAH

Week 2-
Sunday, June 19th was Father's Day... I know, what kind of person goes on vacation with out their husband/father and leaves him alone to fend for himselve on FATHER'S DAY??? Yea. we felt pretty bad after we had already bought our tickets and then looked at the calender... which is why we celebrated Daddy/Justin the week before we left! We did Skype with him at the Family BBQ at Nana and Papa's. And some dear friends invited him over for lunch after church! So he felt loved!
Justin's father, Dave is an excellent gardener... every year he makes the yard look so beautiful... after seeing "Gnomio and Juliet"... we decided to get him this Garden Gnome to tend and protect his garden! :)
Monday June 20th
Lindsey and I took Caitlin and Will to Liberty Park to ride this...
above: you can see C and W in line... WE sure had fun. My favorite line from Will during the ride was this... "Whoa, I'm like SPIDERMAN!"
Beautiful afternoon by the Liberty Lake... watching the paddle boats go by.

Then we ventured over to where all the little kids were gathered... and found the cutest thing known to man... a replaka of the 7 canyons of Salt Lake City... (here we are in the mountains looking over the 'valley'.)
Our favorite canyon!!
Standing by the "capital building" taking a picture of the 'grid pattern of SLC' the man in green shirt is standing on State St. you just have to see it in person to LOVE it like i do!
Caitlin playing at the top of Little Cottonwood!
We hit our favorite doughnut shop (Banbury Cross!) and headed home to chill in the back yard... we found Brinley there being 'cool'.
C and W treated Lindsey to a foot massage!
Hugs for Nans!!
don't forget Wilbur!
Tuesday June 21-
ANOTHER POOL DAY! LOVE IT!
Wednesday June 22,
Terese and I sang at a (grave side) funeral, we sang "Jesus, Lover of My Soul". Nana and Papa Great watched the kiddos! They were in heaven... playing with the neighborhood kids... Andy's nanny set up the tent for their lunch.
this picture is a little blurry, but it's so cute of Nana and Papa watching the kids. We love sitting on this porch with them... so pleasant!
Avery and Caitlin (a little girl down the street that Nana reads to on occasion!) She was so excited for Caitlin to come and visit!
Lindsey... (I mean,) Brinley got a hold of Nans' Caffeine Free, Diet Coke...oh, she was not about to put down that "Sipper!"
nope, not on your life...

That night we went to a Neighborhood Ice Cream Social.... they had fun activites for the kids, some homemade bubbles...
face painting...
and bouncy house.
Sitting in the gutter with nets after social... life doesn't get any better than this.

Thursday June 23,
Nans and Joggy went for a bike ride... Will tried on Joggy's gear... and Caitlin's all ready for another day at the POOL!


Brinley's Kiki went everywhere with us. Yes, even in the pool.

June 24th
Nans took us to Clark Planeterium for the IMAX show, "Born to be Wild". 3D movie about orphaned baby Elephants and Arang...? O-rang-a-tanges? Orangutangiens... (Monkeys...!) that are taken care of by humans and then placed back into the wild. So sweet! C and W loved the 3D... they were reaching out trying to touch the animalsThat afternoon we headed to the CABIN to take the window coverings off and clean it up for summer use!
Saturday, June 25th was a fun pampering day... Lindsey and I went for a run, and then off to get Pedi's and a drink at SONIC and off to Gateway for a little shopping! fun fun!