Utah Vacation

 

Each of the kids had a backpack with activities and snacks. The oldest three knew that they shouldn't need to ask me for anything. They had everything from chapstick to wipes in their bag! They were awesome and didn't need help the whole flights there and back.

 

 

So with the oldest three being awesome that left Jim and me to contain Diana and Katy!

 

 

The flights to Denver then Salt Lake were just fine. Diana actually slept part of the way! (That was the only time that anyone slept going to or from UT) So much about flying was a novelty (lights, drinks, looking out the window) that it went as smoothly as could be expected. Exhausting, but not overwhelmed. The only high adrenaline moment was when Diana insisted that she had to go #2 when we were about 5 minutes from landing. I ran her to the back lavatory in the nick of time! It was a close call! And then we dashed back as they put out the landing gear. It was crazy but... it worked!

 

 

When we landed in UT we were starving after missing lunch. So I took the crew to one of my favorites- The Old Spaghetti Factory.

 

The plush décor in the waiting area inspired Nicole to act British. For her this means getting a nose-in-the-air expression and talking strangely.

 

The rest of the monkeys sprawled over the couches while we waited.

 I made sure to get us seats in the trolley which the kids loved. The oldest three loved having their own table! Then it was off to Grandma Kathryn's house. Because she had visited for a week just a few weeks earlier, they were so comfortable and happy to see her it was awesome!

 

Sunday morning we walked around Temple Square.

 

This scale replica of Jerusalem has buttons you can press to light up different areas that apply to Christ's life.

 

I had the kids sit in front of this statue and think for a few minutes about their Savior.

 

Sweet Jacob just wanted to walk up and look into His face. It was very touching to see his reverence and awe.

 

 

Nicole and I went to Music and the Spoken Word. You have to be 8 to attend so Jim corralled the other kids who were able to watch in the conference center where it plays on the big screen.

 

 

Nicole pointed out the lighting changes and at one point couldn't keep her toe from tapping to a great drum beat. It was the Veterans Day special so we got to hear the Bells on Temple Square play as well!

 

While touring Temple Square we saw Lloyd Newell, who gives the spoken word portion. The kids went up to him and shared how we watch every Sunday and he had a nice conversation with Jim. We were all so excited to meet him it was kind of funny.

 

 

Monday morning the kids were up bright and early again! Keep in mind that we had just gone through daylight savings in NC so they were still not totally adjusted to gaining an hour there. And then going to UT there is a two hour time difference! So 4 and 5am were our wake up times the whole trip. Whew!!! Anyways, after being up for four hours, we drove to Salt Lake but nothing opened until 9 so we did a little drive tour and then climbed some bison at the visitors bureau.

 

The state capitol is one of the most visible landmarks from the highway. One of the kids said- hey isn't that in Washington DC?

 

Michael was upset that Nicole could climb the bison and he couldn't so Jim helped him up.

 

We parked near the Conference Center and took a tour at 9.

 

Fortunately we were the only ones there so the kind guide could tailor the pace to accommodate our energetic 3 yr old sweetie Diana.

 

They were replacing all of the carpet and we got to see them working very hard and efficiently. We could hear some people talking below and it was amazing to think of how good the acoustics are here.

 

 

Jacob in the security chair at the top of the ground level.

 

I've been to the Conference Center many times but never taken a tour and seen the incredible artwork here. It is breathtaking to consider the incredible murals, sculptures, portraits of prophets, and detailed paintings.

 

The tour guide sharing one of his favorites- a sculpture showing Joseph Smith kneeling and then up above him the Father and Son appearing to him in the First Vision.

 

The rooftop tour was beautiful.

 

Must. Touch. Water. Diana verified that the water was indeed very cold.

 

The guide included the children by asking all sorts of questions and they responded so well. It was great to hear that so much of what we teach them, they remember and understand. There were only a few times that they kids responded with describing Lincoln's assassination or an answer like "George Washington" while mixing up presidents and prophets.

 

On the roof they grow trees and grasses found when the pioneers arrived here.

 

So incredible to be right by the temple.

 

President Hinckley really wanted a tower of granite on the Conference Center but was told it was impossible because of the weight. Apparently he smiled and said I'm sure you can figure out a way. So they got Styrofoam and very thin layers of granite and voila! If you knock on the tower you can hear the difference from the rest of the roof where it is solid granite.

 

The beautiful and inspiring Salt Lake Temple.

 

While at Spoken Word, they recognized in the audience a talented organist would would be performing at some big place that night. When we went in on Monday, that organist was getting to play the organ! He was incredible and it was the perfect way to enjoy looking at the place.

 

The Church History Museum has a children's play area that was perfect to get some wiggles out!

 

Stuffed animals in the toddler area.

 

Fun coloring, designing and other activities for the others. Diana made several "houses."

 

We got to see Grandma working away on her mission! We took an elevator down to Kathryn's floor and then as we weaved through cubicles to the back area Michael thought he was in a maze and started acting like a robot. That was about when we needed to leave :) But it was awesome to see Kathryn's mission.

 

 

We took a walk back over to the Church History Museum to catch their new 7 minute First Vision movie. It was 6:30 too long for Katy and Diana so I didn't get to see much but it was this awesome screen that curved around all the way to your peripheral vision on either side so it was an immersive and powerful experience. We also got to see this artwork done by a guy in our ward who serves with Jim in Elders Quorum.

 

 

Playing some more while waiting for the movie.

 

 

Short church movies in a ship with comfortable pillows.

 

 

 

 

After saying goodbye to Kathryn we headed over to the Lion House! The house was originally Brigham Young's and had labels for rooms like where the spices were, the parlor, etc.

 

 

The kids had chicken nuggets, jello or fruit, and then they each chose a piece of cake! The rolls were very good and I had some artichoke chicken that was delish.

 

 

Diana showing how happy she is with her cake. Full of good food, we drove up from SLC to Bountiful, where I told the kids there was their Great Grandparents Davies "house on top of a mountain!"

 

 

Seeing Grandma and Grandpa was so sweet! It was truly a moment of joy!

 

 

Grandpa and Michael after we came in.

 

The kids went right to work exploring.

 

Grandpa wanted to rake leaves down the trail before snow hit so the kids started helping him. Michael really stuck with it and was raking and packing leaves for two hours straight. Jim and I couldn't believe how hard Michael worked!

 

Diana on the swing by the waterfalls. There wasn't water running unfortunately but with the nice temperatures the kids were all over the rocks and paths.

 

Grandma took a little breather at one of the park benches and as I was walking Diana up to use the restroom (of course she needed it as soon as I'd taken her all the way to the bottom!) I noticed that the kids naturally gravitated to her and were showing her some of their finds.

 

The kids found the stage! They were putting on plays that were really just them being silly, but they wanted us to watch every minute!

 

 

Getting garbage bags for Grandpa.

 

The sports court with the little girls! I chased those girls all over the court and we laughed and chased so much it was a sweet time together. They got lots of tickles!

 

Michael almost done working with Grandpa! He carried up huge bags of leaves from below, got more garbage bags, stuffed leaves, and just kept on working.

 

Katy loved the swingset. It was such a beautiful afternoon we didn't need jackets!

 

The view was so lovely!

 

Playing the piano her Great-Grandparents Davies bought when they were first married.

 

Such a view! There was such an aura of peace about the beauty around us.

 

The kids could barely sit for all their excitement to see, explore and do. Grandma made a wonderful spaghetti dinner.

 

My cousin Cordon drove out to see us and we had what I will call "Family Night" but with all that energy could be termed "An Evening at the Zoo." Daniel, Katie, and Benjamin also drove out from Provo through some crazy rain/snow and we had a nice time talking.

 

The kids LOVED Great-Grandma's snickerdoodles and Jake kept asking for them at every meal.

 

The "bowling alley" is now filled with computers and is used for large groups to engage in family history work. It is incredible to see how active and involved in serving Grandma and Grandpa Davies are.

 

Grandma watering her plants. She and Grandpa keep the place looking wonderful. The scripture that refers to "by their fruits ye shall know them" comes to mind.

 

Jim playing basketball with Jacob.

 

Diana could not stay away from this the whole time. She LOVED putting on a beat, playing along, and blasting the volume on high. She came back to this keyboard constantly!

 

Michael at work on the leaves while Nicole and Jacob get instructions from Grandpa.

 

Relaxing while the kids happily play everywhere!

 

 

Breakfast the next morning was pancakes and you can see how they liked that!

 

I lost track of how many Michael ate. That boy is an eating machine.

 

Snow clouds around the mountain.

 

We woke up to the first bits of snow! It felt magical, like a special early Christmas!

 

We got our gloves on and headed out as more snow began to fall. The snow was wet and made awesome snowmen! Diana rolled the middle part of the snowman by herself. I loved seeing how she figured it out and could do it by herself.

 

Jacob finishing with the head.

 

Michael working on his snowman further down the trail.

 

Nicole the wolf perched on a ledge above the trail with her snowball at the ready.

 

Diana with another snowball she made by herself.

 

There wasn't quite enough snow for sledding but we gave it a try.

 

Jim and Grandma putting the finishing touches on the snowman.

 

Diana and Katy got cold and then it was follow-the-energy all over the three stories!

 

Warming up with some games.

 

Grandpa got out the train for Diana and was helping her try it out. She preferred to stand next to it and make it go.

 

Nicole helped Katy go around too.

 

Grandpa and Jacob playing ping pong. Grandpa is a patient man!

 

While I watched the girls inside, I could peek down and watch the kids have snowball fights. I think we only had meltdowns from face hits two or three times.

 

 

Grandma eating lunch while the kids play. They ate so fast so they could get right back to playing!

 

Grandma tying a bow on Diana's wrist with some ribbon Diana found.

 

Grandpa and Jacob checking out a fire truck to see what it can do. Grandpa is great at playing with the kids and I loved watching them interact with him. Jacob called them "Great Davies" when addressing them it was pretty cute. Michael called them by their full Great Grandpa or somehow he learned their names were Leon and Marilyn.

 

We had storytime with the Great Grandparents on Wednesday morning.

 

 

 

Grandpa share stories of when he was a young newspaper boy and Grandma shared stories of horseback riding as a little girl.

 

 

That night when I was putting the boys to bed both Michael and Jacob asked for stories from their Great Grandparents. I had taped part of it so they watched it as they went to bed.

 

 

Nicole also shared some stories.

 

 

After story time we hiked to the B right by their house.

 

 

The kids thought it was awesome and the view was breathtaking. We shouted out "Del Biancos rule!" to the valley below.

 

 

Since it was Veterans Day, Grandma had the kids hold patriotic flags as we posed before saying goodbye.

 

My beloved Grandparents waving goodbye. We will all treasure the time we spent with them.

 

We drove to a park near the Provo temple to meet with Jim's mission president since they are in the presidency there.

 

I loved seeing how much Jim and his mission president care for each other. We enjoyed having the kids meet them too since the last time we saw them I was 7 months along with Nicole.

 

Beautiful Provo temple.

 

We couldn't get past security for a better picture, but these are 5 future missionaries at the MTC!

 

We also saw the Provo City Center temple, which is still under construction. Beautiful structure. We drove back to Kathryn's house Wednesday night.

 

We woke up Thursday to some very cold weather! We wanted to hike Bridal Veil Falls and we did. In 27 degree weather. Jim says it has been a long time since he's been that cold! Of course as soon as we get there Diana has to use the restroom. Grandpa and Jim went to go see if some past a gate were open. Watching Grandpa jog to catch up to Jim was pretty impressive! And then seeing the two of them walking side by side made me so happy. They are so similar in my mind- engineer minds, guitar playing, and they both enjoy fishing... it was great to see them together.

 

The crew heading up to the falls in what was a very long "short" hike.

 

Diana with her Daniel!

 

We made it. you can tell we are all pretty cold.

 

 

Grandpa Ostler took a picture of everyone

 

Jacob showing me how he can stand on the ice! Unfortunately, 5 minutes later one of his legs broke through and got his foot wet. When we made it back to the car, I was thinking how freezing the poor guy must be so I asked how he was. "Great!" was the reply. I guess the adventure was worth it!

 

Waiting for lunch.

 

 

The wait was worth it! Then we were off to spend the rest of the day at the Ostlers!

 

Grandpa had some cute toys for the kids to play with.

 

Nicole was absolutely hilarious with the spider box. She knew, she totally knew what was in there.

 

But it got her every time!

 

Michael was curious how it worked and that was it. Some people aren't afraid of spiders. I'm glad that makes one of us.

 

The kids had been asking for WEEKS about the great grandparents with a hot tub. Every place we went they wanted to know if this was the place. So finally, they were able to get in and they loved it so much! Michael spent a lot of time going under crazy boy! Jacob pretended there was a slide and they all enjoyed it when Jim and I turned the bubbles and jets on high.

 

Grandma Ostler had the most special dessert made for us! Diana was exclaiming over every cookie- she couldn't believe that she could see our faces on the cookies!

 

Jacob was thrilled to get to eat a picture of himself! They thought it was hilarious to eat themselves.

 

 

The kids loved remembering the pictures too. This was Diana at the beach.

 

I asked Mike to smile for me. Looks like the cookie was way higher on the priority list than smiling for the camera.

 

I love how Grandma got Jim in his Halloween wig too!

 

After dessert, Jim and Grandpa played a few songs on guitar. I'm in love with the garbage man's daughter was my favorite.

 

The kids dancing to the music.

 

We talked a little and it was fun for the kids to hear a little about their Grandpa Ostler from their Great Grandparents. I enjoyed hearing about how Dad was kind of stubborn but when Grandma spent some time with him (she had to climb into the top bunk!) he was good. They are loving parents and I could really feel of their love for us even with the loud, crazy atmosphere that sometimes prevails!

 

Grandma made a wish come true for the kids. She had mustaches, pirate eye patches and treasure coins and other fun for the kids. Side note: when Jim returned the rental van he glanced at the van while walking away and somehow one of the kids had put a mustache on the very front of the van. Haha!

 

I got to see my aunts Linda and Cathy too!

 

 

The kid enjoyed running the backyard with the dogs. They were pretty scared of the bigger dog, but enjoyed little Honey.

 

Diana playing with Priya, who is my cousin Amy's daughter.

 

I loved catching up with Amy and Melissa!

 

Grandpa Ostler has a great back porch that is almost finished!

 

Three generations!

 

Such a wonderful time visiting with the Ostlers!

 

 

Friday morning we stopped at Aunt Diane's in Provo! The kids walked in and were ready to explore her house (they must have thought it was like the Davies house!) and we had to corral them in so we could talk.

 

We talked with my cousin Jenni and found out that Jim's Italian ancestors are from the same little tiny town that Jenni served her mission! We saw pictures and agreed that if we ever go there we know who we'll hire to be our guide!

 



 

Diana was so thoughtful and got darling stuffed animals in stockings with a little treat for the kids. They LOVED those stuffed animals and carried them everywhere!

 

 

Then we were off to the Y! Jim forgot his coat at his mom's house and was freezing!

 

 

So off we headed to the BYU Bookstore to get a jacket for Jim! I couldn't have planned this better myself if I wanted to get Jim wearing some BYU paraphernalia! :)

 

 

We got a little BYU football and played catch on one of the fields. With the Y in the background!

 

I loved showing the kids my college and letting them see the buildings. We didn't go around much, just being there and looking around a little was enough for them. They saw the inside of the library, Wilk and HFAC. 

  

 

Jacob looked hilarious in his skeleton shirt, mustache and pirate patch.

 

We took a picture on the cougar stairs before Diana decided to run up the stairs while I was setting the camera down. She was lost for a good 5 minutes while we looked around for her. We only found her because she was on her way back when I saw her! I need to get her a GPS hair bow!

 

The statue of a little child was of great interest to Diana. She kept poking her finger in the eye. I tell myself at least it wasn't her sister.

 

Diana loves her BYU necklace we got her. She showed it to everyone that said hello to her.

 

 

For lunch we got to see Uncle Benjamin working at our all-time favorite fast food restaurant!

 

Benjamin is so awesome, it was fun to see him all dressed up for work!

 

Daniel also dropped by to have lunch with us. I loved being able to see him in the midst of a busy school week. Nicole and Diana told him stories and they had fun eating together.

 

For dessert we had more of the cookies Grandma gave us :)

 

 

We got to see a few of the college kids we know from NC. Zach was one of the priests while Jim was YM President.

 

 

Sydney was the chorister for me while she was home and Jim also taught her Seminary. We've known both of these youth for ten years and I can remember being so impressed with Sydney's testimony even as a young girl. Nicole was asking her about classes and it was great to catch up!

 

 

Jordan was another one of the priests while Jim was YM Pres. He was at "work" playing drums with a guitarist during a dance class.  

 

 

After catching up with the college kids, we went to a BYU Women's Basketball game against UVU.

 

 

We thought we might last until halftime, but I was thrilled that the kids enjoyed the game and we left only a minute before the end of game. Michael was cheering so much I had to ask him to not shout so much :) They were all calling out offense and defense along with cheering for baskets! We won by a lot of points.

 

At halftime they had a mini-dunk show with kids 6 and under. Jacob wanted to shoot a long shot and finally dribbled in and made a basket. I guess I need to show him some Michael Jordan tape so we can dunk properly!

 

 

Jacob loved meeting Cosmo and showing him the stuffed cougar from Aunt Diane. He had the biggest grin.

 

Diana was not interested in giving a high five to Cosmo.

 

Jacob on cloud 9 after saying hi to Cosmo.

 

 

My kids have dancing skills and were on the big screen lots of times. The second music started playing they were dancing maniacs, hoping to see themselves on the huge screen!

 

Jim caught a picture of Diana trying to avoid Comso, I didn't realize it was on the big screen!

 

After 3rd quarter the kids went down for the chicken dance! A cheerleader came over and got the kids (I guess she'd seen their moves :) then took them down to the court so they could dance.

 

 

After the game we went to Brick Oven and had some of their fresh draft root beer, as gourmet as it gets, made by hand with cane sugar. We had calzones and the kids had pasta or personal pizza.

 

 

Katy had a little bit of everything!

 

That night one of Jim's mission companions brought his family over. I enjoyed getting to meet someone Jim has talked about from his mission.

 The flight home was memorable. Somehow I didn't pack enough diapers and Katy was really moving things through her system... Jim ended up holding a very stinky baby on the hour flight to Denver, then I was lugging all the kids while holding a very stinky baby across the airport to our gate while Jim ran around trying to buy some diapers. We made it. But it was memorable in a way that makes me know that I will not forget to pack enough diapers again :) We got home around midnight and everyone slept until 8am. That is a family record! We had such a wonderful vacation and are so grateful for the powerful ties of family and friendship. There was so much joy this week as we connected with those we love, we are so blessed.