Friday, April 3, 2009

Utah Trip Week 3- March7-15

Well, I figure I better finish blogging about this trip before I forget everything. So here goes. We arrived at Karen's house in Idaho around 9pm. We put the kids to bed and then hung out a bit. Troy had a rough night, and we ended up sleeping on the couch. The next day we just hung around the house, visited, and even got to take naps! Kristin was sick, so she was quarantined to her room the whole weekend. Missed you Kristin! Abby had been begging to make a snow man. While there was plenty of snow on the ground, it was not snow man making material. So Brent just took the kids outside to play for a bit. Thanks Brent! They didn't last long. It was FREEZING!

The kids "playing" in the slow. Where are your shoes Brent?


Abby & Ashlin had a great time playing with cousin Rebekah!

Margie enjoying her nap!

Grant's aunt Marilyn and uncle John were staying at Dan & Karen's too. They were visiting from Oregon for their Grandbaby's blessing in Rexburg. So that night they came over with their sons David and Gordon and their wives and babies. A cousin of Grant's, Kaylee, was also there. It was fun to meet new family members and get to know them all better! Sorry I didn't take any pics. I was too busy eating the yummy chili and changing poopie diapers!

Sunday morning we had another lazy day. Church didn't start until 1pm, so we hung out some more and then packed up for the trip back home (well, Pleasant Grove anyway).


Rebekah and Tyler taught my kids to play UNO.

Here's Troy's new outfit that we bought him after his blow-out (mentioned in the last post). Isn't it the cutest thing?!

Church was great. Karen taught Relief Society. Great lesson Karen! Troy went to nursery for the first time and did great! I had 2 whole hours all to my self!!!! After church we changed our clothes in the parking lot, hopped in the car and headed back to Utah. It snowed pretty good and the roads got a little scarey, but we made it safe and sound. I got a call from Jen Cudney on the way home. She said she wasn't working and the kids didn't have school the next day and invited us over. So I dropped Marge off in Centerville and then headed to Jen's house. Scot and Brittany met us there. When we got their they were finishing up some pretty elaborate game. We were all pretty tired and not ready to learn something new, so we decided to play Dominoes.

Jen, Bruce, Scot, Brittany, Troy, Mallory, Abby


Troy thinks he wants to learn!

We ended up staying until midnight (it was daylight savings that day, so it was really only 11). We had a great time, but Troy was screaming the last 30 minutes, he was so tired. We finished the game and then went home. Troy was pretty fussy and tired the next day. I guess I deserved it, keeping him out so long!

Monday I took the kids to Olivia McCord's house for a play date. Kat came as well with her kids. It was great to see Olivia's remodeled house and the kids had a chaotic time playing together. It had to be the lack of sleep! We went home for much needed naps. Then to Arctic Circle for dinner and playing on the toys there. It snowed while we were there and I figured this was our chance for a snow man. It was freezing, the snow wasn't sticking very well, and Abby wasn't very excited about touching the snow. So I quickly threw this snow man together and took a picture. This seemed to satisfy Abby at least for a little bit!


Oh yeah, that's one good lookin' snow man!


And that's one good lookin' boy! Sorry for all the pics of Troy smiling, he's just so stinkin' cute, I can't resist!

Tuesday we went to Highland to visit my cousin, Hollie, and her son, Jagger. We had a great time talking and the kids had a blast playing together. We then stopped at Panda Express for lunch on our way home for naps, and got a call from Eleanor. I'd been trying to reach her the whole time I was there and finally got a hold of her. She said the best time for her was right now! So we turned around and headed up to Kaysville. The kids took a short nap in the car. It was great to see Eleanor and find out about her life. It had been a year since I'd seen her and had never even met her cute son, Calvin (named after my dad, I'm sure!). We didn't have much time to visit, but it was sure fun! Eleanor let the girls pick out a head band that she had hand made. She makes a lot of things and sells them. She's always been the artsy kind!


So many headbands to choose from! Isn't Calvie adorable?!


Oh yeah, those yellow feathers definitely suit you, Troy!

After our fun visit, we jumped in the car and headed back to PG. My cousin, Jesse, met me at the house to watch the kids. I quickly freshened up and hopped right back in the car for another girls night. We went to see Confessions of a Shop-a-holic. Great movie! Adrienne, Kat, Olivia, & Amber P. all came to the movie. Afterwards we met up with Amber W., Lucille, Emily, & Krista at Cold Stones for dessert. It was a lot of fun. I'm bumbed that I forgot to take a picture. Let me know if I forgot to mention someone that was there.

Wednesday morning we headed to Salt Lake for an early lunch with my cousin, Rachel. We stopped by a Croatian restaurant in Salt Lake and bought some chocolate first. They didn't have any Napolitanke, I was pretty bumbed. I took the kids for a tour around temple square before we met Rachel at the cafe in the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg.


The sister missionaries volunteered to take this picture and then asked me if I had any friends they could contact. Anyone interested?

We had a great lunch with Rachel and then sat in the lobby chatting while the kids ran around and helped the lady on the piano with some of her pieces! Unfortunately Rachel had to get back to work. My mom was supposed to be arriving from Cali, and I knew her friend, Linda was picking her up. I called and found out that they had stopped at Joe & Glo Jensen's house and their daughters Jennie and Cherie were there. So, of course, we joined them. Luckily Troy fell asleep in the car and I transferred him to a crib that just happened to be set up in the Jensen's front guest room! He slept for an hour and a half and I got to just chat with the ladies and the girls played downstairs. It was great!



La Crescenta ladies: Jennie, Linda, Me, Mom, Cherie, & Gloria

Troy woke up just as everyone was getting ready to go. So we jumped in the car and went to Spanish Fork to see Janet and family one last time. Then up to Springville to see Kat's cute town home. We made dinner and the kids had a great time playing. (They got along much better this time then on Monday, although Cash and Troy kept fighting over toys.)


We set up this extra table to put the girls, but Cash and Troy really wanted to sit with them too! The girls loved playing with Maggie's dress-up clothes!

Thursday morning the competitions began. We got to the Marriott Center at around 10am and watched Mikey compete. He did awesome! I was impressed at how good he was. He competed the Waltz and Quickstep in Novice Standard and then later in Pre-Champ Standard where they added the Tango and FoxTrot as well. He also competed Novice and Pre-Champ Latin with a different partner. They danced the Cha-Cha & Rumba in Novice and added the Samba & Paso Doble for the Pre-Champ. We practically lived at the Marriott Center on both Thursday and Friday. He did great in all of his competitions, making it through several cuts. But he got 5th place in the Novice Standard. We were so proud. Of course, we thought he deserved 1st, but we were a little partial.

Anyway, the kids did really well during the morning competitions but they were obviously getting restless. Luckily we had a couple hours of break in the afternoon on both days. We went to Scot & Brittany's to rest and let Troy have a nap. Then we took the kids to Katie & Kevin's for Thursday night competitions and had my cousin Kelli babysit at the house Friday night. It made the competitions much more enjoyable to watch. Mikey was done with his stuff pretty early, but we stuck around to watch the High School formation teams, the Amateur comptetions, and the Professional "Battle of the Champions". It was so much fun. We didn't leave until 10:30pm Thursday night, and midnight Friday. Here are some of the pictures from the days of competition.

For the first morning of competition, we sat right on the floor. One of the ushers asked to see our tickets and when we didn't have tickets for these seats, we were asked to move. So I respectfully said to the usher, "we will be happy to move as soon as the owner of these seats arrive". She didn't seem too happy by that answer, but what else could she do? During the last round of Mikey's competitions for the morning, the owners showed up. We couldn't move right away, however, because we had to clean up all the popcorn the kids had spilt! Oops =-)

Ashlin learning to use the camera!


Uncle Mikey, our hero!

Mikey teaching Abby some moves during a break.

Mikey starting and ending with his standard partner, Kristi. I didn't get any good pictures in the middle. But I have some great video on Facebook if you're interested in seeing how awesome he did!


Mikey, the Latin Lover. This picture aught to make dad proud!

Mikey with his partner, Jen. Latin is not his best style, but he still did awesome!

Mikey didn't have any events on Saturday, so we were all happy for a break from the craziness. We all met at Magelby's, with my aunt Linda, for breakfast- they have the BEST pancakes. Mikey could hardly keep his eyes open! Then we ran some errands and home for a nap. Mom went and visited with some family members while the kids and I rested and watched movies. When she got home we met up with Grandma, Mike, Scot, and Brittany at a new restaurant in Lindon called Smokin' Apple. It was a pulled meat kinda place. After dinner we went back to the house for ice cream and more visiting. I put the kids to bed and then Mikey and I left the gang to stay with the kids and we returned to the Marriot Center to see some more of the Amateur and Professional competition. I was in a terrible mood because of this newlywed couple sitting in front of me. They couldn't keep their hands off each other and kept digging their elbows into my knee. (If you've ever sat in the Marriott Center, you know there is no where else to put your legs.) Mikey had to beg me to not snap at them. Finally the couple next to us left and we were able to move over. The night was much better after that and my spirits lifted as these amazing dancers competed. We were there until midnight, again!

The next morning we slept in as long as the kids would allow us, packed the car, and hit the road back to Cali. It was a fairly pleasant drive except for the two traffic jams we got in after Vegas. AHHH, so frustrating to just SIT on the I-15. Anyway, we pulled into the house around 7pm and I have never seen the kids so excited to see their daddy. All three of them were jumping up and down and going crazy. I let them all play with dad while I unloaded the car. It was great to be home! We had a great time, but we sure missed Grant. The next day the kids all bawled as Grant left for work. Can't say I blamed 'em. Love you honey!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

when you go on vacation, you really pack it all in!!!

and yes, that is probably the cutest outfit i've ever seen...love the sweater vest!

Cyndi said...

Busy, busy! You're so great at seeing so many people on your vacation! You forgot to mention me at the movie girl's night out. Although I was deathly ill at home I was there in spirit! I am still bummed I didn't make it!!

Um, by the way, I have an Aunt Marilyn and Uncle John from Oregon. Could we possibly be related? We'll have to chat.

Bringhursts said...

So fun but I have to admit that snow makes me cold!

Anonymous said...

Stac- We're gonna be in Utah for 6 weeks this summer. Any chance you guys will be there too?

Mark and Aubrey said...

Okay, so I got worn out just reading about your vacation. I love visiting UT but I always feel exhausted when I'm done seeing everyone and doing everything. You're kids are so adorable and I'm glad I got to see a picture of Eleanor's little boy. How fun.