Utah Trip Part Two

I got to see my dad a couple of times while we were in town.  We went to the park and got ice cream one night and then a few days later we went to McDonald's and ate lunch.  I was glad he made time to come see Tommy and me.

We decided to go swimming on Sadie's birthday.  I am so glad we did because it turned out to be Tommy's favorite activity of the whole week.  I was so glad that Ricky and Sadie came with us because they suggested we go to the Dimple Dell Rec Center in Sandy, which I didn't even know existed.  They have an indoor pool there with a huge play area for the kids.  It was like a splash pad, a playground, and a swimming pool all wrapped into one.  Ricky and Sadie were so cute to play with Tommy and to let him splash them.  I was impressed with how brave Tommy got by the end.  There was a little water slide that had quite a heavy waterfall at the top of it.  Tommy doesn't typically like getting water on his head, so I was surprised when he wanted to go under the waterfall and down the slide.  I went down with him the first few times and then he got really brave and went down by himself.  Because it was so slick it really shot us down quick, but he loved it.  In the video below, that's me screaming, not Tommy:)  He talked about going swimming with Ricky and Sadie the rest of the week.

Over the weekend Ben was kind enough to accompany me to my ten year high school reunion.  Can you believe it has been that long?  I'm getting old:)  In some ways high school seems like way more than ten years ago, in other ways it seems like just yesterday that I was playing volleyball and going to Prom.  I was a little bit nervous about going because I wasn't sure exactly who would be there and whether or not it would be awkward with certain people.  I don't have any regrets from high school really.  I feel like I was kind to people and there was nobody that I was dreading to see, I was just worried it might be kind of awkward.  My fears were quickly set aside, though.  It was just a ton of fun!  Almost everyone seemed about how I remembered them and there weren't any huge surprises about the direction any of my friends lives' had taken.  It was so fun to see old friends and to reminisce a little, but to also catch up and meet their spouses.  I loved the evening and I am so happy I was able to be there.  On the way home I felt so grateful to have been good friends with such great people that had such a positive influence on my life.

The best part of the reunion was that it drew my closest friends back to Utah for the weekend.  There was a group of five of us that used to go to the dances together and go on trips together every summer.  They were the girls I cried to when I was sad and laughed with when embarrassing things happened.  They were the girls that I had slumber parties with and that I cut class with.  They were there for me through my parents' divorce, through all my failed relationships during and after high school, and on my wedding day.  In recent months they were among the ones that cried with me when I had a miscarriage and celebrated with me when I got pregnant again.  We still stay in touch, but all five of us haven't been together for about three years.  I think we all look hotter now than we did ten years ago:

Me, Toni, Andrea, Jenny, and Celeste.  FGGO forever!

Tommy loved having my mom's and Ricky's dogs around to play with.  He was especially sweet with Sammy because she is old and sweet to him.  He loved getting right up in her face and talking to her in a really high little voice.  He called her, "Sammy Sam" and gave her hugs whenever he bumped her or accidentally hit her with a ball.  To this day he calls all dogs either Sam or Kodex.

Here is a video of Tommy being silly with my mom. What is it with boys and poop?

The last Sunday we were in Utah I went to take a nap and threatened the life of anybody who woke me up. Yes, I was that tired. It had been a big week and I was pregnant! After I woke up from what I think was nearly a four hour nap (haven't had one of those since before I was married!) Tommy and I snuggled up on the couch and read books together. It's one of my favorite things in the world to do.
We had such a great time in Utah. We got to see so many good friends and loving family. We also got to see quite a bit of rain, which was so fun for us desert rats:)

Utah Trip July 2011 - Part One

This year we went to Utah for the Fourth of July and had a blast.  It was so nice to get out of the Phoenix sun and to enjoy time with my family.  We did so many fun things while we were there.  My only regret is not being able to spend even more time with friends and family we love.

We rented a car this time to drive up.  There were two reasons for this.  One, our car has a history of breaking down on road trips and we really didn't want to get stuck in the desert.  Two, my mom graciously offered to let us take her van back to Phoenix so we could haul a twin mattress down here for Tommy.  It was so fun to drive a nice little car and to know that we didn't have to clean it at the end of the day:)  The drive went well.  Tommy was a real trooper and even went potty in the public restrooms on the way.  We played lots of games and kept Tommy happy by having one of us sit in the back with him most of the way.

We had a really fun Fourth this year.  It started at about 6:00 am when Ben and I drove down to Provo so I could run a 10 K at BYU.  We were a little bit late and ended up walking up 900 East just as the race started.  We could see all the runners coming from Kiwanis Park onto 900 East running away from us.  I started to cry because we had driven all that way and then I missed the start.  We kept walking up the road, though, and Ben encouraged me to go ahead and run the race anyway.  I started about 10 minutes after the official start and I couldn't see any other runners ahead of me.  I was kind of embarrassed to be so far back and to be running slow anyway because I was 14 weeks pregnant, but I went ahead and finished the race.  I ran completely by myself for about two miles before I started passing some of the slower joggers and walkers.  It was fun once I started, though, and the race volunteers were so nice they even stopped traffic just for little old me.  It felt great to be able to run outside with the backdrop of the mountains to the east.  It was beautiful and I loved every minute of it.

Later that evening we went to my brother, Wes', house for dinner and to watch fireworks.  They live right by Thanksgiving Point, so there is always a good firework show to see.  This year aerial fireworks were legal in Utah.  It was quite the party.  Many families were having parties in Wes' neighborhood and so the sky was lit up from every direction.  The kids (and adults) loved it.  Tommy was kind of shell shocked and talked about the loud fireworks and the pops the entire drive back to my mom's house.  We had a great time and were grateful to get to spend the evening with my entire family.  Below is a video of the grandkids throwing Pops with Grammy and one of the kids playing football together.

The next morning we went shopping at the mall with my mom.  She bought Tommy some new pajamas with cars on them, took him for a train ride, and bought him a cookie.  He was a happy camper.

The next day we went to Wheeler Farm with Jamie and the kids.  I really wish we had something like that here in Phoenix.  It's free to walk around and look at the animals.  The kids loved it.  We got to see cows, chickens, horses, goats, rabbits, and ducks.  Tommy's favorite thing was sitting on the tractors.  He could have done that all day long.  Maybe I need to buy an old tractor for the backyard that he can sit on and pretend to drive:)

Tommy driving a tractor.

The kids looking at cows.

Feeding the ducks with Grammy.

Our next activity was going to the mountains to eat doughnuts and play.  I remember as a kid that we used to go to a picnic area and eat those cheap Hostess powdered sugar doughnuts and drink chocolate milk.  That's just what we did in the mountains and I wanted to do it with Tommy.  We all packed down several doughnuts and then we went exploring.  Salt Lake has had a really wet winter and spring so the river was higher and faster than I have ever seen it before.  There were sand bags all along the path.  In the video below of Ricky and Tommy throwing sticks in the river you can see some trees on the left that aren't usually in the middle of the river.  It was crazy and a little scary to watch the kids right along the rushing river, but we had a great time.  We found a cave that Ricky and Sadie explored, we climbed on rocks, and we threw sticks into the river.  Thanks to Ricky and Sadie for gathering sticks and branches for the kids:)  They could have stayed there all day long!

 

Miraculously we got a picture of all three kids smiling at the same time.  The secret?  Just say "poop" and they all start laughing.

Jamie, Makayla, Ricky, Sadie, Tommy, Me, and Jarom.
 
My mom with her three favorite people:  Makayla, Tommy, and Jarom.

I love in this next video how Tommy is trying to eat his doughnut while running. Never mind the piece he drops on the ground and then eats:) I'm so glad the cousins love playing together.