Our Summer Vacation Part 1 (Utah)

We left Kansas on Saturday morning, early. We were headed west, to the land of the mountains and snow-capped peaks! Hooray! We were hoping that the drive out to our second annual dirt bike trip to Utah would not be as adventurous as the last one. If you want that story, see May 2006 blog archive for the details. Luckily, the drive was great and we got to see all the gorgeous Colorado scenery during the day this time instead of the middle of the night like last year. This being Jacob's first really long car trip, we were surprised how well he did.....the first day. The second day, well.....let's just say he was a little more vocal about his opinion. Both boys actually did really well for a 17 hour car trip. We borrowed a portable DVD player from a co-worker of Jared's and Grant was set for the trip. He doesn't get to watch movies all the time at home, so this vacation was big-time fun for him. He got tired of movie watching though and did get to spend lots of time playing with his toys and books. Our car trip food always consists of red vines. Grant was posing for me in this picture. He's not really asleep. But it turned out cute. We arrived in Payson on Sunday early enough that we were able to go to church in our old ward. There were lots of people we didn't recognize, but many that we did. So we got to catch up with several of our old friends. We visited with our old bishop and had dinner with him and his family one night. We also visited our old neighbors from across the street. It was nice to be remembered. I took the boys and had lunch with one of my old Young Women leader buddies (we went to camp together). We met up with Rob Pyne, one of Jared's old buddies from BYU, in Payson Sunday night and he and Jared planned their escapades for the week. The purpose behind this trip each year is so Jared and Rob can ride motorbikes together. Here's a shot of Jared riding that Rob took. Looks like fun!One of the highlights of our trip for Grant was going swimming in the hotel pool every night. He was stoked! We bought this floaty for him and he was very excited to wear 'Bruce the Shark' swimming. Here are the little swimmers in the pool together.Jacob was a little reluctant to get wet at first, but after a minute or two, he was content to float all over the pool. By the time we left the hotel, he would even kick his feet while holding onto mom's hands.

On Memorial Day, Grant and the boys and I went up to visit my sister, Rachael, and her family in West Jordan. We had planned a picnic at the park but, as is typical of Memorial Day, it poured rain and even hailed. So we just hung out at her house and had lunch together. Cannon loved Jacob. He kept petting his hair so softly and playing peekaboo with him. It was very cute! On Wednesday, we took the boys up to BYU. We visited my old bosses and introduced the kids. Jared, Rob, and one of Jared's old buddies from BYU went mountain biking in the afternoon, so the boys and I spent the rest of the day on campus, exploring. Grant was fascinated by the letters on the mountains in Utah. He asked all the time where the Y was and then when we told him there was a U on the mountains too a little farther north, he wanted to know where the B was, because of course, there has to be a B if there's a Y and a U!! Here's Jared and his old boss Gardner at Outdoors Unlimited, BYU's bike shop. This is where Jared worked all through his graduate program and during his undergraduate work there too. Gardner's son Travis was at the shop, so we got a picture of all the guys together.

The Bean Life Science Museum was one of the places I wanted to make sure we visited when I took the boys to BYU. Grant loved all the animals and wanted so much to touch them. They have a childrens' room with toys for kids and Grant and Jacob played there for a while after we toured the exhibits.Here's Grant putting seed pods down the vent outside the Kimball Tower. After we left the museum, I just wanted to be nostalgic and wander all over campus. So the boys and I hiked it all. Grant discovered all kinds of fun things to see and do. He was very friendly and struck up conversations with anyone and everyone we passed. It was always 'Hi guys! I'm back!' He had no fear. I hope everyone thought he was cute and not annoying. We went through the Eyring Science Center and saw the Focault Pendulum and the dinosaur skeletons. We also played with some of the science experiments that are out for the public. Grant's favorite was the hologram of the dollar bill. He just couldn't figure that one out - he could put his hand right through it! After we got done roaming the campus, we had a picnic outside on the grass. You'll notice Grant's chocolate mustache. We couldn't go to BYU and not have their creamery's chocolate milk. After we finished with our picnic, we went to play at the playground at Wasatch Elementary School - where Grandpa Love proposed to Grandma Love on the merry-go-round. Then we met up with Daddy and Rob so we could head on back to the hotel.