Vacation part 3!

This is more for my journaling than anything, so feel free to skip the details. I am totally lame and somehow forgot to take pictures, so this is all just detail and no pics! One of the catalysts for this entire trip was to see Grandpa Powell, who isn't doing so well. He started doing better than expected and may still hang in there a while longer. But he is 94 and with the problems that he has been having we were very glad to be able to spend some time with him and refresh the kids' memories about who Great Grandma and Grandpa Powell are. Unfortunately, Grandpa didn't remember Kendall, so I don't know if they are going to add Alzheimer's to the list of problems, but it was good to see him none-the-less.

We also stopped by my old doctor's office. I sure miss her! This lady delivered all 3 of my children and I became such good friends with her and I've really missed her. So we went by to say hello. We then picked up my sister and she watched the kids for us while Kendall and I went through a session at the Draper Temple which was just dedicated in March. It was a beautiful temple, but I must say it wasn't my favorite. Unfortunately, a huge thunderstorm rolled in and the kids couldn't play at the park like we had planned, so they sat in the van the whole time and watched movies. Amber was such a trooper to still watch them for us so we could go to the temple. Thanks my sweet sister!!

We tried out the new Liberty Land, which is a small theme park in Lehi that opened after we moved. The kids had a GREAT time but it was very overpriced. We were fortunate because the younger two kids were free, and since they were so little they let Kendall and I ride with them on the rides for free as well. So we were able to ride a few rides for the price of Avri. We did bumper boats, a train ride, the carousel, a pirate ship that rocked back and forth, and the airplanes that went around and around and up and down. The older kids rode this frog ride that terrified them! But Kendall and I sure got a kick out of watching their faces!! Afterward we went to my brother and sister's apartment complex and went swimming and had a bar-b-que. The pool was a little chilly, but once the kids decided it was okay to swim around and kick their legs they warmed up a bit.

The last Sunday that we were in Utah we went up to Ogden to see my cousin would returned from his mission to Germany that week. The whole family got together and it was a perfect time to see all of the Aunts and Uncles and cousins that I haven't seen for a while. Some of my cousins I hadn't seen for years and it was really great to get together again. Unfortunately, I don't have the pictures, but Ammon took lots and put them on his blog, if you are interested in looking at them.

Monday we went to a friend of the family's house for dinner and had a great time catching up with them. Again, no pictures because I'm lame, but Ammon posted pictures of this too, on his blog. They gave us some clothes for Avri, a little toy car for the kids to drive around the driveway and a bike trailer that we can get all three kids into at once to go for rides! We can't wait until it is a little less humid so that we can breathe enough to try it out!

Tuesday we came home, but we drove straight through just like we did on the way out. We decided that it really wasn't worth the extra expenses of hotel and two days food to split the trip up. So we left after dinner and drove through the night. It really works out quite well with such young kids because they are asleep for over half of the ride home, so you don't have nearly as many hours of entertainment to try to plan and then we got home with enough time to unpack the van and go to bed early. I would recommend this method of travel to anyone who has little kids as long as you are like Kendall and can drive without falling asleep. (I on the other hand get PUT to sleep by the rode, so I only drove for a couple of hours.)

Wednesday night we got home and went to bed as planned. That night a huge storm came ripping through the area taking down tons of tree with its 80 mph winds and leaving 22,000 people without power Thursday morning. We woke up in the morning without power and I thought "that's strange, I wonder why." We were so tired that we didn't even HEAR the storm and slept right through all of it. Our neighbors couldn't believe that we didn't hear anything and we were lucky that no huge branches fell on the house. Our neighbor lost a whole tree in her back yard and my parents lost 2 half trees, which may end up making them lose both trees when all is said and done.

Now we are playing the catch up game. The gardens are coming along nicely (pictures to come) and the laundry is just about finished. Our callings are getting done finally and the kids are just about back to their normal schedule. Now we can proceed with the rest of our summer. But thanks to everyone who put their lives aside while we were visiting so that we could see you and visit and spend some time together!

More vacation

The first Sunday we were in Utah we went to church with Kendall's family and they enjoyed showing off all of the grandkids. The second Sunday we were there we went back to our old American Fork ward and enjoyed seeing some of our old friends who hadn't moved. We only stayed for sacrament meeting, just in case we still had any kind of germs that we didn't want to send to nursery.

That night we got together with our good ol' dinner group buddies! We used to get together once a month for a dinner party and everyone would bring a part of the meal. They all still have the group, but they did a special one while we were there so that it would be like old times. We took a group picture, and boy have we changed!
The guys:
And the ladies:
And notice 3 on the way: (actually, Martha has already had her little one, CONGRATS!)
I had to totally laugh because Debbie was able to round up 6 high chairs and booster seats for the kids, complete with bibs and sippy cups!! Haha. When we first started this group Avri was the only child coming. Talmage was "still cooking" as Kendall would put it and nobody else had any kids. Because they weren't used to kids there was never a place for Avri to sit and I was always so worried about her bothering the other adults. Now look at them!
Now that is a bunch of cute kids!
Monday the 8th was Talmage's half birthday. We don't usually celebrate half birthdays, but Talmage was in desperate need of some new clothes and I couldn't wait until December, so we had an "unbirthday party" just like on Alice in Wonderland. Grandma Kim spoiled the kids and they all got a couple of packages to open with new clothes, toys and books. You can see how exciting this was!


We couldn't get them to sit still the rest of the night!

The next day I met up with a bunch of girls from high school. A friend of mine from the east coast just happened to be back in Utah at the same time with her kids, so we got together to let the kids play. Four of the six of us were expecting, and I was proud to say that I was not one of them. ;) Two of them have already had their babies! (Yay for all of the babies and proud new mommies and daddies!!)
We had to get a picture of all of the kids that the six of us have produced since high school. It sure doesn't feel like it's been that long, but this shows otherwise!
It was so much fun to be able to see everyone and get reacquainted!

What a Vacation!

We fit so much fun into 3 weeks in Utah! I was hoping to blog about it while we were there so that I didn't have so much to do when I got home, but I wasn't very successful in that endeavor. I already wrote about the first couple of days, visiting with the family and having dinner and seeing everyone. On Monday we went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa and the kids had a great time swinging on the swings.
And we got an updated picture of all of them together.
The weather was gorgeous! (No humidity!!!) It was warm and beautiful for the first few days. It rained the rest of the time and was cool, which I don't ever mind. The only problem was that I didn't really pack enough long pants (wasn't expecting to need them in June) so we did a lot of laundry. One night we went to one of our favorite restaurants with my brother and sister in Provo. We miss this place! Great food, lots of it, and cheap prices.
June 3rd was Kendall's and my 6 year anniversary. We planned to spend it by going out to eat (yes again!) and going to a movie. Not completely original, but things that we don't ever do. Well, that plan was changed when we woke up that morning to two puking children. So this is how we spent our anniversary. (Notice the essentials, wipes, a blanket to cover the carpet, and 2 puke buckets.)
This is actually a family tradition. It really wouldn't be a vacation without cleaning up throw up. I can't think of ONE vacation that we've been on where at least one of the kids doesn't get sick. Oh well. :)

We went swimming a couple of different times, and the kids finally warmed up to the idea of trying to be in the water without death-gripping an adult. We made great strides. We also got to see TONS of family and friends and that was the very best part of everything, just getting reacquainted.

We hit 3 family reunions while we were there and actually got to see some extended family that I had never even met, as well as all of the ones that I miss so much. One of our reunions was at Lava Hot Springs in Idaho. It was COLD and WET. We ended up sitting around in blankets and drinking hot cocoa. But we did find this GREAT park. The kids loved it!
Mercedes wouldn't get off this swing! It was made from a tire, but was shaped like a horse. It was kind of cute in a home-made sort of way.
This park was complete with a Merry-Go-Round! I didn't think that they had those anymore!
The kids had so much fun, but I think that Kendall's brothers may have had even more fun. They loved that Merry-Go-Round.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

We got really lucky that the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house started right after we arrived in Utah. So we got tickets to take the entire family through the temple. Isn't it beautiful with the mountains as a backdrop?
Here is a picture of all of us that went. Family and temples, that is what it is all about!
Two of my favorite people people in the whole world!
They had the most beautiful reception tent set up with cookies and bottled water. The kids thought that this was almost as cool as the temple.
I say it was a reception "tent" because it looked like a tent from the outside, but the inside was beautiful with chandeliers, carpet, furniture, air conditioning and gorgeous paintings like this one.
We got to ride the golf cart back to our car. It was like going to Disneyland. :)
On our way home we asked the kids what their favorite parts were. Avri's was the "baptism fountain" meaning the baptismal font and the water bottles. Talmage's favorites were the cookies, and then he changed his mind and decided that he liked the water (which translates into the baptismal font).

This was such a neat experience for me to be able to go with my family through a temple of the Lord. Showing my kids the temple and letting them feel of the beauty and the spirit was an experience I will not forget. I love this gospel and have such a testimony of it and of the eternal nature of families. I love to see the temple, and I hope that I will be able to be there as each of my children go through the temple on their own to learn about our Heavenly Father's plan and make sacred covenants.

Family Togetherness

The Sunday after we got to Utah we were able to get the entire Powell clan together minus Aaron who is in Brazil on his mission. We had dinner, the cousins played and we all had a good time. Sadi discovered that she just LOVES the trampoline, as long as nobody else is on it.This is Kendall and all of his sisters (all the married kids).
I think this was the first time that we've actually had all 6 grandkids together at the same time! They were so excited to see each other there were hugs all around, it was quite cute.And of course there was lots of silliness.
They played on the teeter-totter...
did lots of laughing...
and Talmage showed off his muscles to everyone.
Kendall has one sister who lives in Delta and one sister who just moved to Arizona yesterday, so this will probably be the last time for a while that we will all be together. It was so fun to see everyone again!