A Quick Trip to Utah

 Jon hadn't been back to Utah since we moved 4 1/2 years ago, and I hadn't been in over 2 years, so we decided to take a little trip there while we were in Idaho.

On our way down, we were able to visit some friends from California who recently moved to Utah. I completely forgot to get any pictures, but it was fun to see them, and they completely spoiled us with a delicious dinner.

After dinner we headed down to my aunt's house....and I'm kicking myself for not getting any pictures with her family either! We spent a lot of time with Dave and Kathy's family when we lived in Provo and it was so good to catch up with them again. 

We had 2 full days in Utah so we decided to spend one day in Provo and one in Salt Lake.

Our first stop was Wymount, BYU's married student housing, where we spent the first 2 1/2 years of our marriage. Building 9A apartment 525....a whole lot of memories here, but I don't miss the apartment or those stairs!

We had to play at the playground down the sidewalk where we went almost every single day of the first 18 months of Emma's life.

After some lunch, the BYU Creamery was our next stop

We wandered around campus for quite awhile: the Eyring Science Center, the Museum of Art, and of course the BYU Bookstore. We tried to go to the Bean Museum, only to find that it is closed for remodeling for the next 1 1/2 years. So sad! We hoped to have better luck at our next destination- the dinosaur museum on BYU campus. I'm sure it has an official name, but I don't know it. Somehow in all of our time at BYU, neither Jon or I had ever heard of this place. And I have to say, it didn't disappoint at all.

The next morning, bright and early, Kathy and I ran our 5k. Then we packed up, said our good byes, and headed up to Salt Lake. On our way we had to stop for lunch at one of our favorite Utah Restaurants, Porters Place, in Lehi. After that, Jon had to take the kids to Cabela's...outdoors store, animal museum, and zoo all in one. It definitely made up for not being able to go to the Bean Museum.  :)

Poor kid was TIRED. I think all 3 kids took naps more days than they didn't while we were on vacation.

Once in Salt Lake, our first stop was the church history museum. We met up with some friends, the LeSueurs, from our BYU days....and again, I forgot to take any pictures with them. But it was fun to see them again after so long. And there was SO much to do in the kids portion of the museum. Definitely worth going!

Fishing off the side of Nephi's boat

We continued on through temple square, stopping at the visitors center briefly

And we rode the escalator up and down and up and down again. One of the highlights of our trip for the kids was definitely riding escalators almost everywhere we visited. I'll have to tuck this idea away for a future rainy day!

Jon proposed on temple square and we took a picture here right after we got engaged. We also got married here almost 7 years ago, so it was fun to come back again to the place where it all started.

Beautiful sunset on the drive back to Idaho

Jon found out there was lava along the freeway (actually at a rest stop about 20 minutes south of my parents) and Matthew had been dying to go see the "wava" for several days, so we made sure to stop there on our way back from Utah.

I think the kids were expecting real, flowing lava so they were slightly disappointed to find only lava rocks. But they had a lot of fun anyway.

Those 2 1/2 days in Utah went fast, but they were some of the best days of our vacation.

4th of July

We planned our trip to Idaho around the 4th of July this year. Crazy as it sounds, Idaho Falls is the place to be for good fireworks. It is said to be the best fireworks show west of the Mississippi, and I believe it. For years, it has been tradition for my family to head to the greenbelt first thing in the morning to stake out our spot (the hard core people camp out the night before!) and then we spend the rest of the day walking around, playing games, and sometimes barbecuing. I've talked up these fireworks to Jon for years (and I'm not even a big fireworks person), but my talking them up did no justice. He was really impressed. The show lasts at least 30 minutes, and the fireworks are choreographed to music on a local radio channel. It's just really cool. Jon said after every big round, he thought it was over, and then was surprised to see even bigger and better fireworks. The kids loved it and could have watched all night. The only bummer about the fireworks is getting home in the traffic afterwards....but it was totally worth it.

It was way too hot to try and stay all day, so everybody took turns hanging out throughout the day.

Abby brought her friend, Greg, who won all the kids over with cotton candy. 

Me and Abby

The dollar store glow sticks that we picked up on our way to the greenbelt were a hit (and they were MUCH cheaper than the same ones people were selling there)

My sister in law brought these (I can't think what they're called....noise blockers???) for the babies. Ellie thought they were fun to play with, but Emma ended up wearing them.  :)

The night before the 4th of July, we set off some little fireworks in front of my parents house.

I LOVE this picture

And I love this little succession of pictures of Ellie with my mom

The kids are slightly obsessed with chickens right now, so this egg-laying-hen was a favorite.

It took the kids FOREVER to try the sparklers. They were so afraid, but by the time they decided to try them, they were almost all gone. 

This was one of my favorite nights in Idaho.

Birthday Girl

Emma turned 6 while we were in Idaho, which she was really excited about. She has been planning this birthday for MONTHS. There is a really cool water playground in Rexburg that we go to every time we go to Idaho. She decided she wanted to have her party there and was excited that Grandma and Grandpa and her cousins would get to come to her party. And to make her birthday even better, Jon's mom and sisters just happened to be in Rexburg on her birthday, so they were able to stop by for a few minutes too.

 

Jon flew in on Emma's birthday, so after the water park, it was time to go pick him up at the airport! We grabbed some pizzas for dinner and enjoyed some otter pops while we waited for them to cook...it was that hot!  

Then it was time for cake. My dad's birthday is the day after Emma's so we celebrated both birthdays.

And Ellie dug into that birthday cake like I've never seen her do before. We must have made the wrong kind of cake for her birthday, because she barely touched it!

Present time! 

A paper doll card from Grandma Lorraine

New hair feathers!

A sketchbook from Dad

She also got a cute dress and art activity set from the Farrell grandparents, a painting set from Jared and Kaci, a National Geographic Kids subscription from us, and some money from my parents, which she used to buy 2 shirts and a coloring book/marker set.

She says she hopes next year she has another really fun birthday, so I think it was a successful day. We feel so lucky to have Emma in our family!

And here is Emma's birthday interview

Q: What is your whole name?
A:  Emma Farrell

Q: How old are you?

A: 6

Q: What is your favorite color?

A: Umm....pink, um orange.

Q: Who is your best friend?

A: My best friend is Rebecca

Q: What is your favorite animal?

A: A parrot

Q: What do you want to be when you are all grown up?

A: A mom and an artist

Q: What is your favorite movie?

A: Madagascar 3

Q: What are some of your favorite books?

A: "Pinkalicious and the Pinkie Promise" and "The Gingerbread Man"

Q: What makes you happy?

A: Playing games

Q: What makes you sad?

A: When someone punches me

Q: What is your favorite food to eat?

A: Pizza

Q: What is your favorite song to sing?

A: I Am A Child of God

Q: What games do you like to play?

A: The ones on Zoodles, like the one that you try to get the eggs in the nest right.

Q: What is your favorite toy?

A: My favorite toy is the animal toys.