Utah Rotation

When you don't blog for 3 months, it's amazing how things slip away from your memory.  During Tyler's Transplant surgery roation we were mostly car-less and stuck around the neighborhood or rode our bikes.  But we were still able to manage squeezing a summer's worth of fun into 4 weeks.  There was the Squire BBQ where the girls got their faces painted and jumped in bounce houses to their hearts content.

We checked out the Museum of Natural Curiosity on the same day that we went to the Ogden Utah Temple Openhouse.  Somehow I don't have those pictures though.  The best part of the Museum was the 3 story playplace that both adults and kids could climb through.  I got my work out that day.

Quinn loved this idea and screamed and screamed when I took her away from the water table.

Alex had attended preschool at a neighbor's hourse- Mrs. Thibault- Tyler's Kindergarten teacher 20 years ago.  We happened to be in Utah the same time she was starting the school year and Heidi was able to attend for the first 4 weeks- it was so much fun for her and she had a blast!

Alex always wanted to walk Heidi to school and it was adorable.  Then she would watch Quinn when it was over so I could go get Heidi alone.

Sometimes we all went though.

This was one of Alex's preschool dresses, which made Heidi feel even more special.

We were able to make it to the Gym twice and Alex and Heidi impressed me with all their hidden talents.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Brady let us join them for FHE and told us stories about when they were kids.  Grandma shared a room with 6 sisters and there were only 2 beds.  Grandpa rode a horse to his baptism, and on the way back he got sprayed by a skunk!  It was so smelly that his Dad just buried the saddle!

We went out and tried to see the Northern Lights but they never appeared.  We saw the "drinking gourd" though and the girls thought it was a success.

I played around with the flashlight and camera, so I also thought it was a success. 

We were able to visit our good friends the Hyer family on their farm and see their fancy house.  It was a kid's dream come true with all the baby animals.

Alex was super brave and wanted to hold everything.

Quinn was unsure but enthusiastic.

Alex is going to make a fine shepherd someday.

We left with some souvenir quail eggs that we stuck under a lamp for 2 weeks.  They never hatched and we had to move to Wyoming.

Rachelle was an awesome host despite her morning sickness.

These 4 kids have known each other since they were babies.

The highlight of the trip was when Kate and her 3 kids flew up to see us!  There was also plenty of horn honking every morning as the kids would insist that Grandma and Grandpa Brady honk the horn and wave before leaving for work.

Aunt Kara and Uncle Devin took the kids fishing!  This was Alex and Heidi's first time and they loved it.

Uncle Devin was a champion, baiting all the lines and casting the poles for the kids.

Alex blew my mind when she actually put a worm on a hook- she was very into this fishing thing.

There was plenty of excitement when Alex caught her first fish!  She wanted to keep it forever.

Annie seemed less sure.

When Heidi caught her's it was part excitement and part terror.

We got to go back to the Kids Museum at Thanksgiving point!

We discovered that most everything is better with friends, especially these friends.

This was our Grandma day and boy did she treat us well!  After the Kids museum it was off the the farmland for pony rides!

Then on to the wagon ride.

Annie and Heidi became the new Alex and Archie.  Now we just need Salem to grow up so Quinn can run around with her.

And there were Popsicles!

Kate and I planned a train ride to Temple Square in SLC and invited our friend and her kids to skip school and join us.

Here we are before boarding in Provo- smiles and energy galore!

A nice man gave us all free sunglasses on the train, which was perfect because it was a hot day. 

We got to go in the tabernacle!

and we saw the Christus.

At this point heat and exhaustion were taking over.

But there was enough energy to chase down a "princess" and tell her she looked beautiful.

We let the kids dip their feet.

and I think the mom's secretly wanted to do the same thing, and were wondering why we thought it would be fun to take 8 kids on the train to the big city.

Quinn was 1 part angel, 9 parts..... not angel.

It was a fun day, complete with Lionhouse rolls and everyone's fill of trains.

We ended our fun Kate week with a Grandpa day.

He took the kids on a walk to the duck pond and then shoe shopping!  This was a major task and there were meltdowns!  Then we got treated to lunch and he ended the day with a hike to Bridalveil falls!  What a guy!

I love how Annie and Archie both have the same swagger here.  Very hip.

Archie and Grandpa headed the Heidi rescue party when she climbed too far.

Heidi in general loves Grandpa's attention.  These two are good friends.

I remember a picture i took of Kate holding Alex when she was about 7 months old.  Kate had a big pregnant belly full of Archie, and in the pictures Alex was leaning forward and kissing "Archie".  I joked that these two were going to be best friends and they really did turn out that way!

More Grandpa Heidi time.

I don't think any kid could ask for a better grandpa.

I finally got a picture of Quinn Katherine and her namesake.

Quinn has tamed the inner beast quite a bit in the past 2 months, although pictures like this remind me of what Dr. Jekyl can turn into.

It was an awesome day.

And there was plenty of finding and assigning of walking sticks, and then tears when perfect sticks had to be left behind.

These two are so much alike!  And here I caught them reading books together, to themselves.

It was heartbreaking to leave.  We got to see Finn at least twice a week, play with friends and cousins, visit all our favorite haunts, and spend hours with Grandma and Grandpa.   It was like we were home, like we had never left.  It's crazy and sad to think of how much everyone will change by the next time we see them.  Leaving Utah was hard, it was raining in our hearts and in the sky.  I'm pretty sure everyone except Tyler was crying as we drove away.