So Long, Utah!

We sure will miss Utah.  It is the best place to be in the summer.

We'll miss rolling down soft, green, grassy hills.

We'll miss relaxing with family.

We'll miss eating ice with our cousins.

And we'll miss being with our Grandpa that we love so much. 

So long, Utah!  Can't wait until next year!

Utah Valley Half Marathon

DUN DUN DUN....

Here it is.  The whole reason we took the Utah trip in June.  The thing that has consumed a lot of my time and a lot of my thoughts since September.  The Utah Valley Half Marathon!!!!! (Can I get an Oprah voice with that?)

When Preston was born I realized I had no more excuses.  It was time to get in shape.  This opportunity got thrown at me and I am so glad I did it.  I've never run before, so this was definitely a challenge.  I started running with the couch to 5k program and for some reason now I can run 13 miles.  CRAZY!!  I'm still pretty slow, but I'm proud of the accomplishment.

Luckily my sister decided to do it with me, so we were able to train and run the race together.  Thanks Sara!

The race went pretty well.  The first 8 miles flew by, but the last 5 were pretty rough.  It was so nice to cross the finish line.  I keep joking that now I never have to run again.  I think I'm still recovering.  Or else I just turned into a 5 year old, because I'm worn out by 8pm.


I'm so glad I did it.  And I'm so glad it's done!  I still don't love running, but I sure hate it a lot less.  I really feel like I have had extra help from my Heavenly Father on this.  I know that He wants to see us improve and accomplish things.  And I know He loves us and wants us to be happy in whatever our endeavors are.  I am so so thankful for that.

Woohoo! Running!

Farm at Thanksgiving Point

This year we did the farm at Thanksgiving Point.  There were some tantrums thrown by the eldest, who wanted to go to the dinosaur museum, but the farm won out.  Or, should I say, cheapness won out?  Dang, expensive dinosaurs!

We narrowly missed Caitlin bringing home a baby chick.  Luckily she only had two dollars, instead of the three required to buy one.  I did not want to have that fight.  Unfortunately, I think she's saving her money for next year.

The kids rode the ponies. And Preston played in the nice Utah grass.  Lucky Utah!  Arizona grass is not my favorite.  The farm was fun.  They got to take a hay ride and see lots of animals.  Caitlin came home in love with a horse named Belle.

Draper

I have a deep love of cemeteries.  I get it from my mom.  But I also think it's partly because I have such a deep love for my ancestors.  Especially the Brown family, who I am related to through both sides of my family.  Phebe Draper Palmer Brown and her family settled the town of Draper and it is named after them.  So, when we're in Utah, we try to visit them.

There is also a park made in honor of some of the early settlers of Draper.  This is a statue of my relatives, Ebeneezer and Phebe Brown.  The kids don't really love this like I do yet, but I'm working on them.  Ethan already remembers who they are and spotted them in the park immediately.

Woohoo!  Ancestors!

Looney Baboons

I was going to put this is with our Bean Museum post, but I felt the baboons deserved their own post.

First, Miss Olive!

We love our Olive Baboon!  She is a little bit crazy looking, has no ropes to block her, and is at just the right height.  The perfect picture combination!  This was Preston's first year, and the first time we've had full kid cooperation.  Yay!

Drumroll please....

Yay!  And if you missed or would like to revisit previous years here is 2010 and 2006, 2008, & 2009.

Also, did you know that a family of baboons consists of 7 members?  We've arrived! 

Livin' the Dream with Monte L. Bean

My favorite thing to do in Provo is the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum.  It's free, everybody loves it, the kids are well contained and it's hard to lose them.  AWESOME!  Sorry about Avery in the above picture.  She's going through a phase.  We hope....

Mr. Ethan Bear kickin' it with the Lions.  He wore that shirt especially for the occasion.

Caitlin, with her favorite miniature antelopes, the Dik-Diks.

Avery and Dad being scary bears.

You can't really see it, but there is a crocodile here with Noelle.

Preston just could NOT follow the no touching rule! 

 All the kidlets with the elephant and friends.  What a fun day!  I highly recommend the Bean Museum if you are in town.

Temple Square

We love to visit Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  We've gone every time we've been in Utah, and we probably always will.  It's just so beautiful and peaceful.  And we love the visitors centers!

The girls were pretty insistent we get some pictures by the beautiful flowers.  The grounds are always so gorgeous. 

By the temple doors.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to show my kids how important the temple is to me.  And I am so thankful for all I have learned there.  I LOVE IT!

Alpine Slides

Okay everybody!  Get ready for the bombardment of family vacation photos!  We just got back from Utah and had a great time.  We rented a condo with my sister's family.  It was fun and crazy (two toddlers and two babies!)  Fun was had by all!

First up...Alpine Slides in Park City!

This was our first time doing the slides.  They always looked kind of scary to me, way up there on the mountain (yes, I'm a baby), but the slides weren't really scary at all.  Now the chair lift was another story....

Bryce took Caitlin down and Ethan went by himself.  He might have been taking it a little slow, because he had quite a line in back of him when he was done.

I took Avery down.  Bryce wanted me to take Noelle, but I just felt really sick about it.  And I'm really glad I didn't.  The chair lift scared the crap out of me and Noelle is just too crazy for comfort.  Avery's shirt was wet with sweat by the time we were done, because I was holding it so tight on the way up! 

Yes.  We've established that I'm a baby.

It was fun, though.  If only there was another way up the mountain....

The Monte L. Bean Museum

We're back from our vacation! Maybe all our new pictures will be some incentive to blog.

In our family we love the Bean Museum in Provo. We visit every time we are in Utah. In fact this time we went twice. And it must be a pretty popular destination because I saw two friends there this time. Shari who is in our ward now, and Annette who used to be in our ward. We must be pretty boring because we tend to take pictures of the same things every time we go. It's funny to see the evolution of our kids with the animals, though.


Ethan seemed to be more afraid this year than usual... of everything.


I'm going to say that's Caitlin being less afraid, but it's kind of hard to tell. I guess next year we'll have to start Avery with the Olive Baboon.

And another one of our traditional poses (bear on kid on dad).