Trip to Utah Part 1

This year my father turned 60 years old. My sister Melissa decided to organize a big surprise birthday party for him and well we thought we ought to go out for the fun. I wasn't really excited by the idea of flying solo with 4 little ones but it's the sacrifices you make for living so far from family. John-David decided to fly stand by and he was able to come out for a week too. We both arrived on the day of the party and fortunately I arrived a little earlier to help with the last minute preparations. My family put in a lot of work making cute table decorations, balloons and some great food. Unfortunately we were all so busy with the party, we all forgot to take photos of the event. My dad was pretty surprised and we got to see some people we hadn't seen in a really longtime. It turned out to be a really great night.

Since the family was all going to be together, my mom had planned to have our family photo done. We had a bit of a family tragedy come up so we scrapped the family photo. We still wanted to get a photo of the grand kids so we took one on our own in my parents back yard. Aside from Jackson having Bryce in a choke hold in the photo it turned out pretty cute. As you can see it's a family full of blondie's.

When I asked Jackson what he wanted to do when he went to Utah, he responded with, "Go to a BYU game". Since it's not the right season for football that wasn't quite possible but my cousin's husband happens to be a BYU coach graduate assistant and was able to make two boy's dreams come true with a personal tour of Lavell Edwards stadium and the training facility. John-David will need to blog on all that because I didn't take the tour so I don't know what they saw. These are the photos I liked.

Jackson with the "Y"

Dad and Jackson at the fake stadium and the real stadium below.

Our timing of our trip turned out to be very special. The day before I left to fly out, we found out that my youngest sister Christina, who was 8 months pregnant, that her baby's heart stopped beating for some unknown reason. It was their second child and if you want to read more about it you can link to her blog on the side listed as Christina and Michael. My sister normally lives in Arizona but was visiting for the summer while her husband worked for my dad. This was the first time in a year and 1/2 that my family was all together.

She had her baby on the 22ND and I was able to go over to the hospital and be with them for a little bit and meet Connor before they buried him the next day. The next day they had small grave side service with Michael' s family and ours. My dad is the bishop of his ward and presided over the service. He did a wonderful job and just reminded us of the Plan of Salvation. My niece Amelie drew a beautiful picture of Christina's family and her explanation of the plan of salvation. It was very sweet and so wonderful how the a 9 year can grasp what's happening. I am very grateful for the gospel in my life and to have the understanding of forever families. I know it has helped my sister through this difficult time.

All of Connor's cousins putting flowers on the casket.

We had planned a trip to my parent's cabin for that same day. We decided to carry on with those plans and Michael and Christine just came up the next day after taking care of some stuff. We all needed a distraction to take our minds of the situation.

Jackson and Grandpa wasted no time in breaking out the camo. Most of Jackson's time was spent by Grandpa's side. They are definitely of one heart when it comes to nature.

Dad hanging out on the 4-Wheeler.

Jocelyn and her cousin Sadie may be two years difference in age

but these girls were joined at the hip. They get along so well.

I love it. I never had a girl cousin my age to pal around with.

Kelsey loved being outside.

Nothing brings a smile to your face like seeing a large man

on a kid size 4-wheeler.

4-Wheeling Divas!!!

More on our trip to come.