Road Trip Days 4 and 5–Salt Lake City, UT to Albuquerque, NM then on home to Houston

Finally we began our way back home.  We decided not to make any big stops on the the drive back, just to get home as quickly as we could.  We did look for several geocaches at rest stops, and a few others along the way, but mostly we just drove home. 

Geocaching at Hole N The Rock

The first day, Saturday, was a shorter day on the road.  We had breakfast in the car, lunch in Moab, an oil change in Cortez, Colorado, dinner along the side of the road somewhere in New Mexico, then we stayed the night in Albuquerque. 

Christian really did great on the road trip, here he’s just relaxing reading a book!

We found one geocache at a random statue off the side of the road in New Mexico.  Odd, but beautiful!

Our last day, Sunday, we stuck to the freeways to maximize rest stops, but made one quick detour in El Paso to see the house where I had spent my high school years.

We then continued along I-10 all the way across Texas to get home at 1am on Monday morning.

Lots of miles with nothing but huge windmills

I think by the end of the trip, we were ALL tired of being in the car, (we drove A LOT this trip, not just to Utah and back but to the Uintah’s, Provo, Pocatello, etc..) but I was thoroughly impressed with my kids and how well they handled our cross-country road trip.  Although I never want to do this again while I’m 7 months pregnant, I’m sure we’ll make the drive to Utah several times in the next 20 years and see all the sights there are to see between Texas and Utah!

Vacation in Utah–Part 7

As our last 2 days in Utah rolled around we knew we wanted to continue spending time with our family as much as we could.  Thursday we were lucky to get to go swimming at Michelle and Andrew’s neighborhood pool again and Lis and Tiffani and the cousins came with us.  We had a great time, but unfortunately, didn’t take any pictures, we were just too busy having fun! 

That night we went out to dinner with my Aunt Lou and Uncle LeRoy and Aunt Karen and although Aaron got sick again at dinner, we had a good time. 

Friday, our last day in town, Grammy took the day off to play with us and and she and Lis came with us to go to the children’s museum, Discovery Gateway.  Having never been there before we were very impressed with how many different sections there were and the kids had so much fun! 

Brian riding the horse

Aaron loved playing at the grocery store

They all loved the magnetic wall with the pipes

Christian was just happy to be playing!

We then had lunch at Gandolfo’s then hung out with the cousins for a few more hours. 

Christian loved being bounced on the trampoline

The entire family picked up some take out and we met at Sugarhouse Park to eat and play for the rest of the evening.  Whether looking for another geocache, playing frisbee, playing on the playground, or sitting around talking, it was wonderful. 

Evidently watching people come down the slide was very exciting

We went back to Matt and Tiff’s for a family prayer and to give me a priesthood blessing before our drive back to Texas. 

It’s always hard to say goodbye, especially since we don’t know when we’ll see everyone again next.  We had a wonderful vacation and felt very lucky to have been able to spend as much time with our family as we did.  Thanks to everyone for their hospitality and patience dealing with an uncomfortable pregnant woman on this trip.  We love you all and “I’m glad you’re mine!”

Vacation in Utah–Part 6

Tuesday we got up early, played at the playground of Paul’s elementary school, then headed to Provo to drive around BYU. 

Paul showed the boys all around the Tanner building where he had many of his business classes, then we looked around the Hinkley Alumni Center which was really very pretty.  Then we headed to the Wilkinson Center to the bookstore where we bought shirts for all 4 of our little boys and Paul got himself 2 new shirts and a hat!  Then off to lunch and some ice cream from the BYU creamery which we ate on the grass outside and enjoyed being on the beautiful campus (despite all the EFY kids milling about!)

Before we went home we decided to drive the alpine loop.  We stopped at Bridal Falls and a few other picturesque locations.  It really was gorgeous. 

After hanging out with the cousins for a while and going out to eat together we met most of the rest of the family at the Salt Lake Bees baseball game.  They had a great playground which the kids loved and a train which they could ride behind the outfield.  We sat most of the game behind the outfield and the boys had fun rolling down the hill and getting to run around.  At the end we moved to some seats and when a foul ball was hit in our section, the man who got it gave the ball to Aaron. He was very excited!  We also saw one of our favorite former Astros, and were very happy that the Bees won! 

Wednesday we were excited to go see  Great-Grandma Thomas in Pocatello, but we took the opportunity to drive through Logan first to show the kids the USU campus and to visit a friend for lunch.   After driving around campus, we got out and walked to the new engineering building then over to the quad to see Old Main.  Then we walked through the student center and stopped in the bookstore.  I got myself a new shirt and Paul got himself a USU hat.  (the kids already had t-shirts!) 

We then met one of my college friends, Melanie Mason, for lunch.  It had been several years since I had seen her and while we do our best to keep in touch, it was nice to be together, even if only for half an hour or so. 

On the way up to Pocatello, we stopped at the cemetery in Preston to see my grandparents headstones, then drove past their home in Banida.  I have lots of great memories of spending time up there as a child and as a college student!

Once we arrived at Great-Grandma Thomas’s house in Pocatello the kids were very tired of being in the car and Brian was bouncing off the walls!  Christian needed a diaper change and we had used our last diaper, so we all headed off to the grocery store to buy more before we had ice cream with Grandma at Artic Circle.  We had a great time with Great-Grandma Thomas and are glad we made the drive up to see her.

That night Aaron and Brian had a sleep-over at their cousins house.  It was really their first sleep-over ever!  They had a great time though and everything went well.  They played a lot of Wii games and Aaron loved learning to play Rummikub!  Thanks to Tiffani for being such a great Aunt to our boys and letting the kids play together so much!

Vacation in Utah–Part 5

After attending church with Paul’s parents on Sunday, we all met together to go to the Uintah's.  Well, actually not all of us were able to go, the sickness that had been plaguing Aaron and I had hit Kate and Sara, so they stayed home together while we went. 

On the drive up we stopped at the Wal-mart in Evanstan, WY to buy a few things and for some bathroom breaks.  It brought back memories of when Paul and I were first engaged and we bought me a temporary engagement ring in Evanston before we met his whole extended family at Bear Lake.  I didn’t want to meet everyone without a ring!

We soon got to the Moore Mountain View cabin in the beautiful Uintah Mountains.  The cabin belongs to Paul’s brother’s wife’s family and we were happy they were willing to share with us!  I think the only complaint anyone had while there was that the mosquitos were abundant.

Once we arrived we quickly began making some dinner and boy did we eat good food!

We went for a walk as a family (at least those that wanted to went),

but mostly we just spent time together having fun and playing games.  That night Matt and his family went home and Grandpa went with them.

The rest of us stayed up late watching a movie, doing some light writing and star gazing. 

The next morning we went for another walk and were excited to see two moose out grazing.

That afternoon Andrew and Michelle took the Thomas family out on the four-wheelers.  We had a great time and Paul and I saw two more Moose and a deer.  It was gorgeous.

While out on the 4-wheelers we even took the time to find a geocache.  Paul is really getting into geocaching if you can’t tell!

The rest of the time we were up there we ate and played games

and read, and relaxed.  We had a wonderful time.  Thanks Michelle and your family for sharing your cabin with us while we were in town! 

Vacation in Utah–Part 4

Saturday was another highlight of our vacation, attending the Thomas Family Reunion. The boys started early in the morning with golf. Aaron was very excited to go to a real golf course and he and Paul, Matt and Abe had a 6:30am tee time. It was gorgeous weather and they had a great time. Once they got home, Grammy and the boys and I attended their “Neighborhood Breakfast” at the church. There was good food and Paul got to see lots of people from his ward and neighborhood he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Then we drove out to a park in Sandy for the Family Reunion. Several of Paul’s Aunts and Uncles and Cousins with their families were able to attend and it was great seeing everyone again. We really wish we were able to attend every year. Everyone brought good food and we spent a couple hours sitting around talking and eating before we utilized the local swimming pool. Christian had no fear and loved jumping in the pool, while Aaron enjoyed the waterslide repeatedly.

Paul & Christian playing catch

Andrew & Brian playing horseshoes

Matt, Charlie & Abe throwing the frisbee

Brothers.  David & Alan

Second-Cousins, Lexi & Christian

Once we went home and cleaned up we dropped the kids off with their cousins (with Kate as babysitter!) and the family attended a session at the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple. Having never been to this temple before we were impressed with it’s beauty, and especially how when we were finished and walked outside again we saw a beautiful view of the valley including 2 other temples all lit up and shining. 

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Chick-Fil-A and found ourselves visiting and laughing until after closing time. 

It was a great day with family.  

Vacation in Utah–Part 3

Thursday we spent the morning walking around Temple Square. It was one of the highlights of our whole trip. The South Visitors center has a model of the Salt Lake Temple with cut-outs on 2 sides showing what the temple looks like inside. There were also interactive kiosks (and Sister Missionaries) to explain what happens in each area of the temple. If you haven’t seen it yourself, I highly recommend it, or at least look at the website which is also awesome!  After we left the South Visitors center, we met some sweet Sister Missionaries who took us to the North Visitors center and showed us the new presentation called “The Family Is Central to God’s Plan.” AMAZING presentation! Go see it if you get a chance!  We thoroughly enjoyed all out time on temple square and we also got to meet up with Andrew for a little while as he works close by and it was a great morning.

After leaving downtown we drove out to Sandy to meet up with one of Paul’s college friends, Susan Gedris. Right as we were arriving to have lunch, Aaron got sick, which necessitated an emergency trip to Wal-Mart and more laundry! We went to a park to visit and eat lunch and enjoy the gorgeous weather and it was good to catch up with our friend. That evening I stayed home with the boys and Paul and Grandpa went to watch Matt and Andrew play a doubles tennis match.

Friday Grammy took the day off work and we went to see the new movie Cars 2 with Michelle, Lis, Tiffany, Kate and Lucy. The boys liked it but Chris wanted to spend more time in the hallway with the arcade car game than in the movie theatre watching Cars. After the movie we drove to In-N-Out Burger for lunch then just hung out for the rest of the day. In the evening I put Christian to bed while the rest of the group went to Abe’s last baseball game (which they won!)

(Sorry for the lack of pictures…I promise there will be more tomorrow!)

Vacation in Utah–Part 2

Tuesday we had a more relaxing day, pedicures in the morning, and hanging out with Michelle, Lis and Sara. I started some laundry (some of you have already heard about the one blue crayon in the dryer full of white clothes incident!) did some grocery shopping (Great Harvest Bread Co smelled SO good!), went out to dinner at Café Rio, went to Abe’s little league baseball game, and got sick. At first I thought it was just feeling uncomfortably pregnant, but it turned out to be some sort of stomach bug that got passed around the family. Not so much fun.

After loosing my dinner in the grass I felt better just in time to see Abe hit a walk-off single to win the game in extra innings. The whole team hoisted him on their shoulders and gave him the nick-name “Abe Ruth.” Aaron had prayed at lunch that Abe would “do well at his baseball game” and was so excited that Heavenly Father had answered his prayer, and that the answer was yes!

Wednesday, I didn’t leave the house, as I was still recovering from feeling sick, but Paul and his sisters took the boys geocaching at a local park and swimming at Andrew and Michelle’s condo’s pool with the other cousins.

Vacation in Utah–Part 1

We had a GREAT time on our family vacation in Utah and we have LOTS to blog about.  I’ll divide this up into several shorter blogs and spread this out over a few days instead of trying to write one massive post!  You will see we spent A LOT of time with the family, which is exactly what we wanted to do. 

For those not familiar with the Thomas Family, here’s the breakdown.

• Matt and Tiffany have 4 kids.  Kate (12) Abe (9) Charlie (7) and Lucy (5)

• Then us – Paul and Jen with Aaron (7) Brian (4) Christian (1)

• Lis
• Andrew and Michelle
• Sara

We got to Grammy and Grandpa’s house on Fathers Day, just in time for dinner! Everyone came over that evening to hang out and to try to plan what we wanted to do in the next few weeks.  The kids loved being together again and it was awesome how well they played together even after having not seen each other in a year and a half. 

Monday most of us went to This is the Place Monument – Heritage Park.  I had never been there before at all, and they have developed a wonderful living history attraction with storied accounts of the settlement of the West, told by  knowledgeable interpreters in a setting of original and replica historic homes. We had so much fun!  We learned about stamping leather, tin-smithing, panning for gold, a one room school house and lots of other fun things.  The highlights of the excursion, by far, were the little train we rode around a track (and shouted in the tunnel) and the petting zoo.  They had several farm animals roaming around a large pen, and we all went in to play.  Christian especially, was so cute as he chased the piglets around!  They squealed – He squealed.  Fun was had by all. 

The train we were riding, with the view of the town in the background

Still on the train, coming out of the tunnel

Inside the one room school house

Aaron and Brian doing their school work on slates

Abe had to wear the dunce cap!

Aaron and Charlie riding the horses

Brian petting a lamb

Christian chasing the pigs

Cousins  jumping the creek

Kate giving Aaron a piggy back ride

That night everyone came back over for a family home evening and it was wonderful getting to be together with so much family.