Utah Vacation

After Jayce's last board exam we took a road trip to Utah for the 4th. It was a great, easy-going, fun trip. The 4th of July is probably my second favorite holiday. I love it and I wanted to spend it in Utah because I just feel like nobody does the 4th like Provo.

This spot is a little gem that Lindsey found on our last trip to Utah for Scott's wedding. It's this hidden parking area behind one of the gas stations. It's big and cars don't really go back there, so we can eat and let the kids run around for a little bit.

The Fourth. Can I just put in a big "if you're ever in Utah for July 4th, do the Freedom Run" plug? An awesome 5k. Swag wise we got nice shirts, fun patriotic socks, and medals (who gives medals for 5k's?!). The best part is that the race route is the parade route. For those of you who have never experienced Provo on the 4th of July, at 9:00 a.m. there is a big parade. The night before the parade people go down to the parade route and camp out for the night. So, running the race before the parade, the route is already full of onlookers who have staked out their spots. People are clapping for you and cheering you on almost the whole race and there are several music stations playing fun patriotic jams. It's like having the finish line with you the whole race.

The parade was great as usual. The highlight was watching this smoking hot 1st Attendant to Miss Provo come down the route! That's my sister-in-law! No big deal!

 Then we came home and showered and dressed into our matching family tie-dye shirts!!

We did these for FHE on Monday night and in my head I was expecting something like this:

Clear colors. Patriotic tie-dye shirts of freedom and glory.

But because I'm me (or maybe because we had cheap dye) I end up with these:

White, yellow, blue, green, and red. Betsy Ross would be ashamed.

(In case you're wondering, yes, that is part of the view from my in-laws deck.)

S'mores for dinner? Yes, please.

Grand finale was watching the Stadium of Fire fireworks from Jayce's Nana's backyard. An exhausting but really excellent Fourth.

 Other family outings included but were not limited to:

Going to the splash pad and watching Grampy and Grammy get soaking wet in a full out water war and then getting frozen yogurt.

Hanging around enjoying not being at a study desk:

Watching Glenna and Blaire Porter open their mission call. They are going to Santa Rosa, CA and they report August 11. We will be staying in their house while they serve the Lord for the next couple of years for Jayce's rotations. It's amazing how this has worked out so well. We feel lucky to be able to put the pieces together and see how the Lord's hand has been fitting everything together for us and for Glenna and Blaire.

Cameron, Porter, and Brooklynn went on a treasure hunt while we were in Santaquin.

Thanks to the heat and the 1.5 mile loop they were on, it sounds like these might have been the only smiles they produced. Another grandkid adventure for the books though!

Visiting campus for lunch at the Cannon Center!!! Thanks David for sharing some of your "monopoly money" and thanks Mom and Dad Porter for getting him the Dinning Plus meal plan!

 "I love to see BYU campus, I'm going there someday..."

"For the campus is an awesome place, a place of fun and cougars..."

I'm just a little in love with my alma mater.

Fun at the...lake? Pond? I don't know, but it was fun!

World's best snow cones after the lake.

 Parent bragging moment. Cameron went down the water slide at Grammy and Grampy's pool. He was accompanied, and Jayce kind of had to keep wiggling to keep them moving down, but he went down a slide! He's so brave.

Um, probably one of the cutest moments of the trip. Dad Porter told the kids that he would take them out in the Rhino (a 4-wheeler/mini Jeep looking thing) one at a time around the neighborhood when he got home from work that day. They were all really excited about it the whole day. Problem #1: Turns out the Rhino is broken. Slight complication. They get it out of the garage and it starts leaking gas and then just stops working all-together. Problem #2: My in-laws are re-doing a bunch of stuff in their backyard and there was a big ordeal with a digger and not being able to find a water pipe underground. A "half the yard on the side of my house has been dug up all day and there's still no pipe??" situation. 

So, he had been at work all day, he came home to this big problem with their plans for the yard, turns out his 4-wheeler is broken, he wants to do something with the kids but he also needs to figure the yard stuff out while the guys he needs to talk to are there with him...he was probably pretty stressed. 

While he's racing around we give the kids their baths and keep telling them that they'll get to have their Grampy time later. 

Well boy, oh boy did Grampy deliver! He comes in after figuring out the yard stuff around 7:30, loads the three older kids into the car and drives them down to the grocery store. This all happened while Jayce and I were putting the twins to bed, so we came up to find no children. Our parent instincts kicked in with the questions. "He took all three by himself?? Did he put them in their car seats? He's taking all three of them into the grocery store by himself?!" Yes, yes, and yes. A little over an hour later the kids come running through the door with big smiles on their faces and swinging bags of candy in their hands. Grampy put them in one of the big carts with the car that kids can sit in, strolled them to the candy aisle, and let them pick out their favorite treats. It was so darling to hear about it!!! They were all set for their car trips the next day. Cameron told me it was his favorite part of the day when I put him to bed that night.

Another successful car trip down, one more to go!