Another Trip to Utah

What is this...like our tenth trip to Utah this year?? Close. But it is so tempting to just hop down there for long weekends and vacations because Provo is only 4 hours away and we have lots and lots of family in a small radius.

So for the first few days of Harvest Break (our Potato Picking vacation) the kids and I headed down for a few days of Family Time. Sadly, Eric had to stay and work.

Now one of the main reasons we went down there was to spend some quality time with my Grandma Jensen. She is about to have her 90th Birthday and I wanted to give the kids a chance to spend some time with her and Grandpa, creating more memories and just chatting with their great-grandparents. We did have an opportunity to do that, which I am grateful for, but I am kicking myself because I didn't take any pictures with them. None!!! I'm so mad. So you will just have to take my word for it and imagine the precious moments that each of the kids spent curled up in Grandma's lap telling about their school, their friends, and their life. It was priceless. 

We spent 2 nights at my sister Rachael's house and then 2 nights at my sister Janelle's house. There were lots of great cousin moments. Sadly...this is the only one documented.

I promise they did more than just play on their devices...

this just happened to be the moment I captured because I thought it was funny. 

This may have been Sadie's favorite part of the trip. 

Spending time with Janelle's dog Honey. 

Sadie LOVES Honey and was outside with her every chance she got.

We had a BBQ at my Grandma's house. 

It was so fun to catch up with cousins. 

There happened to be 4 of them in town (granted, 3 of them live in Provo right now, 

but the other one is from Boise and just happened to be there the same weekend we were.) 

Good times!! My auntie is on the far left. 

I am actually closer in age to my aunt then to some of these cousins here --

 my cousin on the left is the same age as Mason! 

So while we may not have a lot in common (yet), I still love them and am always excited to see them.

 Colby up in the tree in Grandma/pa's backyard. I remember watching cousins climb this tree my entire life. It was fun to see my own child enjoying something so full of memories. 

He needed a boost up (as we all did as children) but he took care of the dismount himself. Yikes!

Grandma's backyard was literally crawling with snails. Vanessa's kids were fascinated by them and decided to turn them into pets. They had them crawling all over them and were naming them. 

All I can say is Ewwwwwww.

 On Monday all of the cousins were in school for the day, so I took my kids to do something fun. Janelle was there with her two youngest kids too. This is the COOLEST playground I've ever seen. 

It is so abstract and different and fascinating and weird. 

But it keeps the kids busy and entertained (even Mason) for a long time. 

If you are ever in Spanish Fork...check it out. It is right off the freeway, behind Costco.

 

On our last morning in town we met up with Eric's cousin Lowell and his kids for some doughnuts. We are developing quite the doughnut date tradition with his family and ours! 

Thanks Lowell!!

Other fun things that we did (I'll try to stop whining about not having more pictures):
We took my neice Lauren to Walmart. She is a BYU Freshman without a car so we figured she would enjoy a trip to Walmart. It was actually a lot of fun and the kids had a great time. Sadie attached herself to Lauren and was her little buddy.

I went to the LDS Women's Conference Broadcast in Springville with my sisters. It was a really nice night out away from it all. There was a dinner before hand and we had a great time visiting and catching up without the kids under foot. I wish we could do that more often.

I also got to see my dear friend Jessica in SLC on our way home. It was so fun to see her lovely new home. Thanks for making time for me Jess!!!

We also saw my Aunt Jill,  my Aunt Marde (briefly), and my cousin Russell and his wife for a few moments. Always lots and lots of family when we visit Provo and I always struggle to juggle it all. We packed a lot into 3 1/2 days!! So if we didn't see you this time...we'll try to hit you on our next trip down.