Utah Trip 2011

So now that we are back in sunny California I have the daunting task of trying to recapture the events of the last couple of weeks. We were dreading the drive to and back, but it wasn't that bad and we were very blessed with safety on our trip. We stayed with the Andals for the first night and then headed up to the Salt Lake Valley for the first week. We were trying to remember all of our favorite parts of the trip and there are just so many. Most of all we just loved the time we were able to spend with family.

Emma playing with Cousins at Aunt Gigi's Retirement Party

We loved having a chance to got the Stadium of Fire and watch "The Beach Boys" perform. I had never been the to Stadium of Fire and so the whole experience was a lot of fun for me. Mike of course was excited to see the Beach Boys perform with Brian Wilson. For as old as they are getting I was so impressed with the show. It was so much fun and they had everyone on their feet dancing along. The fireworks weren't too bad either. Thanks to my sister Jackie for watching the kids for us. We got to spend some time with her cute fam as well. 

On Friday we took a trip on the Trax down to Salt Lake so Emma could see the "Lake" Temple.  She keeps telling us that when she is a mommy she is going to get married in the "Lake" temple because it is HER temple.  When we got there she hardly payed any attention too it.  I think the whole trip was pretty overwhelming, but fun.  It was fun having Melodee and Ann with us as well. 

 Saturday we got together with my family and went to the zoo. It was a little crazy trying to keep us all together, but it was fun, especially to see my mom enjoying herself. It had been upwards of 30 years since she had been to Hogle Zoo, such a shame.

 We had a nice time just visiting, getting manicures, and playing games as a family. Thanks to those who were good sports and came and participated. The next few days were unfortunately some of the worst of our trip. Vivian got sick on Saturday night and was vomiting until Thursday. It got too the point where we couldn't keep anything in her so we took her to the ER and she had to have and I.V.. It was so sad to have to hold her down while they tried to put the IV in multiple times. I was just about to hug the sweet nurse who finally got it to stick after 6 attempts. Oh I just shudder at the thought. I HATE IVs. Poor girl. She was so relieved once they got the needle in that she fell right to sleep and was feeling so much better once she was able to get some fluids. We had to keep her on so nausea medicine for a few days, but she is 100% better now. Now she is just teething again and is so cranky, but at least that is normal. I was grateful that my husband and father were able to give her a blessing and that everything turned out o.k.. Thankfully we didn't spend the whole 4 days stuck in the hanger. A lot of time, but not all of it. It was nice to be able to visit with my mom and dad, and we also were able to get some game playing in with the Fonnesbeck boys and Daniel's family as well as Heidi and Owen and my Dad and Dorothy were able to join us for Vivian's birthday party. (More info to come) The rest of our trip was full of fun with the Sharp side of the family. Marnie and Kory were so kind to let us stay with them even with sick kids and it was so nice to be with family and not quarantined. I had been going stir crazy. Thursday we were able to celebrate Mike's brother Matt's marriage. Since he was married in China we had their reception that night and it turned out very nice.

Photo's from China

 My girls loved playing with their cousins and dancing with mom. Emma also got to help her Dad "decorate" Matt's car. Hopefully she won't get any ideas from him.:) Friday we were supposed to head up the canyon for the Sharp family camp out, but Vivian was still not acting quite herself and Emma threw up right before she and Mike were to leave. It was disappointing not being able to spend more time, but it was the best thing for the girls. Saturday morning we got up and headed up the canyon. It was a beautiful camping spot and I was able to go on a fun yet rain soaked hike with the fam while Mike kindly stayed back while Vivian slept and he and Emma were able to go on a "shorter" hike. We had fun playing games while it rained outside, eating and visiting with each other. We were glad that we didn't ever sleep over because I guess they just had pouring rain every night. I don't think I or my children would have been very happy.