Summer of 2011 in Utah

Oak is my youngest brother and always has the "cool stuff". Probably cuz he's spoiled. haha...just kidding. The guy can "sell and Eskimo ice". He always seems to have anything he wants and puts his mind to. We all get a little envious cuz it seems like life is "easy" for him.....but all the same, we just LOVE him! We all had to take a turn in his jeep and then some of us even drove it. THis is his "fun" jeep. He actually drives a zippy little car, which is nice, but this is just for kicks.

 

Everyone that sees these 2 together say they look so alike! It's funny when someone from my past sees Eli and they say "oh my goodness! He is a total JEfferies!" Or when we went to visit Oak in Ca....when they saw Eli they would say "WOW! He is a mini Oak!" Ü We love it when Oak comes to town to visit. He lives up in Vernal right now, but comes down to see us when we are there.

 

We have no family here in Arizona, so we try to go to Utah and California a couple of times a year to see everyone and keep our bonds strong. THe kids are really good sports, but from time to time they say "do we HAVE to drive this time?" "Can't we just take an airplane?" I let them know I have more time than money and then they say "Ok".....The drive is pretty long. About 12 hours to Utah and 14 hours to CA....but they seem to keep busy with their music or video games. I've got a bunch of great kids....

 

Grandma is always playing games or having a craft for the kids to do when they come up to visit. OR she likes to bake with them. I'm glad they are able to get to know her even though we live so many miles away.
THis summer Abbie also lost her first front tooth. It's funny, it seems like my kids lose teeth on trips. I guess that just keeps things exciting!

 

When I lived in Utah, I think I took for granted all the things there were to do there. Especially taking advantage of church sites. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a broadcast every Sunday up at the Conference Center. It televised every week. THere are huge buses of people dropped off all the time. Well, I wanted my kids to experience the Conference Center. To see where the Prophet and his apostles speak from and to hear the MOTAB choir in person. It was a truly wonderful experience. Now when the kids watch conference every 6 months, they can picture exactly where it is and know they have been there. I think it's so important to give the kids experiences like that.

 

On the way home, we stopped again at Cove Fort cuz they mentioned there would be free hot dogs on that day. How cheap am I? I can't even remember why they were doing it. Maybe it was their anniversary or something. Hahaha....but we stopped to eat a free lunch and then noticed a guy making pottery. I told the kids that's why my dad does is throw pottery on a wheel. We started watching him and found out that he and my dad are friends from college. I had to call my dad to tell him I met Andy Watson, the guy that I heard about growing up.

 

I love being with my family. I guess I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I did. I look forward to hanging out with my sisters and being with the cousins. I guess we just get so busy having fun that I forget to take pictures! Next time.

Nana Grandma's Idea for a Rest Stop on the Way to Utah!

There is a little place that the church owns called Cove Fort. It is a couple of hours away from my parents house and my mom called to tell us that we should stop here and visit it.

 

I could be getting my facts mixed up, but I think President Hinckley's Grandfather owned this. IT was a rest stop in between Salt Lake and St. George. And a safe place from the Indians. Correct me if I'm wrong. We had a fun time stopping over there. I tried to imagine us really having to travel in a covered wagon. Doesn't sound too fun!

 

Can't believe what the pioneers went through!!!

 

Thanks Grandma. Great idea!

I Love to See the Temple!

I made a New Years Resolution to get back on blogging at least once a week. Now I know why I quit! I am SOOOOOO behind! I made the mistake of voicing my resolution in front of my friend Sara, and she of course asked me why I haven't started yet, so here it goes. And thank you Sara for getting me started again! I'm sure the next couple of months are going to be old news, but stuff I want to include for my kids.

 

I LOVE the temple! I have really come to be much more familiar with it in the last couple of years and have really looked forward to having Mason turn 12 so I could take him to the temple. I think it's so important for my children to gain their own testimony of the temple and not just rely on their parents'. Summer of 2011 we went up to Utah to visit my family. We stopped on the way to visit David's brother Greg and his family in St. George Utah.
I was so excited for Mason to do baptisms while we made our one day stop. He is such a good kid and a great example. He seemed to really like it. That temple is gorgeous. It's one of the first temples, so the architecture is amazing and it's just fun to learn about some of our church history. The cousins came and met up with us so here they are sitting as high up and in the shade as they can since it was such a hot, sunny day! There aren't very many temples that you can go up on steps and sit on the.

 

On our trip another temple that we HAD to go to was the Salt Lake City, Utah Temple. I LOVE THIS TEMPLE! I may be a little partial cuz this is where David and I got married, but when you look at this magnificent structure, you can't help but be in AWE!

 

So far, the temples Mason has gone to do baptisms in are Mesa, AZ....St. George, UT....Salt Lake City, UT...and MT. Timpanogas. Not bad! He is the Deacon's Quorum President right now and is being a great leader! Hope to have many more temple trips and can't wait for Eli to turn 12 in 13 months!!!!