Spring Break in Utah

We just got home from a wonderful trip to Utah. We left Friday (the 15th -yes on my birthday) and drove for 5 hours. Then Saturday we woke up early and drove all day to arrive at Aunt Natalie and Uncle Brad's house around 6 pm. It was so fun to see them and the kids were so happy to be out of the car.

Honestly they did amazing on the drive and even though Benson was young, he did pretty good.

On Sunday we woke up and drove to Rexburg, ID. We've been excited to back since we graduated!

We met our friends, the Mattsons, for lunch first. We use to hang out with them all the time in college. They were married when Chris and I met and we hung out with them all the time while we dated. Now they have three kids so between the two families we have 7 kids.

I don't think I could have ever pictured us having this many kids between us 14 years ago when we were hanging out together. It's crazy how much life changes over time. 

 We had a great time walking around campus and seeing how much it has changed. The kids loved playing in the snow in the garden. 

Here is our family all together at the spot where Chris proposed 12 years ago.

We met walking through the gardens on campus in October 2005 and 1 1/2 years later he proposed in the gardens on Feb 15, 2007

It's crazy how much our life has changed since college. But I wouldn't trade this family and husband of mine for anything. They are the best!

We walked all around campus and reminisced about our time at BYU-Idaho. All the while, the kids were developing their own cute little friendships. Bailey really love walking Ellie around with Emma.  

Bailey was a bit obsessed with cute little Ellie. 

John and Tucker became fast friends and enjoyed running around and playing in the snow together.

Benson enjoyed exploring on his Daddy's shoulders.

Here we are, back where our story began- the BYU-I campus.

After campus we went and saw the Rexburg Temple. We were there when it was completed but we moved soon after. Seems like a lifetime ago. 

Then we took the kids over to Porter Park. Porter park is where Chris and I had our second date. We went to dinner and then to the park to walk around and talk. We ended up talking for hours and that's when I knew that we would be friends. He was so easy to talk to and he made me laugh so much. 

The kids had a blast but got so wet from all the melting snow. Their little feet were soaked. 

Before leaving we got to see our favorite babysitter. Haven is currently finishing her Freshman year at BYU-Idaho and I texted her when we decided to go visit and we decided that we had to see her while we were in Rexburg. 

She came to the park and played and chatted with us. The kids were so excited.

We just love Haven!

Before leaving Idaho, we had to drive up to St. Anthony and see our first home. This is the house we lived in after we got married and until I graduated in Dec. 2008. 

Here we are back in 2008. The house was tan back then, but not much else has changed. 

It was so weird to be back in the little town of St. Anthony. Nothing in that town has changed. It was crazy. 

After St. Anthony we grabbed some dinner and then drove back to Logan. We arrived around 8:30 pm and found that Mimi and Grandpa had also arrived at Aunt Natalie and Uncle Brad's house. 

It was such a fun surprise. The kids were so excited that it was difficult to get them to bed.

The next morning was Monday. We hung around the house and the kids played. They love Aunt Natalie and Uncle Brad's house. They could play all day there. 

We went to the "Beehive Grill" for lunch. It was delicious and the kids enjoyed some gelato after their meals. 

Monday afternoon we drove up the mountains to a small ski resort called "Cherry Peak". We went tubing and had so much fun playing in the snow.

It was pretty warm for the snow so the tube tracks were slick and we were flying down the hills. It was hilarious and so fun. 

Chris went so fast. It was so funny to watch him fly down the hill. 

Tucker went down the hill once and he was done with the big tube tracks. He did not enjoy going so fast. So he played on the bunny hills and in the snow. 

Love this little man of mine. He's learning to be brave and try new things even though he doesn't always want to. 

With that being said, he loved the smaller hills and was so content playing and feeling safe. 

Benson went down twice but he also was not a big fan. 

He started crying on his second run down and after that Chris and I took turns holding him and playing with him. 

He enjoyed the little bunny hills with Tucker. 

Bailey, however, went down the tubing hills over and over again. Her and Maureen played for hours together. They loved it. 

Tanner also loved tubing. Paul had gotten in trouble earlier that day, so he didn't get to come tubing with us and Tanner was bummed. But he still had a great time. He went down the hills with the girls and had a blast. 

This guy. He's my favorite. I love vacation Chris. He so fun and relaxed on vacation.

                           We had fun playing with all our kids and enjoying the afternoon together.

Then on Tuesday we explored Mendon. Mendon is a small town outside Wellsville (which is where Brad and Natalie live). Mendon was settled by Latter-day saint pioneers.
The first mayor was the leader of one of the most famous handcart companies. His name was James G. Willie. The Willie handcart company suffered many hardships on their trek to Utah.
We explored the little town and hung out with Aunt Natalie while her kids were at school. 

We played at the little local park. The kids loved it. 

I love watching Tanner be a big brother. It's so cute. 

Benson is obsessed with my camera. He loves it. I love this little picture of him. 

This was the house of James G. Willie. 

After playing at the park, Aunt Natalie took us to the cemetery.

We walked around the cemetery and learned about many of the pioneers that passed away during or after the trek west.

Here is the headstone of James Willie. 

Many of the headstones of the early pioneers had these cool markers on them. 

After the cemetery tour, Aunt Natalie left to pick up her kids from school and we drove over to Utah State University to explore and we had to get some Aggie ice cream. 

Then we met the family at Crystal Hot Springs to play. Crystal Hot Springs is a mineral springs and it ranges in temperatures between 120-134 degrees and it contains the highest mineral content found in any hot springs in the world.

We had a lot of fun. There were actually hot and cold springs and the cold springs had water slides attached. Tanner and Bailey loved that.

Tucker mostly hung out with Benson, Daddy and I. 

Bailey loved how weightless she was because of all the minerals. 

Paul and Tanner had a lot of fun playing on the water slides together. 

Bailey surprised me with how fearless she was. Those slides were fast and she loved it. 

We had so much fun. We were all super dehydrated after wards but it was totally worth it.

Then we went back to Natalie and Brad's for pizza.

Wednesday morning we met my old roommate, Kelsey Ewing, in Logan to explore downtown

together. I haven't seen Kelsey since her mission farewell in 2008. So crazy. It was so fun to see her and catch up!

Our first stop was the Logan Tabernacle. We were able to get a private tour and it was so cool. We learned so much about the building and early saints. 

I mean how amazing are the organ pipes.

Seriously, what  cool building. 

Our next stop was the "Bluebird" restaurant . This cafe is historic was built nearly 100 years ago.

It had a cute little candy shop inside and the kids each picked out a yummy treat. 

The kids made fast friends with Kelsey's cute kiddos. Kobe is a little older than Tucker and Lyla is 4.

Wednesday evening I was able to meet up with Kelsey for dinner. We ate dinner at "The Ranch House"  and talked for hours. It was so fun. We had recently reconnected through marco polo. But it was so fun to get to chat in person. We had a lot of catching up to do. 

Wednesday night, Phillip, Stephanie and their family arrived at Brad and Natalie's house.
It was so fun to have the whole family together. 

On Thursday morning Chris and I woke up early and drove down to Salt Lake City. We were able to do a endowment session at the Salt Lake Temple. I've never been to the Salt Lake Temple and I'd always wanted to go. This temple was amazing. The intricate details, down to even the doorknobs were amazing. It was such an amazing experience.
Uncle Brad and Aunt Natalie drove down with our kids in tow, and Stephanie and Phillip drove down with their family and we all met at Temple square after our session.
We explored all over and had the best time. 

We started out at the South Visitors center. It was so cool to see the model of Old Jerusalem since we've been studying the New Testament this year. 

We did our best to get a picture of all the cousins in front of the Christus statue.
9 cousins ages 9 and under- it wasn't easy. lol 

We also snagged a picture of our family too

Benson took this picture and I thought it was so funny. 

Then we walked around the portraits that depicted Christ's life and other stories in the scriptures. 

Then we ended our time by watching a sweet video about eternal families. It was so sweet. 

Next, we went to the old Tabernacle and listened to a bit of a tour. 

Then we headed over to the North Visitors Center. 

We enjoyed the hands on fun at this visitors center.  

This model of the Salt Lake temple was so fun. The kids loved getting to see what it looked like on the inside. 

And Tucker enjoyed the pioneer displays. 

They hauled granite from the quarry to build the temple and it took 40 years to complete. 

Then we walked around the temple some more and got to see more than one bride taking her bridal pictures. The kids loved the stairs and huge front doors of the temple. 

This picture makes me want to cry. I just know that I'm going to blink and shes going to be entering the temple for youth baptism trips and then for her own endowment and then her wedding.
I can't handle it. 

Here's all the kids outside the temple. 

And family shots in front of the temple. 

Benson really enjoyed hanging out on Daddy's shoulders. 

Our last stop was the Family History Center. Tanner loved discovering that he is related to Joseph Smith. 

There was also a cute kids play area where Benson and Tucker played happily for over an hour. 

Bailey enjoyed reading every single book that was on display. 

She's such a cute little bookworm. 

Tucker loved dressing up and digging into history. 

Oh and we grabbed some BYU creamery ice cream before leaving temple square.
So yummy!

Then we met Mimi and Grandpa at "The Ranch House" for dinner.
We were such a huge group. It was nice that we were able to call ahead and get seated right away when we arrived. Dinner was delicious. 

Friday morning the husbands went out to go shooting together and Chris bought a new gun. He was so excited about his new purchase. 

Then when they came home, the Mommies left to do some shopping. 

We also enjoyed a stop by "Crumble"- a delicious cookie shop. Seriously so delicious. 

We came home to the husbands making dinner and the kids playing happily together. 

We've had such a great trip and it was so fun that we got to see all the Herbs together. 

We had to grab one picture in front of Brad and Natalie's house. 

After dinner the kids all enjoyed ice cream cones. 

And then we ended the night by having a root beer taste testing. The kids loved it. 

The "Brigham's Brew" was enjoyed the most. 

Then we had the kids all say their goodbyes and we let them have a sleepover/movie night for their last night together. 

The next morning, Saturday, we left to drive home around 4:30 am. It was freezing and snowing and we were anxious to get out of the bad weather. Once we made it over the Logan pass things were fine. 

We actually stopped in Denver to see Uncle David and Aunt Michelle. We had lunch together and it was so fun to get to see them. 

We drove until 8 pm or so that night and got a hotel. We only had 5 hours to go the next day.
The kids love hotels so much. They were so happy to be out of the car after a long day of traveling. 

And they were even more happy to be home the next day and out of the car for good. 

We had a wonderful trip and it was totally worth the drive to get to see everyone.
We don't have plans to go to Oregon this year, so this was our only chance to see everyone. 

I'm so glad we were able to go. I love watching my kids culture their relationships with the cousins. It's so adorable.
It was definitely a fun spring break!