Visiting the Allreds in UTAH

 We just got home from a super fun trip to Utah. This trip was a little last minute but I'm so glad we made it happen. I actually ended up driving the kids and myself alone. Chris couldn't come so I drove the whole way myself. The kids were champs and they did awesome. 
We drove to Uncle David and Aunt Michelle's house on the first day. Then we arrived at Aunt Sarah's house on August 2nd and surprised the cousins. We snuck in through the basement and went upstairs to surprise them and it was so cute. Tanner yelled "the fun has arrived" and everyone was giggling and screaming. It was so cute. 
We got there in time for a birthday celebration for Grant and the kids enjoyed spending the beautiful evening together. It was totally worth the drive just to be there to watch Grant blow out his candle in his ninja turtle costume. 

Tuesday morning I woke up early to go buy some donuts for Bailey. We celebrated her 10th birthday in Utah and she was quite thrilled about it. We got two dozen donuts and they were all fun flavors and she loved it. 

After a very sugary breakfast we headed up to Provo to explore the BYU campus and see where Uncle Johnny works now. These cutie cousins had a great time exploring together. 

Can you spy  the"Y" on the mountain behind those cute heads?

We also explored the science building

These sweet sister-cousins were having the best time learning hand claps together. I love their sweet relationship. 

Next we hit up the bookstore. We shopped, bought all the candy and each kid picked out a souvenir. 

Who knows if my kids will decide to go to BYU, but they were big fans of the cougar statues around campus. 

After exploring campus, we went to "Sushi Ya" for lunch. We ordered a ton of sushi and the kids were thrilled. 

After lunch we went to Thanksgiving Point and did the butterfly palace. 

We had a great time exploring 

My kids really loved letting this gross cockroach climb all over them.

We went into the butterfly preserve afterwards and there were literally butterflies everywhere. 

We spent a while catching and holding the butterflies. It was pretty fun. 

 

We explored for a few hours at the exhibit and then we headed back to Aunt Sarah's house. 

We celebrated Bailey's birthday with presents and cake. 

Then we got the kids to bed and did a little photo session with Max. 
The main reason we drove to UT was to be there for Max's baptism. 
So before his baptism on Saturday, we took some pictures at the Provo city center temple. 
Max was a a great sport and we had fun taking these handsome pictures of him. 

Afterwards, we drove over to "Twisted Sugar" to get some cookies and drinks. We figured we had earned them and max was thrilled. 

The next day we all went on a hike up Provo canyon. It wasn't a difficult hike but taking 9 kids anywhere is exhausting. We made it to the waterfall and decided to play there a while. 

Hazel and Benson had a great time collecting sticks and rocks all along the way. 

I sure love these siblings of mine. We were wishing David could have been there, but we enjoyed our time together regardless. 

Benson was thrilled his stick collection. 

Cutie cousins!

After our hike, we ate lunch at the BYU creamery. 
The food was yummy and the company was even better. 

These kids were a little overwhelmed with all the ice cream choices, but eventually we all settled on something delicious. 

After lunch we went back to Aunt Sarah's house and chilled for a little bit. Then we drove up the canyon to take some family pictures. I took a bunch for Aunt Sarah, but I did snag a few cute ones of my own kids too. 

 

We got back late that night and put kids straight to bed. 

The next day we went to "Splash Summit" waterpark. 

We had a great time but I think the kids enjoyed the wave pool the best. 

They loved holding onto these handrails and letting the waves wash over them. They were all giggling so hard. It was pretty cute!

Later we did the lazy river and some slides. 

Aunt Sarah took the bigger kids on the tube slides while I took the youngers kids to do the small ones. 
Then we met back up and watched the big kids finish their rides. 

Eventually we ate our lunch. We packed a picnic lunch and ate outside the park. 

Then it was right back inside for more slides and wave pool fun.

These four were so brave and did the big mat slide and raced down it to the bottom. I couldn't believe it. I was way too scared for that one. 

we had a great time playing together. The fires and smoke on the mountains may have taken a year off our lives  due to smoke inhalation but it was worth it. 

We drove back home via "Swig" and got all the kids yummy drinks too. 
Of course, Grant and Benson couldn't stay awake. Too much fun for those cuties. 

We hung out that night and let the kids play together. We did pizza and  movie. Grant and I got to put together his Lego set that I got him  for his birthday. 

Friday morning Aunt Sarah and I rented an inflatable paddle board, aqua pad and a kayak.

The rental shop was right next to this little herb shop and we had to get a picture in front of it for Dad. 

Then we headed over to the reserve where we played and played. 
It took Sarah and I a while to get everything inflated. We had to take turns using the pumps to inflate the equipment and counting heads to make sure no kids were drowning. 
We were exhausted by the time we finished prepping everything. But, the kids had a great time so that made it worth it.

 

The kids learned how to use the paddle board and I was so proud of them for working hard to figure it out and not giving up. 

Even Tucker enjoyed the paddleboard. 

 

These two cuties had the best time kayaking around together. It was pretty cute!

Sarah and I were so exhausted by the end of the day but it was so fun. 

Saturday morning we all got ready and got to attend Max's baptism. 
It was a beautiful program and the spirit was there in abundance. 

We were so grateful that we were able to be there. 
I sure love my little nephew and I'm so proud of him for making this decision. 

We went back to Aunt Sarah's house afterwards for a luncheon and got to hang out with some of Uncle Johnny's family. 

That evening we went to this really fun park in Spanish fork. 
This park was awesome and the kids played and played. 

It was both a playground and a splash pad. It was so cool. 

 

Oh and Bailey got to try out her new rollerblades that she got for her birthday. 

We had a great time playing and it was the perfect way to end a great day. 

On Sunday we went to church with the Allreds and then just hung out together. We prepped to leave and just let the kids spend the last bit of time together. 

Monday morning we loaded up and started the long drive back home. 
We did stop again at Uncle David and Aunt Michelle's house and then we arrived home late last night. 

We had so much fun in Utah. I feel that making an effort to see family and keep our kids close with their cousins is so important. We are grateful they feel the same. 
Until next time Allreds! We love you!