The Grand Adventure

So we just got back from a two week trip to Utah. It was quite a trip--it involved hitchhiking, lost credit cards, delayed flights, reckless driving to a wedding, and more. Also, tons of fun! See below for more details! :)






It started with a delayed layover flight from Denver. Our flight didn't leave Denver until 11:30 pm, which is 12:30a.m. Texas time. Which means Caleb had a lot of time to play. He refused to go to sleep--too much excitement. He had a great time pulling our carry-on luggage (he insisted he have zero help) and riding (or, I mean, sprinting) the moving sidewalks. He had quite the audience watching all his antics. He looked hilarious sprinting the moving sidewalks in the middle of the night. He went from one to the other over and over and over and over. He was quite the party animal and didn't go to bed until 4am our time. To his credit he was not grumpy at all and was even good the next day too.


Our next adventure took place in Provo. We met my brother Kip and his (then) fiance Bridget for lunch. I paid for my meal and left the credit card on my tray. I remember seeing Caleb grab it from the tray, but that's the last I remember of it. Later that day, we realized it was nowhere to be found and had to call and cancel it. I guess if you are going to lose a credit card, what better place than on BYU campus, right?



Later that day we left for Riverton to attend Chris's dad's wedding. We left in plenty of time. Plenty of time, that is, if you don't get lost. We had printed directions from online since we weren't familiar with that part of Utah. Well, apparently there is a similar address somewhere in
Draper because our directions were totally wrong. We kept calling people trying to figure out where we were. With a lot of speeding, a few running of red lights, and a couple near accidents, we made it there about two minutes before the wedding was supposed to start. We had a great time. Once we made it there. The wedding was a Hawaiian luau theme and Sheila even made Hawaiian shirts for all the grandkids. After the wedding, they had a celebration which included little pools to swim and water activities. Caleb's favorite water activity was to take out water bottles and throw them back into the container that was keeping them cold.



Things went a little smoother for awhile. We went to see our friends Kirby and Heidi in Franklin, ID. Caleb got to ride a four wheeler and a riding lawn mower for the first time. They also raced Kirby and his two boys Rusty and Bryce around the backyard--one on the four wheeler, one on the lawn mower. Caleb was most disappointed when the rides and races were over!


Caleb also got to ride his first water slide. It was a mistake to take him on it early in our trip to the pool. The minute he got off, he was pointing and running toward the stairs to ride again. I lost track how many times he rode it, but once again, he was very disappointed when the fun had to end.









We were also able to attend our niece, Halee's, baptism. Everything went well for the baptism. The whole trip, we enjoyed visiting lots of family from both sides and lots of friends. And of course, we have to go out to eat when we visit everyone. Our favorite place to eat in Logan is Firehouse Pizza. They have the best focaccia bread and a dessert called a Fazzookie which is a hot cookie served in a skillet just out of the oven with ice cream on top. We hit this place several times during out visit to Logan, UT. :)





Of course a visit with family is not complete without lots of game nights. And game night is not complete without lots and lots of treats. Note the amount of junk food in the pictures. :) And of course, we have to be sarcastic when photographer Chris asks us to smile for a picture. :)

They have a cool new park near Logan, UT where we were staying at my parents house, called Ryan's Place Park. We celebrated the 4,000 family birthdays that all happen to be in July. Caleb had a great time playing with his cousins.

And now for the hitchhiking to the wedding story. So the morning of my brother Kip's wedding, we were just about ready to leave for the temple. Caleb was playing with his cousins and all of the sudden, the fountain turned on. He threw up for the first time. It was EVERYWHERE. I stripped him down and brought him downstairs to Chris and told him what happened. After some discussion, we decided that Chris would stay back and clean up Caleb and the mess and would meet us up there for pictures after. So I left. About ten seconds before the ceremony was about to start, in walks Chris. He had cleaned up the mess and Caleb and looked at the clock and thought he could still make it in time. Only one problem--no transportation. But that didn't stop Chris! There was one car still at my parents house, but he couldn't find the keys anywhere. He called the temple and asked if he could still possibly make it if he got there soon. They told him he had five minutes, and after that, he would be too late. My sister Marci suggested that since there was a big event at the local chuch a couple blocks away, that maybe someone there would give him a ride. Chris sprinted out of my parents house and down the street. There was a car driving by and Chris flagged them down. He explained he was trying to get to a wedding that started in five minutes and the nice lady, Sister Fullmer, said she would take him. She even apologized for not driving faster, saying she didn't want to get a ticket. :) As it turns out, she knew my parents. So later that day, we brought her a thank you note and some goodies. She will forever be part of Kip's wedding. :)

The moral of the story is to laugh when things are good and laugh when things could be potentially frustrating! It makes for a good story later!!