Visit to Vancouver

July 29-August 2

DH, M&M, Luke and Blondie stayed one more night at Bear Lake and then the next day headed off to visit DH's mom in Vancouver. They were able to have some fun visiting her as well as DH's grandma who lives in Portland. The younger kids were bummed that they couldn't go to visit them as well but this was the only time that we could make anything work out this summer with our crazy school schedule. They drove up on Wednesday and came back home late Sunday night. They were also there for M&M's 17th birthday. They went out to dinner with her and saw the movie Ant Man which they all enjoyed.

Last day with Mom N

Monday, October 13

For some reason I always get to the end of a visit and realize that I have hardly taken any pictures...  On Monday, Mom N wasn't leaving until later in the afternoon so we had some time to go and do a few things.  DH had taken off of work and so it was me, DH, Mom N and MJ.  We went to Tai Pan Trading (which is a store that Mom N loves to visit when she is in town) then we stopped at Gardner Village to grab some lunch and buy some fudge to share with the kids later when they got home from school.  Then we came home so Mom N could finish packing and then drove her to the airport.  I wanted to get a picture of her with DH before she left:

Rocky Mountain Invitational

Saturday, October 11

I was a chaperone for the marching band competition down at BYU and DH took Blondie and Kitty and met up with his mom down at the competition.  I was able to go and sit with them in the stands while they were performing and took these pictures. This is one of the better competitions for getting shots of the whole band and the formations.

Halloween fun

Friday, October 10

Mom N came into town around this time to spend about a week with us.  She was able to attend a get together with her cousins and then was able to go to one of M&M's marching band competitions as well as one of Luke's soccer games.  Mom N's brother and his wife invited all of us to visit them at their house and go to a couple of Halloween themed homes in their neighborhood.  The first one was all decked out in Harry Potter items and the second one had the outside decorated really cute with moving skeletons.  Afterwards we had some treats at their house and sang some Halloween songs.  It was a fun evening.

Luke having a hard time containing his excitement!

Temple Square

Friday, December 27, 2013

While Mom N was here during Christmas time last year, we rode Trax downtown to see the lights on Temple Square.  The younger kids thought that riding Trax was a blast!

This was a neat fountain display that was set to music - yes that is fire in the middle of the fountain.  The fire would flame on and off throughout the music - and you could feel the heat from it when you were standing next to it.

The fountain display is located across from Temple Square at the new City Creek mall.

Riding back home on Trax

Christmas Break

December 26, 2013 - January 2, 2014

I don't have any pictures between Christmas and New Years so I am hoping there are some on DH's camera.  I know that the day after Christmas, I woke up feeling miserable.  I had no energy to do anything and I had no desire to eat anything.  All I wanted to do was hideout in my room and sleep.  I apparently came down with some type of flu and it was really bad for that one day and then I started to gradually feel better.  Looking back I think I started feeling sick on Christmas Eve.

If I remember correctly, we took the TRAX train to downtown Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights on temple square Friday evening - so I was at least feeling well enough by then to do that.  On Saturday, Mom N came down with the flu and was out of commission for the next day or two as well.  No one else really came down with much for which we were all grateful for.

New Years Eve we played games at our house and then had New Years dinner at my parents.  I think that Mom N flew back home on January 2.

A Christmas Carol

Monday, December 23, 2013

Mom N flew in on Sunday to spend the Christmas holidays with our family.  When we found out she was coming we thought it would be fun to take her to see "A Christmas Carol" put on at the Hale Center Theater.  They opened up some additional showings on the 23rd and 24th and we were able to get some for Monday.  My parents were available to watch MJ and Kay for us so I drove them over to my parents' house and then the rest of us went to the theater.  DH and M&M and I have been to the theater to see another play but none of us had seen "A Christmas Carol" there and it is a pretty popular show each year.

The performance was awesome (our seats were not the absolute best) but it was a fun experience for the family.  Afterwards we stopped at In-N-Out Burger to pick up lunch on our way home.  Unfortunately I did not take a camera with me so the only picture we took of the outing was on Mom N's camera - maybe I can get a copy of it one of these days!