A week of Utah Fun

Ethan woke up the next morning saying, "Papa! Mom-mom!" We were here at last, and he was so excited, and SO SO SAD when both had to go to work. But there were cousins to see! We met Laura and Alakai'i at the mall (shopping for the wedding) This was Laura's & AJ's first time meeting....let's just say I had my hands free after that. It was fun to watch Ethan with Alakai'i, but he was on the hyper side...and therefore a little too daring. While I was looking at a kiosk that had bows and things for AJ, I heard this cry..Ethan's cry. He had wandered to the escalator, stepped on, and the rest was too scary for him. Laura ran after him and caught him before he reached the bottom (he was on his knees facing backwards). I think she commented more than once, "Wow...he's got a lot of energy!" How can you answer "This isn't normal" at a time like this and have them actually believe you? So I just agreed. I hoped he would calm down.

The rest of the week was exhausting (playing, that is)

Grandpa swung with Ethan for over an hour the first day.

Grandma taught him how to jump on the trampoline

Kendra, Trisha and Angela came down from Logan to stay at Mom & Dad's while we were there. I do not think Ethan could have had more fun. He was literally surrounded by everyone that is posted on our fridge (at his eye level) He and Kendra especially developed a true '2-year old' love/hate relationship. (Love it when you give me your toy; Hate it when I see you hold a toy that I just NOW got interested in playing with myself!! When is it MY turn?! ) Thank goodness Grandma has multiples of the same item!
Ethan couldn't say "Kendra" very well so he called both of them "Trisha"...which probably really confused Kendra when he called "Shisha" to her!

They really were cute together and had a lot of fun!

AJ received much attention too. Her smiling face captivated everyone around her...especially Grandpa! Sometimes you just know that they remember 'long ago' in heaven when we were all together, planning out families and such.

I wanted to go see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. Mom, Angela, myself and the kids went to view it one morning. The clouds were threatening, and it sprinkled some, but it is beautiful!

After visiting the temple we trekked up to Bingham Copper Mine. I knew Ethan would just love all of the big trucks. I was seriously doing a "UT sightseeing vacation"! The wind was blowing like crazy. AJ's hat string kept whipping in her face, and pretty soon the thunderclouds crashed together and let out a huge rainstorm. Angela and I were in the gift shop making a purchase when it happened and we ran out to the van, dripping, and skipping over puddles that were quickly accumulating into streams and rivers.

Angela, her kids, Tori, and myself and kids also visited Wheeler Farm. It has been a long time since I've been there, and I knew Ethan would enjoy it. We actually went for a free fun day that was going on there, but most booths were all packed up and gone by the time we arrived. (again, it was threatening rain) It gave us more time to walk around the grounds and revive my memories of the place. It has changed a lot since I've been there.

It's a fun place to take pictures.