Utah Trip: Part 3 - Provo/Salt Lake 7/10 - 7/13

After the family reunion we headed to Provo.  The girls and I stopped to see the Hardings, some of our dearest friends.  We met them through Dan’s work when Dan helped take care of their son Matthew who has Fragile X.  We became close friends, often staying for dinner, coming by for holidays, and occasionally watching the kids.  I can’t believe that Matthew is now 16 and taller than me.

Lisa, his mom, and I have become even closer since we had Averi.  She is truly an amazing person!

A few of the Harding bunch.

For dinner we met up with my dad’s sister, Ann, her husband Alex, and their newest addition Miles.  He is adorable!

The next day we went to Salt Lake and visited “This is the Place” Heritage Park.  It was all about the settlements the pioneers made when they first arrived to Utah and there were tons of fun activities.  Kaili loved getting to ride on a horse, even if it was just in a circle three times.

While we were there we got to decorate bags, eat ice cream, see Brigham Young’s house, learn about their school and play with toys, practice milking a cow with a bear pull, and play in miniature houses just right for the kids.  The petting farm consisted of a big open pen where we could walk around with the goats and sheep.

The sheep was not in the mood for pictures.

Believe it or not, Kaili’s favorite activity was washing clothes.  She got to wash a rag on a washboard, hang it up to dry on the clothes line, take down the dry rags, and then “iron” and fold the clean ones.  She kept asking if we could go back and do it again.  Now all I have to do is figure out how to roll this over into real life.

Near a very cool Native American Teepee we got to sift for little pieces of gold in the stream.  It was actually a little hard, but once we all found a piece we took it to the bank and exchanged it for candy.

Another day we went and had lunch with a few of my mom’s aunts and uncles.  At one point my great uncle Alfred busted out his accordion and started playing.  It was so much fun!  I loved getting to know them.

Of course, we couldn’t go to Salt Lake and not visit the LDS temple and Conference Center.

I am so grateful for family and that mine can be together forever.

At long last, after a wonderful vacation, the girls and I made our way back home.  I must admit, for not have my other half, things went great and I’m so glad that we were able to go.  Hopefully it won’t be another 4 years before we go back.