Caleb's Homeland
For forever now, Caleb has expressed the desire to return to the land of his birth. Utah. He being the only Utahn in the family, we hadn't had any real reason to make the trek north - our family vacations usually have us going south to California to see our families. So with the exception of our drive-through after flying into Salt Lake City from London when we moved back to the country, we hadn't spent any real time in Utah since Caleb was a year old.
A lot has changed since then. Multiple temples for our church have been built, our Alma Mater (BYU) has grown exponentially, and our family has grown up quite a bit. So, we felt that it was finally time to make a little visit. We all had spring break off together, and Jake figured this would be his last "hurrah" before his last block exams of this semester, followed by board exams, followed by rotations and no summer break. (yuck)
We left after church on Sunday and drove up to stay in Provo for a few days. With our homebase set up in view of the "Y", we showed the boys around the town that was our home for four years (the longest we've ever lived anywhere in our married lives). We took them by our old apartment in Wymount, Utah Valley Hospital where Caleb came into the world, LaVell Edwards Stadium and other such notable sites as Brick Oven (nothin' like some pizza and root beer, baby), the Eyring Science Center on BYU campus, the WILK's bowling alley and the Cougar Eat.
The weather was cold and rainy, which nixed our original plan to go on a family hike up by Aspen Grove, but we substituted that activity with a dip in the indoor pool at our hotel (and if you ask Brendan, it was the best part of the trip anyways. I'm so glad that we spent the money on all that gas so that we could enjoy the hotel so much.). It did happen to be Riley's first time in a swimming pool, though, which was fun. He didn't seem to mind at all. He was a little worried looking, but got right into it as if it was a bath.
The next day, the weather cleared up a bit and we took a jaunt further north to Salt Lake City. On the way, we stopped by all the temples going up the I-15, so that the boys could have their pictures taken in front of them. My idea was to put together a collage for each of them to put on their walls as a souvenir and to remind them of their goal to be able to go to the temple someday.
So, in addition to the St. George Temple which we saw on the way up to Provo, we saw Provo, Mount Timpanogos, Draper, Oquirrh Mountain, Jordan River, and then the Salt Lake City Temple. The Draper and Oquirrh Mountain ones were new to Jake and me. It is always neat to see those golden angel Moroni statutes peek out from behind the cityscapes as you come towards the temple. And I have to say that each one we saw (and this was on a Tuesday morning) had a very busy parking lot full of patrons attending the temple. It was a wonderful sight to behold.
In Salt Lake, we showed the boys around Temple Square. We toured the Conference Center, walked around the temple and popped into the Tabernacle to see the organ that graces every one of our church hymnals. Caleb thought it seemed small in person, but everyone was impressed with the accoustics in the tabernacle.
Finally, we had to stop in and see the Christus in the temple visitor's center. I have to say that it has always been my favorite part of temple square. I love to sit and admire the mural of the cosmos and see Christ at its center. It always manages to stir my heart and blow my mind all at the same time.
Later on that day, we headed down to Sandy to the Mayan Adventure restaurant. Just as we remembered it, it was an overpriced, over-rated experience, but with the atmosphere, the giant chicken strips (because what children order Mexican food at a Mexican style restaurant?) and the cliff diving show, the kids enjoyed it. The things we do for our children.
Afterwards, we ran off some of the calories when Jake and I took the boys over to "our park" down in Pleasant Grove. Discovery Park is where Jake proposed to me - in the tower of the castle. It also happens to just be a really rockin' play park, so there was no shortage of fun for the kids. Jake and I took a little picture for posterity in "the tower". Little Riley is smiling just off camera to show how things turned out after that fateful night.
Our last day in Utah, we had the opportunity of meeting up with some old friends that we met back in England, the Domikes. Kristin had been studying at Cambridge while her husband, Reuben worked. They had their son over there not long after I had Brendan, and she and I became close friends. Now they live the Anne of Green Gables life in Prince Edward Island, Canada, but just happened to be "in town" due to a sudden death in the family. I was sorry that it wasn't under happier circumstances, but we were grateful none-the-less to see them and their new baby girl, Gwen.
We met up at the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. The boys had a blast with Monty, looking at all the dinosaur bones and exhibits. The highlights had to be playing in the erosion tables (sand plus water PLUS dinosaurs to bury equals LOTS of fun) as well as the excavation area (again, dirt is fun!). It was so nice catching up with them.
So, when we asked the boys what they enjoyed the most about the trip their answers was still #1 the hotel, #2 swimming at the hotel (awesome), but luckily things like "playing with my friend (Monty)" made the list as well as bowling, playing at the park and all the yummy food. So, the point of this exercise ended up being less that we went somewhere, and more that we were together somewhere. I think it was a good experience for them to go see a bit of our past, as well as the church up close and personal. It was good for me because I was able to get away from "life" for a little while and be with Jake and the boys. When things get busy around here, I miss "us". I was so grateful to get that time. We all needed it.
A lot has changed since then. Multiple temples for our church have been built, our Alma Mater (BYU) has grown exponentially, and our family has grown up quite a bit. So, we felt that it was finally time to make a little visit. We all had spring break off together, and Jake figured this would be his last "hurrah" before his last block exams of this semester, followed by board exams, followed by rotations and no summer break. (yuck)
We left after church on Sunday and drove up to stay in Provo for a few days. With our homebase set up in view of the "Y", we showed the boys around the town that was our home for four years (the longest we've ever lived anywhere in our married lives). We took them by our old apartment in Wymount, Utah Valley Hospital where Caleb came into the world, LaVell Edwards Stadium and other such notable sites as Brick Oven (nothin' like some pizza and root beer, baby), the Eyring Science Center on BYU campus, the WILK's bowling alley and the Cougar Eat.
The weather was cold and rainy, which nixed our original plan to go on a family hike up by Aspen Grove, but we substituted that activity with a dip in the indoor pool at our hotel (and if you ask Brendan, it was the best part of the trip anyways. I'm so glad that we spent the money on all that gas so that we could enjoy the hotel so much.). It did happen to be Riley's first time in a swimming pool, though, which was fun. He didn't seem to mind at all. He was a little worried looking, but got right into it as if it was a bath.
The next day, the weather cleared up a bit and we took a jaunt further north to Salt Lake City. On the way, we stopped by all the temples going up the I-15, so that the boys could have their pictures taken in front of them. My idea was to put together a collage for each of them to put on their walls as a souvenir and to remind them of their goal to be able to go to the temple someday.
So, in addition to the St. George Temple which we saw on the way up to Provo, we saw Provo, Mount Timpanogos, Draper, Oquirrh Mountain, Jordan River, and then the Salt Lake City Temple. The Draper and Oquirrh Mountain ones were new to Jake and me. It is always neat to see those golden angel Moroni statutes peek out from behind the cityscapes as you come towards the temple. And I have to say that each one we saw (and this was on a Tuesday morning) had a very busy parking lot full of patrons attending the temple. It was a wonderful sight to behold.
In Salt Lake, we showed the boys around Temple Square. We toured the Conference Center, walked around the temple and popped into the Tabernacle to see the organ that graces every one of our church hymnals. Caleb thought it seemed small in person, but everyone was impressed with the accoustics in the tabernacle.
Finally, we had to stop in and see the Christus in the temple visitor's center. I have to say that it has always been my favorite part of temple square. I love to sit and admire the mural of the cosmos and see Christ at its center. It always manages to stir my heart and blow my mind all at the same time.
Later on that day, we headed down to Sandy to the Mayan Adventure restaurant. Just as we remembered it, it was an overpriced, over-rated experience, but with the atmosphere, the giant chicken strips (because what children order Mexican food at a Mexican style restaurant?) and the cliff diving show, the kids enjoyed it. The things we do for our children.
Afterwards, we ran off some of the calories when Jake and I took the boys over to "our park" down in Pleasant Grove. Discovery Park is where Jake proposed to me - in the tower of the castle. It also happens to just be a really rockin' play park, so there was no shortage of fun for the kids. Jake and I took a little picture for posterity in "the tower". Little Riley is smiling just off camera to show how things turned out after that fateful night.
Our last day in Utah, we had the opportunity of meeting up with some old friends that we met back in England, the Domikes. Kristin had been studying at Cambridge while her husband, Reuben worked. They had their son over there not long after I had Brendan, and she and I became close friends. Now they live the Anne of Green Gables life in Prince Edward Island, Canada, but just happened to be "in town" due to a sudden death in the family. I was sorry that it wasn't under happier circumstances, but we were grateful none-the-less to see them and their new baby girl, Gwen.
We met up at the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. The boys had a blast with Monty, looking at all the dinosaur bones and exhibits. The highlights had to be playing in the erosion tables (sand plus water PLUS dinosaurs to bury equals LOTS of fun) as well as the excavation area (again, dirt is fun!). It was so nice catching up with them.
So, when we asked the boys what they enjoyed the most about the trip their answers was still #1 the hotel, #2 swimming at the hotel (awesome), but luckily things like "playing with my friend (Monty)" made the list as well as bowling, playing at the park and all the yummy food. So, the point of this exercise ended up being less that we went somewhere, and more that we were together somewhere. I think it was a good experience for them to go see a bit of our past, as well as the church up close and personal. It was good for me because I was able to get away from "life" for a little while and be with Jake and the boys. When things get busy around here, I miss "us". I was so grateful to get that time. We all needed it.
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