Historical Salt Lake

First thing in the morning we hiked to Ensign Peak.  Grandma Stuetz came with us on our Salt Lake explorations.  It's an amazing view of the Salt Lake Valley, but you definitely have to work for it with the steep trail.  I was so proud of Little Guy, because he only complained a little and went the whole way up.  The three older kids practically sprinted up the side of the mountain.  Oh, to have that kind of energy again!

The weather was perfect, and the view was spectacular. 

From there was went to the "This is the Place" monument where Brigham Young famously told the pioneers this was the place to settle. 

We found Joel's ancestor, Bryant Stringham, who was in the very first company of pioneers to enter the valley.

I came here as a child, but they've built it up so much since then.  There's an entire Pioneer village that is SO much fun!  This place is amazing!  There's so much to see and do.

They were a bit disappointed they didn't make it big while panning for gold.  Tee hee.

Daddy made sure they took the long route with the handcart to get the full effect.  They even went up a hill together.  I can't even imagine pulling that for miles and miles completely full.

The Native American village was really cool. 

I can't even imagine living in this one room cabin with 7 children! 

BB and Little Guy had their very first ride on a pony.  They both enjoyed it.  I'm pretty sure they all loved the ice cream, too.  That's one thing I remember from when I came as a kid. 

My favorite part is the Pioneer Children's Memorial that lists all the names of the children who died along the trail who never made it to the Salt Lake Valley.  It was very moving, and it definitely had this Momma tearing up.

A Change of Plans

We arrived in Utah, and then our first day we had a set back.  Our tire went flat on our way down the mountain from Park City to Salt Lake.  I heard a slightly odd sound and then all of a sudden our sensor went off saying we were losing pressure in our rear tire.  It went completely flat as we pulled over to the side of the highway.  It wasn't a great spot, because cars were flying down the side of the mountain, but we had several tender mercies that day.  At any other point in our vacation we would have been relatively stranded, but we had family from both sides within an hour's drive from us.  Prior to leaving on the vacation Joel had felt that we should add roadside assistance to our car insurance, so the tow truck was completely paid for.  My dad was able to pick us all up in his truck and take us back to our condo while Joel waited for the tow truck.  We were supposed to be going to Joel's extended family's mini-reunion.  It was going to take a couple hours to get the tire fixed, so Joel's parents were able to come up and grab our two oldest kids, so that they wouldn't miss it.  We got the car fixed and were still able to get down to Pleasant Grove for the tail end of the dinner at Aunt Lori and Uncle John's home.  We had planned to go see the Church's Conference Center prior to the dinner, but it really wasn't that big of a deal, so we honestly weren't too upset about the flat tire.  It could have been way worse!

The kids had a great time at the dinner (too good of a time climbing the retaining wall).  They were especially thrilled Aunt Liz was there.  As per usual, I didn't get very many pictures of the adults, but I made sure to get pictures with Aunt Liz!

It was great to see so many from the Slovacek side of the family! 

Heading West

 

Last week we started a road trip out West.  Joel had to work a half day of in-patient service, so we left after lunch on Friday.  We stopped in North Platte, Nebraska to see the Union Pacific Bailey Yard.  It's the largest train yard in the world.  It handles 10,000 trains a day.  You can go up a tower to get a good look at the massive train yard, but sadly, we got there 10 minutes after it closed.  The kiddos still liked seeing the trains.  It was nice to get out and stretch our legs. 

North Platte also happens to win the distinction of one of the most memorable meals I've ever eaten and not in a good way.  I should have known better, but I ordered risotto at a local Italian restaurant.  I don't really know how to describe it except to say there was no risotto in the risotto.  Instead of a rice meal, it was a cream soup of chicken and broccoli.  Sigh.  

On a much happier note: the following day we got to see the Tanners!!  We haven't seen them since they moved from Ohio to Wyoming after dental school.  It was so fun to see them for a couple of hours.  The kiddos were all so young when we lived in Ohio that none of them remembered each other.  However, it took very little time for them to all become besties.  We went on a small hike up the mountain behind their house and the views were awesome!

I had to get a picture of these two together.  They used to play together on the floor as babies during church.  Look how big they are now!  They picked up right where they left off.  This time they discussed books and played on the piano and sang together. 

I loved seeing Heidi.  It was hard to say "goodbye."  Little Lady asked if she could stay and sleep over, and the kids all decided to become pen-pals until we can get back out to see them again.

In the Way

Any time I take out the cutting board, it doesn't seem to matter where the cats are in the house - they always show up and plop themselves down.  

Stella thought taking a nap on it would be a good idea right when I'm trying to use it. 

 

When that didn't work she thought maybe she could hideaway in the suitcase.  Sorry Lady, you can't come with us.

Finally a Finish

 I've had this quilt to finish for months, but I finally got around to doing the binding.  It's been sitting quilted all ready to go for a while now. 

This do.Good Stitches quilt will be donated to Project Linus. 

Double Whammy

I always think it's a great idea to get camps clumped together when I'm signing them up, but then the reality of crazy driving and chauffeuring ends up exhausting me.  Little Man and Little Guy both had camp this week, so I spent the mornings driving to opposite sides of town for them.  

Little Man went to JCCC (our local community college) for Minecraft Modding.  All of the jargon is above my head, but basically using an app called M Creator he got to make his own "recipes" and modifications to Minecraft.  He loved it and wants to go back again next year to do some even more complex things.  

I dropped off Little Man and then we headed to Southern Overland Park for Little Guy's basketball camp.  The first day was rough.  He hadn't touched a basketball since the last camp he did 2 years ago, and I think he thought he could just pick up where he left off.  He cried, and then he pulled himself together and started practicing everyday after camp.  He ended up having a good time and he learned a lot.  

Half Full Quilt Top

Amy Ellis has been posting free quilt tutorials every week, and I decided to try one out.  This one is called "Half Full."  It's fun and quick.