And now the moment you've all been waiting for...the second week of our vacation! Woohoooooo
AUGUST 18 - Monday
I think today was one of my favorite days because we got to go to the ZOO! As many of you know, our family is big into animals and we like to cuddle with fuzzy and furry creatures. So much, in fact, that we went through the primate exhibit at least twice and almost got bopped by a low flying owl...actually, Ray's head DID get grazed by one.
We had fun adventures getting up close and personal with a beautiful snow leopard, a barn owl, quite a few birds, and I think we all fell in love with the cuddling meerkats...although the crazy, flying squirrel followed close behind.
I won't post ALL of the pictures up, but I'll try to put out best pictures up on here and I'll make an album on face book or yahoo....unless I can figure out how to make another slide show on here through Picasa. I'm still working on it.
I was especially excited to see the Bayou special exhibit they had with a white alligator that looked so familiar to me. My gut was right...it was one of 18 white alligators left that had been bred at none other than the Audobon Zoo in New Orleans. Now, for those of you that may be scratching your heads as to why this would be important to me...I was born in New Orleans and lived there for 7 years until I moved up to MA with my mom, but I still visited New Orleans at least 2-3 times a year to see my dad and you better believe I grew up going to that zoo. The bayou exhibit was very familiar to me down there and I got just a little choked up when I realized how close I was to my roots while in SLC. Hurricane Katrina ruined the house I grew up in, which was also the house my father lived in. It was a really difficult time for my father, to see most of his life and career, destroyed in one event and in less than a few hours. It was even harder for me to see how it effected him because if you know my father, he doesn't often share his emotions, but mother nature showed him who was boss and he could no longer fight back. So, aaaaaanyway, that's the short story of why it was really cool to see the white alligator.
The evening was spent with my good friend Liz and her new husband, Jeremy. Liz and I are friends through BYU Singers and you should all look for her in MoTab broadcasts on television! She is beautiful and we loved getting to know Jeremy more. They are a dynamic couple and we even learned how to play "Kill Dr. Lucky," which was a fun strategy game despite the fact that I was trying to end it for about half an hour. At least we had Mr. Darcy to cuddle with and keep us entertained.
AUGUST 19 - Tuesday
We all got our butts handed to us after we climbed up to the ever so beautiful and awesome Timpanogos Caves up the Alpine Loop between Alpine and Provo, UT. We, of course, went up right in the middle of the day; 1.5 miles on a continually steep incline. Jacob kept us entertained with factual notes at 17 stopping points...there was a number 18, but it was just THERE. The picturesque scenes were breathtaking and it definitely took our breath away about every 1/4 miles or so when we had to stop for water and check how far along we were.
We fed the cute little Least Chipmunk, even though we found out at the top that we weren't really supposed too and we made friends with a couple of lizards along our path. I feel that some pictures speak louder than words, so I'm just going to post pictures up about this trip, since I don't feel my words will do justice for how beautiful it really was. Besides, the pain didn't really set in until the next day when we were all hobbling around a bit from our thighs up to our butts.
DINNER time was one of great excitement for me and also for the kids because we got to see my Southern uprooted friends in Herriman, the McNulty's/Hazel's. Shay was my first "governess" as mom calls her and the whole family is my family. I am always at home with them and they make everyone feel welcome from the minute you enter their door. It was so good to see Willie, Jamie, Lynn, Katie, Justin, and of course, Shay. They just fixed up a new house and are all living together again, just like in the good ol' days. Ray and I are still itching to get our hands on a bike license so we can ride together. I love that family so much and they are just full of hugs and making you feel at home. I strive to be like that...although it might freak some New Englanders out to have hugs upon entering and leaving the home.
AUGUST 20 - Wednesday
Laundry day and resting. Until dinner time, I was pretty cranky, and not because I was hungry. We were all REALLY tired from the hike the day before, and against my better judgment, I agreed to go to the Gateway Mall. Now, this place is a haven for those who like to shop (Kristi and Rachel were in heaven), but for someone like me, who feels guilty about spending any money and was too tired to be out in the sun, this was not a good choice for me to be there. Poor Ray was struggling to keep both Jacob and I happy, when we really should have just stayed home and slept. Well, I think we each took turns sleeping through the planetarium show, but we did have fun learning about the stars and our galaxy (which was a nice lead in to star gazing on Friday).
Luckily the evening had a nice upward swing as we ascended to the mountain where the "U" is and had dinner with The Parkinson's (more family friends). Everything from The Hills to Politics were discussed at dinner and it was quite the array of conversations had over pot roast and potatoes. We wended our way into the living room and watched USA win the Olympic Gold for beach volleyball. Cliff was out like a light trying to catch up on his jet lag having just gotten back from Africa for three months. We snuggled with soot, the poodle, and just had a really good time and enjoyed the view of the whole valley lit up at night.
AUGUST 21 - Thursday
LAGOON DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! We picked quite the hot day to go to Lagoon and the kids and Ray had a blast. I have never been a huge fan of amusement parks since I was little and some kid threw up right on front of me after a ride. I think I began convincing myself of constant motion sickness and never went on any rides. In the past few years I have gone to Lagoon a couple of times as dates and was mortified by the guys I was with and dragged on a few rides that I almost had a coronary on. I figured if I could jump out of a plane, then I could go on a ride....well, Rachel tried her hardest to get me on a ride, TWICE, and it didn't work; my anxiety got the better of me...which was something that Ray learned that day.
Rachel and Ray went on most of the rides and Jacob got on a few as well. I think I went on two rides and that was enough for me, even though I really wanted to go on a few more rides, I would get totally freaked out once I got close to the ride.
The heat exhausted us, but not too much that we couldn't go hang out with Ginelle and Drew Larsen and Gordon joined us a little later. Ray, Ginelle, and Gordon have been friends since BYU and it was really fun to see them all hang out together again. Drew had us in stitches for almost the whole night long and we had a great time. Ginelle has three beautiful and funny daughters and Jacob kept entertained with Gordon's kids in the basement. In fact, I believe Jacob had his first bonding moment with a non-relative girl...check out the picture. In fact, we were down in the basement and Jacob was upstairs with Sam. I said to Ray, "It's too quiet up there, I'm gonna go see what's going on." When I got upstairs, Jacob and Sam were sitting on the couch and he had his arm quasi around her and it was adorable!
We got to see pictures of Ray before his mission and even on his mission...see, Ray and Ginelle dated so she had lots of cute pictures of Ray.
AUGUST 22 - Friday
Friday was another more relaxed day and Ray and I went to the Blue Iguana to have lunch with Ray's old boss, Brent, and we discussed the newspaper business and basically how it was going down the tubes.
STARGAZING up at Snowbird was a lot of fun and we got to see Jupiter, The Milky Way, some nebula's and learned about many of the constellations. They had great telescopes to look through and the sky was really clear with few clouds and even a few shooting stars.
Jeremy and Susie arrived safely with Nathan and Noelle at about 10:30pm, but ray and I didn't get home until well after 11:00pm.
Jacob, Alexis, and her friend, Emily, were attempting an all night guitar hero party, which ended once the crankiness started arising. They tried keeping themselves awake with root beer, but to no avail, they were forced to go to bed. (which we were all very grateful for) Jacob has really taken to his new friends that he has made during this trip. He loves to be social.
AUGUST 23 - Saturday
The Sewell couples went to the SLC temple to do a live endowment session and it was really neat to go through as a family, especially Susie because it was her first time in a live session. We had a gorgeous day (had to avoid the millions of weddings) and took pretty pictures and had lunch at the Lion House (the best rolls ever).
Ray and I headed over to Don and Donna's for a nap and to help Ray with his headaches a little more.
To finish up the evening, we went to Flemming's at the Gateway Mall, which is a really classy steak house and we apparently were there on the same night as the guy who hosts a psychic talk show. We were celebrating Don and Donna's 40th wedding anniversary and had a very delicious evening with all adults, thanks to Rachel and her baby-sitting skills.
The house was still in tact after almost a whole day without adult supervision and we hung out in the kitchen, discussing our "mission menu" for Sunday's dinner as well as our big birthday celebration.
AUGUST 24 - Sunday
Ah yes, a day of "rest." We got to church just in time for the sacrament and learned about the power/gift of the Holy Ghost, Service, and Provident Living. We're now all in nap time mode and Ray is getting prepped for another healing session from Donna to hopefully cure the migraines he's been having. I usually fall asleep during these sessions because it is quiet and very relaxing. The kids are downstairs playing games, Rachel is finishing up the Odyssey, which she thought she'd never finish, and everyone else is napping. Jeremy made us delicious French Toast for lunch, which we all promptly scarfed down!
Noelle is about the cutest baby ever and makes the best smiley faces with the 6 teeth that she has.
I'm going to go work on a gift for Don and Donna and will probably post pictures after tonights festivities...each of us that served a mission is making food from our country....how cool that we all went to a foreign country. We only wish Jeff were here to make some creole jambalaya or gumbo maybe :-) I'm going to make Bulgogi and Mandu and bought some Peppero for dessert. Ray is going to make a chicken Thai rice, Jeremy is making a Greek Salad and David is making French fondue I believe.
We leave early tomorrow morning, back to the east coast. It's going to be quite an adjustment for all of us, having greatly enjoyed vacation. I have to get right back to school and Ray has to go back to work as well.
So for now....I'm signing off. Hope you enjoyed our adventures.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care....until they fell down because they were too heavy! Mrs. Claus stayed up til about 3am making sugar cookies with everyone's name on them and Santa stayed up painting pictures of his beautiful children. The kids are very lucky to have had such a full Christmas! We send our best to you and thank you for those of our family members reading this who donated to our Christmas celebration!
