Logan, Utah trip

My mom, Marlee and I went on a long trip to Logan, Utah. We were gone from the third to the fifteenth! We went up to see Laura and Justin’s new little baby girl. Laura knew that my mom was coming, but she didn’t know that Marlee and I were coming, we surprised her…she was so excited and happy to see us. 

Laura had Kenley Pearl at the same hospital Marlee was born at!

Kenley with her Grandma:

 

Marlee wasn’t allowed to go back in the room, so she had to peek at Kenley through a window. Here she is seeing Kenley for the first time:

 

I was so happy to hold this baby girl! She is a Layton baby for sure.

 

I love this pic:

 

Mom and Marlee kicking it in the waiting room.

 

I am so happy for my sister Laura and her family. I am one proud sister.

 

Marlee and Kenley giving each other the bones:

 

One cute family of three:

 

The next day I took Marlee to see where we used to live on Utah State campus-family housing. This is outside our old apartment.

 

This is the field and playground that is in the middle of all the on campus family housing:

 

We were so excited for Kenley’s homecoming:

 

I just love the way that Marlee is looking at Kenley, so sweet.

 

Kenley sporting her Aggie Bull (the mascot) beanie…go Aggies!

 

Porter and my dad informed us that the moon would be bright tonight:

 

Marlee enjoyed being read to by Uncle Justin and watching her movies:

 

Kenley, Marlee and Laura

 

I love this baby girl!!!

 

Thanks goodness for Skype, I got to see and talk with Laun and the boys throughout our trip.

 

I am so excited that my sister is a mom!

 

sweet baby girl

 

Justin was so great with Marlee. He took her to fly kites. She let go of her kite string and it got stuck in a tree. She had such a great time.

 

Justin and Marlee working on a project- she wasn’t a fan of the mask, so that didn’t stay on long.

 

Oh how I love her cute scrunched face. Here she is painting her temple that she made:

 

 

We walked around on campus. There was so many pretty plants,trees and flowers:

 

There is a new agriculture building on campus:

 

Checking out the view from inside the new agriculture building:

 

Outside the building is a memorial for some of the students and the instructor that died in an accident.

 

I love the Old Main building, so pretty. It was once the only building on campus. In fact, my Grandpa Mecham went there!

 

On the back side of Old Main is a hill where you can see the Logan temple.

 

Marlee occupying herself by throwing grass:

 

Utah State has such a pretty campus:

 

This is the old agriculture building where Laun went when he was a student here…not sure what they are going to do with it.

 

We stopped by Aggie Ice Cream and of course Marlee chose pink ice cream.

 

Another day my mom, Marlee and I drove out to Richmond to go to the Pepperidge Farm factory-Thrift Store.

 

One of Marlee’s favorite snacks ever is goldfish, so she was excited.

 

Then we went to Whitney, Idaho. We lived there in 2008 while Laun was working on his bachelors degree at Utah State. Near our old house was this pop machine and it is still there. It cracked us up seeing a pop machine on a country road.

 

When we lived in Whitney, Idaho, we actually lived in Ezra Taft Benson birth and childhood home!

 

This is the view as you are driving up. It is surrounded by land. The tall building is the barn:

 

Here is Ezra Taft Benson’s past home and our past home for a bit:

 

Oh how I miss that yard.

 

Then we stopped by Casper’s Ice Cream Shoppe- one of our family’s favorite spots:

 

They are home of the fat boy ice cream sandwiches:

 

At one point Marlee tried taking over my cone and hers. She is like her mom…she loves ice cream.

 

Then we stopped by another home we used to live in, in fact, I was only pregnant for a short time in this home with Marlee and she lived here as a baby. This is in Lewiston, Utah and is the Westover's summer home. They were kind enough to let us live her for a semester until Laun graduated.

 

They remodeled the kitchen and it looks great.

 

Marlee adding on some glitter to her temple she built and painted.

 

Mom and I spent lots of time cooking in the kitchen.

 

One morning we walked in the Logan cemetery. This might sound strange, but it is so pretty.

 

Elder L. Tom Perry’s  (in the Quorum of the Twelve) father is buried there:

 

And this memorial is either Ezra Taft Benson’s father or grandfather’s:

 

We walked through the cemetery to get to campus. Here are two more new buildings on campus:

 

There are preschools and an elementary school on campus. Marlee liked playing on their playground and getting a ride on Justin’s shoulders.

 

We checked out the library on campus.

 

This part is so cool, there are tons of books in this moving library. If you want a book from there, the librarian enters in the code and it is located and brought to you.

 

In the other part of the library I thought it was funny to see books from UofA.

 

In the lower level of the library is a room that used to actually be in a mansion. Everything is super old.

 

Marlee liked this statue of a teacher with students.

 

Another day we visited another favorite spot of our families: Gossner’s.

 

They make squeaky cheese and other cheeses and flavored milks (that are shelf stable).

 

I had to bring home flavored milks and squeaky cheese for my family.

 

Picture with the bull, Utah State’s mascot.

 

This is outside an antique shop that I found and bought a cream cow from.

 

Then we stopped by some candy shops (my camera battery died, so Laura snapped these pics):

 

The Indian statue with the sucker feathers was cool, but this other guy is just freaky.

 

We picked out some candy to take home to the boys.

 

Marlee got a watermelon sucker- I guess chocolate covered chips & Cheetos aren’t her thing.

 

The Bluebird-

 

decisions, decisions…

 

I always love chocolate.

 

I think Marlee could be mistaken for Laura’s daughter.

 

Off to the park.

 

I want a swing like this!

 

It is crazy how grown up Marlee looks compared to Kenley!

 

I took some pictures for Laura’s family:

 

I’m gonna miss this baby girl…

 

Maybe, just maybe, they’ll miss this little girl…

 

I got the chance to see my cousin Eugene’s family. Here’s Brooke and I. Marlee insisted that she needed a picture with Brooke, too.

 

I love how the Logan temple lights up at night.

 

I was away from my husband and boys for Mother’s Day, but I got a special surprise on skype from them:

Laun always has such fun ideas and the boys kept laughing and grinning.

 

It was such a great trip, but I was anxious to get home and see my husband and boys. It is sad saying goodbye to all the green landscape though.

 

We stopped by the Brigham City temple that is being built.

 

We also went by my Brother Andrew’s work. He works with dinosaur fossils and builds dinosaurs for museums and such! He is so talented.

 

Then we went to their favorite restaurant for Mexican food.

Marlee and Josiah are little buddies. Josiah just wanted a big bowl of beans for dinner and that’s what he got.

It was so fun being back in Logan and out of the heat. It was especially fun being with Justin, Laura and Kenley Pearl. I was excited to come home to my family and had lots of treats and gifts for them. It was hard being away from Laun. While I was gone he made a deal with the boys that if they would read a chapter in the Book of Mormon everyday and do the dishes daily for four months straight, that he would get them each an ipod. I am so proud of them for starting that challenge.