Utah family vacation from 7/25-8/4

Laun's cows for research come in on August 13th, so we figured we better go on a summer vacation while we could. We were gone for 11 days total & we had so much fun. I broke down our vacation by days:
Wednesday- July 25th
We left Tucson & drove to Kanab, UT. We spent the night there (our only night that we ever stayed in a motel the whole trip). We went to McDonalds for dinner & were excited to find that they have chocolate dipped ice cream cones.
Thursday- July 26th
We woke up the kiddos & drove to Logan, Utah.


When we got to Logan, Utah, we headed to this restaurant we used to eat at, Mandarin Garden.


Marlee drinking the egg drop soup from a straw & enjoying her fortune cookie.


We went to my sister Laura’s house & then headed to Utah State campus.
Laun & Clayton went to the barber shop on USU campus. Laun normally cuts his own hair & the boys hair, so that was a unusual occasion. The boys stayed occupied with a chess game while Laun was getting his haircut.


I love how old school the barber shop chairs were.


After their haircuts…so handsome.


Then we headed to the gift shop & got some USU stuff.
And I was so happy to see Kenley Pearl, especially in the onesie I bought her ( I love my aunt)!


They have these awesome drinking fountains on campus, that make it super easy to fill up your water bottles- I would love one of these on my back porch!


We went to see the new Ag building ( I saw it back in May, but Laun & the boy’s didn’t).



Old Main


Laura (Kenley in stroller), Clayton, Porter & Marlee


The campus was so green!


We stopped by Aggie Ice Cream on campus- so good.
My favorite flavor was probably the Lemon Custard.


Why do boys seem to have the best eye lashes?!


Marlee got this crazy bloody nose on the walk back- here is the lovely before & after picture.


So Marlee had to walk the rest of the way back to the Layton’s house with a wipe shoved up her nose. Luckily, she is such a little trooper.


I love walking through this cemetery, it is so pretty & green.


Running through the sprinklers.


Kenley tried out Marlee’s stroller, it put her right to sleep.


That evening we went to First Dam & the water was cold!



I am loving time with this little cutie.


The menfolk went on the other side to fish.





Justin & Porter were brave enough to jump in the water- it was so cold.


I missed getting a picture of Porter’s jump, but there he is swimming  back to shore.



Friday- July 27th
Heading into Pepperidge Farm to pick out some snacks.


This is the effort that goes into trying to get a picture with my kids!


Finally, success!


We drove by some of our old stomping grounds when we lived in Whitney, Idaho.
Ezra Taft Benson’s home & our home for a short while:


As we were driving towards Preston, ID, we noticed a USA field…can you see it on the mountain? I wish I got a better picture of it, but I took it from the truck. I love it!


Clayton requested to go by his old school.


This is the school he attended for the first half of 1st grade- Pioneer Elementary.


And right next door was the preschool Porter attended.


For lunch we went to one of our favorites- Pizza Stop.


Then we visited with the Westover's. We actually lived in their home for a semester while Laun finished his bachelors degree at USU. The Westover’s only live in this home during the summer time, so that is why it worked out for us to live in it, because they were still in their Phoenix home. We are so grateful for all of the kindness they have shown us.
They have the most amazing garden. Here they are sampling strawberries. I love how Laun & Lou are standing in the same position in this pic.


Marlee by the strawberry patch & holding a cucumber.


The boys ran around finding bugs. When we lived here everything was covered in snow.


Marlee & Lou


Laun went with Lou to the nearby family dairy, while Diane, the kids & I enjoyed popsicles & chatting.
Marlee was pretty happy that her popsicle was really two popsicles connected.



The boys were matchy-matchy today.


There is no way that Marlee was going to let them have the swing all to themselves.


Of course we stopped by Casper’s Ice Cream Shoppe.


While driving we saw the Cache Cab (because it is Cache Valley), which reminded us of the Cash Cab Show.


Another stop for us was Gossners, for cheese & milk.



We let each of the kids pick out a flavored milk…Clayton went for the big carton of chocolate milk.


We came back to the Layton’s to find a sleeping Kenley Pearl. I bet she enjoyed the quiet for awhile- we are a noisy crew. Although, she seems to sleep through anything.


We went for a pre-birthday dinner for Clayton & Justin (they share the same birthday, which is tomorrow) to Olive Garden. Thanks to Richard & Martha for the Olive Garden gift card- it was a gift to me for earning my associates degree.


Tonight as we were coming home we drove by the Logan temple. I love how it is lit up at night.


Saturday- July 28th (Clayton & Justin’s birthday)
We gave Clayton & Justin their b-day gifts in the morning.
Clayton got a fly fishing pole & I think Porter was just as excited as Clayton.


Clayton was so excited that he got to hang out with Justin, so they could celebrate their birthday together.


We headed to Bear Lake:
This little cutie spent the day in the shade & slept almost the entire time.




The kids went non-stop (especially Marlee). I think we were there for 6 hours!






Marlee could only sit there for so long, she couldn’t miss out on any of the action.



Clayton found some itty bitty beach shells.


My birthday boy- 10 years old today!


I love how Porter is sticking his tongue out, reminds me of his G’ma Lucy. All smiles here.


lots of digging


Marlee chillaxing-


These kiddos are so tan & they will probably be 3 shades darker by the end of the day.


Wish I would be 3 shades darker by the end of the day.




Laun feeding Marlee a sandwich- pretty sure her hands were too nasty to touch it.


Uncle Justin throwing Porter in the air- pretty sure he had a crazy big smile on his face.


On the run- Porter, Clayton & Justin


I wish Porter was in this picture.


Daddy’s girl


me & my birthday boy


love my Laun


Porter taking a break (probably the only time he did all day).


Porter was itching to catch a seagull, he tried, but no luck.


Endless hours of fun & sand (I’m sure I will see plenty of sand in their laundry).


Marlee had the time of her life. She often yelled out- Wahoo! or Yahoo!






Marlee had Laun out in the water with her for most of the day.


Justin & Laura. Marlee with Laura.


Clayton chased Laura, so he could chuck sand at her.


The boys loved the sand throwing war…as you can tell from how covered they got.


I. LOVE. LAUN


See that big rock I am carrying? I was running in the lake & tripped & fell over that rock- it hurt.


Cutest girl ever


Porter was shoving sour patch kid candies in his mouth.
I don’t think he liked me cleaning all the sugar off him.



Marlee walked out of the lake with her hands on her hips, all the way to the tent  to tattle to Laun. She was ticked off at some kid for taking her sand shovel.


Don’t worry Marlee, big brother Porter will take care of it.


These 2 are so cute together- when they are not fighting.



Justin going in to attack Laura.



Justin buried Porter & Clayton in the sand.


Porter makes the weirdest faces ever.



I LOVE this picture. I am so glad that Laura snapped some pictures with my camera today.


At the end of the day Laun let  Marlee have her life jacket off, she was excited.


We had a blast at Bear Lake. Pretty sure it was Clayton’s favorite birthday so far.
To top it all off we went & got raspberry shakes & other goodies.


Dinner of champions: Hot Dogs & ice cream.


The raspberry shakes & hard ice cream were so good.


When we got back to the Layton’s Porter had fun talking with Kenley.


Clayton & Justin opened their presents from Laura.


And then it was cake time. Laura made a yummy Butterfinger ice cream cake
(we have had plenty of ice cream on this trip).


Happy Birthday Justin & Clayton! I can’t believe that Clayton is 10 already!


Sunday- July 29th
Why are kids even cuter when they are sleeping?


Today we only went to sacrament meeting. The ward on campus we attended didn’t even have a nursery or primary! Most of the people just have little babies.
We went on a drive & checked out Bear river.



Laun caught a frog/toad, whatever it was.


Marlee seems to be overcoming her fear of bugs & reptiles.




I forgot the tripod, so Laun found something to set the camera on to get a family picture.


The black cloud looking thing is a bunch of baby catfish!





The kids saw all these ducks under someone's vehicle, so they chased them out in order to catch them.


They cracked me up running after all the ducks.


These 2 seem to catch something wherever they go.


Then we took our kids by the Logan temple (a little more of a Sabbath day activity, versus catching ducks).
Laun found a way to get a family picture by setting the camera on the fence with the timer on.


Our babies.


I love the Logan Temple, it is so pretty.



This time I found someone to take some pictures of us.



The kids requested this picture.


That night Justin & Laura took us to the Quarry where they got the Logan temple rocks from.


It is a little hike up to the top. Not sure if Laun is suppose to be hiking with his foot yet? Nothing stops Laun though, not even a surgery.



I used to carry my babies in this same baby carrier, I got it with Clayton. Kenley liked the little hike.


love my sister


Her smile & cute little face melts my heart- I sure love this girl!


Finally, I got a new Utah State shirt, Laun bought it for me on this trip.




Monday- July 30th
Since we went to Bear River yesterday, the boys were aching to go back.
We rented a canoe & the Layton’s joined us.


Marlee is so helpful when she tries to row the boat.


Some cows were taking a dip.


Excited to fish & go out on the canoe.








cute little girls


Porter got some dried cattail plants.



Marlee had to join in, too.


They loved waking the plants- reminds me of dandelions.


We canoed over to Justin & Clayton’s fishing spot- in the shade of the under pass.


There was tons of bird nests on the underpass!



When we came back through we got to see the catfish Justin caught.


Only catch of the day, then they released it.



Crawdad catch

We left the Layton’s house in Logan & headed to the Salt Lake area to Grandma Black’s house.

Tuesday- July 31st
We visited with Aunt Chery this morning. Before we headed out the kids got to load up with treats.
They made sure to really fill there bags with candy.


Then the got to feed the fish in their pond.


Grandma Black, Laun & Chery-


Then we headed over to see Aunt Julie. The kids were so excited to play with her grandkids.
Marlee & Paige’s (Laun’s cousin) little girl are around the same age. They had fun showing Grandma the stuffed animals. Clayton was very disappointed when we had to go, he really hit it off with one of the boys, well, I guess his second cousin actually. I was bummed I didn’t take more pictures while we were there. We had such a great visit.


Next we headed to the Conference Center.
Even though it has been around for awhile, Laun & I have never been in it before.



We got to take a tour. It was neat for the kids to see where General Conference actually takes place.


The building inside & out is so pretty.


There’s us-


There is wonderful art pieces everywhere- here is a sculpture of our Prophet Monson.


We also got to go on top of the building. It is so much bigger than I thought it would be.
I loved the fountain.


This scripture & art work is amazing.


You can see the Salt Lake Temple behind the fountain.


This area that looks like a field is also part of the landscaping on top. They have it like this to represent what the land nearby looks like.



Some views of what it looks like across the street from the top of the Conference Center.



We took the kids to see the Salt Lake Temple- so pretty.



Here is the view walking back from the temple of the Conference Center- love the waterfall.


The boys wanted a picture by the Conference Center fountain.



That evening Grandma Black made us a yummy roast dinner & then took us out for yogurt & the park.



Wednesday- August 1st
Swinging on Grandma Black’s porch.


Grandma was so good to us & we had a great time staying at her house for a couple nights.


I love this photo of Laun with his Grandma.



Then we headed to Andy & Elizabeth Turley’s home near Provo.
We all went to Seven Peaks, the water park. Apparently, many people had the same idea, it was busy.


I went down some of those slides with the kids- they loved it. Marlee got a little nervous the first time we were going down a slide & asked if it was almost over. After that she was good to go.


There was also little kiddie areas.



I didn’t get any pictures of us on the rides. It would have been fun to capture some of their facial expressions.


One of the favorite rides for Clayton, Porter & I was the yellow & blue slide. You slide down on a mat.


Many of us went on this ride & Clayton even went twice (so I didn’t have to go on it by myself).
Clayton & I went down it with a double tube, it is a scary drop!
It was one of the scariest rides I have EVER been on & I have ridden on lots of roller coasters.
I screamed the entire time.


After 5 hours of fun-


Marlee & Avery


Goodbye Seven Peaks!


Back at the Turley’s house the kids watched a movie.


Then Elizabeth made us yummy treats- slushy's, snow cone with ice cream.


Thursday- August 2nd
We visited my brother Andy’s work. He builds dinosaurs! I am pretty sure Clayton & Porter are jealous.
This dinosaur is actually like a puzzle- it is in pieces & you build it. 


They get real dinosaur fossils & then any of the bones that are missing, Andy makes.
I wish I had artistic skills like Andy, he is amazing!


This fossil is a pelvis bone- it is huge!


Andy had lots of questions to answer…my boys ask lots of questions.




This fossil is so delicate looking.


Andy took the boys over to see one of his coworkers who has been in Paleontology for years. Then the boys really poured on the questions. Their conversation was awesome. Our boys know way more dinosaur facts than Laun & I do. I was confused half the time, but the boys kept right up in the conversation. Clayton even showed him a fossil he found on our trip & the guy told him it was a solitary horn coral.


Andy showed us another cool fossil…


check out that jaw & those teeth!

Finally, we pulled the boys away from Andy’s work & headed to Tucano’s Brazilian Grill for lunch.
This is one of my favorite restaurants. They have an awesome salad bar & then they bring all these grilled meats, veggies & pineapple around to your table.


Monson would often yell out & we didn’t know why, then we realized that he wanted the guys to put the food on his plate.


He just wanted a turn like everyone else- so cute. Their grilled pineapple is amazing!


Clayton most have been worn out from eating so much.


There was this awesome store nearby Tucanos.
I loved this massive gumball machine. How cool would it be to have that in a playroom?!


There was also this fun tree made out of candy. That is a lot of green fruit slice candies!


Next up we went to Thanksgiving Point.


We went to the Museum.


There was a little science area, but it is mostly fossil stuff.



Those are some freaky looking animals!



Clayton liked this exhibit of teeth- the layer on the bottom is all teeth!


Digging for fossils.


Then we went to the ice cream shop, which was surprisingly cheap.
This chocolate beauty is what they call the tower cone & it only costs $2.00! The girls just care about what color their ice cream is & that it comes with a cherry on top.


See that huge cup Laun is holding with frozen yogurt out the top? He got a tower cone, too, but of Raspberry yogurt.


There was plenty of ice cream and yogurt to go around…notice Marlee sharing her ice cream with Josiah.


There is this open area at Thanksgiving Point that is currently featuring a man’s art work.
He made this crazy looking contraption that shoots out water- big hit with the kids.


The kids got pretty wet. Actually, some of them got soaked.


Marlee laying out, trying to dry.


The same artist made this:


You press a button & huge metal marbles roll out & go through this maze. It was awesome.


There was also a little petting zoo area. This little goat was so cute.


The Alpaca’s were a big hit.


I checked out this stained glass place…

We had so much fun at Thanksgiving Point- there is plenty to do.

Then Elizabeth & Andy babysat  our kids while Laun & I did sealing's in the Mt.  Timpanogos Temple (which is only minutes away from their house). It was an amazing experience. The sealer was the author George Durrant.


They were doing some construction on the outside of the temple, so all that orange stuff around the top is for the construction workers.


Friday- August 3rd
We left the Turley’s house early this morning. We drove to Grandma & Grandpa Turley’s house to stay the night.
We were happy to get out of the truck & relax.


Saturday- August 4th
Today we went to Collin Turley’s (Ted & Richelle’s son) baptism & lunch at Grandma Zelda’s home.


The boys had fun playing chess.



Marlee was happy to see Lydia (Rachel & Brandon’s oldest).


Me, Mom & Rachel


Grandpa Mecham & I


The Turley Grandparents & I

Then we headed home to Tucson. We had a wonderful trip. We saw all of my siblings except for Richard (we will have to go to CA soon), all my grandparents, Laun’s only living Grandparent- Grandma Black, some aunts, uncles & cousins. We are so thankful to everyone who let us stay in their homes, everyone was such great hosts. We had an awesome vacation!