We went to Utah...

Our family took one last summer vacation to Provo Utah from July 27-July 31.  We went to visit Davids' family; Ben, Amy, Isaac, Hyrum, Hannah, Anna and Carl.   We had a wonderful time and it was great to see everyone again!  Here are some of the pictures of our vacation:
OUR DRIVE THERE:
David had spent most of the summer working out of town on the reservation.  Because he was not at home I was responsible for getting everyone packed, ready, and the house clean before we left.  The kids and I left at 5:30am.  We met David in Ganado around 8:30am.  We drove for another hour or so and stopped in Chinle for breakfast.  We got the kids changed out of their pajamas and ready for the day here.  We went to Burger King, and let the kids play at their play place for a while.   Here is a silly picture of Aubrey and an ice cream cone.

 We kept on driving and stopped, yet again, at the Hole in the Rock rest stop and let the kids run, play, and of course, use the bathroom. (*side note: With no kids in diapers anymore, it sure equals LOTS of bathroom stops!)

 David and Betsy relax in the grass at the rest stop.

 Nathan, Aubrey and Emily found this HUGE, old tree and climbed it.  It was just moments after this picture that they promptly got down because they found it was infested with ants.... 

 Jay, torturing a bug.

We arrived in Provo early evening on Wednesday.  We had a quick pizza dinner, some visiting, and made our way over to our fancy accommodations...  Amys' parents have a large house that was only about 10 minutes away and empty because they were on and Alaskan Cruise (exact one we took a few years back).  So they allowed us to spread out and use their home.  It was fabulous!  We played games  til the wee hours of morning and crashed.  Thursday we planned a fun, full day touring temple square.

OUR DAY AT TEMPLE SQUARE:
This was our familys' first opportunity to see the Conference Center in person.  It is bigger then you can EVER imagine!!  Here we are as a family waiting for our tour to start.

 Standing on the roof of the Conference Center in front of the meadow. 

 Nathan and Emily look toward the Salt Lake Temple on the roof of the Conference Center.

 A nice picture of the Salt Lake City Temple.  I expect to see it in the next conference issue.... =)

 This is the organ pipes and choir seats in the Tabernacle.  Such a beautiful building.  Sat inside and cooled off a bit.  Also listened to the "pin drop".  It was neat.

 And here is a comparison.  This is the organ pipes and choir seats of the Conference Center. 

 Another shot of the Temple from the roof of the Conference Center.

 My five wonderful kids posing on the steps of the Salt Lake Temple.

 ...and a family shot too.  It was neat to be on those steps knowing that nearly 38 years ago, my parents, newly married, stood in the same spot.  Eternal family's are the best!

 And, because Ben is in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, we stayed a bit later on the grounds, and went for a few minutes to their rehearsal with the orchestra.  It was so wonderful, yet a bit strange seeing the choir in street clothes and practicing, not performing.  Ben is on the right side, third row up on the aisle.  He is usually in that area, for those that want to find him during performances!  It was a spiritual experience for me to witness this.  I have always had a wish to sing with this choir, and getting to see them in person, made me cry.  Maybe after the kids are grown...

 With the Christus.  I love this room, the ramp up to it and the art on the walls.  Such a wonderful place to feel the spirit.  The kids were worn out and tired, so at nearly 10pm we left Temple Square.  What a wonderful day...

 On Friday we had fun going to different museums.  We went to a neat little pioneer village in Provo.  It was a very neat place for the kids.  It was a mini-Nauvoo.  They had fun because it allowed them to touch and play and learn all at the same time.  After the Pioneer Village we headed over to BYU, to a taxidermy display they had set up in one of their buildings.  The kids wanted me to take a picture of the moose, because they love their Gramoose!  How sweet.  But, it really was neat to see all the animals, in all their variety. 

 After the museums, the boys headed back home with the kids, and us girls (that's me, Amy, Anna, and baby Hannah) headed over to DI.  I was in desperate need of some new pants and shorts (literally down to one pair of each!)  I gratefully got a few new-to-me pants that fit me!  Getting older [and wider] is no fun!  We came home and played games again until the wee hours of morning again!

Saturday was a big, full day.  Ben and Amy watched the kiddos, and we got to go on a mini-date to the Provo Temple.  I had never been there,and David hadn't been there since his MTC days.  It was very pretty inside.  We were short on time so we did sealings.  I love being in the temple with my husband.

This was the last picture my poor camera took.  It was needing a battery charge terribly...  But, our vacation continued on.

After the temple, we headed back to the house, and got everyone changed and dressed for a swim park.  I wish I had pictures of this place!!  It was absolutely wonderful and perfect for kids!  Amy, I need pictures!! =)  We played and splashed, and had a great time for a few hours going down the water slides, playing in the HUGE kiddy splash pool.  SO FUN!  We headed home, got situated, and Amys brother came and watched the kids while we went on a double date + one, to a funny comedy show on BYUs' campus.  I have begun to feel old.  We walked into the show and we were quite obviously one of the older people in the room....  It made me wish I were young again.  After the Comedy Show we all headed over to the Creamery and got some ice cream.  YUM.  We then went and played games again til all hours of the night!  (1:00 am was our curfew). 

Sunday morning we packed up, got things together and loaded.  But before we left, we sat down and watched Music and the Spoken Word on TV.  It was fun watching the kids point to their Uncle Ben every other minute.  And really neat to hear the very song they were rehearsing on Thursday, so perfectly performed, live, just a few days later.  After it ended, we gave hugs, loaded into the car, and headed back toward home. 

On our way home we made a side trip to St. George so we could visit my grandma Barton, who we all loving call Gramoose.  She looks great.  It was fun visiting with her, and hearing about all her trips, and plans. She is a wonderful woman, and I wish I could be more like her.  LOVE YOU MOOSE!  The kids had a great time running around, stretching their legs and coloring Gramoose pictures.  So very much wish that my camera was up and running so I could have gotten a picture with my grandma.... 

We loaded back up, and headed home to Snowflake.  It was a LONG drive.  We pulled into our driveway at midnight.  The kids all got carried in, and after a few minutes getting unloaded, I finally crashed into bed at almost 1 am. 

It was a full, fun, wonderful trip to Utah!  Thank you Ben and Amy, and Brother and Sister Hyatt, for hosting us!  If you hung in there and read this entire post, I am thoroughly impressed!  Now, I am just anxiously awaiting school to start.  4 more days!!!!!