Utah Thanksgiving, 2013

Made it home from Utah late last night.  Heidi and Blake stayed in Walnut Creek with Jacquie and I took Scott, Tyler, and Kira.  We left Monday night and stayed in Reno.  The kids were adequately stimulated with the iPads (see Nitroblue Investment about one of the iPads) and did very well in the car.  Additionally, the van ran well and the driving conditions were ideal.  Now, some pictures:

Mr. T playing table tennis.  He surprised me with his good ability.

Dad and Scott playing the double shot

The Ogden, Utah temple was demolished and this is the new one--almost done.

Kira was none too pleased at the cold Utah weather.  I thought she looked cute in her coat, but we realized she didn't have any closed toed shoes.  I subsequently had to purchase her some from DI.

There's lots of kid-friendly museums in Utah.  This one was in Ogden and had lots of hands-on activities.  

I wanted the kids to see BYU campus and I was surprised that they agreed to come.  I treated them to some cookies and cream milk, which during my last semester, was a Wednesday staple.  In fact, in my zoo 373 lab, I would eat two jalapeno bagels and one bottle of said milk and then leave the empty bottles in the lab.  You can get away with stuff like that in the lab because someone's always culturing something.  College.  Good times.  

The kids really enjoyed climbing on stuff and jumping, and that was probably the highlight of their whole week.  

Dad came with us and got some laughs out of Kira.  

The simple things:  Observing the steam output near the Eyring science center.  

Good old BYU campus.  The grounds are very well-kept, and there is always some renovation in progress.  I have mixed feelings about attending BYU.  I feel I did receive a great education, but socially, the BYU spat me out.  It seemed like the single ladies were only interested in men bigger and better, so there was a lot of sizing up and dating was challenging.  Heidi disagrees with this and said, "That's just because you didn't have confidence in college."  Maybe, but after I got married, I was at the Che house doing some work on the yard.  One of the girls from my student ward walked by and I said, "Hi, Amy."  She looked up and said, "I hate men.  Men are scum."  Without a pause, I said, "You know, things around here haven't changed that much."   

At temple square in Salt Lake City.  The kids enjoyed walking like this.  

I was pleased at this picture of the Salt Lake Temple.  The lighting was just right and the grey granite looked tan.  

I was amused at Tyler and Kira's sad faces.  

You gotta hand it to the pioneers for building this tabernacle.  I believe they built the dome first, with no trusses, and then built the walls underneath it.  

With Lisa's kids

This was at a huge trampoline center in Kaysville.  The kids had a great time with no injuries.  

I still need to scan it, but Tyler wrote the things for which he was thankful:  His strength, his house, his family and friends, the food he eats, and his cousins.  On another thankful tree we made at home, he put "the future."  I am surprised at how he can come up with these abstract concepts.  Very mature.

The kids did well in Utah, especially in the van, even though Kira had diarrhea on the way home and made us stop twice.  Then she fell asleep and peed herself, but after we changed her, she was fine.  Between the iphone and two ipads, the kids didn't fight much and I could drive in peace.

Originally, I was going to stay in Reno.  We were making such good time and the hotel fees were not in my price range, so I decided to just go all the way.  About thirty minutes after Reno, though, I was feeling pretty tired and wondering if I had made the wrong choice.  The kids went to sleep right about then and the drive through the sierras required more concentration so I didn't worry about dozing off.

We finally pulled into Walnut Creek at 10:40 and met Heidi and Blakey.