A Welcomed Homecoming

Summer 2014 was a memorable one. 

Many favorite memories:

The first: Seeing my parents at the airport after 18 LONG months. They had served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Guatemala as medical advisors. It was so exciting to see them again! My father had lost a lot of weight and my mother had awesome new glasses. I could tell they were tired from good, hard service. May they be blessed forever!

In-N-Out was the perfect post travel meal for them (I hope!) and for us :)

Henry turned 6, and got a hiker's hat, hiked the "Y" and got to dig for bones at Thanksgiving Point. Henry's dream is to be a paleontologist when he grows up so this was a dream activity. He could have spent all day there. They also got to ride ponies, in a carriage, and they even milked a cow. 

At the top we were pleasantly surprised to join a large BYU SOAR group. LDS youth sure are energetic and spirited. We told the boys they were the Army of Heleman. 

(Mabel slept in my arms the entire way down. My arms and back were tiiiiired.)

Todd and I went to Comedy Sportz to remember the good ol' days and get a few good laughs. It was fun, but seemed too loud. I think we're getting Old!

We also hiked Grotto Falls and rehydrated at Sip-N in Payson, UT. The weather was great, the hike not too strenuous, and the falls were beautiful. 

Cannon was so sweet as he helped Theo cross the river. Brave cousins are priceless!

 Theo loved palling around with his buddy and cousin, Canyon. 

 And Henry was the little explorer.

We also visited the revamped (at least since I was a girl) Provo Rec. Center multiple times. It was a kid's summer paradise. 

The 4th of July in Provo, UT. Need I say more? Famous for the Stadium of Fire and all the festivities, Provo is my favorite place on the 4th. It was especially great having so much family around to celebrate with. We went to the parade and had a personal face painter. Thanks, Aunt Julie. It was HOT and pretty long but that's how parades go, right? 

Our favorites: pre-parade Star Wars characters, the fire trucks, the Timpview band (and cheerleaders) if I do say so myself, the MTC and Provo missionaries esp. with the double-decker bus (Theo was in heaven!), and lastly, Studio C. Fun, fun, fun, in the sun.

We learned on this trip that the Provo Mission President plays tennis with Bub, ours truly. 

The cousins also had a water fight in Mom's backyard on the 4th, and we played at Edgemont like we were kids again . . . 

Playing at Edgemont . . . 

Sarah even did a FLIP off of the swings. I was so impressed. 

In the evening we had dinner and lit some fireworks, watched the boys wrestle and rock out (Mabel, too), and watched the girls perform a song and dance:

 When the trip came to an end we were ready to get back to Todd. He had to head home early to continue work while we stayed and played. Luckily the children were great travelers--if I can remember correctly. Or, it was so bad I have put it out of my memory. Either way, I look back fondly!