Renting...a Family

Earlier this year, Kristin asked us to watch the kids while her and David went away for their 9th anniversary. After checking to make sure Matt was on his week off, we said yes. 

So we rented (babysat) Grace, Kate, and Parker for June 8th, 9th, and 10th. We arrived on Friday about 3pm. David and Kristin left soon after. We got the kids dinner of Macaroni and Cheese and Watermelon. We asked the kids if they wanted to eat outside and they said yes. It was uneventful, except that Parker tried to flip backward off of the table and I barely caught him before his head hit the cement underneath. 

We were able to put the kids to bed without any problems.

Saturday ended up being a longer day. We wnated and planned to take the kids to Lagoon, but we got a late start in the morning with breakfast. So instead of going to Lagoon early, we decided to go after dinner. What to do with the kids until then? It is quite interesting to go from NO kids to 3 kids, ages 5, 3 and 19 months. The kids wanted to stick around us and have us play with them. So I talked Matt into taking the kids upstairs and downstairs to clean and straighten up, while I cleaned the main level. We got a lot straightened up and time passed by quickly. 

We put Parker in bed for a nap and the girls went to their favorite friend's, Cowen, to play for about an hour. We got dinner ready, this time we ate inside. After dinner, we went to Lagoon. We had a fun 3 hours. It was actually cold that night, so we had coats on from the start. 

Here are a couple of pictures from our fun adventure with our "rented" family at Lagoon. 

Parker was funny about the rides. He was excited to get on, but once we put him on the ride, he would cry. He would continue to cry until the ride started and then he would smile and enjoy the ride. Silly little boy! Katie and Grace enjoyed the whole time and wanted to stay longer. 

I love this picture. The girls love Matt and Matt loves them.
They are headed off to the TidalWave as their last ride before going home. 

Parker is crying on this ride. Matt and I just laughed
because he liked this ride the last time we had come.

Katie-bug in the lady bug. 

Parker in the bumper cars. We weren't going to put him
on them but he cried when the girls were getting in,
so Matt put on the ride. He didn't enjoy it at all. 

We got a video of Parker on the bumper cars. 

We sent it to David and Kristin. They enjoyed it while off on their weekend away. 

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend was absolutely FANTASTIC and extremely HORRIBLE.

Lets start with the FANTASTIC first.

Thursday, we went to the Alaskan Inn again for a night away. We arrived at about 4pm and checked in. We weren't quite hungry yet, so we went up to Pineview Reservoir and went for a 3 mile walk along the shore. It was beautiful and we enjoyed nature and talking.
After our hike, we went the Gray Cliff Lodge Restaurant for dinner. It was so cute and the food was really good. First, you got to choose from a fruit cup or tomato juice. Then came soup or salad. I chose a dinner salad, because I thought the soup sounded horrible, some kinda squash soup. Matt ended up ordering the soup, I tried it, and wished I had ordered it. Yummy! After soup/salad, our main entrees came, which were fantastic. Dessert was also included. Fabulous food and a romantic and relaxing environment.

After dinner, we went back to our cabin and relaxed. We ended up watching "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Odd move, but it is what Matt picked out.

Friday, we ended up picking up Gracie and taking her to Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base, while waiting for David, so we could go to Antelope Island. Katie was with a friend in Heber seeing Thomas the Train and Park was napping, so Kristin stayed home with him.

While we were outside, she liked the rocks as much as she like the planes. Probably even more!

Gracie with one of the MANY she picked up and talked about. 

One of my closest and longest friends loves fire engines,
so I ended up enjoying them too. This one is really old

David ended up finally getting off work, so we (Matt, David, Gracie, and I) headed out to Antelope Island.
We went out to the ranch on the East side of the island first. Since it was Memorial Day Weekend, they had an event going on. We ended up trying to rope. Enjoy the pictures of all four of us trying.

Gracie roped herself.

I like this picture, because Matt caught it just right.
The rope makes a frame for Grace in the background. 

Me and Grace on a horse. 

After the roping and looking around the ranch, we went to the West side of the island to the beach. It was WINDY.

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Grace!

Saturday, we tried going to Lagoon around lunch time, but only were able to buy our SEASON parking pass. Yes, I surprised Matt with SEASON passes to Lagoon. I am insane because the rides give me motion sickness, really fast. Well we ended up coming back 4 hours later because of the terrible rain storm that afternoon.

Matt, Parker, and Kristin

David, Gracie, and Katie

Little kids on a ride. Parker wasn't enjoying it too much. 

We had a lot of fun until Sunday morning, then the weekend turned  HORRIBLE .
Matt was sick all that morning throwing up. I went to church by myself and was feeling fine until Matt started feeling better. I puked my guts out for 2 1/2 days. One night, Matt couldn't even lay in the bed with me, because if he moved at all I would puke. So the rest of our plans were ruined for the Memorial Day, but it was FANTASTIC and HORRIBLE at the same time.

Gilgal Gardens

If you have ever heard of Gilgal Gardens in Utah, you definitely know your Salt Lake City. While Matt and I were in Washington visiting my sister, Matt pulled up a trivia game on Salt Lake. Chels and I thought we could answer all the questions correctly, WRONG. One question was about Gilgal Gardens.

So one day the first of May, Matt suggested we actually go see what Gilgal Gardens was all about. Well, we looked up the address on the internet and found this blurb about the gardens.

"Located at 749 East 500 South in Salt Lake City, Gilgal Sculpture Garden was envisioned, designed and created by Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. in the mid-twentieth century. Tucked in the middle of the block behind houses and businesses, many are still unaware of its existence and enjoy a true sense of discovery when they visit the garden for the first time. Gilgal Sculpture Garden contains 12 original sculptures and over 70 stones engraved with scriptures, poems, and literary texts. As a whole, Gilgal Sculpture Garden is significant as the only identified "visionary art environment" in Utah."

It was quite an experience on the eyes and fun to find a hidden adventure we didn't know about. 

After the gardens, we went to walk the new City Creek Mall and have some gelato ice cream. 

We heard the coolest sound on the round. 

I thought it sounded like motorcycles, but two really cool cars were stopped at a light. 

Matt took a picture and I took a picture of him. 

M.I.A...been missing, but alot has happened

It has been almost two months since I last wrote...a lot has happened both heartbreaking and hearttouching in our lives. Probably the worst May, I can remember since being married, but the best June in memory too.

It has been interesting that a couple of heartbreaking and one heart shattering experiences has helped me and Matt grow individually and as a couple. 

Do you know the song, "Humpty Dumpty"? Well, if you don't it is a nursery rhyme. This is how it goes:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Well, that king didn't have my knight-in-shinning armor, Matt, among his men, because if he did, Humpty Dumpty would have been put back together again. Matt helped me put my shattered heart back together again. 

So now that my heart is whole again, there is a lot to catch you up on, so enjoy the reading over the next week as I will write a little each night.