Just a warning.... Settle in. This post is a long one! ;)
Where in the world are we?
Ha! What gave it away? Well, Alec, Riley and I were able to take a wonderful trip to surprise my Dad. He was scheduled to speak at the April Genreal Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. A few people had asked me if I was going and after a few times I started to think seriously about it. How wonderful it would be to see my Dad speak in person. So with the help of my Mom, I made our reservations and off we went. I was so happy to be able to bring Alec with me. He was a great help with bags and baby sitting and it was just nice to have that time with him.
We arrived in Hawaii and had a lengthy layover that we were able to spend with Marly, Mai and Waika. Marly was my high school friend and college roommate. She and Mai have been great friends to me. It is so nice to see long lost friends and it being like yesterday we when saw them last. We were so grateful to them for picking us up and letting us crash with them for the day.
We finally made it to Utah after a red-eye flight, a four hour layover and then another hour flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. Does this happen to anyone else? You finally arrive at your destination and your arrival gate is the farthest possible gate from the entrance? I was so happy to see my Mom right outside the TSA waiting for us with open arms! It was so good to see her.
Well, we went back to her home and as you can imagine we all crashed. I woke up hearing my Mom and Dad talking in the living room. Oh, boy am I bad at surprises! I thought I slept through it! So I woke up Alec and had him walk out into the living room. I hear my Dad say, "Uh? Hey! What are you doing here!" I came around the corner and Dad was all smiles. He later told me that when he saw Alec it took him a minute to place him. Success! So we visited a bit and the fun began!
We did many things and one of which was to take Alec Snowboarding for the very first time. Grammy had it all arranged. Alec went to a class that lasted from 8am to 3pm and he had a blast!
Riley quieted down a bit after warming up and we hung out with Emily and Olive walking Main street and checking out the Outlet Malls. Can you believe I didn't get any pictures with them? We picked up Alec and after a bit more shopping we went out to eat.
Riley got a much needed rest. Sleeping babies are so cute.
It was a treat to be able to go to General Conference. Alec and I went to the Saturday afternoon session with Kim. While we went to conference, Riley got so spend some quality time with his Uncles. Yep, Adam and Jared watched Riley with the help of Marlo.
Walking to the Conference Center was cool. There were so many people anxious to hear the words of the leaders of the church. The building is large and as you can see just steps away from the Salt Lake Temple.
Later Saturday afternoon, my brothers and my Dad took Alec to the Priesthood session. He enjoyed his time with his Uncles and Grandpa.
The Big Day! Sunday morning we were getting ready to go and hear my Dad speak. But first, we had to drop off Riley. Emily's sister Annie had agreed to watch Riley, along with Marlo and Olive so we could all go to Conference. What a blessing that was. Thank you Annie and Brandon!
The pass off went smoothly and we made it back to the Conference Center. Seated we waited to hear more inspired talks, including the one from my Dad.
Look at these beautiful couples!
Uncle Dave and Angie drove up too! It was so great to see them there. Dad did a wonderful job on his talk. He spoke and said, "Speaking of vision, the book of Proverbs teaches this truth: “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). If we are to prosper rather than perish, we must gain a vision of ourselves as the Savior sees us. ....As we put into action the teachings of our leaders, we gain a deeper understanding of our Savior’s vision for us."
Of course that is just a little tidbit. You can find his entire talk on lds.org. We heard many insightful messages throughout conference. It was wonderful to be there in person and experience those special days at the Conference center.
Monday after Conference I was able to meet up with Jason's Mom and sisters. It was nice seeing them and spending a little time with them We wish we had more time to spend but we were so grateful that they took time out of their busy schedule to see us. Alec got to spend some much wanted time with his cousins Ben and Mitch and I even got to see my niece Chelci (whom I haven't seen in years!) and her baby Rowley. So much fun
How fun does this look?
We were able to have a combined Family Home Evening monday night. It was so fun for me to experience some girly activities. My Mom planned a "Fancy Nancy" evening where everything was fancy. So much fun to be able to help plan that. Adam gave a really nice lesson on keys of the Priesthood.
It's a small world after all. I ran into Sister Porter at the Church Museum. It was so fun to see her and talk with her a bit. She and Bro. Porter lived in Samoa for a few years.
Alec was a trooper during our shopping excursions. He helped a lot to entertain Riley and enjoyed goofing off a bit too.
Our last day in Utah and we went ice skating. It was just for an hour or so and it was a perfect activity before getting on a plane.
I love this picture of Grammy helping Alec on the ice.
A little bite to eat before we leave.
Thank you to my Mom and Dad for having us. As you can tell we were able to do so many fun things and spend time with family along the way. From the uplifting church conference to the fantastic snow boarding adventure to the fancy FHE. We had an amazing time. Although it was hard to leave, it was time to go. Three planes, two storm systems to fly around, and many hours later we arrived home.
It took us a long time to get through the Customs but when we did we were relieved and this is what I found in the car.
Isn't this precious! My three boys piled into the car, beds made and they came to the airport. So funny and so great to see them. Home again, home again.
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