Trip to G & G's

We made a last-minute trip up north to Grandma and Papa Garner's. Matt was leaving the next day for a three day, two night camp-out, Rita was taking her endowments out, and my friend Elise's little girl was having open heart surgery at Primary Children's Hospital. If that wasn't enough reasons for us to go, we also just wanted to get away for a bit!

It was so neat to be with Rita in the temple on her special day. She looked so pretty and just beamed from ear to ear. We are so happy for her. Dad's assistant Laura was sweet to come and watch my kids so that I could go to the temple. Thanks Laura! And thank you Dad for lining it up. After the temple, we went to Adelyn's last soccer game coached by her dad Tom. Then a few of us ate dinner at Chuck-a-Rama. Afterwards, Camille and Scott invited us to their place for homemade strawberry ice cream!

Friday started for us by meeting up with Camille and Scott for lunch at Costa Vida. From there the kids and I picked up Grandma Joyce at the Church's museum and went to Primary Children's. Mom stayed with Rett in the cafeteria while Abby and I visited Elise and Jayne in her room. Jayne was born with a hole in her heart and would need surgery if it hadn't closed on it's own by the age of four. She and her parents were all so brave to face such a surgery. What a blessing to have such a highly-ranked hospital just a few miles from home.

After our visit, we met up with The Jones' and Garner's at Hogle Zoo. The kids had a blast seeing the new exhibit and all the animals. Thanks Hillary for getting us in the park! The kids also got to ride the carousel (Rett twice) and eat snow cones. After the park Jones', Mom, and the kids and I had dinner at Ruth's Diner - a fun restaurant in an old train car up Immigration Canyon. So yummy!

Saturday morning Mom was so sweet to invite everyone over to her house for a big breakfast of pancakes, ham & eggs, and fruit. We all enjoyed visiting for a few hours while the kids played. The Ekins' headed South in the early afternoon to meet up with the rest of Matt's family for pictures in Cedar City.

Thanks everyone for making the few days we had together a lot of fun! Lets do it again soon.

Rett seemed especially fascinated with the turtles that he climbed up the railing while I turned my back for just a second.

You can't go to Hogle Zoo without getting a picture by this!

And we're back home! The kids have been taking swim lessons all week and, on the last day of class, this is how I found him:

His teacher said "he's so brave!" They are both loving it and can't wait for next week's class to start!