Top 10 Memories from Easter in Utah.

10. Moses and Kaylee!

I havn't had many opportunities in my life to meet celebrities, so when I saw Moses and Kaylee at the reception... woah... I became totally star-struck! Completely incoherent, googly-eyed, and silly... yes, that's how I met Moses and Kaylee... I adore them. But in spite of my goofy behavior, Moses was very gracious and Kaylee very sweet and I have even more admiration for them after meeting them in person than I did before, which is something that I don't think I could say about many super-stars. But here it is, a picture with me and MOSES and KAYLEE!!! WooHoo!

9. Lehi Legacy Center

On Monday, Heather took me down to the Lehi Legacy center, which is a lovely community place complete with pool, track, weight room, and yoga class! I paid $5 for me and Dawna (thanks for a BoGo coupon) for a whole day of exercise and fun! Heather and I ran a 5k on the track in the morning, then Mom and Dad met up with us and the kids for a swim. We had a couple minutes in the weight room, and then in the evening, Rob volunteered to put the kids in bed so Heather and I could go to the 8pm Yoga class. And that was AWESOME! I discovered I really like Yoga... and may find a way to get into a class around home...

8. Old friends, new places
Throughout the week, Sarah Jean, Edwin, and Leeland accompanied us on several outings, including the Lehi Legacy Center, BYU campus, and she even invited us to the Easter egg hunt she was putting on for her "music-makers"-like class in her ward. As always, she added life, energy, and fun to our trip, not to mention beauty :) But Sarah wasn't the only old friend we found in Utah... We also got to hang out with Stephanie, Kora, and Brighton! We were quite the sight at the swimming pool... all these California girls swimming in the middle of snowy a Utah spring... it was almost a full joyschool reunion, but unfortunately, we missed seeing Angela and Talmage :( darn kindergarten got in the way! Next time though... because there will always be another trip to Utah... there's just too many things to do and too many people to see for one week... this one was the "friend" trip... in July we're coming out for the "family" trip...

7. Attached at the hip...
This would describe Larry and Isaac most of the time, but Hannah and Dawna every waking second of the day... and even some of the sleeping seconds of the day as well. From dress-up to restaurant to Queen and servant even unto trips to the potty, they didn't ever leave each other. Side by side they vacationed, up to the last night, when the two of them amazingly slept in the same twin size bed, side by side. They were the best of playmates and incredibly cute! The boys echoed the fun with their twin "I dig dirt"s in the yard, wrestling on the trampoline, and casting their new fishing poles (courtesy of Papa Severson) over the back lawn and down the stairs to the basement.

6. Down by the river side
For FHE, we all trekked down to the river to throw rocks and try out the new fishing poles. We had a really fun time, even though we nearly lost several of the plastic fish that were tied to the poles... all were recovered though, thanks to the fine efforts of Abbie, Emma, and Heather, who braved getting wet to save the items floating downstream. Only one unlucky person had wet feet by the end of the evening... and we will leave his identity undisclosed.

NOTE: No Emmas were harmed in the making of this picture :)

5. 11 Years ago...
On Sunday we celebrated Abbie's 11th birthday... 11... Really, Abbie? I mean REALLY?????? sheesh... her birthday was complete with angel food cake, roller blades and a new CD player. I got to reflect on my sophomore year of high school, when I was visiting Utah during spring break and Abbie was born. At the beginning of the week, Rob was talking to a tummy and by the end of the week, we were talking to the baby... it was crazy how quickly things changed, I thought. Abbie was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen (I am partial, however, since she was my sister's baby). But she's never ceased bringing a quiet dignified beauty to her home, her friends, and her whole life! Love you, Abbie girl!

4. That was Emma?
And just like that, Emma grew up. "That was Emma?" was my comment upon hearing her practice piano. She plays the piano extremely well, she plays with her little cousins extremely well, and does pretty much everything extremely well. Emma let me do her hair almost every day for school and I had a great time with that! Her hair reminds me of mine-- I love it long and braided. I'll probably be begging to play with her hair once my goes all gray and frizzy... it will make me feel young again... wait a second... I think I just saw a movie about that! Aaahhhh!!!

Anyway, look out world, Emma is coming!

3. Old companions, new babies!
Oh good old Sis. Boren... or Groneman... or whoever... I'm so glad she had her baby early so I could come see little miss Lindy and her new mama! I must admit that I was a little nervous driving up to her place; it's been a long time since I've seen Katie and I can be a little socially inept sometimes... but as soon as I walked in, I remembered why I love Sis. Boren so much: she just makes everyone feel good about themselves, no matter what! Such an amazing example to me! I had a wonderful visit and got to hold the baby and everything! Such a cute little strawberry blondie! So So So good to see them both!

2. Quilting marathon with my sister

Can you believe I kept Heather -- HEATHER -- up till one in the morning, TWO nights in a row, working on a beautiful quilt! This was a serious quilting marathon, which included two days of piecing the top and one day where we borrowed quilting frames, mounted the quilt, tied the quilt, took it off the frame and did the binding... WHEW! It was a piece of work... and it generated a piece of art, containing the pants of Rob, Abbie, Emma, Danielle, Jon... and various unknown others...

Yes... Heather was up veeeeerry late... (that was at the Discovery Gateway, by the way... yet another fun stop along the way... ) but she was a master on the sewing machine by the time we were done! No project too big to take on!

1. Bro. and Sis. Evans!!

Of course the best part of the trip was what we came there to do: see Brooke and Jon sealed for time and eternity in the Mt. Timpanogos temple. We have been the lucky observers of this relationship from day one-- literally-- when Brooke came home and said, "I met this guy, Jon, actually.. .haha! He was pretty cool... maybe he has some cute friends he can introduce me to..." to the "We're in a relationship on Facebook" to the "I love you" to the "Will you marry me?" and right up to the sealing room! (and hopefully we'll continue to be the close followers for many years to come!)

Being re-united with all our Riviera 15 roommates is of course the fortunate side effect of such a wedding. Brooke faithfully attended all of our weddings, and now was the time to return the favor! Sydney and Dawna had a lot of fun, too :) Thanks for getting married, Brooke and Jonny, so we could have such a fun trip!

Trip to Utah

Last week I took the kids and went to Utah! It was a great trip filled with friends and family and fun! A great break from California for a little while!

The Airplane:

This was the part I was most nervous about, but my kids, as always, were perfect angels. On both plane trips, Dawna watched The Incredibles and had orange juice. Life just doesn't get much better than that I guess. I was glad that neither flight was all the way full, so I had three seats all to myself. Lawrence enjoyed cruising across the seats and making faces at the people behind us and occasionally watched the movie. He also enjoyed taking ice out of one cup and putting it in the other--over and over again until his fingers were blue from the cold! But, it kept him well entertained. I realized that the general airport populace in Oakland is a little kinder towards moms alone with kids than the SLC. Maybe it's because the sight of a mom traveling alone with two babies is more unusual and endearing in Oakland? I don't know, but I was escorted past the security line in Oakland and ushered to the elevator, whereas in SLC, I had to wait in the "green circle" line--created for all the slow travelers, like moms with kids. Business travelers or people with no carry-ons get to go in the "blue square" or "black diamond" lines which move a lot faster. I love how even the airport in Utah has allusions to skiing.

Roommate Reunion!

Monday through Wednesday I spent with Valerie and Becca! We had lots of fun, even though the weather wasn't the best. On Monday, we enjoyed shopping and Valerie's famous enchiladas. Then we played Wii games after the kids went to bed... well, mostly... Lawrence didn't really go to sleep, so he got up and used a tube of desitin as a Wii remote. It was pretty hilarious.

On Tuesday, we played bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and play doh. Then, on to the Museum of Art at BYU. They had a great "Games and Gizmos" display with all of Walter Wick's art. It was so fun to look at and enjoy. Then we went to the Skyroom Cafe for Yummy Lunch Day! A little disappointing that they don't make "High in the Sky" anymore and only do buffet style meals, but it was still pretty good.
After delicious Root Beer & BBQ beef sandwiches for dinner, we all stayed up late--like, way later than I've stayed up in a long time--talking and reminiscing and laughing. On Wednesday, we tried to do a driving temple tour, but our plans were interrupted by the biggest snow storm of the season! It was crazy! So, we only got to the Provo and Mt. Timpanogus temples. Then we took pictures, Becca went to the airport, and I went to Lehi.

Sister Sister!

Wednesday night through Saturday I spent with Heather and family in Lehi. May I just say that my big sister is the best. I always leave feeling inspired and uplifted. After the huge snow storm Wednesday night, the kids enjoyed playing outside and making snow angels and building snow castles and just digging around. Dawna's favorite thing about the snow was, "When you eat the snow, it turns into water in your tummy!"
And the next day, here's Dawna standing in almost exactly the same place in the backyard. All the snow was gone, the sun was shining, and Abbie had make a "bag kite" to fly in all the wind. Amazing how the weather changes so quickly out there.
We took a visit to Great Grandma Wightman's. We visited with her and took a walk around the Charlston. Lawrence loved riding on the front of GG's walker while we toured the new additions to the complex.
I really enjoyed watching Heather home school her kids. And she let me participate one day, too! After math lessons and homework were done, I did a "Dr. Booth fruit lecture" for Abbie and Emma. We enjoyed dissecting ten different fruits: Tomato, Avacado, Mango, Blackberries, Strawberries, Pears, Honeydew, Pineapple, Tangelos, and Kiwi. The girls did a wonderful job identifying the exocarp, mesocarp, endocarp, and seeds of each fruit. They also were amazed to learn that maybe, just maybe, a cucumber, a pumpkin, and almonds might also be considered fruit... woah... And the girls were very good sports about doing a writing assignment about their fruit experience.
On Saturday, we all enjoyed going to Discovery Park, aptly named "The castle park" by the girls.
Dawna and Lawrence particularly enjoyed the giant spinny spinner. I think this park was very well designed--the high places were very safe and there were lots of low mazes where toddlers could crawl around.
After a nice picnic there, Heather drove me out to the brand new Draper temple and we walked around the grounds there.
And then, a lovely Spaghetti dinner with fresh salad topped with lentil sprouts (so yummy). And then off to the airport and home again! It was an awesome fun week! Thanks to all who made it possible! Becca--for giving me a side job to pay for the trip, Jon-- for picking me up, dropping me off, and doing all the laundry and "honey do's" I left for you :) Valerie and Heather for letting me stay in your homes. Now, all y'alls come visit me!

one last story from Utah...

My favorite clever Dawna moment came on Sunday, our last day in Utah:

First, you have to understand that Dawna is in the phase of "Whatever is the last you you say I will repeat." For example: Do you want to ride in the car or walk? Walk. Do you want to walk or ride in the car? Car. Etc.

Second, you have to understand that my sister Heather has a kiddy swing in her backyard that looks like a dolphin (modeled by Eli):



So, here's the story. We were all sitting around having dinner and Paul says, "Let's see how smart Dawna is. Dawna, is a dolphin a fish or a Mammal?" He put a little extra emphasis on the second option, even though she was known for choosing it anyway. At first, she just smiled and looked a little puzzled, so he asked the question again: "Dawna, is a dolphin a fish or a Mammal?"

She looked at him squarely and said simply, "A swing." I guess she was showing us how smart she really is, not falling for such gimmicks :)

On the first day in Utah...

Dawna loved the airplane. She pretty much watched Monsters Inc. the entire flight. Both the kids were great travlers.

Dawna played princess sprinkler hopscotch with cousins Abbie and Emma. Hannah joined them later as well.



Hannah and Dawna found a spider and some ants in this corner. Together they tortured the poor bugs by blowing on them and trying to herd them one way or another. Neither of them are afraid of bugs... yet...



Update on day 2 to come