Tucson Trip - SUG

It was Kent's turn to go to the Sunquest User Group (SUG) conference this year so he decided to take me with him again.  This time the conference was in Tucson. We got to stay at a 5 star Marriott resort.  When we checked in all the rooms with a King sized bed were taken-- so the desk agent did some checking on things and ended up putting us in a special room.  It is part of a 2 room suite where the first room is a regular room and it adjoins with the suite part (which we had).  The room was literally the size of 3 rooms.  The only drawback was that it had a Murphy bed which had to be pulled down from the wall every night.  It was worth it though to have such a HUGE room!  We also had our own private balcony.

Our own private balcony (which we didn't use much since it was over 100 degrees every day)

Our huge room.  This doesn't show the kitchen, the office/desk area and bathroom.

The view from our private balcony.  Nice.

Some interesting desert plants and wildlife.  Note the enormous bug in the top left photo.  We were out walking one night and a huge bug like that flew right into my forehead and then landed on Kent.

Visiting Drew

Well, actually Drew kind of visited us.  He came to Provo for a job interview and we met up at Mom and Dad's house in Payson.  We spent the night and then went to the aquarium in Sandy.  We had been wanting to take our kids there for a long time. It was really crowded (think Saturday in January when it is freezing outside).  The aquarium was really cool despite the crowds.  I guess I get so used to being in my small community and I can't stand crowds!  We were so hopeful that Drew would get the job and be able to move to Utah, but unfortunately, after a pretty rigorous interview process he found out that he did not get the job.  Maybe next time!

Raquetball

I took the kids to play racquetball for the first time during Christmas break.  We had a lot of fun, and just a few injuries.  I probably got the worst injury:  Ian slammed the ball into my leg and I had a great big bruise for about a week.

Bryce Canyon

While we were on our camping trip we decided to go check out Bryce Canyon since we had never been there and we were thinking of taking the family there for the big family reunion in a couple of weeks.  It was seriously the coolest place ever!  Sam stayed behind to hike and do his own thing and Kathy came with us.  It was spectacular and so fun!

Taking a snack break

Camping at Te-Ah

We have been trying and trying to go "real camping" for several years.  We have done rustic cabins and called it camping but not tent camping with all the kids.  We had it on the schedule and we finally did it!  We invited Kathy and Sam Wells to go with us.  One crazy thing that happened was the they "crazy neighbors" just happened to be a couple of campsites down from us.  These are a couple of ladies that live next door to my friend Ashley and are very nosy and annoying.  They were in our ward before we moved.  We were out walking to the bathroom when we saw them.  Of ALL the luck!  We tried to hide and be inconspicuous but eventually they discovered that we were there so of course they had to come visit us and ask lots of questions.

The second night we were there a huge rain/hail storm came through with lots of thunder and lightning and wind.  Kent got up during the night and had to shake a pile of hail off the corner of the tent.  In the morning everything was super wet and muddy for clean-up.  Elise had left her library book outside so that was completely soaked and ruined.

We tried to go fishing at Navajo lake but it was way too windy.  We stopped for a minute on the dam side of the lake and looked for frogs in the little pond.  We didn't see any frogs but did see some fish and some other living creatures.

Hendrickson Lake Really Exists.

Since Ian didn't get to go on the first backpacking trip with all the girls Kent planned another backpacking excursion so he would be able to go.  Since the first Hendrickson Lake hike ended up being a bust he consulted more maps and Google Earth and found a clearer, better route to the lake.  They invited uncle Sam Wells, who is always up for some adventure in the wild and set off for the lake.

Hendrickson Lake?

Kent and I took Emilia and Elise and went on a backpacking trip with Sam Wells.  We were supposed to hike about 5 miles and then end up at a cute little lake in the forest.  We hiked and hiked and hiked. At first we were on the right trail.  Then we ended up missing a turn because it was unmarked and the map was wrong.  We ended up going about 3 extra miles til we finally realized that we were not on the right trail.  At this point we ended up just trying to find a place to camp for the night because it was getting dark.  We ended up camping in "Mosquito Lane", which should have been more appropriately called "Flying Ant Lane".  But, no worries, there were plenty of mosquitoes too.

Very tired of hiking.

Uhh, I think we are lost.

See my heart shaped blister?  It got even bigger, and actually looked like a bum when we were done hiking.

THIS is where we slept.

Family Reunion 2014 Heber City

The huge and awesome Timber Moose Lodge where we stayed

We all rode the Heber Creeper

These girls decided to pour water on each other.

Look at all these cute girls! I wish they didn't live so far away from each other.

Waiting for a turn on the jet-ski

Spring Break at Snow Canyon

Don't let the name of the post fool you.  There is no snow in this canyon.  Just lava tubes and sand dunes!

My friend Jodi told me about this place which is near St. George, and said it was a really fun place to go.  We took the fam and my nephew Spencer with us.

Inside a lava tube

Going into the cave

Quick Trip

Kent had to go to a meeting out of town for work so we decided to go with him and make a trip out of it.  We also decided to use this opportunity to do some car shopping.  It worked out really great and we were able to get a new van and have some reimbursable "business related" fun.  I dropped Kent off at his meeting and spent the day at the children's museum with the kiddos.  (And negotiated the details of the car loan while I was trying to keep track of the wild children in the museum.  Adele wandered off once but I promise it was TOTALLY not my fault! Luckily there are lots of workers everywhere and one of them promptly returned her to me as I was just beginning to panic.)

 We did some other fun stuff on the trip but I didn't get pictures of that:  Swimming at the hotel pool, sitting in the hot tub, sneaking Adele on the waterslide.... I also got to visit with my sister Suzanne who stayed in the hotel with us. She had dropped off a couple of her kids at an EFY-type camp and had a few days to spend waiting for them to get finished.  We got to see her 3 Chinese daughters and the foster baby that she is taking care of right now. 

The next day we stopped at Ikea on the way home. I have to admit that I had never been to Ikea before.  Every time I have driven past this store I am have been hit with pangs of longing but never in the past have I had the time or opportunity to stop there.   I have been missing much.  Love this store.  Didn't try the meatballs. Maybe next time.  I did buy a new chair for my computer desk which I now sit in when I blog.  

And of course, we had to stop and get some lunch at one of my favorite burger joints.  It was a quick fun trip and we were able to pack in a bunch of stuff!  Love it when it all works out.

Fam Reunion

Kent's grandma wanted to have a get together with her kids, grandkids and great grandkids.  That was actually the main purpose for the ill-fated trip to Yellowstone from which we just returned.  As you have seen, we still had fun despite the fact that there was 12-16 feet of snow at the park and we had to cancel that part of our trip.  Kent's grandma has lived in Preston Idaho pretty much forever (as far as I know) and lives there still.  It's pretty much in the "middle of nowhere" especially where she lives, but it is so quiet and beautiful there. It has always held a special place in the hearts of all Grandma Jepsen's kids and grandkids (and why there it is a bit of a dispute about what to do with the mountain she owns after she passes on).

 It was a serious effort to get group pictures.  I tried to get a pic with the whole group. That didn't happen but they were willing and happy to round up all the kids for a "2nd cousin" picture.

 We played kickball, the kids swung, the boys played football, and Elise and a few of the other kids were in puppy heaven with the 2 puppies that were there.

 The kids were finally willing to participate in a family photo!

Here's the beautiful view from the park where we had our party.  So green!