Utah Trip and More!

I have so much to catch up on!

I think the biggest thing that has happened was that back in June I was called as the Relief Society President in our church.  This means that I am responsible for all the women in our area and making sure that their spiritual and temporal  needs are being met.  It's a heavy responsibility, but I know it will bring welcomed blessings as I serve.

For the 4th of July we had a not-so-brilliant idea of going down to Siesta Key Beach.  It's down in Sarasota (just a little over an hours drive for us) and we've been meaning to try this beach because of its pure quartz sand.  The sand is white, oh so soft, and it always stays cool to the touch (even in the hot sun)!  It sounds ideal, but everyone and their dog was there!  Ryan and I both dislike crowds, but we stayed anyway.  The beach itself was awesome and the shallow area is really long so Cannon has a large place to swim and play.  We had a good time anyway and now we can cross it off our list of Florida beaches to visit.  

We weren't sure about taking Cannon to watch the fireworks since he is really sensitive to loud noises.  One time was stayed for the fireworks at Disney World, but he got really upset.  We just decided to spend the rest of the evening at home after we got home from the beach.  I bought some sparklers and we did those in our back area.  Cannon liked those at first, but after it died he touched the end and burnt his finger.  I felt bad and that tainted the rest of the evening.  He still like to watch them, but he wouldn't hold them anymore.  And poor Blue got burnt when a spark of a sparkler fell on her nose.  It just wasn't our luck!  After sparklers Cannon had a bath an then we watched the big fireworks from our huge bedroom window.  It was actually really nice.  We laid on my bed and you could see them really well.  I think next year Cannon will be ready for the big ones!

On July 5 I headed to Utah!  It was a miracle that we were able to pull this off!  Ryan had purposely scheduled a work trip for Provo and Bountiful so that we could use our frequent flier miles and go with him.  Well, we didn't have enough miles for two tickets and one ticket is about $500 so we figured we would have to do Utah next summer.  But when Ryan was on his way back from him Memphis trip, they overbooked the flight and he volunteered to take another one and they gave him a $400 voucher!  I asked Ryan to take a second look at flights to see if we could make it work.  Just that day they lowered the tickets to $350 and we had just enough points for the "lowest fare" ticket with our miles.  Cannon had to fly with Ryan, since the voucher was in Ryan's name, and Ryan had to fly out at specific times for his work.  I used the miles and they only let you book certain days and times with the low-fare, so I had to fly out on a different day.  So I went out on the 5th and Ryan and Cannon didn't come out until the 9th.  It was really weird to not travel with Cannon and to be without him for a few days, but it was also kind of nice to have that time alone too.

Madelyn, me, and Heather roasting Starbursts

On July 7 (Saturday) I went out to dinner with my friends Heather, Madelyn, and Stacey.

Me, Heather, Stacey

Afterwards we hung out at Stacey's house.  It was so much FUN to be with them again!  Stacey has a fire pit in her backyard.  We sat around there and talked and roasted s'mores and starbursts.  We had a great time catching up and laughing hard!  I miss those girls.

Ryan's birthday was on Sunday, which I was sad to miss, but we celebrated it later at my mom's house.

Sprinklers!

Riding Trax

Cannon and Ryan came out on Monday the 9th, but didn't get to my mom's house until about 10:30.  It was great to have them back.  The rest of the week was pure fun!  The weather felt so great to us, even though other people said it was hot.  Cannon had so much fun just being able to play in cool soft grass and to run around my mom's backyard whenever he wanted to.  We went up the canyon (Cannon is obsessed with mountains right now), went to the zoo, went to Park City, saw my grandma, rode Trax downtown, visited Temple Square, and just played!  We spent a lot of time outside which was perfect.  Cannon loved to play with the cats too.  It was also nice to spend a lot of time with my family.  My niece, Kennedi, is just six months younger than Cannon and the last time they saw each other was almost two years ago!  They were happy to see each other and mostly got along, but Cannon really knows how to tease girls! Cannon got to see his great-grandma Mimi.  He has a picture of her holding him when he was a baby, so he knows who she is.  When we were at her house he put it all together.  He said to her, "You're my great-grandma," to which we all agreed and then he said, "Where's my great-grandpa?"  I didn't quite know what to say, so I just told the truth and I said, "He's dead."  And he left it at that. 

Moose in Uncle Dave's front yard!

Merci

Climbing the real mountain!

Climbing the fake mountain at Largo Central Park

One of Cannon's favorite times was going up in the canyon.  We went up Little Cottonwood and just found a place to pull over on the side of the road.  We walked down to the river and hung out there for a while.  Cannon loved to climb and scale the rocks.  He loved throwing rocks into the river.  He took off his shoes and let his feet touch the cold water.  He like to walk on the rocks in the water, but was careful since they were slippery.   It was a perfect environment for Cannon, my sensory guy.  He could hear the river and feel it's cool.  Climb the big rocks and throw the little ones.  Smell the pine trees.  Hide in the bushes.  It was so peaceful and relaxing and made me miss the mountains.

 

 Merci and I took the kids to Hogle Zoo.  They have made many improvement since my days of going there!  Cannon's favorite exhibit were the seals and sea lions.  He laughed every time they poked their faces out of the water. 

Like father like son?

Ryan on our honeymoon (Dominican Republic)

Carousel

Giraffes, another favorite

Cannon and Kennedi

Rolling in the soft grass!

Salt Lake Temple

On Saturday we took Trax downtown to visit Temple Square and the new City Creek Mall.  Cannon loved riding the "train."  It was a nice day except for when it rained.  I waited for Ryan to buy me an umbrella and of course it had stopped raining by the time he came back.  

We all know how much Cannon loves Angel Moroni, so we went upstairs in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to get a closer look.

When we got inside the visitor's center, Cannon really wanted to run up the spiral ramp that goes upstairs.  I kept telling him that this was a place where we needed to walk and be reverent.  As we got to the top I could tell that he was just about to bolt, but I stopped myself from grabbing him.  As he turned around to run he saw the Christus statue and his eyes got wide!  He was in such amazement and he yelled out, "There's Jesus!"  I can't remember if he walked or ran to the 11' statue, but he was completely drawn to it. That was a special moment. 

Then we walked over to the Conference Center.  Cannon kept thinking we were going to see the prophet there and he was disappointed to say the least. 

 Sunday night we went to Park City to hang out with my Uncle Dave and his family and have dinner.  Dave and Jill have two boys, Alex (almost 8) and Ben who is 4.  The weather was awesome and it was so nice to just be outside.  On the drive up the canyon I told Cannon to keep a lookout for deer on the mountainside.  When we pulled up in the driveway we were in shock when we saw a mama moose and her two babies resting in the front yard!  It was really amazing!  We got a better look from their closet window. 

Ben, Kennedi, and Cannon

Alex

Cannon enjoyed playing with all their trains and toys galore!  After dinner we played outside and Dave took the kids for a ride on their four-wheeler. 

Cannon, Kennedi, Dave, Ben, and my mom

Eddy the dog

 They have an air rocket toy that launches the rockets in the air when you  jump on it.  They had so much fun playing with it that I think I will need to get one for Cannon!

Ryan's dad's side of the family had a reunion in Junction, Utah.  It was about a three hour drive for us.  We got there on the evening of July 16 and stayed the night.  We had to leave the next afternoon though.  We were able to see Ryan's parents and his grandparents.  Ryan's grandpa has cancer and is not very well, but both of them have failing health.  We were surprised that they felt well enough to make it.  We have a picture of them in our house, so Cannon knows who they are.  He recognized them right away and gave Grandma Rees a hug.  I'm glad that we got to see them since this will probably  be the last time we get to see them.  It was also fun to see lots of Ryan's aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I wish we could have stayed for the whole reunion, but my flight was late Tuesday night so we had to get back.  

For the family reunion we stayed in an old courthouse.  It was kind of neat and they have many of the original properties of the courthouse.  All the rooms have a sign above the doorway that tell what that room used to be.  It has been converted into a type of house now that they can rent out for things like family reunions since it can sleep a ton of people!  Our room was the vault and the door was an actual vault door.  Plus there was a nice big grassy area for the kids (and adults) to play and to camp in tents for those who like to do that. 

 

The Old Courthouse in Junction, Utah

 On Tuesday morning Cannon participated in all the kid games.  Later that day the adults played bocce ball and I won the championship game!

Uncle Steve helping Cannon shoot the nerf gun

Trying it himself

Bean bag toss

Bowling

Coin toss

Darts

Frisbee toss

For each kid game, they got beans and then they could use their beans to buy things from the kid store.  Cannon quickly learned about buying things with beans and he could do it himself. At one point he came back with a bag full of candy and toys!

Cannon decided to snuggle up with Grandma Rees.  He sat with her for a long time and told her lots of stories. 

Great Grandma and Grandpa Rees

The whole Utah trip was great!  It went by fast and I wish we had more time to see everyone and do more things, but I could tell that Cannon was ready to get back home.  And we missed Blue.  Our body clocks are all messed up, but we have enjoyed Cannon sleeping in for us!  Definitely a rare treat!