Father's Day

It was so nice to be in Utah for Father's Day this year, because we got to celebrate with all our fathers.  Because we were traveling, the girls and I didn't do our normal Father's Day traditions...but we are saving our ideas for a later date!

What we did do was get to spend the day with some very special fathers that we don't always get to see on Father's Day.

First off, we had a nice pancake breakfast in the morning for Grandpa Smith and Dave.  We also gave them our presents.  For Grandpa Smith, we got him a portable fire pit for the backyard.

As for Daddy Dave, he got a new shirt to go along with a signed picture of Bears football player Matt Forte from Ashley and a Father's Day poem written by Paige.

After church and dinner with the Wahlquist family, of which I have no pictures :(, we met up with the extended family at Grandpa and Grandma Church's for dessert (again no pictures.)

We had a good time with the Church side of the family.  While gathered together Grandma Church asked us to each take a turn and share a memory about our fathers'.  It was a combination of funny and sweet stories all in tribute to our dads; there was laughter and tears.  Made me realize how important dads our in our lives.

It was also at this get-together that Grandpa Church introduced Paige to pool.  She was hooked.  She loved it and if given more time she just might turn into a pool shark.  In fact, a few days later when we were going to visit Grandpa & Grandma Church and have lunch with them, Paige asked, "do you think Grandpa will play pool with me?" 

I can't blame Paige for loving Grandpa Church so much, here is a conversation I overheard between the two of them:

GC:  Paige, are you okay?
P:  Yeah, I'm fine.
GC:  Do you want anything?
P:  No, I'm okay
GC:  Do you want some candy?
P:  That's okay Grandpa, I'm fine
GC:  If you ever want candy, you come find me.  I'll get you some candy.
P:  Okay!

As for my dad, Grandpa Tana as the girls call him, we didn't see him on Father's Day because he was out of town on a soccer trip, but we celebrated after he got home.  We took him to dinner and a Real Salt Lake soccer game.  We ate at a hibachi grill called the Last Samurai.  The girls love the entertaining eats. 

After dinner we walked over to Rio Tinto Stadium for the game.  This was my first visit to this stadium and I was very impressed.  It is real nice and a great place to watch soccer.  We also had good seats on the half-line.  I have to say, these MLS players are huge and so strong---it was quite a surprise to see them up so close. 



Can you tell it was a little windy?



Playing with the BIG boys



HOORAY FOR DADS!!!

Weber State University Soccer Camp

One of the benefits of going to Utah a week early was that the girls were in town in time to go soccer camp with Grandpa VudhiVadhana.  The WSU Women's Soccer team was holding a soccer training camp for kids and thanks to our connections with the coaches ;) the girls got to attend.

The camp was for 3 hours a day for a week.  The kids were divided into age groups.  Paige and her cousin Wyatt were happy to be grouped together.  Ashley didn't know anyone in her group but quickly made friends with a girl who came down from Idaho to attend.  They were a good match and had "not being locals" in common.



Paige and Wyatt



Ashley and her friend Kami

Of course, the best part was that Grandpa got to see the girls play soccer for the first time.  He also spent a couple of days training Ashley's age group and got to work directly with Ashley.  My dad LOVES soccer so much, it brought a smile to my face to see how happy he was walking around on the soccer field.  Of course, he was pretty easy to spot because he wore a crazy, Asian, lampshade, sun hat.  Dave said he looks like a character out of the movie Big Trouble in Little China.

(This is not a good quality picture) Ash and Grandpa



Running laps



Paige and Wyatt playing in the grass during break



Lunch at the Pie



While the girls were at camp, I got my morning workout by power walking around campus.  It was fun to see how much the campus has changed and improved since I was a student.  Also, because Becky's son, Wyatt was at camp she came and walked with me a couple of times, so did Debby and Dave on the days they were around.  The camp ended around noon every day so afterwards we always went to lunch with Grandpa.

The camp started right as we got to Utah so the girls were busy from the get-go.  The first week of their vacation they were pretty busy getting up early for soccer every morning, training during the day and then visiting with family every evening.  By the end of the camp, they were pretty tired but they both loved it and I'm glad we got the chance to do it.  Just maybe we will do it again next year.  Thanks Coach Tommy aka Grandpa!

Family Time with the VudhiVadhana's

How lucky are we that not only do we get to visit family for a month but that we actually get to see BOTH sides of the family?  Besides spending time with Dave's family, we also spent a lot of time with my family---the VudhiVadhana's.

Recently, my sister Becky moved from Montana back to Utah.  The last time we saw her family was almost five years ago.  In fact, I met her youngest son, Andrew, who is 2 for the first time during our stay!  Even better, my sister Debby who has now officially moved back to L.A. decided to fly in for a few days so we could have a mini-family reunion of sorts.  We have all seen each frequently, but once we started figuring it out, no one could remember the last time our whole family was together.  It has probably been over 10 years!  Wow!  How does that happen?

Of course, that meant that we had to take some pictures, because who knows when we might get together again, hopefully it won't be ten years from now.  Here are a bunch of unprofessional pictures off my iPhone:

Paige, Andrew, Ashley, Ben, Wyatt



The Grandkids--Jenny's girls and Becky's boys



Grandpa and the grandkids

Grandma and the grandkids



The Vudhivadhana Sisters





The VudhiVadhana Family

We had a bunch of family get-togethers.  Becky hosted a few at her new house in Hooper.  She has a big property with chickens, turkeys, ducks and a goat.  They also have a trampoline in their backyard.  It's pretty much kid heaven for her little boys and my girls liked it a lot too.



 One of my dad's talents is hospitality via food.  Seriously, he is really good, so he sponsored a number of big family dinners.  He found out that steak was one of Ashley's favorites so the next day he had everyone over for t-bone steaks.  Ash loved it.  Between all the good food and great company, it kinda made you wish that we all lived a wee-bit closer to each other.

Besides eating way too much we also did some other fun things, like celebrate Ben's 5th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, a sure hit with the younger set.



Ben, the Birthday Boy





The best part of having younger cousins...you can pick them up!

 

Paige, Andrew and Ben

 Our family fun didn't stop with Chuck E. Cheese.  We also all went to the Lagoon.  I mean every summer trip to Utah has to include the Lagoon, right?  The girls and I went with Becky and her boys, Katie, Rylee, and my mom for a full day and night at the Lagoon.  I didn't get many pictures because we were pretty busy riding rides.  I do have to say that I was impressed by my sister Becky.  She had her hands full with three little boys, a stroller, bags, snacks, etc., but she managed it all.  I forgot how much stuff you have to carry around with little kids. 

Paige and I were riding partners.  She was very excited this year to be tall enough to ride Wicked.  I love roller coasters, but it's just not quite as fun when you are terrified that your 7 year old daughter sitting next to you is going to go flying out of the car during the loop!  Fortunately, she was safe it's just a mom thing.  Although, I will say that our lap bar on the Puff kiddie roller coaster did pop up during our ride!!!  Hello, ghetto carnival!!

Here are some pics of Wicked

Ashley is a warrior when it comes to thrill rides.  Nothing scares her and she has my drive to go on as many rides as possible so she went off with Katey and Rylee to ride the "big" rides.  We all had a great time.  I can still handle all the rides, but I sure am whipped the next day so I guess I'm starting to show my age.

We obviously were well entertained and had a lot of fun, but the best part was really having the opportunity to laugh, talk and love with family.  We made lots of great memories and because the opportunities to be together are fewer, I will certainly cherish seeing my girls smile and enjoy the company of their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Family Time With the Smith's

We stayed with Dave's parents the whole time we were in Utah.  Yep, Jim and Carolyn had us as houseguests for one month!  That is seriously a lot of work and takes a lot of patience and generosity, two characteristics which they happen to have in abundance!

Dave's parents really are amazing people.  They are great parents and even better grandparents.  We truly appreciate their wisdom, support and love.  They have raised 5 wonderful kids and preside over a close-knit and loving family, that we are very blessed to be part of.  Dave and I only hope that we can be as fun-loving and stylish as they are when we are grandparents...okay, we hope we can be like that by the time we turn 40!

Of course, when we come to stay, the person who takes the brunt of it is Grandma.  She is the one who stays home with us all day entertaining, cooking, and cleaning.  (I have to say it is kind of nice to have a mom to take care of you!)  Just to show you how "cool" she is look at these humungous, bigger than you can imagine, out of this world snow cones she introduced us to:


That huge red thing Paige is holding is a SMALL snow cone----small as in the size of your head!



Grandma also makes the world's best cinnamon rolls and is my favorite shopping companion



Paige and Grandma are kindred spirits when it comes to desserts!

Grandpa is not too shabby either.  All the grandkids adore him and my girls are no exception.  He is also pretty "cool" giving Paige a guitar lesson:



Bouncing all the kids on the trampoline



Grandpa roasting marshmallows with the grandkids

We were very lucky to get the chance to also see all of Dave's siblings during this trip.  Two of his sisters, Kristin and Katie, live with their families in Ogden.  His brother Scott who lives in AZ also happened to be in Utah for part of the time we were, so it was great to catch up with him and his darling, wife Katie.  We also made a quick stop in Rexburg, ID to see Dave's sister Kelley.  For the girls this meant that they got lots of cousin time.  I don't think they knew what they had been missing.  They loved playing with their cousins so much that it was hard to go home when the time came.  Poor, sweet Ashley was very teary as we waved goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Smith on the day we left for home.

Of course, difficulty parting is just proof of how much fun the girls (and their parents) had spending time with family.

Making smores with the Holts and Megan



No one "pops" em better than Aunt Krissy



Making smores is a SERIOUS-ly messy business!



Swimming at the club pool, a favorite activity with cousins.
Paige jumping off the diving board.



I'm sure this either a deep discussion among siblings, or else Kristin is telling
one of her captivating stories!

 

Playing Rock Band with the Wahlquists

 



Group pedicure!



My first pedicure