Lots of Fun Weekend

Garth and I are still recovering from a weekend of so much fun!  We were so excited to have our family together (minus a few now-and-then).  We used the Fall Break from school to spend this time with family.  It was one of only a few years when we didn't attend any UEA activity.  We had arranged to stay at one of our favorite places, the Staybridge hotel in West Valley City, which has the Grins and Fins swimming pool.  Barrett and his family also stayed there so we had enough swimming passes for everyone.  All of our grandchildren in the same pool at the same time!  So fun!  We then ordered pizza and bread sticks for the whole family and with permission from the hotel manager, we had the dining area for our dinner.  The grandkids were so good and well behaved.  Maybe it was because they were so tired from all their swimming!  They watched the TV while they ate and played together.

Lexi loved playing with the two babies.  Here she is with Isaac.  He is such a fun little guy!

Koy and Kayden watching TV in the hotel dining room while waiting for pizza.

Maxwell, Morgan, and Tyler were anxiously waiting for the food as well.

Grayson was happy with Daddy Dallas holding him. 

Aren't these kids so cute!

The next day my children appeased their mother and went to This Is The Place Heritage Park.  I've wanted to go here ever since my Great-Great-Grandfather's little cabin in Emery was moved to the park.  This turned out to be the perfect time to go.  Because it was just before Halloween, the park was ready with Halloween activities.  Children were encouraged to wear their costumes and given treats at several of the places in the park.

The kids were excited to get their Halloween costumes on!

We got to the park at the perfect time, about 10:00 am.  It was beautiful weather and there weren't many people there yet.  It was a wonderful day!

Lexi kept Grayson entertained while others were off playing games.

Spiderman (aka Maxwell) likes to play the games for candy.  Tyler just like the candy!

Tyler would walk everywhere as long as Grandpa was holding his hand.  Kayden just kept going, encouraging everyone to follow him.

Morgan showed Tyler how to toss into the pumpkins.  Tyler had such fun playing with his cousins.

Everyone was waiting to listen to the old witch tell her stories.  Nicky loved to play with that little duck.......Isaac.

Listening to the witch tell the story.

It must have been a great story!

We finally found our way to the Emery County Cabin.  This cabin was moved from Emery to the park a few years ago. My great-great Grandfather Casper Christensen lived with his family in this cabin.  He was called to be a postman in Emery. Casper was the grandfather of my Grandma Olsen. 

Here I am with my husband and our 8 grandchildren, descendants of Casper Christensen.  This children are six generations away from Casper Christensen.  How time changes what we view as 'acceptable.'  Casper lived in this small cabin with eight children, just as my eight grandchildren.  I can't imagine what that must have been like, but I am sure the family was very thankful for what they had.  When the kids started running back to the street to go to the next place, I was a bit overcome with thankfulness for the sacrifice that Casper Christensen and his wife, Maren, for coming to this country from Denmark, living in Minnesota where 4 of his children were born, then moving to Spring City in San Pete County, later to move to Emery County and establish his home here.  His daughter, Annie married and lived in Emery, welcoming a daughter, Melva to their family.  Melva married Neldon Olsen and moved to Rochester, or 'out on the flat' or the 'blue hill'.  Melva and Meldon had a daughter named Nellie Ann, who is my mother.  These people shaped my live and are a part of who I am today. 

Happy "Special-Age" Birthday

Happy birthday to my sweet daughter-in-law, Chantel. Thanks for putting up with us these past years, and for making life great for my son. You deserve a medal for all that. I hope you have a great day. Take a break and do something for yourself.

Wonderful, Wonderful, Weekend

What can I say that would reflect what a great weekend we had? It was the best time in years. We both truly loved every minute of the time we spent together.
Thanksgiving started out with an early wake-up call (really just the usual time of 4:30), then off to SLC by 6:00. Since I have medicine I need to take with food, we drove through Price to get a breakfast muffin at McDonalds, only to find out they were closed for the day. We drove on the Helper and stopped at Walkers there and got something to eat on the drive. The canyon ride was fine, so fine I slept as usual. We got to Nicky's right at 9:00 as planned. We drove on down to the Little American, found a parking spot in the garage, and went up the elevator. As we stepped off the elevator we found we were right at the end of the line for the buffet, so we just stayed right there. Have a fun conversation with a man from Sandy who was in line for his family, just his wife, brother and sister-in-law. He said it was an "off year" for all their children, so this is their usual way of celebrating on the off years. They have done this buffet for several years and wouldn't do it any other way.
Garth "sat" in the paying line while Nicky and I kept our spot in the buffet line. The time seemed to pass by quickly. At 10:00 the paying line opened, Garth was toward the front so he got through and came to wait with us. Within a few minutes Barrett, Chantel, her mom, and the kids were there. You have never seen two kids so excited to see Grandpa! They were so full of hugs and kisses and just couldn't get enough of us. It was so fun.
Before we knew it we were being ushered in to the dining hall. It was fabulous! This was our first time there, but not for Barrett and Chantel. So they told us the rope and how to behave. There were hundreds of tables set up in all the meeting rooms and the grand ballroom. The desserts were lined up in the hallway between the meeting rooms (rooms we have been in during Garth's USEA years). There were desserts of every kind.
We were given a table for 8 in the ballroom, right next to the salads, fruits, and vegetables. What a spread! The vegetables were to die for, and salads of every kind. There was thinly sliced salmon, rolls, sliced squashes, flavored tomatoes, cheeses, shrimp, more flavors than you can imagine. And that was just the first table!
Right in the middle of everything was a table with "kid food": pizza, spaghetti, mac'n'cheese, everything a kid would love.


The main table had all kinds of turkey, fish, crabs, ham, potatoes,stuffing (not Stove Top), roasts, everything you can imagine. It was gourmet to the max! We ate and ate, and then ate some more. As soon as you emptied a plate (and sometimes before), the plate was picked up and you could go get more. They didn't rush us out so they could use our table, but I was starting to feel a little bit guilty thinking of all those people out there waiting for someone to get done so they could start their dinner.
We then went to the dessert area and had to get pumpkin pie. Morgan had to have chocolate, and Max loved everything.
We had a fun time visiting with everyone, especially the kids. They were well-behaved and had a great time. Max cried when he thought we were all leaving and wouldn't see each other again. When he found out we were going to be together the next day, he was alright with that.
We had invited anyone who wanted to come to the hotel to go swimming. Tammy took us up on it,and brought pumpkin pie for everyone to eat. We decided to keep the kids with us for the night because Tammy and Josh both had to go to work early. So we got the fun of having them with us for the night. They went with us the next morning until Tammy got off from work. We then headed down to Nancy's.
Nancy had a place all picked out for us to have pictures taken. I know it was supposed to be a secret, but I am the one who said we needed family pictures, so I was told that there was a plan for the kids to be together to get pictures taken. It turned out great! The setting was perfect and the kids were so cute! It was wonderful for Garth and I to have a chance to be with all the kids. The only one we were missing was Josh, who had to work.






We returned to Nancy's, ate more food, visited, watched the kids play, then headed back to the swimming pool. Tyler loved to laugh at everything Morgan did in the pool. He was so excited to see her jumping into her dad's arms. He loves the pool so much! It was fun to see him get so excited. The kids all seemed to have a wonderful time. The adults all got tired.
This was a great weekend for us, the perfect start to the holidays. Thanks so much everyone!

Chantel's Business

I am adding a bling on my blog to help spread the news of Chantel's business. She makes adorable headbands and bows for little, and big, girls. You can also find bracelets made by her business partner. Check it out!