Utah Part 4...Toads & Going Home... :(

On Saturday, we headed back down to Provo to pick up the girls from EFY.  I just love when we pick them up & they are like different children!  I'm like, "Who are these NICE girls??"  Surely these can't be the ornery teenagers that we dropped off 5 days ago?  EFY whips them into shape, and gives them such a spiritual high, and I LOVE it!  I have been adamant about the girls going, because my friends got to go growing up, and I never was able to go, but always was so jealous of those who went.  They would always have so many stories to tell when they got home, and it was always such a neat experience.  I feel like in their teenage years they need these spiritual experiences, and EFY Provo has such an amazing spirit.  Teens these days need all the help they can get--it's a wicked, wicked world these kids face each and every day.  Satan comes at them with everything in his arsenal these days.  I can't believe some of the things that these girls have to face each day.  I am so grateful that there is a place where they can go where they can feel the spirit so strongly, and feel the love that Heavenly Father has for them.  It has been such a huge boost to their testimonies, and I feel like it was worth EVERY penny.
We headed right over to the Brick Oven, and were actually the first ones there at 11 a.m.!  We had the whole place to ourselves! 

We had an amazing pizza, then headed back over to Brigham City for our annual Toads Laser Tag game with Wendy's family!  This year, I didn't get to play, since Jack kinda FREAKED out when we got into the room with all the black lights & people's teeth and eyes were glowing.  I wish I could take a picture of how my face looks under a black light--it is truly SCARY!  All of my freckles, and melasma (mask from my pregnancies) glow in the black light, and I look like such a freak!  Jack took one look at everyone and flipped out crying and screaming, "This is SCARY".  That was the end of Laser Tag for me--but Causey's better watch out for next year--I'll be back!  We always have such a great time with Wendy's family.  Her kids are a lot like mine, and they all get along so well.  My kids miss their cousins!  It was so great to have a fun night with them.  After Laser tag, we played Miniature Golf, which was pretty informal for my family, but Wendy's family was keeping score and everything--and not even cheating! Wow!  I pretty much stunk it up--but had fun taking some fun pictures!  Thanks Wendy for having us--even when you were in pain from your surgery!  We sure love you and your family--and we miss you so much!  Wish you were closer!

We started back home early on Sunday morning, and had called Katie & Shaun to see when they had left.  They had left at the same time, but were about an hour ahead of us on the road, since they left from Provo, and we were north of Salt Lake.  When we got past Salt Lake, we got a call from them, and their Suburban had broken down just outside of Nephi, Utah.  Funny, because their Suburban is fairly new, and I was just praying the whole time that our OLD crappy Suburban (with 100,000 miles) would make the trip!  We reached them about 45 minutes later, and piled all 12 kids into our Suburban, (good thing they love each other!) while Katie & Shaun rode with the tow truck.  We drove back to Provo so they could have some work done on their car the next morning, since NOTHING in Utah is open on Sunday.  Seriously, it was like a ghost town there...which is great, unless you're stranded there and don't have a kitchen to cook in! Maybe we should have just dropped by some random person's house for Sunday dinner, eh? "Hi, we are stranded here today, and since you don't have anything open, we, (and our 12 kids), would really love some dinner!"  What God fearing LDS family would have turned us away?  Really. We managed to drive around and find a couple of restaurants who bucked the system and opened on Sunday.  It was also amazing to see how UN-crowded they were!  Aren't there non-members in Provo?  We felt so scandalous walking into a restaurant there on Sunday--what rebels!  Gasp!  Anyway, it gave us a chance to spend one more night in beautiful Utah, and take a sunday walk with the kids, and talk about EFY and the great time they had.  The next morning when the car was fixed, we started our trip once again, and made it to Richfield just in time to stop at Ideal Dairy for lunch, and COOKIES (raisin filled sugar cookies & pumpkin chocolate chip are our favorites), and Punch Bags (like otter pops, except they are in a round bag, like the cub scouts are drinking in the picture below, haha!), and we loaded up and headed for home.  Katie was a genius and rented Red Box movies for the trip--I had never thought of doing that?  Hello?  Duh.  It was a nice trip, and even rained a little on us on the way home making for a cool day, even in AZ.  It was actually nice to be home after 10 days, and sleep in my own bed.  Aaaaahhhh!  Lately, though, it has been hard to come off vacation, where you don't have to think about the stress and problems, back home, where they are just waiting for you patiently.  I wish I were on a permanant vacation from those problems.  Sigh.  Oh, well.

Utah Part 3...Picnic Time!...

By the end of the week, my sister was feeling a little better, so we decided to get her out of the house & go on a picnic.  The great thing about Utah, is you don't have to drive very far to find a beautiful place to picnic!  10 minutes from Wendy's house was a campground with a little creek running through it for the kids to play in (and try to catch snakes...ew!).  We had a great time visiting, and the kids had fun playing in the water and goofing off.  I froze my feet, and tried to walk in the water, but my feet are sensitive!  I couldn't believe those kids could run around on all the rocks & not ever complain that their feet hurt.  I guess it helps when you go barefoot all summer, and your feet are like leather.  I remember those days.  Those were drink out of the hose, and don't go in 'till it's dark days.  How I miss those days sometimes...  Anyways, after the kids got all messy in the creek, we took them to the hotel to swim and get clean while Wendy went home and started the grill & grilled steaks and made the BEST cheesy scalloped potatoes.  I cannot get them out of my mind.  I ate WAY too much of them, since I don't think I've had them since high school!  I tried (unsuccessfully) to make them when I got home, and decided that I just need to get her recipe.  They were to die for!  Wendy's husband, Owen is actually going to finish his Culinary Arts degree in August, and he is the chef of the family, (and made us some AWESOME food...) but my sister can make some mean scalloped potatoes!  YUM! 
I was glad she was feeling better, and that we were able to spend some time in the great outdoors.  We Arizonans don't get out much during the summer months--unless we're lounging by the pool, which isn't as often as I would like!  Utah is BEAUTIFUL during the summer, and I just love it there in July.  We are for sure going back next year--same time!

Utah Part 2...Temple Square...

On Wednesday, we took a trip to Salt Lake City, and took Wendy's kids with us so she could rest.  Temple Square is wonderful entertainment for all those kids & perfectly FREE.  Love that place!  There is such a sense of peace at any temple, but I especially love going to the Salt Lake Temple.  There is a reverence about that place that I don't think exists anywhere on earth.  I haven't been to the new Nauvoo Temple, but I have heard the same about that place.  It is like you feel the spirits of those who have gone before anytime you are there.  So many faithful saints, who sacrificed so much so that we can have a worldwide church.  40 years of work, toil, and labor.  40 years of hoping, sacrificing, to build a temple of God where they could receive the blessings of the ordinances and covenants made there.  40 years.  It makes me grateful for the convenience that is my life, and having a temple only minutes away.  What a blessing!  We saw a newly edited version of the Joseph Smith movie in the Joseph Smith building.  What an amazing story.  I sat and bawled, with goosebumps going up and down my body in different parts of it.  The spirit of that place is so strong.  Sometimes we romanticize the story of the prophet, and the early saints.  We focus on the positive, and forget that much of their lives were spent in terror, running from mobs, and people who did horrible things to them.  We remember the miracles they witnessed, but forget that most of the time their lives were not easy.  They were tried, almost constantly, and their faith was strong enough to overcome.  Their example can help us to remember that whatever we go through, whatever we face, our faith has to remain steadfast, unwavering.  It can also help us to put things into perspective, and remember that in the end, it's only our faith that matters.
Most of all, when I visit Temple Square, I stand in awe of the beauty of that place.  I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  I snapped so many pictures, I lost count, and when I was trying to edit them down to the ones I wanted to put on my blog, I just couldn't decide--so once again, it will be picture overload.  The clouds were just perfect, and it was a beautiful sunny day.  At sunset, it got a little cloudy, and there was a storm coming, so those pictures are equally beautiful.  You have to keep in mind that I have an old crappy camera and only basic Kodak editing software, but the temple is beautiful on it's own.  No editing required!  Love this place!

These were taken from the top of the Church Office Building--just beautiful up there!

Utah Part 1...Road Trip & 4th of July...

This year, we decided to schedule Emie and Erin for EFY in July so we could get out of the heat & spend some time with my sister & her family.  We headed up to Utah right after the family reunion ended on Sunday, and got to Richfield on Sunday night. We planned on going to breakfast & getting some treats at Ideal Dairy, (tradition) but with it being the 4th of July, everything in that small town was closed for the festivities.  We had to leave town without our raisin cookies :(  but we figured we could swing back by on our way home.  We got into Provo around noon, and stopped at a store to get Emie and Erin some lunch before we dropped them off at BYU.  When we went into the store, I saw something I could NOT resist--a HUGE jumbo glazed doughnut, just about as big as my head!  Better yet, when I went to buy it--the guy told me that since it was after noon, and it wasn't fresh, he would give it to me for 50 cents!  SCORE!  My kids thought they had died & gone to heaven!  We dropped Emie & Erin off and went out to eat with Todd's sister Katie & her family at Brick Oven--YUM!  My favorite!  You can't go to Provo without a trip to Brick Oven! For me, every trip is about the food!  :)

After lunch, we traveled up to Brigham City, where my sister Wendy lives, and where we stayed for the week.  My poor sister had to have her tonsils out the week before we got there, so she was still in a lot of pain.  She seriously had two HUGE holes in her throat.  Poor thing.  We went to the park, where they had saved a spot for the fireworks display.  My kids were so happy to go to a fireworks show, since the one in Heber had been cancelled.  The kids played for a few hours, and we enjoyed an amazing sunset before the fireworks started, and then there was an amazing fireworks display.  I even got some decent pics!  I LOVE fireworks displays.  There is just something so American about fireworks and the 4th of July.  You hear the patriotic music, and see the fireworks, and my heart just swells with pride for this country, and the freedoms that we enjoy, and the blessed life that we live.  America is just such a special place, and I am so grateful to have been born in this country, where I can dream, and reach for the stars. Where my children have just as much opportunity, or more than I do.  I love this country, and am so grateful for those who died to give me the freedom and opportunities that I have. I am so grateful for that.  Here are some pics...

Small Town 4th of July & Schuyler Family Reunion...

Our tradition since Todd's parents got their cabin is to go to Heber for the 4th of July.  It's such a great tradition, since it's just SO hot to stay in the valley for the 4th.  You realize just how many people are trying to get the heck out of here when you start the drive up the mountain and it seems like a slow crawl with all the traffic of people with their RV's, boats, trailers, and toys.  We decided to beat both the traffic, and the heat by driving up late Friday night, leaving after dinner.  Right outside of Forest Lakes, 15 minutes from Heber, we passed a lady who had pulled to the side of the road and had her hazard lights on.  She was waving at us to stop, so we flipped around, thinking maybe she had car trouble.  When we came back to the spot and turned around however, we realized that someone had veered off the road and flipped their car and it lay upside down about 500 feet from the road.  It had been so dark, that we didn't see it before.  A woman, and her sister and her 4 kids were traveling, and had been trying to avoid a deer.  She said she slammed on her brakes, and they locked up causing her to skid off the road and because it was a steep shoulder, it flipped a couple of times.  The lady was able to kick out a window of the car so they could get out.  Luckily, they were able to get all the kids out, and no one was hurt, except some cuts on their arms and legs from trying to get out of the car.  What a blessing seatbelts are!  They were all pretty shaken up, and the mom and sister were both trying to call loved ones to tell them what had happened, so Todd and I tried to help by finding the kids some shoes and blankets in the wreckage to keep them warm, and since the mom was trying to comfort her little 18 month old, I held her 3 year old to keep him calm until the ambulance got there.  All I could think about was how we were probably only 5 minutes behind this car, and how many little things kept us from leaving 5 minutes earlier.  Life is like that, minutes can sure make a difference between life and death.  When we got back to the car--we questioned all of our children on who had their seatbelts on--and sure enough, the 3 oldest had taken theirs off during the trip for one reason or another.  If that had been us, we could have gone from 6 crazy kids down to 3 in an instant.  What a sobering thought.  You can bet they got lectured on that fact for the next 30 minutes.  Powerful lesson.  Sometimes we learn so much more from seeing things than hearing them.  At least I hope they learned!

Heber was a lot of fun!  This year, we had a family reunion with Todd's mom's side of the family, the Schuyler family.  We were so happy to see them!  Most of their family lives in Utah or California, and we don't get to see them as much as the Allen family.  But most of Todd's memories growing up involve that side of the family, as they lived in Richfield, UT together, and had so much fun with their cousins.  It's amazing though, when you're family, you get together, and even if you haven't seen each other for 10 years, it takes 10 minutes to catch up, and you feel like you haven't missed a day. I love that.  Family is amazing!  We went to the parade, and had some fun programs and skit night, which is always a hit.  This year, we added water play in the afternoon, which was a lot of fun, and added some great pictures to the week!  We missed the fireworks, but with the forest fire this year that burned 500,000 acres of our forests in AZ (thanks to environmentalists for that), it was probably for the best.  It's just so dry this year, and they couldn't take a chance.  We missed it, but had a great time talking and catching up, and just being together.  We definitely need to get together more often!  Here are some great pictures...too many, as usual!