What a great & eventful week! Last Saturday we flew to Utah. We made it through airport security and even survived our 5 hour flight. I was quite amused when Kate managed to pee through her pull-up while taking a nap on David's lap. Never crossed my mind to bring David an extra change of clothes! David had his turn to laugh at me next when Jacob successfully completed a major blowout! We landed in Utah and were greeted by David's dad, Randy, at the airport. He had flown in from Oklahoma an hour earlier to be present for Jacob's blessing. We loaded into the rental car and headed to Cafe Rio where we met Rob and Di and family (who drove from San Diego) and David's mom, Sue (who drove from Durango, CO). Ben was quite surprised to see Natalee and Katherine and promptly asked, "Are we going to Sea World?" After Cafe Rio we headed to Nielsen's Frozen custard. We had a great time catching up and visiting. I had forgotten how nice it was to have Nat and Kat around to entertain my kids!
On Sunday, we blessed Jacob in my parents' ward. In addition to David's family, my parents and brothers Eric and Stephen and their kids, joined us for the event. We had a yummy lunch afterwards before Rob and gang had to head back to San Diego and Randy flew back to Oklahoma. It really meant a lot to have everyone join us. My brothers enjoyed watching Kate's energetic and mischievous behavior at my expense. They claim to remember a similar little girl.....but I plead the 5th!
On Monday, we headed to the Little Bear River Resort for a Gillett family reunion. We surprised my parents with a 50th wedding anniversary celebration! It was the first time that all of my siblings and their spouses have been together in 15 years! 31 of the 33 grandchildren were also present. Ryan is currently serving a mission in Nicaragua and Michele was home working in Wisconsin...putting her husband through med school! All of my mom's sisters & spouses came into town for the event...from Wisconsin, Idaho, Washington & Utah. Many of them are in their 80s so this was quite the surprise for my mother who was brought to tears at their arrival. All three of my Dad's brothers & spouses also joined us. We had a WONDERFUL dinner prepared by my sister Alison. Eric arranged for a photographer to be there. She took countless pictures of everyone! Eric also put together a slide show of old wedding slides and various pictures. I presented my parents with a 100 + page hardbound digital scrapbook I have been working on for the last year. The final product was worth the countless hours it took me to compile it. We even had an exact replica of their wedding cake. I am sure it will be a night we will always remember.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we continued on with reunion festivities. Crafts, soccer and football games, visiting, playing, eating and more eating. Ben and Kate loved every minute with all their cousins! They were in heaven and played and played until they dropped. Jacob decided to really start smiling and laughing while we were at the reunion.
We took Thursday to recuperate from the weeks festivities. We took a trip to Macy's to get our ice cream cones and yes David got the Kong Cone! We were also able to visit David's friend Garrett (from Colorado Springs) and his little family who now live in Logan.
On Friday, we ventured to Layton and surprised Ben and Kate with a visit to see the Judds from Oklahoma. Cambrie and kids were in town visiting family. When Ben saw Dyson, he had a moment of silence followed by a puzzled expression, "Dyson?" He then bolted out of the van and played and played just like earlier days. Kate and Kendrie didn't miss a beat. I think Kendrie was quite surprised that Kate could talk now! It was so fun to see their new addition, Jakobe and for them to meet ours! Time doesn't separate good friends.
Next, we headed to Provo to the BYU bookstore. David and I decided it was time to update our BYU gear. It was so fun to see the campus and play the "remember when" game. We both have fond memories of our BYU days! Next, we headed to Ruth's home in Eagle Mountain. The kids had a great time playing together and David and I had fun visiting. Oh how I wish we lived closer!
On Saturday afternoon we headed to Alison's house in Bountiful. We enjoyed a second night of Cafe Rio and Nielsen's custard. Alison made a yummy Father's Day breakfast before we headed to the airport Sunday afternoon. On our return flight, we had the privilege of sitting behind some essential oil pyramid scheme salesmen who claimed their scents had put Kate to sleep and kept Jacob from crying. I wanted to tell them otherwise, but kept to myself and attempted to block out the overpowering aroma. We couldn't have asked for better kids on the flight.
We were welcomed home with temperatures in the 90s and humidity off the scales...Ben nailed it when he said, "Maryland smells like mold." We enjoyed every minute of our trip and cherish the time we spent with good friends and family. But, for the first time since we moved, it really was good to be home.
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