Surprise Provo Visit

The kids and I spent the last few weeks visiting Provo, Utah. We lived there for 5 years while Derrick and I were attending BYU, and I've missed this lovely town since we moved. It was wonderful being near our favorite park, re-visiting BYU, seeing good friends, enjoying our old ward, and having the mountains so close again.


Surprise Friends!
We had fun surprising some of our close friends (we kept our visit a secret for a few families). I only had my camera with me once, but we were able to spend time with the Jefferies, Edwards, Allphins, Johnsons, and Webbs.

This family is the beloved Jefferies family; they live just around the corner of our old house, and were an essential part of our life in Utah. We spent a lot of time with them during our trip. They even watched the kids several times so my mom and I could get out!

Dayton, Grandpa, Derrick, Michelle, Laura,
Nana, Daphne, Joshua, and Jim & Jacob in back

Working Hard
We stayed with my parents and helped them fix up our old home to prepare for renters. I spent my nights painting a protective seal over the wood floors, but out of the 5 times that I painted, I never once got a picture of me in my beautiful mask that my dad made me wear.

But here's Dayton trying the mask on!

(Tangent: My dad making me wear this mask while painting brings back memories of my dad making us wear safety goggles when we lit off fireworks as kids, or putting strips of rubber on the bottom of our church shoes which he thought were too slippery).


Pool & Sprinklers
The kids played in the pool and ran through the sprinklers on several hot days.

Dayton throwing the ball right at Carly's face!
I love this picture!

Daphne loved this little chair;
she dragged it around with her

Dayton running through the sprinklers

Picnics at the Park
We had several picnic parties at Kiwanis park (the park that is 2 houses down from our old home). Dayton and Daphne LOVED getting soaked from this spicket.
I was kind enough to let the kids get soaked in the spicket a few more times during our trip.

Daphne loved getting her hands dirty
A big difference between her and her clean brother

Dayton also LOVED a water gun that my dad bought for him. He SO ENJOYED squirting anything and everything with his gun (literally, he'd squirt the stroller, the house, the car, the ground, the dogs... anything). When he was chasing/squirting me, he would even stop and say, "Okay, now your turn" and hand the gun to me so I could squirt him (except NOT in the face- that evokes tears).

Here Dayton's just about to get Jacob Jefferies in the eye!
Dayton and Jacob had a wonderful squirting hide & seek game going.

Squirting Mommy while I was trying to take a picture

And here Dayton's about to shoot poor unsuspecting Allie

Thanks for the water gun Grandpa!

After they got dirty, I decided they could
take a quick "bath" in the swimming pool
(swimming naked in the front yard with the dogs- great bath). Daphne looked so funny walking around
bare-bottom carrying the too-big water gun.

Dayton also did a slip-n-slide at one party; I was amazed by his courage. The older kids were running and sliding down head-first on their stomachs, so Dayton walked over and laid down head-first on his belly! He didn't have a running start (meaning, he didn't budge on the tarp), so an older boy pulled him down the slide. I wish I had the camera with me!


River-Rafting
We did river-rafting twice the weekend before we came home. The weather was nice and hot, and the river was fairly calm. We took Dayton the second time, hoping he would enjoy it. Sure enough, he absolutely loved it! He squealed when we went under 2 bridges, and he shrieked and giggled whenever we went over some rapids. He loved getting a light spray a few times (although my Dad and I caught most of the water since we were in the front and back). He'd see rapids coming and yell, "Uh-oh! Here come some more whales!" I tried correcting him to say 'waves' over and over, but he liked whales better.

Here we are cruising along the river.
My mom took this picture from up on the road.

Grandpa jumping out to pull us ashore at the endMommy and Dayton in the raft

We let Daphne hop in for some fun before we got out

She just wanted to play in the water

My Dad and Me

Temples
I was able to go to the Provo Temple twice; Derrick and I went once before he headed back to school (Derrick was in Provo for the first 3 days with us), and then my mom and I went once together. I loved being 5 minutes from the Temple and finding time to go.
My mom and I also got to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication this past Sunday (it's the newest temple in Utah). The dedication was AMAZING. I was so touched by each speaker's stories of temple trips and experiences. I feel so grateful to be sealed to my family forever.

Other Fun Things
My Dad and I played tennis a few times with our close friend Shane. It's so fun playing with my Dad! He's the one who got me into tennis just before high school.

We borrowed 2 high chairs from the Jefferies while we were there; Daphne thoroughly loved sitting in her chair. Once I was feeding her something on the couch, and she got down to drag the high chair in from the kitchen and plop down in it next to me. She was always very eager to eat in it! We let her feed herself a lot more than usual, which was very messy, but it made her very happy. Daphne also picked up lots of new words while we were there.

One night Dayton got out of bed at about 9:30pm, just as my mom and I were heading out to Cold Stone Creamery for some delicious ice cream. Being the push-over mom that I am, I let Dayton stay up and come with us. He was thrilled, but also very tired by the time we got home and put him back to bed. Another night, he got up at midnight, but I was at the other house painting floors. So Dayton got to stay up for a while watching videos and listening to music with Shane on his laptop (Shane is a close family friend who's living at my parents' house in Provo while he finishes at BYU).

My attempt at a good picture of my kids sitting together

Daphne still loves getting her picture taken
Dayton is starting to shy away from the camera

One night I got to go see the movie Julie & Julia with my friend Laura. We both enjoyed it!

Mommy and Daphne after Church