Spring Break in Utah

Claire and I drove to Omaha while the kids were in school to meet Austin at the airport and drop his car off so it would be there when he returned from Utah. His class got out later than he expected so Claire and I had some time to waste, and there was a Walmart nearby. Claire was completely overwhelmed and enthralled by this column of bouncy balls, doing her classic "ohhh" face and aggressive point. So cute!

We decided to go to Salt Lake for Spring Break almost on a whim....we didn't have other plans for the week and it sounded more fun to spend it with grandparents than by ourselves. We drove overnight again, and the kids all did a great job. It's so nice to be able to have smooth trips in the car. I'm always so proud of the kids. I took this picture passing through Cheyenne around midnight and waved to our new home!

oh hey, deer! this is at the bottom of my grandparents' street

The first part of the trip was actually more Poulsen-focused. We weren't sure when we would all be gathering again with us moving to Cheyenne and Austin's parents moving to Panaca, Nevada, so we took advantage of being together when we were in Utah. Makall and Noah came from St. George and stayed at Grammy Bee's with us, which was fun, and Anthony's crew came from Panaca and stayed with various family. Makenzie's crew came from Bountiful. It's such a blessing to have Grammy Bee's house as a meeting place all these years. It made me happy to think about how it has become a gathering place for my extended family on Austin's side as well. We ordered pizza on Saturday night, and then before church we made waffles. Church was funny because we all started out in the chapel together, but by the end all of the husbands had left with a crying child, so our bench was a little haphazard. It is nice to be able to go to church together when we get the chance. (Weird- we didn't know it, but that was the last time we would attend church publicly for a long time!)

After church we came home and destroyed 5 boxes of mac and cheese, and then we all headed to Grandma Poulsen's house in Ogden to visit with her. It was nice to be able to see her in this big group, especially with her great-grandbabies all together. We missed Makae, Aaron, and Austin's parents (in Nebraska), but we were happy we could make this gathering happen.

Claire still hates the cousin picture that we take every time we're together haha.

We said goodbye to the Poulsens and headed back for "Bee Time" at Grammy Bee's, the big Family Home Evening and dinner that happens every few months. I've never been in town for one, so I was happy that our trip coincided with this event. It was special too because our lesson was about Joseph Smith's First Vision. We have been asked by our Prophet to prepare for the bicentennial of this event this year, so Grammy Bee wanted to share thoughts and testimonies together as a family. The spirit was really strong, and John finished it out by playing his rendition of "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" on the piano.

Lincoln brought this guacamole salsa dip that
literally changed my life. It was SO GOOD.

there is ALWAYS time to read at Grammy Bee's!

Stockton loves this room and has forever claimed it as his when we are visiting. It takes him a long time
to settle down enough to fall asleep when we are traveling, so it is extra sweet when he finally succombs. 

Claire learned how to climb stairs! (and destroy the tree bark)

We fed the geese at Liberty Park and it was HILARIOUS. The geese started out placid but as soon as they realized we had an entire loaf they called in the troops and we were completely surrounded. Jack was delighted that a goose bit his finger as he gave it bread, and Stockton retreated safely behind me for the rest of the feed. Natalie and I were screeching because it was equal parts funny and terrifying, and Claire slept through it all in her stroller island.

The weather was really nice while we were visiting, which was so great! We went on lots of walks. The kids especially liked it when Mimi joined us.

Austin had to get home for school and work (and a mini trip to Oklahoma), so we dropped him off at the airport on Monday night. I love my parents and they are so helpful, but I'm always so grateful when I'm reunited with Austin! Parenting alone is HARD. Especially when traveling. 

This was Claire's favorite activity: standing up at this stool (or anything low enough for her to lean on) and play with little toys and trinkets.

I found these cozy boys playing a game together one night.....so sweet

Same boys, next morning! And a little Claire having her morning bottle. (Stockton was excited because we found "Dad's old phone," which we had lost over Christmas break. It was in one of the couches!)

Typically each morning my kids and I went on some sort of outing to get us out of the house, both so we could get some wiggles out and so that those still sleeping at the house could be uninterrupted. One morning we went downtown to get some donuts (which the kids mostly ignored after I gave them quarters for the gumball machine there) and afterwards I wanted to drive by the temple to see how construction was going. It's such an amazing building! There's nothing like the Salt Lake Temple. The kids were really excited to see it too, and begged for me to pull over so we could get a closer look. I didn't have the stroller, Claire didn't even have socks, and it was a little chilly, but we didn't have other plans and I felt like we couldn't go wrong going to see the temple, right?

There were workers rappelling down from the roof to work on the facade. If you look close you can see them!

We ended up having the BEST time at Temple Square! I am so happy they asked to stop, and so grateful for the experiences we had there together. We studied the remaining statues (most have been removed during this construction, with much of the square completely blocked off) and went into the Assembly Hall. Natalie can tell you all about Saga lilies after listening to the story the sister missionaries told us in there!

Then we went into the Tabernacle. The sisters there told us about the organ - Natalie loves telling people that the organ in the Tabernacle has over 11,000 pipes, and the organ in the Conference Center only has 7,000. Someone was actually practicing the organ for a concert later that day, and the kids were completely enthralled!

I asked the kids if they wanted to be done, but they were so excited to keep touring around! I was so pleased and impressed with their behavior - they were appropriately reverent, interested, and fun to walk around with. It was really really nice (you never know what you'll get with Stockton, so I really feel like it was a blessing that he was able to calmly and happily enjoy everything with us and make it a pleasant experience.)

We went to the only Visitor's Center left on Temple Square and saw lots of beautiful paintings of Christ's life and other Bible stories, and the kids were really interested in many of them. We turned the corner into the auditorium with the Christus statue and they were amazed. It was very special for them, and for me - Natalie made a comment about how you can see the wounds in His hands and feet and I think this was the first time that she really felt the truth and pain of the crucifixion. She was quiet for a while, thinking about it.

Next up was the Conference Center, which they've basically turned into a working Visitor's Center. There are missionaries everywhere who can take you on an official tour, or just wave as you pass by doing your own thing. Stockton took us up the escalator and down the stairs 3 times, over 3 floors haha. He was thrilled. There is a ton of beautiful artwork there that I would love to go back and take more time to enjoy.

The reward for being reverent while we peeked into the actual auditorium where they hold General Conference was getting to ride the elevator. For some reason, all three of them sat down independent of each other. I've never seen them do that in any other elevators!

We walked down around the front to check out the fountains and the views. I was so uplifted and happy, and I could tell the kids were too.

We walked back around the other side of the temple and the kids enjoyed the view. They still hadn't complained even one time, just really enjoying our adventure. Little angels! We got back to the car and they said over and over how cool and special everything was and how happy they were that we got to go there. It was really gratifying and special!

We went to the zoo with Mimi! It's so weird looking back on all these "public" things we used to do before this temporary age of "social distancing" with everything closed....I am so happy we were able to give the kids a fun spring break before everything shut down.

Claire loved looking at the animals! I wasn't sure if she would be interested, being so young, but she was definitely paying attention. And obviously we had to ride the train!

checking out some monkeys with Mimi

Another night we went up to Provo to go swimming with Sam and Krispy. It was a blast!!! Stockton went down the huge slide probably 50 times, no exaggeration. He must have been so tired after going up three big flights of stairs a million times. We went to Blaze pizza afterwards and had a great family feast. I am so happy that Sam lives near my parents so that any time I go to visit them, I get to see him and Krispy!

lol if you look close, you can see the Little Caesar's pizza that we brought in for the kids

hanging with PopPop

We wanted to go up into the mountains but with it still being snowy we weren't sure what we could really do...we drove up Millcreek Canyon and found a little picnic area to explore. It was so refreshing to breathe that crisp mountain air and enjoy the 

Natalie complained that her legs were cold the entire time and tried to warm them with her coat

Then we got an oil change to be ready for our trip home. There was even a picnic area off to the side of the Jiffy Lube, and the kids loved exploring. (or sleeping, if you are Claire).

Up there is the "game room" (although currently it is being redone to be my mom's new office) and that's where we stored all of our stuff. Claire loved playing with the bucket of ping pong balls.

Sleeping children are so precious. I love these pictures even though they are hard to see. Natalie is snuggling her new koala, Katie, and Jack fell asleep reading the national parks book that Mimi gave him.

Claire was channeling how we all felt as we got ready to leave! We decided against driving through the night this time and instead left around 9am. It was very pleasant to get in the car and not have to drive all night (although of course we did drive all day). The kids did a wonderful job! They never cease to amaze me on road trips. They just hunker down and get it together with very little complaining or fussing. Claire was the wild card since typically she sleeps all night when we drive, but during her waking hours she held up really well! And she napped plenty, of course. I am really proud of my brood! And grateful that this is probably the last time we will drive 14 hours for a longggg time, since we'll be in Cheyenne soon! (Only 6 hours to Salt Lake!!)

Somehow this is the only picture I took of my mom at our house. She drove back with me and stayed for a few days until she flew home. They announced that we would not be coming back to school for at least two weeks (which turned into closing the rest of the semester) while my mom was there, so we had some more fun with the kids since they were home.

cuties

This was when coronavirus really turned into a serious issue in America and businesses, schools, parks, everything pretty much started to shut down. My mom and I had been looking forward to our customary La Paz Mexican feast, but La Paz had already closed! So we went to this new Mexican place called Cactus, but it was closed too. We were so desperate for Mexican haha that we called Cactus just in case, and turns out they were still doing take-out, so we ordered kind of a random assortment of food and ate it in our car while we watched Sense and Sensibility. The food was PHENOMENAL! It was so amazing that we went again the next day and ordered the exact same things. If you're in Lincoln, you neeeeed to go to Cactus, and especially try their Chef's Queso. So good.

It was a great week spent in Utah and a happy weekend at home with Mimi! I am grateful that we traveled before covid19 shut everything down. It is so fun to be able to create these memories with my kids. Especially our temple square visit....every time they see a picture of the Salt Lake Temple or like during Conference when they showed different angles of Temple Square, the kids were so excited to say that they had been there.