Road Trip to Utah

Robb's granda had his 90th birthday and for months the whole family planned on visiting to celebrate this wonderful man and his life. Then Robb's Uncle Mark died suddenly the week before from cancer (they only discovered it a couple months ago, but by that point it was so wide spread there wasn't anything they could do). His funeral was scheduled for the same weekend, as well as a wedding reception for a good childhood friend, and there was a new niece to visit. So with mixed emotions, we left Tucson and started our drive to Utah. We left right after Robb got home from work and stayed the night in Flagstaff. We never realized that Claire likes to sing herself to sleep (which we got to experience multiple times that night :) ).

We left by 8:00 and stopped for lunch at the Kanab Creek Bakery, a favorite place for hipsters and granolas (they tend to have excellent taste in food). We waited for our sandwiches in the art gallery/dining area next door which was completely empty except for a table of grungy 20-somethings sharing their poetry and art inspirations. Our kids running around the room probably didn't add to their vibe, but Robb and I had a lot of fun evesdropping and the food was amazing. 

We arrived at our friends' home at around 4:00. The Laskos gave us the grand tour of their new home, fed us pizza, and won Colby over by playing a couple rounds of Mario Kart. We tucked the kids in bed and stayed just long enough to throw on some dressier clothes before we rushed off to the wedding reception. 

I did a terrible job at taking pictures on this trip (I blame pregnancy and a much higher altitude). Anyway, I snagged this picture from Spencer's Facebook account. 

Spencer and Maddie looked wonderful and adorably happy together. The Eberts are my people, friends that have pushed past into the place in your heart saved for family, and it was the perfect end to a crazy day to be there with them. 

Saturday morning we attended Uncle Mark's funeral. I think my favorite tribute to this wonderful man came from my father in law, "if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Mark, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." He suffered from many set backs and health problems throughout his life, but he never let them sway his testimony. 

The family had a luncheon afterwards, but Claire and I needed a nap. We drove back to the Lasko's and Robb and the older two kids went and played with the cousins. 

Then we watched BYU lose to San Diego in basketball before going to BYU to meet the family for bowling. Apparently you have to reserve the bowling alley in advance to have any hope of getting in (which we didn't). We compromised with dinner at the Cougar Eat and ice cream at the Creamery on 9th instead. 

Sunday we packed everything up and went to sacrament meeting with Grandpa Hays. Then we went to Aunt Brooke and Uncle Gary's house to celebrate 90 years of Grandpa Hays. After we ate some amazing food, Grandpa gathered his whole family around him and bore his testimony to us. I'm so glad Robb recorded it so all our children will have his words to guide them. Then we went downstairs and played a trivia game about our family members...and Team Saguaro won (despite the fact our kids kept blurting out the answers to questions about us). I love the Hays family. 

Saying goodbye to the Laskos

All weekend they had warnings posted about a big snow storm coming Sunday night and lasting until Monday, so when the first snowflakes started coming, we left. One of my favorite memories from the trip was watching Alice frolic in the snow, She was so excited! And we managed to miss the worst of it and made it to St. George before stopping for the night.

Conversation overheard before drifting off to sleep:

A: "I think Mommy and Daddy are leaving to go on an airplane...and they aren't taking us with them. We're going to be all alone...Why aren't you crying?...Oh, because you know I'm just kidding. Claire, say kidding!"

C: "Keeing."

A: "Claire, say...

Robb: "Alice, go to sleep!"

A free continental breakfast, 8 hours, a brief sandstorm, and many interventions on Colby's behalf (poor boy gets so much abuse from Claire) later and we were home!

Towards the end of the trip we realized Claire would be "nice" if Colby held her hand, You can tell Colby was really excited about it.