The Utah Trip

At last! After almost five months of waiting, we met our newest nephew - Kellen Campbell!! The kids and I arrived in Utah at a decent time after a non-eventful flight on July 29th - shocking. It almost restored my faith in airlines. We actually landed a little EARLY. If you remember any of my previous 'flying with kids alone' experiences, you'll know that this never happens to me. I'm very grateful it did on this occasion.


And that adorable little face with those cute little chubby cheeks was waiting for us when we arrived, along with my brother-in-law and mother-in-law - both of whom I was equally excited to see, despite how it might sound in this post!

Billy flew in on Friday night and we celebrated Chad, Alexa, and Sun Tok's birthdays over the weekend! We had an awesome trip spending time with family and getting to know Kellen - or at least trying to let him get to know us. At almost five months old, he's pretty straightforward - what you see is what you get - and what you get are lots and lots of smiles! (unless you point a camera at him...)

On August 1st (Chad's b-day) we went to Pineview reservoir with Chad, Linda, Kellen, and some friends of theirs and rode jet skis. Brody loved it! Alexa loved being in the water, but wasn't quite ready to hop on the jet ski. Billy had never been jet-skiing before so I was very excited to show him everything that could be done! Too excited in fact, and we got pulled over by the boat police (not sure the proper terminology) for riding too closely. Apparently you're not supposed to ride circles around other riders. In fact, you're not supposed to be within 200 feet of another rider...my lack of skill in visually determining distances must have been evident since the officer proceeded to explain that 200 feet is about as far as you can throw a baseball. (I refrained from asking if it was how far I could throw a baseball or how far BILLY could throw a baseball...it makes a difference...) Thankfully, we got off with a warning instead of a $200 fine or better yet, having him confiscate Chad's jet skiis - that wouldn't have been a very good birthday present.




We finally took family photos with Billy's side of the family - a feat that had to be accomplished this weekend since Billy will be out of the country when his family planned to visit us in November. We headed up to Snowbird to take the photos since its so beautiful in the mountains, the background would look great no matter how many people were or weren't looking at the camera!

Not sure what Brody saw in this next image that the rest of us didn't see, but whatever it was, I'm glad it chose another place to land! :)
(you can click the photo to enlarge it and see Brody's concerned expression)

We rode the tram, and Alexa had to try the big trampoline. She loved it, though was disappointed since she didn't weigh enough to go as high as the "bigger kids." Brody also wanted to try the trampoline, but didn't weigh enough, so he settled for the inflatable slide.







Since Brody is obsessed with trains, we also rode the new Front Runner commuter train from Woods Cross to Ogden and then back (about 40 minutes each way for those of you who have no idea where those cities are) and he loved it.



We also took the kids to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden - my absolute favorite children's museum since it has a literacy theme! BOOKS EVERYWHERE! In fact, if I ever get my dream house with a library, I really want to incorporate some of their design elements - like their big fake treehouse in the center and bookshelves that look like actual book ends...it would be a room you could walk into and immediately feel 20 years younger (or 30 or 40 or 50 depending on how old I am before that room ever exists). Alexa and Brody would probably love it if we could find a way to incorporate the rodeo themed room into the house now, but the landlord probably wouldn't love it...









The kids also got to explore "This is the Place Park" - we had never been before and they loved the pony rides, train ride, and the crafts!

Then Brody saw this statue on the steps of a building as we were leaving and immediately did this:

And I laughed out loud, because what I saw in my head was this:

My own little hobbit, riding on the eagles with Gandalf. Yes, I am obsessed with photoshop - this edit job was done quickly and isn't the greatest, but you get the idea...

All in all we had a great trip and can't wait to see everyone again!