Utah Favs - Skiing, some history, and Temple Square

 The next couple days were spent hitting some Utah highlights.  The Kim's really wanted to go skiing.  And again, I was nervous because we'd had so much snow melt.  It got kinda slushy at the lower elevations and in the afternoon, but really the snow was still pretty good and we had a great day at Snowbasin!  The kids took some lessons with the local pass (great deal) and the adults hung out for the day.  It was a first time for me riding the gondola and skiing down, so I was kinda proud.  I am a pretty timid skier, if you can't tell.  ha!  

great day on the slopes!

Our final day with the Kim's was a low key morning of hanging out followed by afternoon at the Utah Natural History Museum.

 Then to the City Creek to hit one of our favorite downtown places, Blue Lemon, and finish off with a whirlwind tour at Temple Square (love that place!)

Before we knew it, it was time to say good-bye.  We sure love the Kim family!  In the San Antonio days, we hung out with them all the time.  But really for the kids (except Lucy and Elina), these guys are new friends.  And they did so great!  Eli and Austin really hit it off and talked all sorts of nerdy science facts continually.  Eli taught him "google-plex" and now the boys use that word often...ha!  Elise was worried she wouldn't have a friend, but she and Evie did great.  And of course, it was great to hang out with Bogie and Wendy.  I was kinda sick at the first and Wendy was at the end (boo for both of us!) so we didn't do much of our traditional late night game playing.  But it was so nice to catch up with these guys again!

Hangin' out with the Kim's

After our fun in Park City, we headed back to home to hang out there.

spent some time listening to General Conference

backyard cookout

human pinata!!!
(they went back to this game several times)

Some of the best time is hang out time :)

Hanging out with the Butlers - weekend 2

Lucy had a couple days off school for a Lutheran Teacher conference, so we joined the Butler fam at Hukilau beach (right outside the back door of where they were staying).  It was so relaxing and the kids played for hours.  But they were still mad when we had to leave (kids could live at the beach).  Forgot my camera on this one, so you'll have to imagine that beautiful day.

The following day, we caught up with them at Waimea Falls.  The lifeguard gave the kids rides on their surfboards.  He took the boys out first and when they got close to the girls, he yelled, "Pound them with your noodles!" and started a war.  :)

The maps were a "must" for the kids.  One was a map of the park and the other a bird watching directory thing.  The kids were consulting their maps all the way down the trail and back.

Austin, Marshall, Lucy, Mason, Addy, Brynlee, Elise, Cole, Brookie

The following day was one of Geo's favorite holidays:  GROUNDHOG DAY!!! We watch the movie every year.  But this year we added guests, treats, and G-force plates (bit of a stretch, but whatever) to our party!

What a party!  We had so much fun with the Butler fam.  The kids loved the playmates and we loved catching up.  These days when we see each other, its at big family gatherings so it's really nice to visit more one on one.  What a great thing to have such wonderful friends/cousins!  We miss you guys!  Thanks for coming to visit!