Summer Vacation to Utah

We went up to Utah in July for a fun retreat from the heat, and a great time with family. The kids kept themselves occupied on the drive up. Rebecca with her Barbies

Sydney with her waterbottle.

And Hayden with his.... pillowcase?? Ok, so it was a long drive.

I already wrote about the race in the last post. That was the day after we got up there. That night we had a good time out on a date with my siblings.

We got a new camera while on vacation, and had fun trying it out by taking pictures after church on Sunday.

MMM... Isn't he a handsome man!!

Monday we went bowling at Boondocks. It was a lot fun.





That afternoon all the Roylance girls got together for our annual "Favorite Things" party. Fun and wonderful things were shared. I love our party every summer. Every summer I have to rack my brain thinking of what to give that I haven't already shared. This year I gave a pair of running socks, Lindor chocolates, and a recipe book. Other fun things that got shared were a gossip magazine (I love the Hollywood gossip too.), a dusting mitt, Stewarts Root Beer, reading glasses/smart glasses, grapefruit, yummy smelling lotions, and many other things.)

We ate a delicious meal of fondue, appetizer, main dish, and dessert!


Tuesday we went boating out at Pineview Reseviour. It was so fun. I haven't been skiing in such a long time. I was sore for the whole next week, but it was so worth it. It was also very fun just playing at the beach.












That night I sadly had to say good bye to Jerry. He had to fly to California for a work meeting, so we dropped him off at the airport and said good bye. The kids were sad to say good bye. It broke my heart after we left the airport Hayden was so quiet. I turned to look at him and saw tears welling up in his eyes. I asked him what was wrong. He quietly said, as he tried to hold back the tears, "I think you know why." Oh, break my heart! Then he pointed his thumb back behind him towards the airport. He missed his daddy so much! They have such a close relationship. It's very sweet.

When we got back to my brother's house it was such a nice summer night. We got out the sidewalk chalk, and played outside for hours. Hayden had fun making up a game for everyone to play. That's my little organizer. He was writing everyone's name at the starting line of the game.
Rebecca had fun drawing pictures of anyone and everyone that we knew. So cute.

And Sydney loved riding around in the car in an area that is larger than 10 square feet.
There is my little diva, Rebecca!
Always ready for the camera!
Wednesday we went to Chuck E. Cheese with the kids. They had so much fun - as always.



Hayden LOVES his cousin Ethan. They always get along so well, and have such a good time playing.
Then we went out to play with more cousins at my parent's house. Rebecca has a cousin, Rachel that is only a month older than her. They are two peas in a pod. I wish we could see them more than once a year. They love playing together.

On Thursday we got together with my girlfriends from High School. I also wish we could get together more often than we do. It's always great getting together and catching up.



Here is me, Nicole, Holli, and Sunni. We missed Jaime who couldn't make it from Kansas. Love these girls.

On Friday I decided to take a stroll down memory lane. Before our trip we asked the kids if they wanted to see another temple on our trip up to Utah, other than the SLC temple, since we went there on Memorial Day weekend. Hayden really wanted to see the Logan temple, which made me happy since it is my temple that I grew up with. I have a little porcelin statue of the Logan Temple that I made when I was in YW, and it's in his room. I think that's why he has a love for the Logan temple. Anyway. I met up with my sisters and kids and we went down memory lane. First we went to the temple. I LOVE the Logan temple. It is so beautiful, and always reminded me of a beautiful castle.

They've added a reflecting pool in the front since the last time I was there. Here are all the cousins that went in front of the pool.

Rebecca and her little buddy, Rachel.

My sisters, Esther, Ruth Ann, and Elizabeth


Next we went to my old neighborhood. My parents moved to Virginia when I moved to Las Vegas. It was very hard moving from my childhood home. I wanted to not only drive past the house, but walk around the block remembering the people that lived there, and memories from my great childhood. it was great - unfortunately it was VERY hot! It was good to see the old house, but it's funny how in my memories our house seemed much bigger, as did the whole neighborhood. It was kind of sad to see how run down the neighborhood is now. A couple homes are still kept up, but overall, not so much. Sad really. Here is my childhood home. Where we played night games every night with all the neighborhood kids, where we played "Annie-I-Over" for family nights, many great memories. How on earth we ever fit 10 kids in there, plus my grandma for a few years, I'll never know. It never felt small to me growing up.


Next we topped off our trip to Logan at LaBeau's. I worked there when I was in high school. It's a fast food/ shake place. They have the BEST raspberry shakes. It was perfect after the hot walk as well. It took me right back to when I was 17 yrs old. And I think the only thing that is different about the place is newer tvs, still delicious food and shakes. Here is Hayden and his cousin James, and Rebecca and Rachel.

We stayed till Monday morning, and had a great time. Next up - Ewell camping trip!