Day 4: Labor Day in Utah

With no definite plans until dinner time we took the opportunity to drive our girls around the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys to visit the temples and to stop by a few of our favorite places in Provo--each requiring the consumption of food.

Jordan River Temple

 

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

We take what we can get!

Draper Temple

Both Cameron and I were snapping photos.  He must have caught the ones with the kids.

Mount Timpanogos Temple

Provo Temple

(Cameron has the picture with kids)

Provo City Center Temple 

(in the making)

We stopped at

  for lunch,  for frozen custard, 

HEATH cyclone is by far our favorite

and the BYU creamery for ice cream (to go).  We decided it would be best to share its goodness with Cameron's family at the Labor Day cook-out.

Day 3: Extended Family

    Sunday was a very relaxing day.  You know, the usual, church, naps, and family time.  In fact our naps were so long that we were unable to visit Temple Square.  We were hoping to squeeze that in before a family get together that evening.
    After we enjoyed a delicious dinner with Cameron's parents and Brittany, the extended Burgon family began to show up for the monthly FHE.  For years the Burgons have had a tradition of meeting each Fast Sunday for a shared FHE with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, etc.  There was quite a turnout.  All of Cameron's siblings along with their families were in attendance as well as Cameron's grandma; two of his aunts and uncles; a cousin; a cousin and her spouse; and a cousin, her spouse, and their 6 kids which include a set of twins AND a set of triplets (all 5 and under).  The weather cooperated so we were able to enjoy being outside for the lesson and refreshments which meant plenty of room for all!  It was a wonderful end to a wonderful day.

Day 2: Boise to Midvale

 By the time we arrived in Boise, it was dark and we were too tired to stop for a picture at the temple so that was where we started off our days journey.

Boise Temple

  From there we continued on to Twin Falls, Idaho where we saw yet another temple.

After we snapped a few shots, we caught a couple going into the temple and asked if they knew of any nearby parks where we could picnic.  I am glad we did because it was BEAUTIFUL.
It was right along side the river,

 

(look closely, those tiny cars are where the park/parking was)

had views of a waterfall and golf course,

 

and had swings....

one for Cambri,

one for Ella,

   

and one for Kaitlyn.

Due to Kaitlyn's swing malfunction she ended up with the best swing partner and the best swing pusher in all of Twin Falls.  What a lucky girl!

 After enjoying a lunch by the river and having a swarm of unexpected guests (flies) we continued on to Utah with one last stop before completing our travels for the day....

the Bountiful Temple

As Cameron and I stood arranging the girls, a passerby, who was just out for a walk, offered to take a picture of all of us.  What a thoughtful woman!  It is pictures like these that are priceless.

 We were now just a short drive away from Cameron's parents.  As we pulled up, Cameron's mother, Sue; sister, Brittany; and niece, Emelie were anxiously awaiting our arrival.  Within about an hour Cameron's other siblings, Cory, MeLynn, and Kristi arrived with their families for a BBQ.  It was wonderful to be reunited with family after a year of being apart.  Family is so precious!

The windy city

  On Day 1 of our traveling adventures we picked up Cameron from work at noon and began our trek to Boise, Idaho.  Our resting place for the night. 
   The most fun to be had was at a rest stop in Idaho, in the middle of nowhere.   Whoever said Chicago was "the windy city" has obviously not been to this rest stop. 
   It was dinner time, so we decided to pull out our picnic and eat under the sheltered pavilion.  Little did we know that our entire dinner time would be spent weighing down our plates, napkins, and other food items as well as chasing our plates, napkins, and other food items because of the wind.  It wasn't long before we understood why we were the only ones utilizing the tables...many were enjoying their dinners in a windless environment, their cars.
   The pictures do not do the wind justice but please notice the girl's wind-blown hair.  I would have loved to have captured the "damage" of the wind but I was too busy chasing our dinner so these will have to do!

                                                                   (Kaitlyn)

                                                              (Ella and Cambri)

At the end of the day we were grateful to arrive in Boise without any casualties from the wind and better yet, we ALL made it alive, even after the long car ride.  Good thing because there would be much more driving ahead of us, we had only just begun!

Behind the Scenes

    Wow, a whole year to the day, since my last post....how pathetic!  Here is to hoping I can do a little better.  A friend recently told me she publishes her blog posts into a book every couple of years so it can serve as a journal, documenting her life and the life of her family.  I think that is a brilliant idea so if I can keep that end goal in mind perhaps I can stick with it. 
   To start things off, my family and I have just returned from a wonderfully LONG vacation where many memories were made, to which I hope to document here.
   Cameron and I have decided that half of his PTO each year will be spent traveling to visit and visiting family but we alternate families every year.  This year happened to be our year to visit my family in Pennsylvania.  In doing some simple calculations and pricing flights we decided it would make more sense to fly my parents and younger sister out to visit us.  It would save us the cost of one plane ticket and we would have all of our comforts, baby gear, car, etc.  So that is what we did!  My mother and sister flew out in June  and my dad is coming to visit next week, since he was not able to get away with my mom and sister.  Because we did not travel to see family, Cameron had all of this "extra" PTO so I began planning a way in which to use it. 
   Living life on the east coast, I have never been to California.  I know, call me crazy!  Visiting California, laying on the beach, driving up Highway 1, eating out, sight seeing, and being with family sounded like the perfect vacation to me so by golly we were going to make it happen.  Once we decided, things fell right into place.
   Cambri does not start kindergarten until next year so we had no school schedules to work around and could avoid the peak season for tourists.  Cameron had a conference in Las Vegas the week following Labor Day, to which I was going to accompany him to (without kids).  Basically, we took advantage of every opportunity we had to get away with using the least amount of PTO days.  I saw it as a challenge and we definitely won!
   We left Friday, August 31 for Utah where we would spend Labor Day with family and leave our children in the Grandparent's care while we continued on to Las Vegas.  Once the conference ended, the Grandparents and our children would meet us in Las Vegas and we would continue on (with grandparents) to the San Diego area for a week at the beach.  We would then slowly work our way up the California coast over the next week visiting Los Angeles, Monterey, Carmel, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and Redwood National Park, then finish right back where we started. We had the time of our life!
   Once I mapped out our route I thought it would be interesting to see how many temples we would pass.  When I saw how many it was, I knew they had to be incorporated in our trip somehow.  A woman in our ward mentioned how they have their children stand in front of the temples they pass and get a picture taken regardless of the time of day (or night).  I took her idea and we did just that.  Our children were blessed to see and visit 20 temples on our vacation.  The vacation to which I now refer as "Temple Tour 2012".
  Stay posted to get a sneak peek into our adventures.  Pictures to follow!