This year we headed back to Midway, UT...one of my favorite places on earth. I don't really know why it holds such a special place in my heart, but after this trip...it has cemented that spot! We booked this trip back in December, knowing that it would be far enough past the holiday craziness and just before the busy season for our business. Never did we imagine how much life would change for us in January and how much we were going to need to getaway from it all and just enjoy ourselves! I know we won't be able to keep taking the kids out of school forever, but for now, they are young enough that missing a few days doesn't put them that far behind and so, for now, our "Pre-Spring" vacation is a keeper!
We headed up to Midway and got to our timeshare that afternoon. The units have been remodeled since we were there a year ago and were more beautiful that we could have imagined. Besides having their own room, there was as a loft above the living room with a couch and tv for the kids and man o' man were they in heaven. There was a beautiful fireplace and an incredible wrap-around porch with beautiful views of the valley and mountains. And Cole and I had a KING bed (which is such a treat compared to our queen) and a gorgeous jacuzzi tub!
No sooner had we settled in than we hit the indoor pool! We went swimming everyday for hours and loved every minute of it!
The boys were quite the little animals too! I'm pretty sure they lapped Cole and I a few times! Kaitlin was a bit more reserved! She had a ton of fun, but didn't like to "link" up with the rest of us. She was perfectly fine going down all by herself! I'm pretty sure she got the "I like to be in control of myself gene from her mom! (The more people we hooked together, the faster we went!)We had another perfect day in the snow! The sun was shining and by the time we were finished, we had stripped down to just sweatshirts! It was awesome!
Unfortunately, at the end of the hour, Brandon was DONE! He had fallen once too many for his good sense and had no intention of getting back out there. Thankfully, Cole didn't give up on him and made him get back out there. Cole drug him at first, pushed him, pulled him back up...but eventually, he GOT THE HANG OF IT! It was an incredible moment to watch my boy, who is my more timid of the two, realize that he COULD DO IT! Cole and I both commented that that alone was worth the price of skating...just watching Brandon have a "light bulb" moment! Ironically, when Cole and I were frozen through and ready to go, it was Brandon we couldn't get off the ice! All 3 of them did awesome and would've stayed all night if we had let them! The each immediately decided that they wanted rollerblades for their birthdays this year!
Our next stop Saturday night was the BYU basketball game! From the moment, we debated this trip, we started checking the schedule. Our trip was planned directly around THIS game! There was no way on earth I was going all the way to Provo with being able to watch my Cougars play! We headed down to BYU's campus early Saturday morning. I wanted to show the kids EVERYTHING! We went by the MTC, the Lavell Edwards Stadium, the BYU Bookstore and the Creamery. We even ate lunch at the cafeteria and then headed down to the Smith Fieldhouse! I bragged about going to basketball camps there and running back up all those flights of stairs after our long practices! It was so much fun to be back on that campus! I LOVE BYU! The cool thing was that when we got to the Smith Fieldhouse, there was a gymnastics meet going on! We were able to stay and watch a bit of it before heading back up to the gym to watch the basketball game! Our seats were WAAAYY up in the nosebleed section...but we were in heaven anyway!
I'm not even going to lie...when the gymnasium went dark and they began playing the song to get everyone fired up and announce the players...I might have teared up a little bit{wink!} There is just no way to tell you how much I love BYU basketball! It was awesome! I love the energy in the gym and the way so many people are cheering for 1 thing! The kids had a blast, too! And of course, it helped that we were there on Senior night and Jimmer Fredette was there at half-time! That totally made the game even that much better!
After the game, we headed down to the court to see if we could meet some players. We were able to see a few and the kids got a few things signed. We even talked to Dave Rose for a bit!
After the game, we had planned on heading home, but we were just having too much fun! After stopping in and watching the BYU girls soccer team play for a bit, we decided to head to Salt Lake and find a place to stay for the night. We ended up staying at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott! It was absolutely beautiful and even had this nice fold out couch for the kids to sleep on! After enjoying the breakfast buffet the next morning, we headed over to Temple Square.
We found some sweet sister missionaries who took us around and gave us the "tour!" It was fun for the kids to meet them and we enjoyed learning all about their families. We went through the new video presentation, which made me cry...and then we went over and showed the kids the replica of the temple in the South Visitors' Center. It was so neat to see how intrigued they were. Eventually, we headed over to Chuckee Cheese's and enjoyed a gift certificate my parents had given us for Christmas! After the kids had had their fill of food and games, we piled in the car and headed home! It was definitely the best vacation ever!
