Thursday, June 22, 2017

A Dedication and Baby Blessing

This seems like forever ago now, but Beckett and I got to go to Utah at the end of May for 2 family events. We flew up Thursday, the 25th, with my parents on the first flight taking off at like 6 in the morning. Whew, that early flight is exhausting. Thank goodness it's only about an hour. It was Beckett's first flight, and as suspected, he was a dream.


He chatted for a few minutes and then just fell asleep :)


We landed and Richard was able to pick us all up and drop us at their place before he headed to work. It was so fun to meet Amy's new baby, Kyler. He and Beckett are almost exactly 3 months apart - 3 months and a day - so we were especially excited for them to meet..haha.


Quinn was helping to orchestrate the photo ;)



We went on a walk around the neighborhood (this was also my first time staying in Amy and Richard's new home) and then went out for a little shopping.


Both babies asleep in the dressing room.


That evening we all met up for dinner to celebrate Michael's 32nd birthday :) The original plan was to go to Cheesecake Factory, but there was an hour wait (we forgot about it being a graduation weekend) so we were happy to get into Olive Garden pretty easily.

Mom brought along her cute letterboard :)


Fam bam at dinner.


Afterward we headed to Jenn and Michael's for chocolate pie and presents :)


And apple beer..haha.


We didn't stay too long because we were feeling pretty exhausted.

Friday, the 26th, we were able to have a pretty easygoing morning.

Grandma and Grandpa with Quinn and Kyler :)



We headed out around 11 to make the 2 hour drive down to Spring City for the first family event of the trip. We got to attend the renovation dedication of the schoolhouse built in 1899 where my grandma attended elementary school.


My grandma got to give some thoughts and tell some memories from when she attended there :)



The building will now be used as a kind of community center.

After the ceremony and cutting of the ribbon we got to see the inside and have some refreshments.



All of my mom's siblings were able to be there for the occasion. Special day for my grandma.


This room was named for my great-grandparents (my grandma's parents, of course).


So nice that Geri and Connie and David were able to attend.


Amy and Bryn up on the balcony.


My grandma with the grandkids that were able to come. (Jenn and Jill weren't out of school yet - it was actually Jill's last day.)



My mom in front of her grandparents house. It is literally just behind the schoolhouse. She has so many memories from her summers there growing up.


And this is the ball field that was dedicated to honor my great grandpa, Cutler Schofield, a few years ago. He was kind of the star baseball player. You can see their house back there in the background.


Visiting their grave site.


We went to eat at a Mexican restaurant afterward. Beckett had fallen asleep in his car seat that was sitting by my mom and I was at the other end of the table. A while later my uncle Rick could see him kicking his blanket that was draped over top so he got him out and ran off with him ;) Had to get a picture of these two matching :)


Tori got all of these cute pictures with him with the Insta filters. I think they are all so cute..haha.





Before we headed to the hotel for the evening my dad drove us by some places he has fond memories of in Ephraim. It's pretty crazy because my mom's mom and dad's dad grew up just miles from each other! My mom's mom in Spring City and my dad's dad in Ephraim.

This is my dad's grandparents home. It is so cute!


The new owners have turned it into a bread and breakfast. We regret not staying there for the night!


Then we drove by the Manti temple. Maybe we'll do a session next time :) These are obviously all pictures from the car.





We just hung out at the hotel that night. It was fun to catch up with my grandma and uncles Scott and Rick.

Unfortunately I did not sleep well that night b/c I had Beckett in bed with me and was pretty worried about him rolling off. I don't know why I didn't just put him in the Pack 'n Play :/

Wake-up call from Quinn ;)


It happened to be Scandinavian Days in Ephraim on Saturday so we headed down to the little parade.


Hard to see, but they were pulling this trampoline where gymnasts were doing flips and tricks.


"Old man and his walker" routine..ha.


Beckett got to hang out in the Shurtz's fancy bassinet stroller attachment :)



Quinn got a whole lot of candy for all of us ;)


Grandpa and Quinn.


Then we headed over to walk around Snow College's campus. My Grandpa Christensen and Grandma Whitmore both graduated from there.


Beautiful campus.



There was a kind of craft fair going on with vendors lined up all down the street so we spent a while walking through.

Then we headed to the cemetery where my dad's ancestors are buried.




This is CCA Christensen's grave. He is my great-great-great grandpa and was an artist in the pioneer days. Many in the Church would actually recognize some of his paintings :)



Then we drove a few miles back to Spring City where they were celebrating Heritage Days. We were feeling a little wiped out with the kids, but we got to do a quick tour of one of the historic homes, which was neat. We left the babies with Dad and Uncle Rick :) And Uncle Scott is resting in the grass..ha.


Then we made the drive back to Amy and Richard's. We got the kids bathed before meeting up with the rest of the family again.



My aunt Karen sent matching outfits for Beckett and Kyler so we had to try to get a picture! Mr. Beckett was just being a little class clown..ha. It's amazing how much more mobile he was at 4 months compared to Kyler at just 1 month!



Hello!


Looks like he pushed him. He did not, don't you worry ;)


That crazy hair!



Falling over..haha.


My favorite! Maybe we'll try again at the lake house ;)


Jackson's birthday was coming up in a few days so my mom went ahead and gave him his gift. His own set of little pots and pans :)


This was the day that Jenn, Michael, and Jackson took their picture to announce their pregnancy with their rainbow baby, hence the balloons :)



We met up a little later with the cousins/aunts/uncles at Cubby's to grab dinner and then took it to a park to eat. I was freezing!!

Some Bocce Ball going down.


Back to Amy and Richard's to warm up and hang out. About half the group went off to see the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie and the rest of us stayed behind to chit chat. In fact, we thought it was kind of funny when we realized that the older half of my mom's family stayed behind (Rick, Kim, Mimi and families), while the younger half went to the movie (Scott, Cindy, Suzy and families)!

My mom got this picture b/c she thought it was funny that we were all smooshed together on the couch when there was plenty of room for us to spread out. Someone had been sitting there before..ha.


Gigi and Baby Kyler :)


Sunday was the 2nd family event of our trip - Kyler's baby blessing! Church was at 9 and we headed back afterward for waffles for brunch :)


Amy said she was trying to bribe Quinn here..haha.


Sisters (Amber's still in the field, she comes home in August!)



Quinn was so done!!


The munchkins :)


We took Beckett's paci from him for pictures...


...he was a little bummed.


Paci to the rescue.




Had to get Jenn in on the pictures with her teensy baby in her tummy :)


And soon after that it was time to head to the airport :( It was a quick trip, but a good trip! So glad I could make it work. It was so fun to see so much family and I loved being able to stay in Amy and Richard's new home and see what they've done with it :) Thank you for letting us stay! It worked out so nicely that Beckett was able to sleep in Kyler's crib (who slept in with Amy and Richard).

As always, I have some people to thank at home for helping make it happen. Chelsea, Jill's best friend, spent the night on Wednesday so she could be there to watch the kids when we left at the crack of dawn. They had so much fun with her on Thursday and can't wait to have her again ;) Thank you Chelsea! And Tanis was able to take off work on Friday to watch the kids. She is always sure to have some fun things planned! Thank you Tanis! And of course, Trent. Thank you for holding down the fort and so kindly letting me take a little trip now and then ;) It was just what I needed (I was feeling a little desperate for a little time away)!