Family Vacation 2011.....

This past week was our family vacation. We spent the week in Idaho Falls, Ogden, and Salt Lake City. There was something going on in Salt Lake that made it almost impossible to find a place to stay, so we were everywhere, but it was great and made the trip better and we got to see and stay in new places. It was fun-filled with lots of great memories! It's a good thing that Dani and Emi like to take pictures because if it was up to me, I would have only had a couple pictures of the temples that we visited. Thanks guys, every picture on here is theirs and I stole almost every one that they took!

Monday we took off and headed for Idaho Falls. We were planning to get away at 10:00, but didn't end up leaving until around 11:00. We headed into the park and of course had to play the license plate game! We came up with a lot of them, and even found Hawaii & Alaska!! We stopped at Fishing Bridge to get out, stretch, and look around.

We got into Idaho around 6:00, so we checked into the AmeriTel Hotel, relaxed for a little bit, got ready, and  went to eat dinner at the Sizzler. It was delicious, and the service was smokin' (right Dani & Emi!!). After dinner we did some shopping really quick for swimming suits and then went for a drive around town. The Idaho Falls Temple was the main reason for the drive. It is absolutely beautiful, I'm a little jealous that I wasn't old enough to ever go on the temple excursions when the youth had to come to this temple because I've never had the chance to see the inside of it! They're doing construction on the grounds around the temple, so we didn't get the chance to walk around. After looking at the temple, we headed back to the hotel, went swimming/hot tubbing, and got some rest to gear up for the next day.

Tuesday we woke up, loaded the car down, and headed for Ogden, Utah. We hung out at the hotel for awhile again, relaxing from the drive, and then we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse. After dinner we went to the mall for to look around, driving around and looking at all the huge houses in the city, and ended the night by swimming at the pool.

Wednesday was "the best day of vacation" according to Emilee because we went to Lagoon for the day. Now I'm not a huge fan of rides, so I wasn't quite sure of Emi's assessment, but I had a lot of fun and actually went on some rides!! We rode roller coasters, Go-Karts, lots of rides, played games, ate Dippin' Dots, and watched a couple of music shows. I even went on a ride that went 200 feet into the air and then dropped you. For those of you who know me, this is a very big deal because I'm probably the biggest chicken there is with one of the weakest stomachs. It was a great time and I realized that I can handle things better then I thought, it was definitely a learning experience :) .

After Lagoon, we headed into Layton to eat at the Brick Oven. It was the first time Dani, Emi, or I have eaten there, and we weren't disappointed! To end the night, Dani, Emi, and I went to the hot tub (there's something new!).

Thursday we packed everything up and headed into Salt Lake. We actually woke up early and when we got into town, it was too early to check-in at the hotel, so we headed to the Hogle Zoo. It was fun to see all the different animals and see how much work they've done to the facility, they're putting in some new exhibits that is going to add a lot more animals to look at then is already there.

Emi took some pictures of the animals, but I figured there are enough on here as it is so I didn't include them.

After we got finished at the Zoo, we headed to the hotel to get checked-in and everything out of the car. We had some time, so we went to check out the Gateway Mall, which is outdoors and takes up about 3-4 city blocks. It's built where the old train station could be found. It was neat, but not very fun to walk around in the pouring rain in.

Going to the mall was just to pass the time until it was time to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice. They are amazing, I could listen to them for hours. I had a video I recorded with my phone, but it's too large for it to send so I can't get it off of my phone. There are people from all over the country at this practice and many from other countries who were there listening for the first time. We're lucky that we live close enough that we can see them frequently!

After leaving the practice, we walked around Temple Square for awhile. We couldn't do much because it was late, so we snapped some pictures and then headed back to the hotel for the night and watched Something Borrowed (it was so good!).

Friday we went shopping at one of the many malls, relaxed at the hotel, went to Deseret Book, ate dinner at the Olive Garden, walked around Temple Square, and went on a carriage ride around the temple.

After we got back to the hotel for the night, we watched Prom, and then went to sleep so we could be up and get everything packed to head home.

Saturday we headed back to Lovell and got into town around 6:00 to be welcomed home by Kara and her family. It seemed like forever since we've seen them and it was great to have them there waiting! Now it's back to work and coming to the end of summer vacation. Thank you so much Mom and Dad for everything. It was a great trip and I had such a great time, you're the best!! :)