A very sappy day

The sad part of the day: saying goodbye to the Heisses. Arlene and I went to give out hugs and to tell each person we love them so much! (Aunt Linda, Karen's sister, also stopped by for the same reason.) We will miss them. I am already looking forward to the Face Times to come.

Nancy and Reid securing the carrier on top of the van. Both the van and the car were SO FULL.

The whole group of voyagers in front of the house. Last day for the house, since it will be sold soon, and they will never be all together in this house again. Which made me feel really sad about Karen all over again. I felt so much missing of her this morning. And still. And especially as I am writing this through my tears.

A more close-up picture of the travelers

The most close-up. So that you can see Rachel's sweet face. Hers looked like mine and Arlene's.  I am glad I could give Rachel a big hug this morning when she really needed it. She had a great time at camp, but now she leaves that behind. She was tired, and feeling pretty sad. Feeling sad is worse when you are also tired.

We are all smiling, but we were also all sad. Nancy is my other Arlene. When they are both around, I get their names mixed up. Honest admission: when Nancy was a newborn baby, the first time I nursed her, I looked into her tiny face and saw my sister Arlene. I do not necessarily think they look alike now, but wow--I still remember that surreal moment of seeing my sister in my baby's face!

Miriam ran along the lawn, waving goodbye madly as Arlene and I drove away. (Had they been closer to ready to go, it might have been the opposite. But it was easier for them to finish with us out of the way.)

We picked up Josie and went to Salt Lake to meet Colleen and LeRon, Heather & Vince and kids, and Elizabeth & Bridget. LeRon treated us to lunch at the Lion House, and then we did some exploring in the Conference Center. We took pictures, but of course I do not have any. At 3:30, Vince & Heather went one way with their kids, and the rest of us went to where we had parked in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building parking garage.

Just as we were about to go downstairs to our cars, there were Judy & Wally, who are missionary greeters in that building on Fridays. So we did pause at that point for some pictures. Here they are:

Wally, Bridget, Elizabeth, Judy, Colleen, LeRon, Arlene. See how Josie avoided being in the picture. I should have fixed that oversight!

Josie had me jump in.

So that was the happy part of the day!

So, altogether, a very sappy day. Sad/happy.

Conrad Family Gathering

Awhile ago, my niece Heather emailed me to say that she and her husband and kids were coming, and it would be fun to get together. Also, Nancy and her family were moving. So, it seemed like it would be good to meet while we could have both of them.

When Arlene was here for Margaret's funeral, she said she wanted to come. We settled on a date that would work for Arlene and Heather and Nancy, and tonight was the night.

I forgot to tell Colleen about it, because when I told her Arlene was coming for Margaret's funeral to see if she wanted to come too, she couldn't, and she listed all the many things she and LeRon had to do in the next while, and it was a lot! And I wasn't sure where on the list she was! But one thing on the list was that Heather was going to visit her parents. So Heather told her about the party, and Colleen decided they should come.

Also, Arlene told Jenna, and she decided to come. She and her family would be vacationing in Vegas, so she drove up with Savannah and Vance (McKenna was sick so stayed with her dad and older brothers in Vegas) and Alexia drove down from Rexburg. Also Elizabeth and Bridget drove down from Rexburg as well. So...it was great.

I decided to rent Cherry Hill Park since there is a playground, and I also decided to order most of the food from BYU Food to Go because I didn't want to have to worry about cooking. I got enough Sloppy Joe mix to feed 45, and I bought 4 dozen buns (and then 4 packages of 8 small cheap ones as a back up in case people wanted more than one each)--and weirdly, even though we ate almost all the Sloppy Joe mix, I came home with 3 dozen buns and 3 of the small packages. Like...how is that even possible? I am very bewildered by that.

Who was there:
Bruce & Sara
Carlie
Elizabeth & Bridget
Ash
Judy & Wally
That is 8 people from the Bruce branch of the family tree.
Colleen & LeRon
Heather & Vince
Hannah & Joseph
That is 6 people from the Colleen branch of the family tree
Arlene
Jenna
Alexia
Savannah
Vance
That is 5 people from the Arlene branch of the family tree
Myrna & Bruce
Josie
Nancy & Andrew
Miriam, Ben, Zoë and Alex
Rosie & Austin
That is 11 people from the Myrna branch of the family tree
Also:
Ellen & Dave Eldredge (Torrie cousins visiting the Us from Germany)
Heidi & Robert
Beth & William
Darren & Michelle
That is 8 Redd family representatives
Also:
Cailyn Bosworth (Burt & Kathi Conrad's granddaughter)
Total: 39 people

I do not think I missed anybody. How did 39 people eat only 16 buns? But almost all the meat?

Now for the photo dump, some from me, some from Jenna, some from Josie. There are many more on other people's devices, but I do not have them.

Cailyn, Nancy with Bruce behind her, Heather & Vince, Ben & Josie and then lots more people. On the other side of the table, Miriam, then Joseph, Colleen & LeRon

LeRon, Lexi, Jenna, Carlie, Vince, Heather, Arlene in back; Josie, Rosie, Cailyn & Nancy in front

Miriam and Hannah made fast friends and had a great time with each other. Hannah, appreciating that her parents are 12 years apart in age, did not think there was a thing wrong with being friends with someone 5 years younger than she is.

Two beautiful sisters, Carlie & Elizabeth, and Miss Bridget

The boys, too, decided not to let age stand in the way of friendship. Ben, Joseph and Vance enjoyed themselves together.

We did take a family photo, and almost all the Eldredges were the photographers. So Josie took a picture of them taking a picture of us!

Rosie and Austin were going to leave, so Colleen got this group together for a photo: Lexi, Jenna, Austin, Rosie, Heather, Savannah & Arlene

We (me, Carlie, Josie & Nancy) saw it happening, so we jumped in.

Of course, the Mommy Magnet attracted some of the children, too...

Josie captured this great photo of Alex while playing with him. His first time wanting to play with her, the day before he moves.

Us four siblings in age order. Josie took this picture.

I do not know who took this picture, but aren't these girls so lovely? And so loved?

I am, of course, missing lots of photos. I especially want the photo of most of us, and the photo of Colleen, Arlene, Ellen & I recreating that one time when Colleen got married and the other three of us were her bridesmaids.

It was so much fun to be together. We are going to have some more together time tomorrow. And maybe I can get some more pictures, too!

Lunch at Red Ledges

How lucky were Bruce and I to be invited for a very short hike and lunch with the Heisses at Red Ledges! This is a very Southern Utah looking spot, but is just 20 minutes outside of Spanish Fork.

Here are some photos of our hour and a half there:

Ben on a rock

Nancy with her friend Jade and Jade's two daughters. Jade was such a blessing in Nancy's life when she moved into our ward in Port Coquitlam, fresh from South Africa. I am glad that they have stayed in touch!

Andrew and Miriam up high in the arch

Bruce with the two big girls and their little children

Ben had to get in the picture! First he stood right in front of little Georgia, then right in front of little Miss Z, before finally coming to a stop beside Bumpa

Bumpa and Naanii with Miss Z who was having me hold her because she was very distressed by bugs and flies! They were bugging her SO MUCH.

Turns out Miss Z's fears had a reason--the flies were not biting any of the grown-ups but they were trying to eat Alexander alive! We thought it was because he was getting right into the sand where sand flies might live, but Jade's baby, in the front carrier, was always safely cradled by her mother, but her hairline was also a mass of bites!

Bumpa and Miss Z. Now that she finally likes him, and looks for him, and wants him...they are moving away. Sigh. We will miss them!

My birthday gift to Nancy

What a great birthday gift for Nancy--I took her children on an outing, and she got to stay home with Andrew and work like eager beavers. Although, I think she did get a nap in there, too, so that counts for something.

The children and I left just after nine this morning to go to Thanksgiving Point. Our destination was the dinosaur museum, but I wasn't ruling out other things. It would all depend on the cost. As it turned out, to get a day pass to all five attractions cost less than admission to two attractions, so that is what I bought. We, of course, did not go to all five attractions because that is a lot to cram into one day. But we did got to three, so that was pretty good.

Again, Alexander did no crying at all. Zip. He was so good and cooperative. I can't say the same thing for Miss Z. But as a champion cryer and whiner and complainer and shrieker and temper-tantrum-having child myself, I can hardly complain too much if she, too, got the woe-is-me, life-is-so-unfair genes, am I right? But mostly we all got along fine.

So--photo dump time, with captions to explain what we did:

The first room in the Dinosaur Museum had a maze, and you would have to answer questions to help you figure out which direction to go. In various places, there were activities. This one was "Make dinosaur footprints" in the soft floor. 

Miriam and Zoë try out the climbing wall

This was a cave, and Zoë was afraid of it. Although, later, we went back, and she went in it just fine, but the first time, she would not go in.

Playing dress-ups. What kind of dinosaur is Ben? He asked me that question, but I did not know the answer.

In this area, there were pictures to flip. But Alexander discovered that crawling inside the pictures was way more interesting than trying to flip them. (They were too big for him, anyway.)

Five in a row, putting their bones together.

Everyone buy Zoë about to be eaten by a Megaladon. Or whatever. No way was she putting herself at risk.

Another shot of their great faces!

Digging was the best. Be prepared for many, many pictures.

We spent a long time in this room. And then we went out, and realized that we had completely MISSED the playing-in-water room! So we had to go back in. It's a good thing we got the day pass, or we would have been out of luck.

This is Zoë's "Are you kidding me?" face. Because I told her that she should stay in the middle with Alexander because the floor was higher there, so she could reach the sand and water better. After her face told me how much she disagreed with me, she went out...and then right back in because on the outside she could not reach the sand and water!! Surprise!!

Here she is, amassing dinosaurs. At one point, she had seven or eight, and another child would go to take one, and she would be all "These are mine!" "But you have so many..." Killer look, and "These are mine!"

Ahaha! I love this picture of Alexander the Dinosaur Eater!

How many dinosaurs do you weigh?

Back in the sand room for a last hurrah before we left the Dinosaur Museum

We needed to find a bathroom and a water fountain, and while the children were doing their business, I read a poster about the Fairy Tale Festival at Ashton Gardens. I brought it to the attention of the older girls, and they wanted to go there (it was from 10-2 today only) and since we had already paid for it with our day pass, we drove over there next.

I must say, while I think this event is a great idea, the execution of it leaves room for improvement. They really need a better event planner. I mean, there were some things that were fun, but there was a lot of just walking (albeit in a lovely place) and then super crowded things to do. Like, there were two castle bounce houses, but really, only two? Why not four? The place was crawling with people, which means lots of money exchanged hands. The gardens are huge. Seriously could have used more bouncy places.

And one small pirate ship? Like, why not two, at least? We waited in line for longer than it took for the children to explore the ship and slide down its interior slide.

Another picture that Zoë would not be in. She would not meet or talk to or be in pictures with any of the fake fairy tale folk.

Ahoy, ye matees! And the random guy.

The random guy--why??

Then we meant to have lunch. I was hoping to find a MacDonalds or something and eat cheaply, but my navigating while driving in road-construction heavy traffic did not get me where I was trying to go, and we ended up back at Thanksgiving Point, which was fine because we planned to go to the Butterfly Biosphere before heading home anyway. So we just ate there. It was actually not too bad--the food was quite good, and not as expensive as I feared it would be.

Then, with full tummies, because some of us had been "literally STARVING," we headed to the butterflies.  First we hit up the play area, where there is an amazing slide. Which only Zoë would go down. Like, she was the world's biggest chicken to be in a picture with Snow White (or Moana, or anyone) but the only one of the children to take on that amazing slide. I think Alexander wanted to go down it pretty badly, but the big girls were like "it's too tall". But you climbed STAIRS to get to it, and there was a big FLOOR before you went down--it wasn't just a little ladder with a ledge. And once you were in it, you were enclosed, so you were safe. I am glad that Zoë enjoyed it.

Miriam took Alexander to the safety of the baby slide.

Then, we went into the actual Butterfly Biosphere itself, so we could see and hold butterflies.

All of the kids in the Lady Bug cage. This is the one that Zoë was in at the very end, for a solo time, and accidentally tried to walk through the glass. She missed the door by just a bit, and walked right into the wall. 

Climbing on a caterpillar

Inside a chrysalis

"Come out, Alex, I want a turn!"

Ben's turn

Building an insect. I don't have a picture of Alexander here, but he and another baby cleaned up the entire place, putting all the insect parts away, and only stopped when it was completely clean.

 And that was our day! Except for me getting completely befuddled by road construction, so that I ended up going all the way back up the road David used to live on, and coming out on the Alpine Highway, and then going all the way back to where I was, almost, and doing it all over again. And during THAT confusion, little Miss Z had a bit of a meltdown over her window covering. We were in a place we couldn't stop, and she NEEDED the shade, but Rachel and Miriam, while in seatbelts, could only hook one side, and even though that gave Miss Z all the shade she needed, it was WRONG. But she fell asleep soon after that, so all was right with the world.

Later, we had the entire family over for dinner and birthday cake. And we even let Nancy come for that part!