Playing tour guide

For the past week I have been seeing all the sights with my mother and father in law, as well as Jared's aunt (far left in photo). They arrived here last Sunday from London. They have been on an amazing round-the-world trip for the past 6 weeks. They left Australia and first stopped in Dubai. They spent a few days there, then headed to Tel Aviv. They did a week long tour in Israel and Egypt through an organized church tour, which they loved. Then they flew through Amsterdam to London. After spending a week there with friends and family, they arrived here. I think I would be tired at that point... but they're not done! They left today for Vegas. They will spend a few days there, fly out from LAX and finally spend a week in Tahiti before going home. I can't imagine how exhausted they will be. For 70 year olds, I think they're amazing! You should have heard the stories about them climbing Mount Sinai and riding camels and all that. So impressive. I hope I get to take such a trip one day!

They arrived about 2 am Sunday from Newark, so we didn't see them until Monday. We took the kids to see them and got all kinds of gifts from Egypt and Jerusalem, etc. We all went out to lunch and to the mall. Tuesday they went to SLC to do some family history work. Wednesday I left the kids at home and took them to the outlets in Park City. We shopped all day! Thursday they had mani/pedi's and dinner with friends. Friday we went to This is the Place Park in SLC. Here are some photos:



Austin and Olivia loved riding the horses. We saw all kinds of historic homes, as well as the first bank, newspaper office, hotel, etc. in Salt Lake (that was settled by the early leaders of our church).



Friday night we left the kids with my parents and went to dinner with Mum and Dad's good friends, the Seow's. We drove up to Midway (I've spent a lot of time in the canyon lately) to Zermatt resort and spa and had a great dinner at Schneitter's Restaurant. It was the seafood buffet that night and I really enjoyed the Orange Roughy. Anyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT eat fish. I have never liked it. Only in the past 6 months have I learned that I like Tilapia, and apparently now Orange Roughy too. The dessert table was amazing- the chocolate covered strawberries and bread pudding were really nice.



On Saturday, I had to get up at 5:15 for Austin's meet. Yes, seriously. It was in Spanish Fork- UGH!- so we had to leave the house at 5:45 to get there on time. We pulled in right at 6:30 for warm-ups. He did a great job swimming the 25 yd breast, back, and butterfly. I was very proud of him. Anyway, we caught up with Jared, the girls, and everyone else about noon. They wanted to take the kids to a movie and give us free time. They all ended up going to see Wall-E and we went to lunch at Bangkok Grill and walked around the running store. It was nice to have some down time. We got the kids afterward and headed home for a few hours. We had tickets to the rodeo that night and I really needed some rest. Friday night some kind of cold or allergies hit me and I'd been going through 100 tissues a minute. My head was so congested and I felt exhausted. I rested a little and we headed out for the rodeo about 7 pm.



Jared's family was so excited to see the rodeo. It's such an American thing. I went to one rodeo years ago on a date at BYU, but haven't been since. I remember it was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed it, other than the sun being right in our faces for the first hour. Once the sun went down we could see what was happening and it was a blast. Of course we found out the guy sitting right next to us served his mission in Australia (why does that not surprise me?) so he and Jared's dad chatted a bit.



I have more photos but they won't upload for some reason. It was hard to get anything decent at the rodeo since it was dark and things were far away... but it didn't matter. The kids stuffed themselves silly with sno-cones, hot dogs, Cheetos, cookies, you name it. At one point Olivia said, "Mom, my stomach doesn't feel good" and I thought, "Oh great!" Luckily, she was fine. Ashley had a hard time- it was like church meetings for 3 hours- but the people around us loved her so they were patient with her wiggling. We left a little early since it was after 10 pm and we were all tired. Jared took this shot of Ashley and I. It's very rare to get her to smile for a photo so I love it. She is such a funny girl.



Sunday morning Jared's parents and aunt came to our church meetings with us, then home for a Sunday dinner. Jared did a nice job making roast, potatoes, corn, etc. I made a salad and Mom made rolls. It was a great meal. We talked a while, then later watched some family movies from our trip to Australia in 2002.

On Monday, we headed up to Sundance resort about lunchtime. We had a great lunch at The Foundry Grill. I loved the Portabello Sandwich on toasted ciabatta bread. It had avocados and pesto sauce- yum. The kids ordered- what else? Nuggets and fries, but we got a bowl of fresh fruit on the side that was delicious. Berries, melons, pineapple, etc. The ladies shopped around the general store for a while - the boys waited outside.



After that we headed to the lifts for a ride up the mountainside. I thought I was going to have to give Jacqui some kind of therapy to get her down- she was really, really not comfortable up there. I just kept on talking and we made it through, thank goodness. The ride is not for those who are afraid of heights, that's for sure. However, it is gorgeous. We kept trying to guess which house was Robert Redford's.



I just love being up there. It is so beautiful and calm. I would love to live up there and be able to go hiking, biking, and running right in the middle of all those gorgeous mountains. I loved these flowers off the side of the path. I have no idea what it is, but it was amazing.






I haven't loaded my photos from Tuesday and Wednesday yet, so I am going to stop here for tonight. Every night this week I have told myself that I need to go to bed early but I never do! I seem incapable for some reason. There is some force that keeps me awake until AT LEAST 10:30. If I go to bed before that time, I consider it 'early'. Isn't that pathetic? Well tomorrow I don't run with the girls so I get to sleep in until 6:45. Woo hoo!