Fall Break--Elk Ridge, UT

We started our fall break at Grandma and Grandpa Clark's house.  It was such a pleasant visit.  Usually when we go home it has been a long time since we've been for a visit so everyone gets together for a big family gathering and it can be loud and chaotic.  This visit we decided to break our visit up between Grandma and Grandpa and the siblings so the visit was quiet and calm.  We were able to really spend some one on one time and have good conversations.  The kids got to spend time with just Grandma and Grandpa and I think it was really good for them and us.  The first night Grandma made pizza.  Her pizza is so good.  We all gobbled it up and then dressed warm and headed down to Glen Ray's Pumpkin Patch.  Grandpa stayed home but the rest of us went.  It was really cold but we had such a good time.  I convinced Mom to go down the slide with me and forgot until the bottom of the slide that she is actually kinda old now.  I don't really think of her that way but watching her try and get up was kind of sad for me to watch and I felt guilty for having her go down but I was so proud of her too.  Mike and I took Ammon down the slide and it was his first time ever going down a slide like that.  We carried him up and then sat him in between us.  He loved it.  I'm so happy to have that memory with him.  

We went to church with my parents and Ammon on Sunday and then drove to the canyon.  I took some photos of my parents and snapped some of the kids as well but mostly just of my parents.  My mom wanted studio photos but I don't have equipment for those kind of photos so we just took them in the canyon instead.  I was really itching to be in the mountains and would have loved to go for a hike but that might have to be for our next trip to Utah.  We did let the kids hike around for a few minutes after the photos.  

The following day we packed up and headed to BYU.  The kids have never been and Mike and I haven't been back since we graduated (2003 for me and 2005 for Mike) and moved to Oklahoma.  Mom came with us and we toured the campus and let the kids choose candy from the BYU bookstore candy shop.  We also texted a daughter of a family friend that is going to BYU. She ditched class to meet us.  We love Dani. I hope my girls grow up to be like her.  She just returned from a mission and her mom had just dropped her off at school a few weeks before and I was so happy to see her again.  After we walked around BYU we took the kids to the Cannon Center for lunch.  They love buffets.  After lunch we said goodbye to my mom and headed North to Salt Lake.