There were many more adventures to be had during Mema and Papa's two-week visit. Below, we walked around a park in the Provo Canyon one afternoon. It was chilly.
While Ben and I were at the hospital with Luke, Mema and Papa took all the kids to Salt Lake City one day. Here are a few pictures they snapped of the kids at the Book of Mormon Celebración exhibit in the Church History Museum. This children's exhibit is one of my kids' favorite things to do.
Once I was home from the hospital with Luke, Ben and Eliza showed Mema and Papa Squaw Peak while Cat and Jack were at school. Apparently there were quite a few paragliders gliding around that day, so they got a good show. I love that it was so windy that Eliza is holding on to her hat in all of the pictures.
Another day, everyone went up to do some sight-seeing in Northern Utah while Luke and I napped and enjoyed the quiet. They went to the train museum in Ogden:
The building also housed a Browning Museum, which, thank goodness, captured the grown-ups' interest more than the kids'. (There was also an antique car museum, not pictured. Cool place, huh?)
The next stop was Hill Air Force Base to see the big aircraft in their museum:
There were also plenty of every-day activities. Mema and Papa were able to attend a couple of Cat's soccer games, in very cold weather. And we did a lot of hanging out at the house, too.
ASIDE: I think a perfect illustration of what's most important to kids is the fact that the above picture, the picnic in the back yard, is what Eliza said was her favorite memory from Mema and Papa's visit. She happens to not be in the picture, but she was there too. I love that she valued the picnic lunch more than the tours and outings and trips, more than the treats or fast food meals, and more than the gifts and surprises. It reminded me of this part of the talk "Good, Better, Best" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks:
In choosing how we spend time as a family, we should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best. A friend took his young family on a series of summer vacation trips, including visits to memorable historic sites. At the end of the summer he asked his teenage son which of these good summer activities he enjoyed most. The father learned from the reply, and so did those he told of it. “The thing I liked best this summer,” the boy replied, “was the night you and I laid on the lawn and looked at the stars and talked.” Super family activities may be good for children, but they are not always better than one-on-one time with a loving parent.
I am thankful for Eliza's reminder that the things we think are big and exciting aren't necessarily the best way to bond and create memories. The most important thing is just being together. I try to remind myself of that, though I'm still not as good at it as I should be.
We had a great time with Bill and Cleo while they visited. The sight-seeing was fun, but it was definitely secondary to just enjoying their sweet company and beautiful spirits. Their visit was planned around Ben's graduation, and I had hoped that Luke would be born before Bill and Cleo arrived, but it was wonderful that they were here to take care of the older kids while we were in the hospital with Luke. We knew the kids were well taken care of, and they were so happy to have that time with Mema and Papa. Thank you, once again, for making the trip all the way to Utah. Now I think we should plan another one.
