Utah Trip

We went to Utah this past weekend and although it was a super quick trip- it was really fun. It all started when Clint got a rugby notice in our email spam... and he was thrilled to discover that a New Zealand rugby team was playing in Salt Lake City against a USA team. He started thinking how he could go... but me being the practical one- I nixed the idea of spending a couple hundred dollars on a rugby game. (I mean really... don't ya think?) So... I mentioned to my Dad and step-mom (who is also from NZ) about the rugby and a few weeks later he called me to say that if Clint could get to Utah, he would buy him a ticket for his birthday. I checked air fare prices and it was pretty reasonable, but then of course I wanted to go! Once we started thinking of TWO airfares, trying to get somewhere for the kids to go etc-we decided to just drive and take the kids. It's actually only a 9 hour drive from us to SLC now. Of course, my original reservations about the money thing ended up being true. It still cost us a couple hundred (at least!) but we had a fun little family vacation for the weekend. The kids had Mon and Tues off school anyway and we left on Thursday night so it was about a 4 day trip. On Friday when we got there, we took the kids to the Gateway Mall in SLC and took them rock climbing. I was amazed at how high they all went. I went to the second story level and looked down on them taking pictures and Allison was the first one to go. She got all the way up to my level on the 2nd story. Once I told her to look at me for a picture, she saw how far she had climbed and decided to go down!

And then there's Kenzie...

Rachel...

Emily...

And Zach...

And here's Clint... the only one who made it all the way to the top.

And then my brother Danny came along. I tried to get the manly pictures and not the ones where he's clinging to the rocks and crying for his mommy (LOL- sorry Danny- I had to make fun of you. Actually- he got pretty high himself).

We got to spend some time with Clint's side of the family too. Here's a slightly blurry pic of Clint's sister, bro-in law, niece and her daughter and my Dad and Colleen and Danny my brother. Plus all the little Armies as my Dad likes to call them.

On Saturday, we went to the rugby game and the weather was perfect. Of course it was a little cold, but the sun was out and the blue skies were clear. I wore my American flag sweater to show a little support for the USA and Dad and Colleen waved around the NZ flag every time NZ scored. I was happy that NZ won the first game, and then the #1 American team- the Eagles played Uraguay and kicked their butts. So- it was a great day for blood and rugby- because of course they go hand in hand! The picture at the top is the New Zealand team performing the traditional Haka- a Maori warrior dance that they do before each rugby game- it's super cool.

On Sunday, we were able to see an old friend from my mission- but I have a special blog entry for that, so I'll save details for my next post. All in all- we had a great trip! Thanks to all the Utah folks for making it so fun in such a short time.