Holiday Part 3 - Utah

UTAH

After the long drive back to Utah we got to sleep in the next day because there was a special church broadcast for the entire Utah area. The broadcast included the YW General President and M. Russell Ballard! I felt so lucky to be able to be in Utah for that. He cautioned about a lot of things that can commonly occur where there is a lot of prosperity, but my favourite was that he actually mentioned Pokémon Go while Matt was playing Pokémon Go on his phone. In case you were wondering, no he just kept on playing. Specifically, he just advised that we should take time to put down our devices and spend quality time with each other.

Later on Sunday I visited with my mom’s parents that are now staying at an assisted living home near my mom’s house in South Jordan. The place is kind of like a cruise ship complete with a salon, gym, pool, restaurant like dining area, and fun activities scheduled each day. It definitely seems like a much better place for them and I was glad we were able to visit. My grandpa had us read some of his funny stories and once again I felt bad for not having read his autobiography yet. He did have us ready his autobiography though – the one that is literally an auto-biography or biography of all the automobiles owned over the years. It was pretty funny.

The next day Matt and I had to add Matt to my bank account in Utah. The branch manager at America First knows my mom really well as she works across the street and does all the accounting for Cruise lady. She helped us apply for a loan to help consolidate some of our high interest loans sorted. I was really impressed with how the credit union has improved over the years and I wish Australia had more credit unions.

We met up with my dad and his wife Liliana for lunch at their new house. I had never met Liliana, but I knew she made my dad happy. I got to practice a lot of my Spanish while visiting as she is from Peru. Although she speaks English, some conversations are hard for her to follow. My dad switches from English and Spanish when talking with her and it was wonderful to see how happy he is. After visiting with them we visited my dad’s parents at their home. My grandma was taking a nap, but grandpa woke her up so we could still visit. We talked about all kinds of things. They asked when we would have kids and the most I could say was that I wasn’t on birth control anymore. I think my grandparents have likely given up on getting great grandkids from my family since I’m the only one married so far. My grandpa pointed out that I had twelve years before I would lose my fertility! I learned more about my grandma’s past jobs as a secretary and my grandpa’s work in printing. They have had lots of amazing experiences! As I like to say “getting old is earned.”

After a long day of visits Matt and I had a nice dinner by ourselves at Texas Roadhouse. I mentioned to the guy we would like lots of their fresh baked rolls and he delivered! He brought a basket with four rolls for each of us. We demolished them and half of a 3^rd basket before our meal arrived. Matt had steak and ribs and he claims they were the best ribs he had ever had! In case you didn’t know, it is rare for Matt to ever give much praise to a meal so this was impressive. I had steak and garlic shrimp and they were both worthy of my happy food dance. The food was spectacular, the service was amazing, and we both agreed Texas Roadhouse was our favourite restaurant by far.

Our next day we had arranged to go on a massive hike to Kessler Peak with my brother Destin. Matt wanted to hike Mt. Timpanogus but the pass is being worked on so it was closed. We started out with a big breakfast for some reason and then Serisa, my dad and Liliana took us up to where the trail started. 

We had some disagreement with where the trail started since it is not a marked trail. In the end we took the trail my dad pointed out but Destin still thought the actual trail was farther to the left. When the small path we started on up the mountain came to an abrupt end, Destin tried to just help us up and to the left of the mountain. We found a bunch of deer trails, pushed our way through lots of bushes, climbed up loose rocks and soft dirt, and still didn’t find the trail. Luckily Matt had found me a walking stick early on that made my trek up the mountain a lot easier. We discovered we had reception when Destin got a call about their room listing. Upon looking at the GPS and the trail map on the phone Destin determined we had gone too far to the left of the mountain but if we headed up we should eventually run into the trail. This time we kept going up and to the right and about 30 minutes from the top we finally found the actual trail. The view from the top was worth all the effort and blisters obtained. I had only been once before when I was young, but Matt said it was the most extensive hike he had ever done in his life. My sister Carina used a mirror so we could identify the Woodruff cabin from the top. 

We headed down just as it started to rain a little bit and at that time my legs were spent. I had to get down the mountain though so I just had to take breaks to stretch out my legs. The whole endeavour resulted in a few blisters and jello legs that didn’t want to work properly for 3 days. Still worth it. We spent the rest of the evening having kebobs at the cabin and playing Help Your Neighbour and Scotland Yard. It was a wonderful and exhausting day.

I don't think the video works and it is sideways, but oh well...

A Panorama that did not work out well.... Carina looks ok though.

Destin had the following day off work so we all went up to Park City. We ate at a Shabu Shabu place where each person gets a pot with seasoning and vegetables that just sit and boil. The meat that you order you hold with chopsticks and swish in the water until it is cooked to your liking. Once done with the meat you put udon noodles in the pot and finish it off as a soup. It was really yummy! Afterwards we attempted to go to the Olympic park to do a ropes course but it was closed. Instead we went shopping and Pokémon hunting. My legs really struggled up and down stairs but I know the walking was really good for them. Afterwards we had sloppy joe’s at my mom’s house and played Betrayal at House on the Hill. I miss playing games with the family!

Carina got Thursday off work so we went to her house to get some things out of her attic to take back to Sydney. While there, Carina had two Hispanics come to look at the room she is renting and they spoke very little English. I got to translate for them which proved to be a major challenge and I frequently just summarised. My favourite was trying to figure out how to explain pest control. I eventually said there are people that come every three months that take care of spiders and things. I couldn’t remember the word for bug so that was the best I could do. It was pretty funny and my sister was glad I was there. We had lunch at The Training Table which I’m glad still has my favourite turkey bacon ranch sandwich. I hope they never change too much as I have so many great memories from working there in high school. Serisa had an appointment with her physiotherapist so we explored the nearby pumpkin patch while we waited. 

Afterwards, Carina took us to see some of the birds that she works with. The African hornbill was a lot of fun as it actually enjoyed being pet, but I think our favourites were the two tiny owls because they are so adorable! All of the birds were amazing. To finish off the night we had a pizza and a movie night complete with Domino’s and the recent Huntsman movie. For the record I actually liked the Huntsman way better than the Snow White and the Huntsman.

Marshmallow the Barn Owl

Friday my mom had work off so we went to the temple. 

Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan, UT

 Afterwards we went with Serisa and Carina to the new Living Planet Aquarium. It was pretty impressive and they even had clouded leopards! We were lucky enough to be there when both the male and female were out and moving around in the enclosure. Clearly that was my favourite part.

My mom left for her date night while the rest of us met up with my dad to see Ben Hur in the movie theatre. I liked it, but naturally there were certain things I liked about the original more. Serisa had never really grown up with the old Ben Hur movie liked this newer version best. It just goes to show that the younger generations are missing out on some great classics.

Saturday Matt and I got up early to play at a volleyball tournament (I can't seem to find the photos we took of this though). I used to play a lot of UOVA outdoor doubles when I was in high school, but I haven’t played at all in the last few years at least. There were five teams in our pool and we played 2 games to 21 against each. Our first team was a junior team so the oldest was 14 at the most. We didn’t even warm up really. Matt hadn’t ever really played doubles or much volleyball in general, but he was great. He had good instincts of when to block and where and could even jump so high his head goes above the net. Unfortunately, his arms were not prepped for the beating. We lost every game, but not without a decent fight. Other teams including the juniors were much more consistent. The second to last team Matt’s arms were on fire and he borrowed a long sleeve shirt from my brother Destin’s partner (girl’s long sleeve shirts actually fit him pretty well). During our second game with that team I noticed my thumb was really hurting and was kind of shaking it. Just before the other team served I noticed the thumb joint was swollen and showed Matt. The other team was just one point from winning so we decided to take care of it after the won and they gave me ibuprofen and ice for it. We still had one more team to play and I convinced Matt to keep going. At that point we were both not making a big effort since Matt’s arms hurt and I didn’t want to make my thumb any worse. We decided to forfeit the last game. It was still a blast and my brother tried to convince Matt that we should play more regularly.

Can you tell which one I injured? 

After volleyball we went to eat lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with Carina, my dad and his wife Liliana. 

Matt and I still had a bunch of shopping left to do so the rest of the time went by quickly with going in and out of shops. In the end our biggest shopping haul was at JCPenney’s. I don’t know why we didn’t head there first. They had the Levi’s Matt was looking for, and the Sketchers and boots I was looking for. We also got Matt another suit. To finish it all off we went to Texas Roadhouse with everyone. Apparently it was homecoming night so there were lots of couples in fancy outfits and we were lucky to get in quickly with a party of 8 people. The meal was just as delicious as last time, but this time I got a large frozen lemonade which was amazing! Someone really needs to open one in Australia. We said our goodbye’s to everyone that night. Carina and Serisa stayed at the house playing video games while I packed. When I finished I played a bit of Yoshi’s Woolie World with Matt and we both agreed it was awesome. I’m tempted to get a Wii U now!

The next morning, we started our long journey back home. We had a seven-hour layover at LAX, which was pretty brutal. Matt slept on the floor for a bit, but I figured my body would adjust best if I tried to sleep on the plane. I bought sleeping pills and I think it helped a ton since I got about 6 hours of good sleep on the long flight. We also managed to finish Season 3 of The 100. I don’t think I’ll be watching any more of that show. As it has progressed I have just gotten more annoyed with the needless drama and they seem to like to kill or ruin every character I like. Stupid. I watched the movie Me Before You after that and was much more satisfied.

Long story short we made it back, picked up our cat, and life is pretty much back to normal. Well almost normal. I spoke to my boss when I got back and found out that she had been in the hospital for 10 days, had major surgery requiring an induced coma, and now can’t lift over 6 kilos and will have to be doing rehab for the next three months! I’m so glad I came back to hear she’s ok rather than in a coma! Nevertheless, how traumatic! Naturally this couldn’t have happened while I was here, so they had to have family come help do my role while I was away. Well I guess life is staying eventful!