Girls Night, Snow Fun and Kenedy and Ty speak in church

We wanted to do a girls night in Utah and we had that planned for Friday night. Stephanie and Mallory came over and us girls headed out for some fun. We went to get some dinner first for those who were hungry. I wasn't hungry at all so I just bought a pizza for Avynlea, Rylee and Kenedy to share. They were in a car together along with Isabelle and the rest of us, Me, Heather, Mallory, Stephanie and Emily, were in a car. We got to the food place first so I just ordered a pizza for my girls which they were grateful for. 

I wanted d to get a group picture at our table and Rylee was on the end so I had her take the picture. Per usual with Rylee she took pictures of herself before she took it seriously and got pictures of the group.

During her photo session water got spilled around Heather, I cannot remember how it happened but Rylee and Avynlea were quick to help clean it up.

And then we finally got a picture of us all.

l-r: Heather Elizabeth, Mallory, Emily, Isabelle, Stephanie, Kenedy, Avynlea and Rylee

After dinner we wandered around Target and Hobby Lobby. Emily was decorating the outside of her house to look like a pink gingerbread house for Christmas and she found a lot of decorations at Hobby Lobby that were too on theme for her to pass up. We got a picture of all of us again at the checkout stand. 

Kenedy was sending text messages to TY asking how their guys night was going and he was pretty bored with everyone either on their phones or watching a movie so he pulled up a football game on his computer and spent the evening watching that.

The next day we went over to Joshua's to hang out and we spent some time in the backyard playing in the snow with th littles. Well they played, I watched and took pictures. 

Leona showed me the tree her mom bought her for her room and then Avynlea modeled a Christmas vest that Mallory found in one of her boxes of decorations. Kefford, Rylee and I had to leave shortly thereafter to get back to Meridian, Kefford is in the bishopric and he felt a need to get back for church since he would be the only on in the Bishopric there. 

Avynlea's birthday present for me arrived and I got on FaceTime with her  so she could watch me open it. 

Avynlea got me a necklace that has the word Mom on it written in Japanese and I loved that gift so much. I asked her if I should put it on now and she said to wait until she starts her mission. I love that I have a necklace to wear that will remind me of her when she is off serving the people of Japan. I had a Texas necklace I wore while Ryker was on his mission and I love that Avynlea is continuing with the theme and making it a tradition.

I really wanted to stay in Utah till Sunday because Kenedy and Ty were speaking in church but since we couldn't I was grateful that I could watch them on zoom. They both did a really great job and Ty spoke more about his conversion story and I really loved hearing him talk about his experiences. I am so grateful that I was able to hear them speak and am again reminded of how the Lord blesses us through adversity. Covid was awful and not being able to go to church and the Temple and having so many restrictions was not fun but we got zoom meetings out of it and being able to still be a part of our family's church experiences is pretty great.

 

Family Pictures

We have not had family pictures since before Ryker left on his mission and I wanted to get new ones done before Avynlea left on hers. Kenedy decided on the color pallet and since we were going to be all together in Utah I found a photographer down there to take our pictures. The photographer was Amanda and she was the one who did Kenedy and Tyler's engagement photos and their Bridals. I was pretty excited to have our pictures done but Kefford, typically, was not. We had the session planned for Friday early evening and when we woke up Friday morning we saw it was snowing. Kefford said to me.."So family pictures are cancelled?" I didn't understand what he was talking about and thought that he had heard something I didn't, like maybe the photographer had told Kenedy she had to cancel. I questioned him on it and he said "it's snowing, so that means we have to cancel our pictures". I laughed and told him he was not getting out of it that easily and the snow will just make the pictures all the more magical.

It was cold but we bundled up and when we were not getting our pictures taken we put our coats on and tried to stay warm. Amanda was quick and we were done within an hour which we were all very thankful for. 

We did all of the usual pairings and then per tradition we all got our picture with Avynlea since she was the one this time leaving on a mission.

 

Thanksgiving!

Kefford and I got to Emily's house pretty late and Isabelle and Ryker were the only ones awake to open the door for us, they were watching a movie. Kefford and I went to bed and when I got up I saw Heather sitting on the couch, it was fun to see her and to visit before everyone else got up. Mallory and Joshua were taking their kid swimming and invited everyone to go with them. I didn't know about it until it was too late to bring a swimsuit but I wanted to go so I sent a text to Mallory asking if she had one I could borrow, she did and I was able to join in on the swimming fun. The one I borrowed was her skeleton suit and it was pretty funny to me. I remember her wearing it and it was fun to now be wearing it, I sent a picture to Kefford and he said it still looks weird to him but I didn't mind. At one point Heather and I were in the Hot Tub and there was an old man in it with us. He asked me if I spoke Spanish and I told him no so he asked Heather if she spoke Spanish which she confirmed that she did a little. He then told her to ask me something and he said a phrase in Spanish. Heather started laughing and told me he wanted to know if I had a boyfriend. I started laughing and said no but I was married. By this time Andrew joined us in the Hot Tub so Heather and I made our escape while the old man was talking to Andrew. After a while we noticed the old man was still talking to Andrew so we sent Amos over to tell his Uncle that he wanted him to swim with him, he just looked like he needed rescuing.

After swimming I wasn't wanting to wash my hair because I had plans to wash it the next day in preparation for family pictures which was happening on Friday. But I have been wanting to try out my natural curl again so I had Emily show my the curly girl method she uses and I did my hair curly. I wasn't thrilled with it, to me it looked like a bad perm but Stephanie said it was really cute and she liked it. It was a little bit of a shock for Ryker who has never seen me with my natural curl and he was surprised by it.

Elizabeth and Leona

Thanksgiving morning the kids all played Rock Band downstairs. I was down there with Kefford and Heather watching them and Tyler had Kefford sing along with him. Breana was there with her family and we got to see her new baby Quinn and Kefford and I played with Leonidas and Leona for a while. Leonidas is Breana's older boy. He is a pretty cute little guy and very solemn, it took us a bit but we were able to get him to smile which was fun and pretty rewarding.

Tyler, Rylee and Avynlea

Tyler and Kefford

Elizabeth, Ryker, Amos and Heather

Leona and Kefford

Leonidas and Kefford

Leona

Thanksgiving dinner was a lot of fun and super yummy, it is always fun to celebrate this holiday with my family. After we ate we took pictures of the little kids and then all of us together.

top pic: Fredrick, Amos, Quinn, Leonidas and Leona

standing: Ryker, Andrew, Kenedy, Tyler, Matt, Emily, Isabelle, Ben, Breana, Joshua and Anthony

kneeling: Kefford, Elizabeth, Avynlea, Heather, Rylee, Mallory and Stephanie

on bench: Fredrick, Quinn, Amos, Leonidas and Leona

Isabelle, Andrew, Kenedy and Avynlea took a picture together as well.

The California Lutes's had Thanksgiving at Mary Beth's and Ashleighs in-laws were there to join them as well. After they were done they took a group photo and then took another one because some more family showed up.

bottom picture

standing: Jeremy, Jan (Ashleigh's mother-in-law), Philip (Ashleigh's brother-in-law), Jeremy, Alec, Mary Beth Stevens, Andrew Brown and Adam Stevens

sitting: Atticus, Ashleigh, Abigail, Bonnie, Erin, Anita, Jaylynn and Pa (Ashleigh's father-in-law)

 

Glenwood Springs Colorado

Kefford and I really wanted to have a short little get away before we met up with my family in Utah for Thanksgiving and he found the perfect trip. Kefford booked us train tickets to travel to Glenwood Springs Colorado for a two day get away that was all part of a package deal. Neither of us have traveled by train before and it was a new adventure. After the football game we drove to Salt Lake City and stayed the night at Kenedy and Ty's. We left Rylee with them and Kefford and I got up at 2 in the morning so we could be at the train station by 2:30. We waited there for a bit until the train came in and then we boarded and found our room. When we first looked in I was taken aback by how tiny it was. The beds were already pulled down for us and Kefford and I squeezed our stuff in, he took the top bunk and I got the bottom. I really liked sleeping on the train, it was comfortable and not a bad way to travel. The issue was at 7:00am they started the wake up calls and announcements. I would have liked to have laid in the bed for a couple more hours relaxing but they wanted us up and out so they could turn it over to seats. Kefford and I got up and got dressed and went over to the dining car where we were served breakfast. What was amazing to me was the realization that people still travel by train. I thought this was a train used for cute little get aways and assumed everyone at the train station waiting with us was doing the same thing we were. But people were actually traveling by train to get to destinations because it is cheaper then plane tickets. There was a coach section on the train which had seats that reclined more then a plane but did not go completely down and from what I heard those seats were super cheap. Because we were in a sleeper car our meals were included in the price of our trip but those in clash if they wanted a meal had to pay about $20 for breakfast and Lunch and $40 for dinner. From what I saw most people brought their own food. I was very happy that Kefford booked us the sleeper car and after I got over how tiny it was I enjoyed the cosiness of it.

Kefford took these really pretty pictures of the outside while we were on the train. This train had an observation deck the we could go to and look at the passing scenery which was really nice.

When we reached Glenwood Springs we walked to our Hotel, it was a little bit of a hike but not too bad. I liked the walking after being on the train for so long and I had beautiful scenery to look at.

Kefford and I arrived on Sunday and by the time we got to the hotel it was 4:00ish and we were tired and just wanted to chill so we stayed in our hotel and hung out watching tv and eating snacks I brought. We had a big lunch on the train so we were not super hungry. Kefford did venture out to look around a bit but mostly we just chilled.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the Hotel and then we rode the Gondolas up Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, GCAP was part of the package deal we got and for an up grade of $12 we were able to add unlimited rides on the Alpine Coaster as well as both Cave tours and laser tag. I liked it because it was the off season and so it was not crowded at all, we rode on the Alpine Coaster and it was a lot of fun, it was cold but it wasn't terrible, I wasn't freezing. Because it was the off season we did not have to wait in line longer then a couple of minutes which was nice.

I took a picture of myself on the coaster and I tried to get a picture of Kefford who was behind me but he was too far back and I was not able to turn around to see him because of how I was strapped in, he got a picture of his feet though, so I guess that is something. I didn't get the no picture memo and when I got to the end one of the workers told me I was not allowed to be taking pictures. I wondered if they had cameras watching us and that is how they saw me taking pictures. I really did not know I was not allowed to be taking pictures and I felt bad and made sure the next times we rode that I kept my phone put away, I really try to be a rule follower, I get anxiety when I have people getting after me about anything I do wrong. 

The Adventure Park had some fun picture taking areas and we took a couple of pictures and explored a bit before we went on the cave tours.

GCAP has two caves that you can take tours of, the kings Cave and the Fairy Cave.It was recommended that if you were only going todo one tour that you do the Kings Cave Tour. We had time to do both and so we started with the Kings Cave and then we did the Fairy Cave tour. The same girl did both of our tours and she did great job, I really liked her and her personality, she made it fun and interesting and was easy to listen to. We learned about cave bacon which is formed on the ceilings of the cave and it actually does have the look of bacon just more pale, you can kind of see it in the first picture. The cave also had a lot of stalagmites and stalactites which were pretty cool to see. Towards the end of this tour the girl leaned down and picked up what she said was a bat. I had no reason to not believe her but didn't really care much about it. She held it tight in her hands up against her body and you couldn't really see anything. One of the ladies on the tour was really into it and wanted to touch it and the guide let her with her finger and she was so exciting about touching a bat. After the tour Kefford and I debated about if the bat was real or not, he had his doubts but I said it could have been who was to say. 

One part of the tour was lit up with lights and it was really pretty in the cave to see it lit up.

The second tour was the Fairy tour and I think it was named that because the lights shining from the lanterns the early explorers used made it look like fairy lights all throughout the cave. What gets me is someone looking at a small hole in the earth and thinking to themselves I want to squeeze myself inside and see what I can discover. They found a cave which is cool but it took many hours of squeezing through tight spaces to discover it. The cave was discovered many, many years ago and the first people going on these tours had to squeeze themselves through but luckily for us at some point the owners blasted it more open so we could just walk in. No way would I have ever done it if I had to tightly squeeze my body in through small spaces, I don't care enough about what I could possibly find to go through that torture. This tour did solve the mystery of the bat. At the end of the tour the guide "found" another bat so then I knew it was fake but she fooled the same lady wo was in this tour with us. This lady was so excited about another bat being found, it was pretty comical.

One cool thing about the second cave was one pathway led you through to an opening where you could stand on the side of the mountain and look out. It was beautiful scenery and fun too see. In one of the pictures I took it shows the rollercoaster the Adventure Park has that goes out on the side of the mountain, no thank you. Most of the rides were closed for the season with that being one of them. I might have tried it if it were open just to be adventurous and not a wussy but I guarantee my eyes would have been most likely closed throughout the entire ride.

There were two of these funny men/troll/goblin/giant sculptures at the park but this one was the only one we had access to. He looks kind of cute and friendly, I don't know anything about him but it was a fun picture taking spot.

After we were done with the caves we rode on the alpine coaster again and this time it was not as fun for me. It ws starting to snow and the ice was pelting me in the fave and it stung, I did not like it. After that we went and did laser tag, it was just Kefford and I and I did my best to get a lot of points but Kefford did end up winning. I liked it being just the two of us inside, it made it more fun.

Once we explored all we could explore at the Adventure Park Kefford and I took the Gondolas back down and walked into the city to look around and find someplace for lunch. We passed this Elk statue and Kefford had me take a picture of him with it to send to the kids to see if they could find him.

Glenwood City has a beautiful natural Hot Springs Pool that we heard about on the the train but we did not know about it beforehand to bring swimsuits. I wish we would have because it looked like so much fun and definitely something I wanted to try out. 

After perusing the different places to eat we settled on Slope and Hatch which was a taco place. I got fries with my tacos instead of the chips, if a place is serving fries I have to get them because I love French fries. The fries were good and the tacos started off really god for me but by the time I was halfway through the second one the flavor became too much and it was making me gag a little. Each meal came with two tacos and you had to get the same kind of taco, it would have been nice to have been able to have had two different kinds or even just to be able to get one. I liked the flavor when I started but it was not good by the time I was done and I don't know why.

When it became dark we headed back up the Gondolas because I wanted to see the Park and the view with  the Christmas lights on. It was beautiful and worth going up again to see them. We did ride the Alpine Coaster one more time and my experience was the same as the second time I rode it, being pelted in the face with ice does not feel good, it stung so bad, one of the ice pieces got me in the eye and that really hurt.

The next morning we had to check out of our Hotel by 11 and so we ate breakfast and then packed up and walked back to the train station. Our train was not due until 2:30 so we had a wait at the station. Kefford wanted to go check out the cemetery because it was supposed to have Doc Holliday's grave but my back was hurting and we didn't know how long it would take so I opted to stay at the station. 

It was a lot further then I was expecting and he had to really rush to get to the gravesite and then rush back to the station.

The train got to the station at about 2:30 and we boarded and settled into our sleeper car. For dinner we had the option of eating in the dining car which we weregild it would be crowded and we would have to share tables with other travelers or we could order our food and have it delivered to our room. We liked the second option and we were told we had to let the person in charge of our car know but Kefford had a hard time locating her. He finally found her and put our order in and we had a really nice dinner in the privacy of our own room. I ordered the steak dinner and Kefford got the chicken option. After we ate we asked each other couples questions we found on line and when we got tired Kefford put down the bottom bed and we both tried to lay on it and get some sleep. It was not big and it was a little too crowded with the two of us so we didn't get any rest nut it was nice to stretch our legs out a little bit more. 

We got to Salt Lake at about 11 and once we unloaded we found our car and we headed to Lehi to Emily's house. It was a super fun trip and one I would do again. I really liked the adventure of traveling by train and I liked going to Colorado and exploring a small part of a state I have never been to.