UTAH TRIP

On BYU Campus

View from the top of the "Y"

True Blue Fans

The Family in front of the Conference Center

We decided to take a trip to Utah - it was fun but fast. We hadn't been down there for 5 years so we thought it was time to do it again. See, the last time we drove there both Preston and Haylie were throwing up the whole time so nothing went the way I planned. This was a much better experience - thank goodness.

We drove to Butte, MT, Wednesday afternoon where we stayed with my brother and his family for the night. It was fun to see them all because we never got together this last summer. Thursday we headed down to Provo. We got there late afternoon, enough time to have dinner at a "must eat" restaurant "Brick Oven Pizza." It brings back a lot of memories and it happens to be where Grandma Komm watressed when she was in high school. So after our pizza we had enough time for the kids to swim in the hotel pool. That's about all you need for your kids when you go on a trip.

We got up early enough to start our hike up the "Y" without the sun getting too hot. It was definitely a climb but the kids did awesome. What a breathtaking view of Utah Valley. It made our kids want to move here and for me to move back. Nothing is as magnificent as those Wasatch mountains, and this time of year the colors our beautiful. So after we got to the top and enjoyed the view we headed back down to go back to the hotel - the kids hoping to get more swim time in. Of course on the way we drove back to Mike and my old apartment from when we first married and to get donuts at Mike's favorite bakery - Provo Bakery. Nothing like getting a good workout hiking up a mountain, and then eating a healthy breakfast of donuts. Us Egan's we know how to do it right.

So the kids go their swim in and then we headed on another hike - this time up to campus. There is no other campus as beautiful as BYU. I remember as a college student just taking it all in, how clean and pristine it was, but that fact that I had fulfilled my goal that I had as a child - to go to BYU someday. I guess that was kind of the purpose of this trip - to inspire my kids to want to come here and go to school. And actually there was no need for Kellie, she definitely wants to go there, and this trip just cemented the desire.

I'm sure our kids rolled their eyes and tuned us out as we took them on a tour of campus, explaining to every class we took and where. But we spent the majority of our visit at the bookstore. Oh, the BYU Bookstore. Besides brining back memories of college my love the bookstore goes back a long way. When I was a 12 - 15 years old me and my sister took violin lessons at BYU. I hated the lessons but I loved being able to run to the bookstore afterword and pick out something fun to buy- whether it was BYU gear, pencils, or stickers - I love that store.

The kids loved it just as much as me, and they were exstatic when we told them they could pick out a sweatshirt. So the whole family got decked out in BYU gear so we would be ready for the big football game.

After the bookstore we had to take the kids to a few more places - the Eyring Science Building (they have to cool science tools to check out), the Brimhall Bldg. - where all of my design classes were. And then the RB - Richards Building, where we watched the swim team for awhile. The kids were good sports about the long day on campus but they knew they would get to swim once we got back to the hotel. I have to mention that it got extremely hot that day - 86 degrees. We were all ready for a swim.

After that we picked up my nephew, Travis who is a freshmen this year, and took him out to dinner to "In and Out Burger." This is now my kid's favorite restaurant after going there while we were in California.

Onto the next event - the Football Game. We got on our gear and walked with the crowds to the game. What a great feeling there was being in that stadium - and memories too. I actually cleaned bathroom at the stadium for a semester. One of my worst jobs, but the things we do when we're students. Boy it was exciting being there. And of course the best part is joining in with the fans and singing "The Cougar Fight Song." My kids knew all of the words only because I kept singing it to them the whole drive down. They really got into it. BYU pulled it out the last 5 minutes of the game and won. That was fun!

So then we headed back to the hotel which was only 2 blocks away and of course the kids wanted to swim - again! You would think that I would have gotten pictures of them swimming, but I didn't.

Saturday we woke up a little later because we were so exhausted from the previous day's events. We got out church clothes on and packed things up and drove up Provo Canyon. We decided to go see my Aunt Linda and Uncle Richard in Heber before we went to Conference at 1:00. What a beautiful drive. It was great to see them and my cousin's girls. Then back in the car. I must mention that driving with kids for long periods of time is much easier the older they get.

Onto Conference. The kids were excited to go into the Conference Center. Haylie isn't 8 so her and I just stayed on Temple Square and listened to it through the loud speaker. I love listening to the leaders of our church, but it meant something more being right there, and Kellie, Ashlie, and Preston thought it was pretty cool.

Now it was time to get out of those church clothes so we checked into our next hotel and again, the kids wanted to swim, but we told them they could swim after we got something to eat. I don't know how they had the energy to swim after all of our activities because I know I was tired. We got a good night sleep, and then got up early for a long drive home back to Spokane, WA.

This was one of the funnest trips we've been on, because there was so much to do and so much to share with the kids. Mike said, we'll definitely be back here in 2 years when Haylie turns 8. I'm glad he had a great time too. After every trip I realized that I absolutely love traveling, and it doesn't even have to be to exotic locations. It's just getting to go somewhere different and spending time together as a family, and making memories.