Kah-Nee-Ta

Back in March we took a little trip to Kah-Nee-Ta.  Besides not getting the suite and we reserved and ending up with a small 1 Queen room (because of a "plumbing" problem") we had a great time.

Owen in the hotel room.

Andrea and Owen at the Stables.

Aiden got to take his first horse ride.  He picked out his horse and his name was Dechutes.  

Aiden loved it and now he wants us to move to the country so he can get a horse.

Aiden and Owen did a lot of laughing.

And a lot of riding in the car.

Aiden and I played some mini-golf.

They had some cool teepees.

And a nice warm water-park.  The water is headed by the hot spring.  It's so warm they have to cool it off.

We also did some bike riding.

We had a great time in Kah-Nee-Ta!  We hope to get the suite next time we go, the 1 Queen room was too small for our family.

Owen's Blessing

We had a lot of family come to Owen's blessing.  Owen slept while we were getting ready for church so he wasn't very sleepy during church.

Papa with a sleepy Owen

After the blessing

 We had all the family that came to the blessing over for an early dinner afterwards.  I grilled 12 lbs of chicken tenderloins.  It was a great feast thanks to "The Situation."  You read that right.  We used one of his recipes. ;)

The neighbor's dog checking out our feast

Family

Camping!

Last year Aiden loved camping so much, he wanted to go for a week.  We decided we would ease into it so we went for 2 nights instead of 1 this year.  

We went to Nehalem Bay again and loved it.  We spent time at the beach, went on bike rides, roasted marshmellows and all that good camping stuff.

Owen is a great camper!  Even at 2 months old!

Lindsay was able to come with us again this year.  Aiden loved it! (we did too!)

Papa and Grammy we able to come too!  Here is Papa catching some ZZZ's 

Triple dutch oven action!

We got a new tent so we could fit all of us in it.  The thing is huge!  It even fit the pack-n-play, us, our stuff and room to spare!

Owen slept well and was happy!

Until we drove home.... we had to stop a few times to calm him down.  I think he loved camping so much, he didn't want to leave!

Blueberry Picking

We got invited out to a friends farm this summer to pick blueberries.  

Aiden did a little more playing than picking.

And when he did pick blueberries, he threw them up in the air...

And even caught a few in his mouth!

 Owen stayed awake for a little while

But blueberry picking is hard work!  So he had to take a nap.

Grandma Taylor

My Grandmother passed away in March.  Although it's sad that she is gone,  I'm glad she's in a better place.  I remember going to Clarkston Washington each summer growing up for family reunions.  I remember my grandparent's house there.  Sitting on the porch, walking down the street to the park, and the Family Reunions near the Snake River.  My grandma loved her Diet Dr Pepper.  She always seemed to have a Big Gulp mug of the stuff.  I remember Grandpa always saying that they had to stop at every rest stop on the way to Portland when they would come to visit.  I remember my Grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary party and when they left on their mission to Navoo.

This is how I mostly remember her:

Since we had just made a trip to Utah in December where my car was less than cooperative and I have a 7-month-pregnant wife, I decided to hitch a ride with my brother.  

We met up with some of my family at Temple Square before heading to Provo.

While hanging out at the new mall that just opened up across from Temple Square we saw L. Tom Perry walk by.

I learned a lot about my Grandma at the funeral.  My Aunt Marta told us about her life and about what life was like for her growing up.  She married my grandpa in 1948.  This May they would have been married 64 years!

After the service we headed over to a local church building to have lunch and catch up with all the family in town.

Uncle Jay

My family with Grandpa Taylor

Nephews

Cousins...

Tumultuous Trip to Utah

The Trip There 

This winter, we planned to spend the week before Christmas in Utah.  The trip started out really good.  We split the drive there into two nights staying overnight in Boise.  The hotel had an indoor pool and Aiden swam all morning getting lots of energy out so the rest of the drive was easy.

We did stop for gas in the middle of nowhere.  A strange gas station that price gouges its customers.

They even had alpacas there.

Car Trouble

We made it to Utah without any trouble.  The trouble started the first Monday night we were in SLC.  We were headed to dinner at Andrea's Sister's place.  While driving, I began to notice issues with the car.  When I stopped, the car would idle really low (at 500rpm or less) and then die.  It would start back up just fine.  I had to put it in neutral every time I stopped to keep it running.

Hoping it was a minor issue, we took it to a mechanic the next day.  They replaced the EGR valve which they said was bad.  $200 and a few hours later we came to find out that it didn't fix the problem.  They told us to come back the next day when another mechanic with more experience was in.

The next day I had planned a snowboarding trip with Andrea's brother Jay. Andrea drove me to Park City to meet Jay and she went to the Mechanic. (I have an AMAZING wife!)  Turns out the mechanic with "more experience" called in sick so another return trip was needed. Park City hasn't seen the snowfall they are accustomed to. We had a good time at The Canyons but the snow didn't seem any different than the snow at Mt Hood. Although the snow wasn't much different, the views were amazing and it was really close to Salt Lake.  

After another trip to the mechanic and hours of watching several of them looking under the hood and revving the engine like crazy, they decided the transmission needed to be rebuilt.  It would take a week and cost $2600 but I had the leave the car with them that evening to have it done when they promised.  They would have some guy that doesn't deal with the public pick it up, do the work, and return it to their shop.  

Shocked and unhappy with the mechanic, I called Andrea's Uncle Rex and got a recommendation of someone else to go get another quote from.  I ended up at a transmission shop.   They checked the codes on the car and said there were no transmission codes.  The idle control valve was bad.  They thought I would be set with a new one and it was only going to cost $200.  They replaced the part and low and behold... the problem was not fixed.  They had the same price and the same timeline.  They felt bad that the part they replaced didn't fix the problem so they only charged me $60 for the part even though it needed to be replaced anyway.  They gave me until the next morning to think about what I wanted to do.  I went with those guys and we borrowed a car for Andrea's Aunt and Uncle while it was being fixed.

Silver Lining

We were stuck in Utah longer than we had planned.  We missed Christmas with our families and Paul's (my father in law) 60th birthday party.  We had Christmas eve and Christmas with the Knowles (Andrea's Aunt and Uncle).  The Knowles know how to make a feast.  Andrea and I made some fancy napkin folds while Rex was busy cooking prime rib and crab legs.

Andrea was able to participate in the festivities for her dad through Skype.  We got to visit with my old mission friend Aaron Freeman while he did Andrea's hair, spend more time with Andrea's friend Heather and her family, and stay in Utah for the wedding of Andrea's cousin Chad.

We were lucky to have friends and family to stay with for 2 weeks thanks to the Pratts, the Knowles, and the Jones'.  We were also lucky to have a car available to borrow for the exact amount of time our car was in the shop thanks to the Greens.  

Keeping up with the Jones'

Andrea has some great friends that were kind enough to let us stay in their basement very last minute.  Aiden loved playing with their oldest Ruby and they got along really well.  One of the days we all got on a train to Ogden.  We went to the Treehouse Museum and then met Heather's husband for lunch at a pizza place. (He works in Ogden.)  

The Wedding

The wedding was beautiful.  The rehearsal dinner was at Noah's in South Jordan.  Andrea's cousin Bri designed the interior of the building.  It was really cool to see her work.  The wedding was at the Salt Lake Temple and the Reception was at the Grand America.  We had a lot of fun spending so much time with family and it was wonderful to be at Chad and Emily's wedding.

Chad and Emily Dancing

Aiden and Grammy

The ride back

We got up really early to get on the road home.  We decided to go back all in one day.  Aiden slept the first 2 hours of the trip.  We made great time only stopping for gas and a redbox. ;)  Aiden did really well being in the car all day and the car works great.

Although there were some stressful moments, the trip turned out pretty great.  We were still very happy to be home.