provo highlights

Our visit to Provo was just as delightful as we hoped it would be. We packed our days full so that we could come back home with no regrets, and I think we were able to do just that. Here are a few of the highlights.

Cousin Time
My sister, Katie, drove down from Boise with her two little girls. Natalie is an absolute hoot, and Emily is the sweetest little thing with gorgeous eyes to match. They are each just a few months younger than Matthew and Daniel. Matthew for the most part didn't know what to make of Natalie (like, for instance, when she tried to force feed him her imaginary cupcake and he was overwhelmed to tears), and Danny spent a lot of time ogling Emily's ability to walk (but showing little to no interest in trying to replicate the skill himself). But overall they really enjoyed each other's company, and Matthew, for one, was sad to say goodbye.

 Climbing the tree in Grandma's backyard. 

 All the cousins picking pumpkins at Vineyard Nursery.

Happy babies in the red wagon!

 Feeding Grandma's ducks at Wilderness Park.

 Happy babies on swings!

 The contrast of their personalities is pretty evident here.

 Happy babies in high chairs!

 At Bridal Veil Falls.

Build-A-Bear

Grandma treated Matthew and Natalie to an outing at Build-a-Bear Workshop. It just might have been the most amazing thing either of them had ever done. Matthew picked a teddy bear-like doggy which he initially named Biscuit, but ultimately just called Bear Doggy. (He's practical like that.)

 Filling Biscuit/Bear Doggy with fluff.

 The lady helping him went through the whole Build-a-Bear rigamarole, which he played along with fairly well until she asked him to kiss the bear's heart before she stitched it up inside. He thought that was crazy and refused to do it.

 Awww.

 Giving Bear Doggy his first bath. I love Matthew's determined tongue.

Danny and Emily looked on in fascination. Maybe someday it will be their turn.

Apparently it was too much to ask for them to pose with their new dolls for the camera.

Golden Friends
There's almost always more people I want to see when I visit Provo than I typically have time to see, so to help alleviate that problem my parents let me host a little gathering at their house one evening. The turn out was so great (definitely a lot great than the pictures below lead one to believe). Friends from my childhood, friends from college, friends from Brooklyn who had since relocated to Utah, and lots and lots of cousins. It was wonderful! We dipped apples in caramel and all the fixings while we chatted and caught up.

 Ah, Sarah and Daphne (and an exhausted Matthew)! It was so good to reconnect with these two lovely ladies and sweet friends from our Brooklyn ward.

With my dear friend, Naomi and her family. Her husband, Jun, was one of Blake's counselors in our Brooklyn ward. I have missed them all so much since they first went back to Japan and then found themselves at the BYU Marriott School for graduate school, and it was so good to see them.

Grandma's Toys
Grandma Nancy prides herself on the toy collection she's built for her grandchildren, and rightly so. It boasts both new and vintage, and, most importantly, it was beloved by those it was meant for.

 Playing with the vintage Little People Farm that his mother played with when she was a little girl.

 Dobbin the Wonder Horse! On our last morning in Provo, Matthew brought up the fact that he still hadn't seen the horse, which has sometimes been brought upstairs when grandkids were expected. He was worried that it was gone forever, and so was overcome with happy relief when he learned it was just in the basement. It was a happy reuniting.

 Danny thought Dobbin would be a good idea, but quickly changed his mind.

The lighting in the shot is horrible, but it features all the cousins.

Shopping

A sizeable amount of our girl time together was spent shopping. We hit all the favorites -- Orson Gygi, Home Goods, World Market, Traverse Mountain Outlets, Red Balloon Toy Store, and Gardner Village, as well as a trip to Ikea just for the heck of it -- and came away with lots of fun, new treasures.

(No pictures. We were too busy browsing to photograph anything.)

Story Time
In theory, Story Time at the library is a beautiful idea. Educational, entertaining, social. But my boys never seen to be too interested. Luckily there were some fun literary pumpkins on display.

 "...no matter how it's disguised..."

 I'm still surprised (disturbed?) that Matthew knew this was Captain Underpants. I suppose he can thank his older brothers for that tidbit of knowledge.

 The Pigeon, of course, was their favorite.

Trail Walking
Every morning I joined my mom on her walking route along the Provo River Trail. The weather couldn't have been better and the ducks were out in full force. This daily ritual was probably the best part of this trip.

 As soon as the ducks see my mom crossing the bridge into the park, they come running to the spot where she feeds them.

 Ah, sweet breakfast.

 Views of the Provo River from the bridge.

 But not this bridge.

 Oh, mountains!

 Remind me to tell you about the time my siblings and I ran away to the banks of the river along this section of the trail. Ha!

 Seriously, how could I not love this place?!

We had such a good time, and I'm still amazed at how much we were able to pack in to our few days there. And what I mentioned here wasn't even half of what we actually did because I didn't tell you about how we ate all-you-can-eat French toast at Kneader's with Claire (who is awesome, by the way) and how it was so delicious I'm still searching for a do-able copycat recipe so I can eat it again. Or about the 90th birthday celebration we attended for my Great Aunt Ann. Well, maybe it was. 

Sigh. Like I said, it was a good trip home. 

By the way, in case anyone was wondering what distractions I brought along for our airplane rides worked the best, it was hands down the Play-Doh followed closely by the "black phones" (aka the cheap calculators). Maybe next time I'll just pack those along with some snacks and call it good. It'll make my carry-on lighter anyway!