A Visit from Grandpa Keith!

February 25th-28th, 2011

My dad came to visit, and we had the best time with him! It was such a refreshing change of pace! He arrived at lunch time on Friday. Of course he came bearing gifts for the kiddos... a new tractor for Tyler, Rapunzel and her gang for Susie, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar stuffed animal for Amyah. The kids were quickly taken over by his bribes! :) Actually, they are finally old enough and comfortable enough that there was no warming up period needed. Except for Amyah. She was a bit unsure of our visitor the entire weekend.

Late Friday afternoon we headed over to Cabela's to check out the fish, the animal displays, and the target shooting. We spent a couple hours there, and had a great time.

We spend Saturday at home thanks to Jimmer and the BYU basketball team. They were playing their second game against San Diego State. The game was right in the middle of the day. Thankfully, the Cougars won! After the game, Kevin, Grandpa Keith, and the kids played outside in the snow. They built a couple gigantic snowmen and sledded until their arms grew weary. Grandpa helped the kids get started and Kevin had to catch them at the bottom of the hill so they wouldn't sled into the traffic on the street.

The next day, we got into the car and drove a loop passing through Salt Lake City, Park City, Midway, and Provo. We stopped for a stroll through Park City. It was pretty fun to walk through the city in the middle of ski season. I've only seen it during the Olympics and also during summer time. It is such a fun little city! I love how a ski lift picks skiers up from downtown. We checked out the ice castles in Midway. Not quite as impressive as I expected. I heard they are much more majestic looking in the night when lights are shining on the castles. Maybe they would have seemed a bit more exciting had we actually paid to walk through them. Then, on to Provo. We drove around BYU college town and let my dad find his old apartments he used to live in when he was a student there. It was a fun little drive. The kids were good sports.

When we got home, there was just enough snow left for another round of sledding. This time in the backyard. The kids threw on some boots and headed out back. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid 40s. It was beautiful outside. The snow actually was partially melted. The sled runs ended on a slushy basketball court.

We had so much fun with my dad! It was sad to say goodbye after his quick visit. Susie even burst into tears! He played many, many rounds of indoor basketball with Tyler. He is an awesome grandpa! The kids loved having him around, and I did too! Come back soon! We miss you!