Tyler was scheduled to be gone all of September and the beginning of October too, so Rachel's parents bought her and Andrew tickets to fly to Utah to visit the family for conference weekend. Tyler ended up coming home a little earlier than planned though, but he was able to get last minute tickets to fly with us for free using frequent flyer miles! He left one day after the rest of the family though.
Rachel Andrew and Sylvia visited Aunt Camille's elementary school classroom the day they got there. It was a lot of fun seeing her work and meeting her students.
Andrew admiring the students' artwork.
Tyler got into town later that day and we all met up at BYU campus to visit the area where we met. If you look closely you can see the Y in the background.
Rachel's grandma was visiting too, and Andrew had fun playing with his great grandma. Here he is doing tickle fingers.
Sylvia getting ready to go for a fun walk.
We went to Texas Roadhouse to have a birthday dinner for Bennett, Rachel's brother.
Andrew loves playing with his toys and recently started lining them all up. He is a very organized fellow when he puts his mind to it.
It's been about four years since we graduated from BYU so most of our friends have moved away, but we were still able to meet up with some people while we were there. Tyler had lunch with his cousins Derek and Sean, and Tabatha, Sean's fiance. It was good food and good company.
While the Carson boys were out having lunch together, the Carson girls went to a different restaurant to have lunch with some sister missionaries who served with Rachel in Honduras. They ate pupusas at an El Salvadorian restaurant in downtown Provo. They had lots of fun catching up and meeting some of each other's kiddos.
Andrew matches Grandpa and Sylvia matches Grandma. What are the odds of that!
We maintained the tradition of going to the BYU creamery and eating ice cream before the boys went to priesthood session of conference.
Andrew loves eating ice cream.
Sylvia had some ice cream too. It was a little cold out so we had to keep her bundled up in her BYU blanket.
While the boys were watching priesthood session of conference, the girls went to a place called Puppy Barn. You can go there and pet and hold all the puppies you want for free! Andrew thought they were cute.
The next day was Sunday and we all drove up to Salt lake for the morning session. Rachel's family had tickets but you can't bring small children in so we just explored temple square for a couple hours.
Mommy and Andrew at the Joseph and Emma statue.
Tyler took this picture with his phone #nofilter
Andrew remembered the status of Jesus from late time we came here for conference. He also saw the same statue at the Portland Temple visitor's center this summer.
Group shot before the session started. It was a perfect day out.
Andrew was running around temple square during the session and an official photographer started taking pictures of him. They asked to take some family pictures too. Rachel has a life long dream of being in the Ensign, but unfortunately we didn't make it this time.
Andrew had lots of fun playing with his grandma, grandpa, and aunts and uncles. He took good naps while we were on vacation.
One afternoon we went to the Monte L. Bean museum on BYU campus. It had been renovated since we went to school and it was fun to explore. This little critter welcomed us as we entered the building.
Andrew being a tiger.GRRRR!
Sylvia and daddy with the majestic Elk.
Andrew loved the attention from his relatives. He was a very sweet boy and gave lots of hugs.
Andrew had lots of fun with dinosaurs while we were there. He got a dinosaur birthday card from grandma and grandpa. When he opens it and sees the dinosaurs he says "Raaa"
Here is his rubber t-rex head chomping on a helicopter. Good thing Tyler isn't flying that!
We spent the day before we left exploring BYU campus one last time.
At the BYU bookstore there was a fun corner where you could read books and play with big stuffed animals. The kids had lots of fun.
Family selfie! (minus Sylvia of course)
We visited the Provo City Center Temple that night. It hasn't been finished yet so the grounds were still closed off.
We really enjoyed seeing how everything turned out. It was a burned out shell of a building when Tyler graduated and left Provo.
The grandparents came with us. Cheese!
We left the hotel around noon, after Sylvia had her morning nap.
Our flight didn't leave until night time so we took the scenic route and visited the Payson Temple on the way to the airport. The kids were sleeping in the car for their afternoon naps so we didn't get out.
Grandma and Grandpa's flight left a few hours after ours so saw them at the airport and said goodbye one last time.
Then we headed to our plane and took the short flight home!
We had a great weekend in Utah seeing family and watching conference. It worked out perfectly that Tyler could end up going with us also.
Wow, You all packed a lot into one weekend. How fun that you could be there with so many family members, and have four generations too! Not to mention Tyler's cousins and your missionary companions. Looks like a great weekend. What I don't understand is how you got Andrew out of the Puppy barn without having to buy a puppy? Sure is a beautiful photo of the SLC Temple with the sky all lit up! That sure would have been neat if you had made it into the Ensign. You will have to keep trying that. The new Provo City Temple sure is a neat building. Maybe we can all visit there in the future when it is open. Looks like everyone is enjoying the time together!
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