From AZ to NY and back again: Labor Day Weekend Fun!

Like I said, just because school was back in did not mean that vacations stopped for our little family. Instead, we find every excuse to be on the run and be part of family fun!

For Labor Day this year, we had the monster trip planned....Utah for a wedding and visit with Grandparents and then to Lake Powell (details in a later post). So, we took off on and headed north to catch some beautiful Utah weather!

We stopped in Provo this time on our way up to be part of Jared's nephew, Jacob Crockett, and Victoria's wedding. We had a few hours to spare, so we HAD to take our kids to visit the BYU campus. Since Jared has convinced our children that that is where they are going to go (which I do not object to), we thought it might be a good idea to take them around and show them the grounds.

And boy are they beautiful! I thought it was a pretty campus when I was there but there have been so many more improvements!

Of course, we checked out the BYU bookstore. The kids got to choose out one item to take home with us. That didn't stop them from trying on out all the fun items in the store...crazy kids!

Cole chose a BYU football, Kate was a BYU hairbow, Lizzie and BYU hat, and Max a BYU jersey.

Then we walked around to some of the buildings and showed them the cool underground library too. They liked that! The skylights are pretty cool!

And we had to get a picture with the "Y" in the background

And then to top of our perfect morning was a trip to the Cougar Eat for some BYU Creamery Ice cream. Our day was complete!

Then we ran back to the hotel, changed for the wedding and the festivities begun! The kids stayed outside the temple with Jacqueline and enjoyed time on the Mt. Timpanogous Temple Grounds while Jared and I enjoyed the ceremony on the inside. Each temple has such beauty and such elegance. I am always amazed at the talent, time and devotion that goes into building the temples. They are truly a house of God.

Then we enjoyed time with family at the luncheon and reception. There never seems to be enough time to spend with our awesome Parker cousins! Then we headed up to spend time at Grandma Parkers for the next few days. Going to the park, playing TONS of board games and making the IronBead patterns. Always a favorite!

We even got to spend some time with our Grandpa Storer this time around! More than just a few hours this time, yea! We drove down and picked him up and took him out to see the Aquarium they've just opened up in Draper area. He doesn't get out often and so we thought we would take him for a morning out!

He enjoyed spending time with the kids at the aquarium, but it was a LOT of walking for him! I could barely keep up with the kids, and Grandpa, with his cane, tried to keep up too, but they were too fast for us half of the time.

The kids enjoyed seeing the Penguins, especially since the new favorite movie is "Penguins of Madagascar." I think they watched it 5 times on the way up and can quote most of the movie by heart, including Max! In fact, Max even calls Cheetos, "Cheesy dibbles," just like the movie.

It's too cute!

Kate loved to walk with Grandpa and hold his hand. She was in heaven.

These two boys seriously hold my heart in their hands. Love these boys.

Max loved talking to Grandpa, even though I'm sure Grandpa couldn't understand him, Max would just talk his ears off and Grandpa ate him up.

Then it was back to Grandma's house in Ogden for one last night with her.

We sure loved having our time with our Parker family and we are so grateful for the time we get to spend with them! These girls didn't want this cute girl to go! They liked having an older sister for the weekend!