Two days in Provo

On Wednesday, September 26, 2018, Mark and I flew from Louisville to Salt Lake City to visit with the kids out west.  Our first two and a half days were spent in the Provo, Orem area. 

We got in around 11 and drove straight to Provo, checked into the Residence Inn and then picked up Chick-fil-A for everyone for lunch.  Jessica, Tate, and Devon met us at Jessica and Tate’s apartment to eat lunch.  Jessica nursed Cayson and we all ate lunch together before Jessica, and Tate went back to work.  After lunch and some playtime with Cayson, Betsy took Devon out shopping for new suits while Mark played with Cayson and did some work (never gets time off).

We found a great looking blue suit for Devon at Macy’s and the perfect tie to match.  Then we went over to Jos. A. Banks to get him a good black suit.  I hope he will wear the black suit for the wedding.  We had to order the pants so when they come in and hem them, Devon can go out and pick the suit up.  I also got him two new white shirts.

Sierra had to work and then go to school to take a test so she was not able to join us for dinner.  As it is tradition, we took Jessica to Olive Garden.  Actually, because she loves pasta so much, Tate and Jessica had “Never-ending” pasta passes.  Their dinners were already paid for.  We took Cayson with us - he was a champ!!!  

Just as we were finishing dinner, Sierra finished her test.  She decided to rush over to Olive Garden (without telling us, but by the time she got there, we had left).  Luckily, she called Devon so we turned around and returned to Olive Garden to meet her.  We convinced her to order her meal ‘to-go” and take it back to Jessica and Tate’s so we could all talk and hang out more.  

It’s a shame we didn’t think it through - we should have spent the rest of the night with just Devon and Sierra and talked to them about the wedding and their future plans … oops.

Thursday was Jessica’s day to babysit Lola, so Mark and I spent the day with her at her apartment.  At first, Lola was not happy to see strangers come visit (burst into tears when Jessica left the room), but after a while she warmed up to Betsy.  For lunch, we took Jessica, Tate, Cayson and Lola to Chipotle and ate outside because it was such a beautiful day.  Cayson and Lola were awesome at the restaurant.  Tate went back to work and we returned to the apartment.  Mark and I took Lola for a walk while Jessica nursed Cayson and then later we all went for a short walk to enjoy the beautiful outdoor weather.  The kids were fantastic.  After Lola’s mom picked her up, Betsy and Jessica went out on a little “Girls retreat” and got our nails done.  We were back home by 6:00 to meet everyone for dinner.

Devon had class in the morning and them STEM interviews in the afternoon.  I hope he prepared well and went with his resume and a dose of confidence.   After Devon finished with STEM he had to run over to finish his job.  Sierra doesn’t get off until 5:30 and Tate doesn’t usually get home until 6:00 so it all worked out well for dinner plans.  

For dinner we went to Zuppa’s.  Sierra met us there.  It was nice to finally have some time to talk with her, but the restaurant was noisy and she sat on the far side of the table so I didn’t get to talk to her much … but Mark did :).  Zuppa’s was the perfect dinner for everyone, even Cayson - he was soo good.  After Zuppa’s we drove over to Dairy Queen for FREE blizzards.  We are stuffed and now frozen.  YIKES!  After DQ we all went back to Jessica and Tate’s to talk.  

Friday morning we went to Jessica’s to babysit Cayson for a few hours while she works a half day.   We checked out of the hotel and made it to her place by 8:10 AM.  She gave us the run down and then left.  

So something really cool happened at this time.  I was going to go on a breakfast run, but waited to make sure Cayson went back to sleep.  Then I finally decided to go.  On the way I made a phone call to Lowe’s regarding our carpet.  I was on hold when I arrived at the place, so I waited in the car.  While waiting I got a strong prompting to get out of the car even though I was on hold with Lowe’s.  I followed the prompting and just as I got out of the car, My niece Alex walked right by.  We immediately recognized each other and were so surprised to see each other at that exact moment.  I can’t thank my Heavenly Father enough for prompting me to get out of the car when it did, otherwise I would have missed seeing my beautiful niece.  We got our breakfast and drinks and then she showed me where she works - it was right next door.  She introduced me to the people she works with.  She is such a great person.  Everyone loves her.  I was so happy I had the chance to see her.

Back at the apartment, Mark and I had so much fun watching over Cayson, playing with him, getting him to laugh and smile and feeding and burping him.  HE is such a great baby.  The time flew.  Jessica was back at 12:15 PM and then we had to say good-bye.  We are headed up to Rexburg to see Marissa for two day and a half days with her.