Day 3.....a complete play day!!

Today we had so much fun just staying here at Snowbird. We bought all day ride passes and we definitely got our money's worth. Of course Olivia was too scared to get on the ski lift that takes you to the top of the alpine slide. I literally had to carry her on, but wouldn't you know it as soon as we rode the slide to the bottom she was ready to do it again. We did the slide over and over and over. Then Clark and I left Ellie and Olivia with Hayden and Kendall and we went and rode the zip line. I had never been on one but it was so fun! The kids were free to run and do any of the 7 activities as long as they took a partner with them.

Hayden and Kendall on the Zip line

Cole on the Alpine slide....

Hayden riding the mechanical bull.....

Hayden, Cole and Olivia on the trampolines.....

Olivia on the inflatable slide and bouncer.....

Hayden climbing the rock wall.....

We took a break for lunch and then we rode the TRAM to the top of the mountain.

Here is our condo from the window of the TRAM as we rode to the top......

Here is a view from the top.... absolutely breathtaking!!

The top is at 11,000 ft. It was beautiful, but there was still so much snow. The kids LOVED it. They had snowball fights, made snow angels, and ate clean (and dirty) snow.

After the TRAM it was back to the slide, zip line, trampolines and mechanical bull. We played from 11am to 7pm when it started to rain. We had to run all the way back to our condo. It was so cold. As we rounded a corner this is what we saw......

a female moose just eating leaves - hanging out. There are signs all over the mountain about the moose and the fact that they are not docile animals. We could see them up on the mountain, but I never thought we would be close enough to take a picture. We watched her for a while and then decided to go get warm.

We were all absolutely worn out and fell asleep before the sun was completely down. Tomorrow is a lazy day. The boys want to go to Kennecott Copper Mine and we pick Sal up at 8pm.

2nd Day in SLC......

Today was our second day on vacation and we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was gorgeous, but VERY different from what I have seen in other temples. When we first arrived we watched a short video on the purpose of temples, but it also talked about the Oquirrh Mountains and the area surrounding the temple. The movie talked about my great, great, great grandfather Archibald Gardner that helped settle the area and built the flour mills and canal system once the pioneers arrived. After the movie we went inside. The first thing I noticed was that we didn't have to put blue booties over our shoes. I assume this is because most of the temple has tile. I can't remember being in a temple that has tile. The Endowment Rooms were small, accommodating only 48 people. I think there were only 2 endowment rooms. The Sealing rooms on the other hand were quite large. The Celestial Room was AMAZING!! The chandelier was star shaped and it had maybe 10 tiers on it. The colors were yellow and beige and green with stars and interlocking circles throughout. The kids loved being inside and we talked about them going to the temple either before their missions or to be married.

After the tour of the temple we went outside for cookies and bottled water. I think Hayden ate 5 cookies, Cole 4 and Liv 2. I then wanted to take pictures of the kids in front of the temple. Unfortunately my camera battery was dead and I was only able to get one picture. We decided that we would wait to go to the mine until my camera was charged.

Sandie Hadley went with us to the open house and it was so fun to talk with her about EVERYTHING! I realized that Hayden is as old as I was when we moved from our house in West Jordan. That was such a difficult move for me and I missed Kierstin and the Hadley family so much. It felt like home just being in the old neighborhood. Gary Wasmer was out mowing his lawn and we walked down to say hello. When he called me "Elsha" I felt as though I was a giddy little 8 year old girl again..... only I was missing my better half.... Olive Oil aka Kierstin. When I showed the kids our old house, Hayden's eyes got real big and he said, "Mom, you lived THERE?" He said that because the house now has a chain link fence around the front, about 12 bikes parked in the front and 7 lawn chairs on the front porch. It was a sad sight to say the least. Lee's yard is still impeccable and I remember when every house in the neighborhood looked just the same. If I could have gone back in time to be an 8 year old girl again, I would have in a heartbeat.

After leaving Sandie's we went to Gardner Village. Liv and I were having a blast looking at all the girly things, but Hayden said, "Mom, there is nothing but girl things here." I got the hint and we got in the car and drove back up the mountain. I plan to go back sometime before I leave! ;o)

Our First Day at Snowbird!!

Yesterday was a LONG drive from Phoenix to Salt Lake! We left home at 7:30am and we finally got to Snowbird at 10:30pm Utah time. Of course that was after grocery shopping and a nice Italian dinner. I was tired by the time we got to Kanab so needless to say I was grumpy and ready to be done, but we had half of the drive still to go. Today I decided we would just hang out at Snowbird. The thought of getting back in the car made me seriously sick!! Olivia's first words this morning after "I'm ready for breakfast" were "I am ready to go home. I need my Dad!" I had to remind her that Sal would be here on Wednesday. She was satisfied with that... for about 5 minutes! After breakfast we went on a little hike. Olivia LOVED watching the squirrels, but was disappointed she didn't get to pet them. Here is our home away from home.....

On the hike there are several spots where you can see the snow run-off. The boys love to drink the water and are AMAZED how cold the water is. Here are pictures of them slurping up the water!!

Of course Olivia had to copy her brothers and get a drink too...... I think she just wanted her picture taken.

At the end of the hiking path, you can see the valley floor and Kennecott Copper Mine in the western mountains. This picture isn't real clear but the white stripe between the mountains is the mine.

There is also a HUGE piece of granite and the kids were all smiles as they posed once again for the camera.

Tomorrow we are off to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and maybe a tour of Kennecott. I know the boys LOVED the salt mine in Austria so we will see if they are impressed with a copper mine.

Trip to Wyoming for Grandpa's Funeral

This was a trip that we knew was coming, but it is never one you look forward to. It was however, a trip I will never forget. It was so fun to be together as a family - with no spouses, no kids, just us Heiner's. It was a trip where you bring tons of reading material for the drive and yet you don't even open the books because you are too busy talking and laughing. We definitely missed Cameron. He is usually the jokester, but I would say we did pretty well without him. There were times we laughed so hard we cried. And Brooke, we only had a couple of muskrats. For those of you who don't know what a muskrat is.... think about the movie "Meet the Fokers". We have a few people with very strong opinions in our family and when we get on topics such as politics, we have to yell "muskrat". Essentially it is agreeing to disagree without the argument and then we move on. We saw some interesting sights.... take a look and I think you will understand why we laughed so hard we cried.....

This time when we told Mom about the signs she got the jokes right away. I the past she has said, "I don't get it," and that causes us kids to laugh even harder. I think Uncle Merrill and Aunt Mary even enjoyed the signs. I am not too sure about Gram. Do you think she got it? All I have to do is think of either of these signs and a smile comes to my face.

Of course Star Valley is the home to Rulon Gardner. His face is plastered all over Rulon's Burger Barn in Afton. We are related to him through my great-great-grandpa Archibald Gardner who had 13 wives and was asked my President Brigham Young to settle Star Valley. I am not huge fan of his after hearing some of the stories about him!

One of my favorite parts of the trips was listening to my dad sing with his brothers. I brought my video camera because I wanted there to be a night where they did nothing but sing. That never happened so I ended up recording them singing at the funeral. I wish the whole funeral could have been them singing. I could listen to them all day. I will try to get this on a disk and post it here.

The funeral was wonderful and I cried more tears than I thought I would. You see, I loved my grandpa, but his motto was "children are to be seen and not heard" so when we would go to visit we knew we better stay out of grandpa's way. He was gruff and at times downright mean. I remember he did take us on the sled one winter to feed the cows. I loved going with them. You see, I was (and still am) a city girl and all that farming stuff was amazing to me. The whole concept of branding cows with your own brand was cool. I thought it was mean to burn the cows but it was cool to know my grandpa had his very OWN brand. I was in awe as I watched my uncles and cousins put milkers on the cows or as I watched the men in swathers as they cut the hay. I have some wonderful memories of being in Wyoming, there just aren't many of my grandpa. We were never allowed to go with grandpa so we would stay back with my grandma.

My grandma died of breast cancer in 1981 at the age of 51. I have heartfelt memories of her. I loved her homemade root beer, her raspberry bushes, and the mittens she made for us to wear when we came to visit. I remember her cooking and how she walked with a limp because of a bad hip. I remember her taking care of me after an allergic reaction to a horsefly bite. I talk about these memories because Grandpa's funeral was like being at Grandma's all over again. It was difficult to watch my Dad cry. His heart was so full and he could barely sing. His prayer to dedicate Grandpa's grave was so sweet; he thanked Heavenly Father for sending the birds to sing and asked that the grounds be peaceful. He talked about being about to see the valley they loved, where they toiled the ground together. It was so peaceful!



After the funeral luncheon and a Pepsi stop we all loaded in the car and Dad gave us a tour of Star Valley. He talked about where people lived, what land Grandpa owned and sold - it was a wonderful 2 hours just driving, enjoying the view, and learning from my dad. I hadn't been to Star Valley, when there wasn't snow on the ground, in about 20 years. I had forgotten how gorgeous it is. The mountains had snow but the trees were all colors of green. I could have easily stayed there for the summer. It was sad to leave not know if I would ever be back there. I wish we lived closer so we could take the quads and spend a week exploring the canyons and mountains.

I took these pictures right before we left and they don't do the scenery justice!

What a wonderful time I had just being together as a family!

Father's & Son's - May 8 & 9

I know I am WAY behind on Blogging. I seem to be having more fun with Facebook. I will try to catch up before I get too far behind.

Their humble abode... of course they had to take their quads to ride on Saturday.

This year I didn't hear too much about the Father's and Son's trip. There have been stories in the past about Time Machines and almost starting a forest fire, but this year the boys must have made a pact not to say anything to Mom about what happened or it was a fairly boring (in a good way) trip. After seeing some of the pictures, it is a good thing that Mom's are not allowed. I am not a gun person so the sight of little kids with guns makes me nervous.... even if they are pellet guns!

It is always nice for Olivia and I to have time to ourselves too. One day we will have have pedicures, watch chick flicks and stay up all night talking about boys, but this year she was fine with a trip to buy garments, chicken nuggets and sleeping in Mom's bed!

Summer is.......

Having sleepovers with friends.....