A Two-Week Logan Trip

Turns out Mark's extreme frugality (is that a word?) turned out to really benefit us this last trip.  Anticipating flight prices to drop last minute, Mark put off buying a plane ticket, to be used at the end of my Logan trip so he could spend a couple days up north and then drive home with me. 

They went up a hundred dollars. 

So we looked around, and found a much more reasonably-priced ticket for the following week, on Wednesday.  Mark was able to take the time off, so not only did I have a much longer time to spend in Logan, but he did too!

It was wonderful.  Clean air, crisp little jogs with my ultra-athlete siblings, and plenty of food.  Too much even. (I was a little sad at my doctor's appointment today.  SIGH.)  The best part was, I only lifted a finger to be helpful; not at all because I needed to.  Such a good feeling.

Mac showed off like a maniac.  He soaked up all that attention like a sponge.  He takes after me that way.  He flipped around these balls constantly, and it made my family gasp and giggle every time.  He loved it.  Please note Jamie's face in the second picture; it's a pretty good summary of everyone's reactions.

 For Jamie's farewell (which I will give details on in a later post), we had a lot of family come.  It was so very fun!  My best best Aunt Jen came with her six little ones, and I finally got to spend some time with Alyssa ... the miracle baby who underwent all sorts of heart surgery.  She is doing great!  And she has those Johson eyes that are floating around in my bloodstream somewhere .... oh how I hope a child of mine will recieve that blessed trait!

Auntie Jenny sporting the classic baseball-cap-and-hoop-earrings look, which I will always remember her for.  Jamie and I both feel it is super hot and must wear hoops when we were hats.  It's a rule long established if you wanted to be as cool as Aunt Jen.

Mac quickly figured out who was more willing to do what with him, and he spent most of his days running from person to person asking for "Buh-bohs" (bubbles), "Shoot it" (basketball), "Woods" (watching credits of any movie), "Ehmo" (Elmo), "Bans" (bouncing on a bed/ball/anything), and several others that I'm sure I've forgotten.  It's good to be little and have everyone think you are so cool. 

 We really tried to soak up the beautiful green scenery of Logan as much as possible.  We threw a lot of rocks and went on a lot of walks.

Ahhhhh.  My beautiful little valley.

Unfortunately I was too lazy this trip and did not get around to seeing many friends.  I definitely do regret it, as I am now home and am forced into having some energy again.  However we did make a drive out to Salt Lake to see our friends the Eltons and play at Discovery Gateway.  Bless Chelsea's heart for using her free pass on us!  Mac started out ornery, but quickly became enthralled and was quite devastated by the time we had to leave.

 Arguably the best part of Mac's vacationing:  gardening.  Is there anything better than playing in the dirt with Bumpa?

 Then .... DADDY CAME!  Look at this studly man.  Good grief I may have kissed his face right off after not seeing him for a week and a half.  Mmmmhmm he was looking so good. 

He flew in super late Wednesday night, but first thing in the morning we hit the trails to get Mark a little fresh air and wide open spaces.  And I snapped a few classic Crimson Trail pictures.  Pretty sure everyone takes pictures at the same spots on this hike. 

Our very own Incredible Hulk.  Also known as cousin Kyler.  We were super excited to welcome him into my parents' home, where he will be spending the summer.  Ky, we think you are grand!

 Our last night in Logan was spent camping.  We had divine tin foil dinners. (The secret? Use cream of mushroom soup, and make sure Mark does all the cooking.)  We talked, walked, ate all the camp-out classics, and played games.  The best part of the entire night:  no Mac!  He played hard until bed time, and then I drove ten minutes down the road to my parent's house and put him down.  Nana and Bumpa graciously offered to forgo the sleeping-in-the-wild to make sure my little man made it through.  It was a great night for all.

And so, two weeks behind us, we trekked down to Layton where we saw cousin Max get baptized and played with the Gunn clan.  From there we moved along back to congestion, smog, and traffic; our home. 

California does have it's draws though, and I will have to say I think I've decided that I could live about anywhere.  But Logan will always have a huge part of my heart, so Mom and Dad, don't you ever move ... I have to be able to always come back to Logan.