Midway Swiss Days!

Road to Midway, UT.

Well today we went to the little town of Midway, Utah for Swiss Days.  During Swiss Days the population is no longer SMALL it is HUGE!  They have to shuttle you in because there is no place to park or no way to drive.  It is a big event!

Some years ago, Spencer came to Midway and at the house where this Historic Site marker stands, he was chosen to do a Zion's Bank commercial.  The homeowner was June Tatton and she was a descendant, either directly or through marriage of the builder of this old home back in the 1870's.  She was probably in her 80's when he did the commercial.  We have been to Swiss Days probably about 3 times since.  The first time we went there he wanted to visit her and we did.  That was quite a few years ago.  Then we visited once again.  The garden and grounds looked a bit forlorn and no one answered to our knock.  We assumed maybe she had passed.  This time we came again and the garden, which is in the background of the picture looks well tended.  Perhaps a younger generation has taken over.  It is a fond memory for Spence.  He had such a good time doing this commercial.

So the first place we went to was the barn.  It was cool.  Lots of shopping and I bought a couple of birthday presents for my 2 birthday girls this month.

Dad likes this kind of stuff.  Hmmmmm.  The snake, not me.  It would creep me out!

Need to go??? Ha ha, Leastly there was running water and soap...

The small crowds at the beginning of the morning.  We will come early everytime.  The shuttle lines as we came back were long.  We were there bright and early and no lines.

There's me...yeah, right...

Hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of merchandise, arts, crafts and everything.

He's here from L.A. selling American Doll clothes that are all handmade.

The Barn.

Greg Olsen signing his works.  We have some of his works!

And a parade of course.

Religious bakery food.  Swiss, however.

Swiss Tacos, anyone.  Not that's something I didn't see in Schaffhausen a few years back??? Se habla tacos?

We opted for a ham and "Swiss".  It as very good.  There was Knockwurst sandwiches, Swiss chicken sandwich, and "Swiss" scones the size of frisbees.

A selfie at the lunch pavilion.  Having a good ol' time.

I liked this picture, thought of Tyson going on his mission in a few years....

Now it's getting crowded and also colder and windy.

Making a purchase from Eric Dowdle, famous artist.

The Utah Amish from Switzerland.  Oh, I am so bad...and kidding of course.  It's just all those Amish books I read, haha!

And we head back home.  This is the Midway shuttle and yes, it had just finished raining.

And a pretty ride home through Provo Canyon.   Utah is awesome, is it not?

California Dreamin' cont'd.

Well, I had hoped to write again the next day while the trip was still very fresh in my mind!  However, life got in the way.  I had a meeting on Sunday and the next day my dad was back in the ER again and then I got a sinus problem...and and and!

So I wanted to post a picture Jamie took on her cell phone, but she sent it to me through instagram and I couldn't get a copy of it off from there.  So I have not got that picture.  Hopefully she will email or text it to me, then I can post it!

In the meantime here are some more random pictures of our trip.

They were happy to have their own room at the hotel with beds just for them!  And a TV!

So here is a picture we didn't expect to be taking.  Jamie convinced Spencer to ride California Screamin'.  She convinced him, and I stayed behind with Grayson.  I'm not a big fan of rides like that. Well, he got sick and dizzy and confused.  Really confused.  And so we actually had to call the first aid people at Disneyland.  Apparently this happens on this ride with the older folks!  A little hard on the system.  He won't be doing that again.  But we got something nice out of his infirmary adventure and the nice first aid lady here, Marie, arranged for all of us to get VIP tickets to the Alladin show at the Hiperium Theatre.  We got to wait in the shade and got front row seats.  All the performers came to the front and interact and it was really nice and we had a cool rest which was very enjoyable.

Then we were able to have dinner with Erin and two of her girls.  Mark showed up after we were done, had to work late.

PF Chang's eating family style.  

After we got back, there was one more baseball tournament for Tyson.  The first four games they won and so they played in the championship game on Saturday.  Their team is the Lehi "white" team.  And the other Lehi team is the Lehi "black" team.  They were a large team that was divided into two teams and they played each other in the final championship.  Tyson's team came in 2nd place...

But it was a fun tournament!

Here he is playing against the New Mexico team.

Here he is kicking up some dust and he's safe at home base!  Pretty close call!

Here he's catching and doing a great job.

I always like it when they come out and meet the other team and show that they are good sports...

 Getting his trophy.

The black Lehi team is in purple and the white team is in white on the right.  It was the last tourney in little league.  He also plays 9th grade bball at Lone Peak.

And that is all.  This past week has been quiet as they have been to Lake Powell.  But I have been busy, busy busy!  But at least my blogging is caught up as I want it to be.  Enjoy the rest of the summer!

California Dreamin' Becomes Reality!

We just got back from California.  Spencer and I with Jamie, Jake and four wonderful grandkids.  It was a lot of fun and broke the grandpa's bank account.  We had some good times and came back exhausted.

This trip had been planned by Jamie early in the year and we were doing a little California dreamin' till it indeed was a reality and now it's over.  :( Isn't that the way of ALL vacations?  Plan forever and then it's literally "history".

So here are some pics of the fun trip!

Here we are, hitting the road!  This is Jamie's vanload on the way down.  We had Brecklyn in ours.

I remember taking a picture of my van, but I can't seem to find it.  I have looked at all 4 cameras!
So on with more pics!

 Here is a shot taken between Nevada and California, right on the border.  It's a solar collector for large farms.  There were three of them and the light was literally blinding.

 This little area was in front of our rooms at the Stanford Inn.  There is a fountain and none other than a dino!  Grayson loves those!!!

 There was also a bench there.

 Here we are stuffing our faces.  We did a lot of that.  But ya gotta eat!

That first night was the only pool and hot tub opp due to hectic schedules.

 Making wishes and hoping they will come true.  Grayson wanted to be sure that they did and wanted to throw in every coin in my wallet.  Glad he settled for about 20 or so pennies, all of which had a special wish!

 Lots to see and do!

 Lots of green men playing the "drums".

 Boats, rides and interesting places.  This place looks a bit fishy to me...

 A selfie...gosh we are getting old!

 Even Brian needed someone to lean on.

 Doing the "buddy" thing with grandpa.  By the way, the Mickey in Spencer's pack was won by Brian.  Pretty cool, huh???

 Getting ready to go.  That's my van on the right!  It's made two Disney trips in its little life.

 More food and fun and cell phone moments.

 I think this was at the Outback.  I had a gift card that was burning a hole in my wallet and we used that.  Jake paid the rest!

 Here they are waiting for the parade to start...or to be cancelled...which it was.  So disappointing...The reason was the rain which was caused by a tropical storm which caused lots of damage in the state of California, including Interstate 10 by Coachella.  There were many Facebook pics on the damaged and impassable roads.  Glad it wasn't on my bucket list for this trip.  (still had enough date sugar for my date shakes! Haha!)

 So since the parade was cancelled as were the fireworks, the family went on another ride and I stayed back with Grayson.  He was out like a light.  Like my selfie???  Hard to do when you are holding a sleeping 5 year old!

Sunday we went to church at Erin's ward.  Erin is Spencer's youngest sibling and she lives in Anaheim.  Her husband, Mark, is the Bishop of this ward.  Funny though because we were in California, and they were in Utah at the same time.  We met their home teacher and other bishopric members.  Their children are the same ages as our grandchildren!  Isn't that funny!  Our first grandchild, Ty was born about 6 hours before their first child, Emma.  But Emma's birthday is on the following day.  So they aren't quite birthday twins, but almost!

 On Friday night we went to the Angel's game.  It was a great game!  0-0 till the 9th inning and Mike Trout hit a home run in our area and scored the only run!  It was amazing and being that it was the last inning, that was great timing!  Logan had hoped that the worker would give him the ball, but when Logan asked for it, he threw it in the "bullpen".  Logan was so disappointed and all the people in that area were also disappointed about that.

 Here is a panorama shot of the stadium.

It was fun!  And Spencer paid for preferred parking and we got out of the lot pretty quickly after the game ended.

Jamie always finds a nice person to take the family pics!

 Making a mad dash after the game!

In case you can't tell, it's a baseball helmet!

 And we spent some time at Newport Beach.  The waves were really, really high!

 And as time passed the sky became a bit more ominous!

 And Logan was buried alive, safely of course!

My timing on this shot was impeccable.  Those feet belong to Tyson as he dove into a wave.  He really liked this shot!

So here we are before the rain began.  Thank goodness.  Look at the sky, looks better here but it quickly changed and when the rain started it didn't seem to want to stop.  Everyone left at exactly the same time and the drive back took around 2 1/2 hours, rather than 25 minutes.  Bumper to bumper all the way out of Newport Beach.

 Lots of rides, slow ones, fast ones, scary ones... I opted for the slow and calm ones!

 In my young days, this was the scary ride...the Matterhorn.  It's a little different now, Jamie tells me!

 The teacups filled up fast, but not with tea!

 Minnie and friends.

 The 3 Amigos.  The Polish word for brother is brat.  Hmmmm.  Those Polish people are pretty smart!

 Lego heaven!

 Lou Ferigno meets Brecklyn.

 We spent quite some time on the bus to Disneyland!

 Here we are on the night of the cancelled parade.  It was the actual day of the Diamond Anniversary of Disneyland.

 The castle at night~

 Here we are looking for a new "ride".

Cars moved pretty fast!

 This guy is tired and so am I so below are a couple shots waiting for the parade that wasn't cancelled!  And the boys getting their lite-up wands.  So till tomorrow!