Utah Trip

July was once again time for the Burr Family Reunion. We made the trek to Utah on July 9th (our 18th wedding anniversary) This is not the first year that we've been driving on our anniversary and probably won't be the last! We had a nice drive to Utah (besides the construction on I-80) and got there about 5 PM. We arrived to an empty house, but shortly met Trav's parents and Chan, Jen and the boys down at Salt City Burger for dinner.

The kids were so excited to see their cousins! Jarom was leaving for Boy Scout Camp on Monday morning, so the boys went and spent the night at Chan and Jen's so they could have a little more time together. Sunday, we went to church and had all the family over for dinner. Monday, we headed to the park to play some basketball, baseball, lacrosse, and tennis. The kids had a great time and then we enjoyed dinner together again that night. After dinner, we headed down to South Jordan to see Kaisen play in his all-star baseball game. We also got a chance to see the Pulu's and play at the park for a while with them!

Tuesday we visited the Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine (which is on the list of Historic National Monuments I learned for Parker's merit badge). This picture does not do it justice. It is massive! Those little specks down at the bottom are giant dump trucks. You can see in the next picture how massive just the wheels are. We visited the visitors center and enjoyed a movie about the mine.
The Pulu's joined us there for the tour.

Naomi, Noah and Calissa in front of the giant tire

Great friends!
Eisley, Conner, Eli and Parker
It was pretty windy up there!

After saying goodbye to the Pulu's, we went to Gateway in Salt Lake City to play in the fountain, stop by our favorite chocolate shop for cookies and Carmel apples and do a little shopping! Then, we went back down to South Jordan for another of Kaisen's games.

Wednesday was Grandpa Burr's birthday and we celebrated by going to the Hogel Zoo in Salt Lake. (I'm sure that was what Grandpa wanted to do on his birthday, don't you?)

We had a fun time finding our favorite animals.

Most of the kids with Grandpa (and a dinosaur in the background).

Cute little baby elephant!

Calissa, Conner, Parker, Kaisen, Kylee and Eisley

Taking a break for an ice cream cone!

They had a special dinosaur exhibit and had dinosaurs all around the park. They moved, their eyes moved, and some even sprayed water. They were a little freaky, but pretty cool!

Calissa's favorite animal, the lemur.

That night we had yummy pulled pork sandwiches and homemade Oreo ice cream!

We also had fun lighting fireworks (which we can't do in California)!

Thursday morning we got up bright and early and went to visit my Grandparents in Layton. Conner and Calissa had fun playing with their dog, Tipper!

After catching up with Grandma and Grandpa, we met everyone at Lagoon.

It was a fun-filled, long day.

Parker with his shaved ice that was huge and turned his mouth blue!

MiQuelle taking a little snooze.

Having a snack and a short break before dinner.

Grandma and Grandpa Burr

Calissa loved the rides.

Conner didn't love the rides so much! He was a trooper that day and never complained as he held our bags and followed us from ride to ride. He enjoyed chatting with Grandma and Grandpa. We went on several new rides there, but our favorites were the Spider (A spinning roller coaster with two facing front and two facing back. It's locked into place until it makes its first decent and then you keep spinning and changing directions - Tons of fun!) and Wicked (8 people ride at a time and go straight UP a 110 foot track over the top and back down and then into loops, etc. It seriously goes STRAIGHT UP - Wicked fun though!).

Friday morning, Parker and Travis went golfing really early. Once they were back, we headed out to get pedicures.

Calissa's cute nails.

After lunch we pulled out the slip and slide and the kids had tons of fun. The fun lasted until it looked like we might damage the grass (and we wouldn't want to damage grandma and grandpa's beautiful grass!)

Logan, with a big smile!

Maddie, so excited!

Patiently waiting their turn.

Conner

Calissa

Parker looking scared?

Uncle Jordan decided to join in the fun.

His imitation of a seal was fabulous!

He even did tricks.

Friday night after a dutch oven dinner, we made one last trip to Nielsen's Frozen Custard to get Concretes. The boys had been waiting all week for one and asking every night! After our yummy dessert, we went outside for one last night of fireworks. It gets dark really late there. (Like 10 PM)!

Saturday morning we were spoiled with yet another yummy breakfast from Grandma, packed up and headed to Layton to visit Kevin, Kellie and kids, and see their new house (which is beautiful). We visited with them, had lunch and then headed home about 1 PM. We ended up driving all the way and made it home about 11 PM California time. We had a great time, like always but it was nice to come home and sleep in our own beds again!