Salt & Pepper and Salt Lake & Vegas – opposites attack!

What a whirl wind trip! We had a blast in Vegas at the Golden Nugget, albeit some Twilight Zone moments! The gang enjoyed the zoo size shark & tropical fish tank surrounded by the swimming pool with a Plexiglas water slide shooting through the middle of it; along with the hot tub and fire pit. The Freemont Street experience at night; an amazing overhead light, music and rock & roll show overhead a couple of blocks in length was mesmerizing. We also enjoyed all of the craziness of the neon and the strip including Ashley’s desire to ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower viewing the strip from above. In addition to a lovely visit with our niece Whitney, her husband Kirk and darling children in their beautiful new home wherein we also visited with the Tucker fam. We ended our Vegas adventure riding the cork screw New York New York roller coaster – that was a zinger!

We then enjoyed our road trip to Utah via a stop over in St. George to take pictures at the temple and enjoy lunch and then on to the bubble, Utah Valley. This was Michael’s first trip out west so he was mesmerized by the dessert and mountains, sage brush and red rock. He counted seeing six temples during the week! We enjoyed various Beck and Christeson family get-togethers wherein Cam performed one of the many songs he has composed on his guitar with incredible lyrics; Ashley sings his music. Ash and Mica sang a cover song and then ended each visit with family by singing the hymn ‘I Believe In Christ’ as our families gift to all who so graciously invited us into their homes for a visit.

We took Michael to Temple Square in SLC to tour the grounds, see the tabernacle and conference center and then enjoyed lunch at the Lion House. As a convert of the Church for just over a year and a half he longed to see the temple and learn more about Church history. The highlight of our time in Utah was spending time with grandma as we bopped in and out throughout each day! She loves the Beehive Home enjoying excellent care, friendship, activities and amenities. While in the Provo area we had fun showing Mica our family history and memorable hot spots. Who can travel to PG and not stop at the Purple Turtle or to Provo and not have lunch at Heaps (Brick Oven) an old hang out of Jon and I back in the day! We drove around BYU and U of U campuses, passed our former home in Orem, and childhood homes in PG. Great grandmother Maggie’s home where mom spent her high school years after the family moved from Highland to AF. While Cam was at work and school we fit in a lot of time strolling down memory lane.

It was terrific for Mica and Ashley to visit with Byron our dear friend and former missionary assigned to our Pittsburgh ward who taught Mica the discussions and confirmed him a member of the Church; the kids enjoyed hearing him and his new bride’s stories of being newlyweds. I enjoyed a lovely visit with our dear friends Gregg and Myra who drove down from Idaho Falls to hang out with me! They lived in our Pittsburgh ward for many years and our families lived and breathed activities, holidays and everyday life together. Also, our visit with Delanie along with Kurt’s family was such fun! Seeing the boys jam with Cam and Mica and sharing girl talk was lovely. We wrapped up our visits with a delightful party at moms with many dear aunts, uncles and cousins in attendance. I am so blessed to have such a large, thriving family filled with incredible relatives!! I need a month to write about all of the tremendous wisdom, insight, advice and love given me by my aunts and uncles: Dallen & Joan, Duane & Barbara, Malc & Sharon and Theron and Faye. Such caring, sharing people. And what a hoot it was to stay at Malc and Sharon’s in their beautiful, spacious home. We enjoyed late night talks as the kids and I were gone from sun up to sun set. However, they were so gracious to open their home to us and are so pleasant to be around. They even took care of me during my embarrassing night due to food poisoning (from a restaurant) and they did it with good humor and aplomb! Sharon has to be one of the most congenial, positive, wise women I know; she offered great insight into what we refer to as our ‘twilight zone’ experiences while on our travels, haha. She and Malc raised incredible, well adjusted, successful children (literally!!) so they have great insight into human behavior and relationships. Likewise Duane and Barbara, just look at my cool cousin Rich and his adorable wife Tami and one can see the influence of their loving care as well! I could go on and on about each family member (and might in blogs to come) but for now will wrap it up with saying that although we were exhausted by the packed itinerary I planned we thoroughly enjoyed our time on the road, in the air and surrounded by all in whom we love! I think that my last visit with Cameron prior to flying home was especially wonderful. He is such a loving, compassionate, caring man. His dad and I pray for his continued sound judgment, celebrate his profound accomplishments and believe in his ability to stay the course or walk away as the spirit dictates. It always rips my heart out to leave him; 2,000 miles away is a killer for a mom but we rejoice in knowing he is creating a wonderful, fulfilling life for himself and look forward to the next trip here, there or everywhere wherein we can all spend time together. (more photos forthcoming)