A Fun Night In Town

Rick called me on Wednesday when he was at work.  He said, "Let's stay in town Friday night than go to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning."  I said,  "Love it!  Let's do it!"  He reserved a room at the downtown Fairfield Inn.  Then on Thursday he texted with this message, "I made reservation for The Five All's."  This restaurant is one of our top favorite restaurants in SLC.  I was thrilled and told him so!  

First though, i wanted to post a couple of pictures of our day at the pool and playing with Haivyn! 

To begin our date before I left home I put the top down on the BMW and drove into the office with Mariah Carey blasting.  I picked Rick up and we made the hour drive to Ogden to have lunch with Alyssia.  She had never been to Buffalo Wild Wings so that was our destination.  We knew that we had dinner coming up in just a few hours so we ate light while Leesh got a full platter of wings to eat then and later.  She was also going to share some with Skyleer:)

I drove back into SL while Rick took a nap.  I have been wanting some Ruby Snap cookies since we got home from Africa so this was the night to do it!  A Penelopes, a Mia, two Marises, a Lilly and a Zoey.  RUBY SNAP!!  Heavenly cookies!

After we got settled into our room we headed over to our dinner.  All I can say is......WOW!  The Five Alls has such a romantic, atmosphere.  Plus the food is fantastic!  I had my regular.....Chicken Keiv and Rick had the Halibut Oscar.  This is a five course meal and neither of us could completely finish our meals but we sure tried:)  We topped dinner off with complimentary ice cream and then THE best macaroons on the planet.  We were stuffed!

After dinner we still had a good hour of light left so we drove up Millcreek Canyon.  It is one of my favorites in the valley:)

We enjoyed our room that evening watching a little TV (which is a rarity for us).  It was just nice being together and not having to worry about anything else:)

The next morning we drove the two blocks over to the Farmer's Market.  It was the opening day so overtime we purchased something we got a recyclable bag.  I love to use those so I was thrilled.  We got to sample everything from different salsas, cheeses, honey, and popcorn.  We loved the bakery breads and pastries!

I had an heartwarming experience while we were there.  Towards the end we wandered over to the ethnic food trucks.  this is a really fun place to be because everything smells so wonderful!  In times past there has been a Sudanese place.  We thought we might get a samosa for old times sake.  As we got up to the booth there was quite a line.  I just wanted to get up close and see what the ladies inside were dishing up.  The two ladies were in traditional African wear and head dress.  As I was watching one of them dish up food she started speaking to her customer.  I heard her East African accent and my heart did something strange.  My eye welled up with tears as I remembered.  I said, "I think I am going to cry."  Rick lovingly put his arm around me and guided me away.  It took me by complete surprise that I got so emotional.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we had FINALLY gotten a short note from Francis that very morning.  When Rick read it to me from his e-mail I said, "Would you please read it again?"  I didn't cry then but it came full force at the market with LOTS of people around.  Of course.

This was the first of many times at the Farmer's Market this year.  We love it!  Kudos to my awesome sweetheart for planning such a fun date!

Road Trip to Colorado

Over Memorial Day weekend Rick and I went on a road trip.  He purchased a new truck a few weeks ago and we thought we would take her for a spin over the state line into Colorado.  We left on Thursday evening and got as far as Moab.  We stayed in an old motel called the Apache Inn.  I looked on trip advisor and it was voted 33 out of 34 motels!  I figured, what the heck....it's inexpensive and we are getting there late and leaving early.  It actually wasn't a bad night's rest.  I've stayed in worse:)

The next morning we had a nice breakfast and then headed over to Arches NP.  There was a long line of cars waiting to get into the gate and by the time we got there they waved us through since the line of cars was backed up to the highway.  We were pleased as punch to not have to pay the $25 fee to get into the park.  

Arches is BEAUTIFUL!!  It was so fun seeing all of the rock formations.  We had already hiked to Delicate Arch a few years ago with our kids so we were looking for something a little different.  We hiked up to the North and South Windows and Turret Arch.  They were right close together.  Then we made our way over to double arch.  They were just amazing!!  Being Memorial Day weekend there were lots of people but we just enjoyed being together and seeing the sights.  Before we left the park we stopped at an overlook for Delicate Arch.  We saw it's glorious self standing in the distance. 

 Loved Arches!!  

North Window

                                     South Window

Beautiful terrain

                                       Turret Arch

North and South Windows

Double Arch

After a few hours of seeing the park we started on our drive to Glenwood Springs, CO.  Superior Asphalt had done some work there in the past and Rick told me of what a beautiful place it was.  I have not spent much time in Colorado (only the Denver airport where we have had many layovers) and so we decided that Glenwood Springs would be our destination.  We stayed in the Fairfield Inn and it was a very nice place for us.  Our room had a separate bedroom and a small kitchen.  After we arrived we got settled into our room and then went over to the natural hot springs.  The pool is TWO FULL CITY BLOCKS LONG!!  The cooler pool is heated to 94 degrees while the hot pool is 104 degrees.  We had an enjoyable time relaxing in the warm waters.

After the pools we ate at an Asian bistro and the food was super delicious!!  We enjoyed the rest of the night watching..... THE FOOD CHANNEL!!  Two full episode of Chopped.  I was in heaven!  Haha!  That sounds funny but I don't have satellite TV and the only time I get to watch the Food Channel or HGTV is when we are on vacation.

The next morning we played the Glenwood Springs Course in some beautiful weather and then enjoyed lunch at.....

                        .....this place.

You buy the pizza by the slice and it was some of the best pizza I've had.  So yummy!

The slices were huge and we enjoyed every single bite! 

 Of course, we topped it off with an ice cream cone:)

That evening we went up the mountain to Glenwood Springs Adventure Park.

We rode the tram up the mountain to the park.  We did not ride any of the rides but kind of regretted not going down the Alpine Coaster.  That looked really fun.  We did go into the King's Row Cavern and were awed by the beauty of the formations in the cave.

Coming down the mountain in the tram.......

We enjoyed dinner at Rosi's Little Bavarian restaurant.  We both got the schnitzel and loved it!  I was tempted to get the goulash cause I love goulash but the schnitzel won out and we were not disappointed.

The next morning we stopped at the Glenwood Springs Museum.  

We learned a little about the wild west and Doc Holiday who was a notorious outlaw.  These parts were filled with outlaws like Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid, and Kid Curry.
The old west.....fascinating!

                                       Dress up time:)

One of my favorite spots in the house.    Look at those vintage hats!!

 Some old relics......

After visiting the museum we drove one hour to the east to Vail.  We drove along the Colorado River amongst beautiful mountains and other rivers joining the "mighty Colorado".

I'll be honest.  Vail was not my favorite.  I felt like it was out of my league.  Very expensive shops and ritziness.  It was an absolutely beautiful area, though.  We loved the surrounding mountains.  We were there on a cold, rainy day.  I was so happy to have my rain jacket!

The next day was Sunday.  We enjoyed our church block in the Glenwood Springs Ward and then drove 4 1/2 hours to Richfield where we overnighted.  I wanted to be close to Cove Fort which would be our last stop on our trip.  I have never been there and we pass by it all of the time when we travel to St. George.  It was really interesting and spent close to two hours there.  Would you believe they have nineteen sets of missionaries there??  Nineteen!!  Who knew??  It was very quiet when we got there with just one other couple.  After we started the tour more people started coming.  There were actually quite a few people by the time we ended and the parking lot was full.  Our missionary guide told us they were expecting four bus loads that afternoon!  What??  I did not know this place was so popular!  We sure did enjoy our little stop over there.

We got home in time to unpack and prepare for a potluck dinner with family.  Around 7:30 we jumped in the convertible and drove over to the cemetery.  It was so beautiful.  I love going to the Grantsville Cemetery over Memorial Weekend.  Such love is seen in the grave sights with all of the decorations!  We gathered around Fern's grave and shared a memory and watered her plants. We also got a chance to visit with friends who were visiting their family's grave sights.  

 It was a wonderful way to end our extended weekend!

Phelps Happenings

Holy Cow!  I have not posted any of our family happenings on my blog since we arrived back home! This will be a picture overload but I want to make sure I've got a record of at least of few of the things that have been going on during the last half of April and ALL of May!

The week after returning home we took a trip down to St. George for our annual Road School trip.  This has been a tradition for many years.  Each year Rick would take one of the kids with him to Road School and spend some one on one time with them.  The children always looked forward to the time when they could go hang out with dad!  

Since the kids have grown and two of our sons are working in sales for Superior this tradition has trickled down to a family trip.  The girls and kids have a fun time during the day while the guys are "at work" and then we meet up in the afternoon to do some fun stuff:)  This year since the house was being used by Brad and Ruth we ended up renting a nice, new condo in Washington.   It had three master bedrooms with bunk beds in the two upstairs bedrooms so it worked out just right for our group.  We had fun eating out, spending time at the pool, watching the jazz in the playoffs (on tv, of course),  picnicking, and trying out the St. George Children's Museum.  We sure enjoyed our time with the fam!

The guys and kids at Road School

            The Children's Museum.....Henry trying his hand at "cooking"

Rafe in the hot dog stand.

                                Rafe "fixing" a sports car.

                     Dress up and show time for Rafe and Scout.

                        Princess Scout twirling for the crowd...(me:)

                                          Cute fire kids!

Pool time

We went to the Family Fun Center and did some bowling and batting cages.  It was fun hitting the softball.  It took me back to my younger years when I played A LOT of softball.

Rick......He hit one out of ten.....HaHa!  My NOT so athletic husband.

Really.....This is not true.  He always beats me at tennis!!  And sometimes racquetball.  

Plus, he can outrun me any day.  Anyway,  I love him whether he can hit a ball or not:)

At the end of Road School Rick and I drove to Vegas for a couple of nights to spend some time with my folks.  We had the great opportunity of listening to the North Stake Choir's Spring Concert.  My mom has been in it since it's inception, eleven or so years ago.

The music was so beautiful and inspiring!

We spent a few more nights in St. George (just Rick and I) and had such a fun time sporting around in the convertible.  We played the Red Hills Course twice.  We love this course so much!

          Had to stop at the food truck to try out the honey corn dogs!

Throughout the last six weeks we've been to a few of this little guys's T-Ball games. 

 Rafe loves T-Ball and is pretty good at it too:)

               Kaitlyn, Alyssia , and Gary each had a birthday in April.
                 We celebrated with a family dinner at Chuck a Rama.
              Good food, Good family, Good fun!

With the beginning of May we enjoyed Baby Animal Days at the Clark Historic Farm in Grantsville.

I wanted to spend some time with Haivyn so this was a good opportunity.

She enjoyed the baby animals.

Pony Ride

Hay......

Skylar and Sarah brought theirs boys so we took a photo op at the tree swing.
Little cuties!

Haivy holding a baby chick.

We also got to go to a jazz playoff in May.  That night we had dinner at PF Changs and then took a bicycle taxi to the arena.  We ended up losing but it was still a fun night!

Free shirts in our seats.

 This little on had a birthday on the ninth of May.  Haivyn is now a big THREE years old.

The first part of May Rick and I made another trip down South.  We got word that my Aunt Alice had passed away and so we drove to Las Vegas to attend the funeral.  It was wonderful to visit with cousins that I hadn't seen for many years.

No pictures except this one of me and my mom:)

We have been to the temple a number of times.  This night we got to see all of our old friends in the baptistry and then did a session.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at The Garden afterwards.

Isn't the temple incredible!

A few weeks into May we got to drive down to Mapleton to visit with The Gillettes as they gave their mission report.  It was good to see them and other missionaries that have served int he UKM.

There has been lots of goings on since we have returned home from Africa.  My next post will detail our wonderful extended Memorial Day weekend!