Elder Hardy...

Our last Sunday in Utah we headed up to Salt Lake City to hear Derek give his missionary farewell.  He gave an excellent talk and we enjoyed seeing him ready to be a missionary for the Lord.  He will serve the people of Tempe, AZ well!  See you in 2 years Elder Hardy!

Camp Helaman...

While we were having fun in Utah with cousins and friends, Steve was working and camping with the priests in our ward.  Camp Helaman was a 3 stake activity for those getting ready to go on missions.

 

 

The camp was in Utah near Kolob Canyon.

 

Boys were assigned districts and companions.

 

And wrote their testimonies on "gold plates".

 

The boys did an activity called "Hold to the Rod".  They were blindfolded and told to stay on the rope, however, there were obstacles and many voices trying to lead them off.

 

Almost all ended up off the rope at some point.  Bishops and Stake Presidencies were the only ones allowed to talk to them and get them back on the rope.

And something the boys did not know, was that their parents came up for this activity and were following along to meet them at the end.

Once they completed the course, they were able to see their parents and leaders and receive letters of encouragement.  A wonderful activity for those boys preparing themselves for the mission field.

Wheeler Farm...

We spent an afternoon checking out the animals at Wheeler Farm.  It is a working farm, but it's free to walk around and have a look.  Again, it has been years since I was here and they've expanded to include a large park and barn that they hold events in.

 

 

Rabbits

 

Cows

 

Goats

 

Turkeys

 

And two big ponds with ducks and geese.  We spent quite a bit of time at the park afterward.  Thanks Uncle Ken and Aunt RaNae for hanging out with us and enduring the playplace at McDonald's!  It was lots of fun!

Discovery Gateway...

While we were in Utah we headed up to the children's museum at the Gateway Mall.  I was hopeful that we could use our pass from the children's museum here to get a discount on admission.  And let me tell you how happy I was to get in for FREE on our pass!  Plus parking validation was only $1!  Woohoo!

 

 

They had lots of cool, different exhibits that the kids loved!

 

We ditched the stroller because Leightyn was having so much fun!

 

The store is always a favorite.

 

Water play area.

 

They had this cool stop-animation exhibit where the kids could take pictures and move animals or figures to create their own movie, complete with sound effects.

 

And we discovered a real helicopter on the roof!  They had speakers on with real helicopter noises so it sounded like it was really taking off!  Very cool.

 

Great museum to explore and even better that we got in with our pass!

Hogle Zoo...

We took the kids to the zoo and I have to say it has changed a lot since I was here last.  It looked like most of the exhibits had been changed or improved and it looked really nice.

 

 

They have a great elephant enclosure where they even have a little show to demonstrate different skills they have taught the elephants to do.

 



I remember a large open-air habitat for the monkeys, now they have them individually housed in a building.  These were pretty cute with their tails all entwined.  :)

 

Thanks Challey for meeting us at the zoo.  It was fun to see you and your cute kids!

 

This lion drinking fountain was about the only thing I remember from going to the zoo when I was a kid.  At least they still have it!

 

And a zoo trip isn't complete without a ride on the carousel.  The weather was great and we enjoyed a fun picnic lunch.  It was a great zoo day!