A 90th Birthday Trip

An early morning flight means there's something to see out the plane window, and we had a very nice start to our birthday trip to Utah. Because we're retired now, it didn't have to be a super quick visit, and we enjoyed a week of family fun. However, before meeting up with family, we made a quick stop in Salt Lake City.

The next morning we met our local grandchildren at the Crandall Printing Museum, and after lunch had a delightful visit with some old friends. Another day, we dropped by unannounced to a friend's house, and were so grateful to find her home. And on still another day we were able to meet even more friends from long ago for dinner at Maddox Ranch House. Add in visiting with family and friends and the actual party, the highlights of our trip were catching up with loved ones. 

However, there were other highlights as well. Our oldest granddaughter has taken violin lessons for a few years. Over the summer she prepared a dozen pieces to share at a recital, and we're grateful she was able to schedule it during our visit. As you can imagine, she did an excellent job! We're so proud of her and her achievements.

After the recital, we enjoyed the delicious brownies and cookies she had prepared (still a toss-up as to whether she wants to become a violinist or a baker/cook when she grows up), and her mom gave an impromptu flower arranging demonstration. What a talented family!

Friday morning we met up with these two cuties, and their parents. While the men had a flying excursion, the women and children went to Thanksgiving Point for their annual quilt show.

The actual party was Saturday! Read all about it here.

Sunday we attended church - with the added bonus of the annual Primary sacrament meeting presentation - and then got to have an additional birthday party for our delightful daughter.

For a few years, we've been talking about looking into preplanning our burials, and on this trip we finally did something about it, by contacting the company Mom and Dad are using. We were here for a birthday celebration, and we hope there are many more birthdays for them, but when the time comes for a funeral, at least the location will be familiar, and Larkin Sunset Gardens is a beautifully maintained cemetery.

There's still a lot of research to be done (and we'll have to recover from the sticker shock), but we did decide that we prefer upright grave markers over flat ones, and a double over a family plot. So, we're making progress!

On our final day we spent time with the grandchildren - train park in the morning, and regular home activities in the afternoon - before taking Mom out for a birthday dinner. It's been a great week, but we're ready to go home! (Oh, and yes, we did luck out with another empty middle seat for the red-eye flight home.)