Dear Friends:
A couple of weeks ago, I spent time in Utah to attend a family reunion. It was an AWESOME experience…exactly like I hoped it would be.
When I arrived at the Salt Lake City Airport, I came upon these massive groups of people in the arrivals area. They were all there to welcome home missionaries from across the globe. It was a humbling and inspiring experience.
The love and joy that I saw when a young man or woman greeted their family…was amazing. That’s not something you see at the Austin airport every day.
Family started to arrive from around the country. I was so excited to see everyone! My sister and her husband arrived from Indianapolis. Then, my oldest son and his entire family from Dallas arrived. My oldest daughter and her family arrived from San Francisco.
We were headed up to Park City - where we rented a large house that could hold everyone. Our first stop on the way up there was for lunch - at a classic placed called Hires Big H. It’s a hamburger joint that makes its own root beer…and the burgers are outstanding.
It feels like the place has been around for decades - because it has. My wife's family introduced me to the place...and I've passed the favor along.
We finally made it to our destination - about 25 miles outside of Park City - to Coalville. The house was absolutely stunning.
It had a view of Echo Lake that it provided, was magnificent. The gorgeous weather certainly helped with the view:
The kitchen had - what many in the family felt was the best feature of all - a pellet ice maker. We put that machine to the test!
The rest of the house was gorgeous, and the size meant that the entire family could spent time together under one roof.
One of the best parts of this reunion, was having ALL of my kids, ALL of my grandkids, and my own father in the same place for Father’s Day. What a treat. The significance wasn’t lost on me at all.
We spent time with the grandkids. It’s really fun when they learn a name for you…I go by “Grandpa”, “Papa Neal”, and what sounds like “Papa” at times:
The next day, we decided to head into Park City. Check out this tough couple of punks that we had in the backseat of the van:
We drove straight the the Park City Alpine Slides - a tradition for our family. The weather was just great, and the day held a lot of promise.
The resort has a TON of things to do. We’ve watched it grow over the years, but we started with a trip on the ski lift to reach the top of the Alpine slides:
For those that have never seen the slides, you sit in a cart, where you can control the speed, heading down the hill in a cement conduit that curves around the mountain to give you a little thrill while riding.
It’s an absolute blast - especially for those that like to take a little risk. I tried to go as fast as I could…which is a little dangerous on some of the curves.
Next door, they had what they call the Alpine Coaster. You sit in a slightly larger cart, but you still have control over a brake. The cart is attached firmly to the track (unlike the Slides), so you can travel faster. I LOVED IT!
The rest of the family enjoyed it as well. We managed to capture these shots as many of the family, as they rode the coaster. I think you can see the smile on their faces ; )
For smaller kids, they had several activities, as well. We found this really cool ropes course for kids. We didn’t think either of my youngest children would be brave enough to try it. Turns out, I was definitely wrong. Both of them went right after it:
G-Man even took it a step further. There was a small zip line for kids, right next to the ropes course. He marched himself right up there and went on it alone, two times. I was really proud.
After an exciting day on the mountain, we headed back to the cabin. We just spent time eating, talking, and playing with the kids. Here’s my oldest grandson enjoying two snacks at the same time:
My youngest grandson is hilarious. I can get him to laugh on a pretty consistent basis. We sat down on the stairs and I had him going for quite a while:
My youngest daughter did a decent job of playing with a younger cousin. Sometimes toys can help unify interests pretty well:
This is my nephew, sister, her husband, and my nephew’s wife. The took the job of preparing the meal, and worked well as a team. I love each of them and am so glad they all traveled so far to be with us.
Later that night, we witnessed a spectacular sunset. The view from the cabin made it even more dramatic.
It brought that day to a wonderful close. That’s it for Part 1 - come back soon for more of our amazing trip to Utah.
Thanks for reading!
1 comment:
So much fun.
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