The kids are on Fall Break for the next 10 days (wohoo!), so we decided it'd be a great idea to hurry over to Utah for the BYU Homecoming game this weekend. We left right after school got out on Thursday afternoon, and promptly got stuck in some serious Denver traffic. Blech!
It was bumper to bumper over one of the very first mountain passes taking you through the Rockies. I think we went about 7 miles in an hour and a half (9-0 minutes)-- and when you're the mom and dad stuck in a car with 3 bored, STARVING children who burned through all of their snacks in the first 20 minutes, that scenario is absolutely killer!! But we survived. At least the scenery was exceptional. We finally made it to our halfway destination in Grand Junction late that night, which was a hotel room that never looked so good! The supposedly four hour drive took us almost 7 (which incidentally, should have been the length of the entire drive itself).
We actually slept pretty good, ate a fabulous continental breakfast, and hit the road to Provo! We made much better time, and got to the first official site of our "Walk Down Memory Lane" in about 3 hours. Our First Home!! 511 N. 800 E. I still have our first address memorized!
Holy cow! Both Jon and I were awash with nostalgia. Our front door was on the side of the house, leading down to the basement which was our little 1-bedroom apartment. We were so stinkin' poor! But it was a much simpler time, and we had no idea how much our lives would change over the next 11 years... I have SUCH fond memories of walking home from campus together, being newly married, and feeling young and very in love!
We were ready for lunch and it was Jon's pick to have a "J-Dawg," which was a little hot dog stand South of campus when we were here at school, but has since evolved into multiple locations and a household name if you're from Utah.
It was opened by a returned missionary who'd served in NYC, and wanted to make a few bucks to help him pay for school, so he and his roommates rented an out-of-business snow cone shack and sold hot dogs during lunch time. Pretty cool to see capitalism at work!
It's all about their special sauce, baby! Yum!
Next we headed over to the Creamery on 9th for a little dessert, which was my pick. My freshman year I lived in Heritage Halls, in one of the buildings closest to this little gem. It was always a special treat to stop by on my way home from class, and pick up a BYU mint brownie and Creamery chocolate milk! They're still one of my all-time favorites!
We had to take the kids to campus next, to fully expose them to all things "mom and dad," BYU, and to fully finish indoctrinating them to become true blue fans. There's the law school in the background where Grandpa Tom Tom graduated!
The "Y" in the sky! It was SO fun to have the kids on campus! I can honestly say I didn't think about it, or picture it happening 11 years ago when I was a student, that someday far into the future I'd be back visiting with my own little cougars. We headed to the Wilkinson Center, checked out the Cougareat, browsed the BYU Bookstore (where I worked as a cashier to help pay the bills when we were married), picked up some BYU gear for the football game, and I also secretly snuck some famous BYU fudge. Mmmmm. It was an important walk down memory lane, remember??
To the kids' delight, Taylor met us outside the library after finishing up some homework, and we headed over to the Bean Life and Science Museum. It's a free museum with hundreds of taxodermied animals that have been donated to BYU. It used to be kind of a campus joke because it was super old and run-down and just plain creepy, but they recently refurbished it and now it's actually really nice!
The second floor has exhibits that feature predators, and I think the animals were a little too life-like for Zach. I had a hard time getting him to turn his back on these guys!
I thought these "action" scenes were excessively violent a little graphic in nature for a museum geared towards school aged children, but apparently not because you can see Zach laughing his head off about this scene where a grizzly bear has decapitated an elk. BOYS!! At least Leah was appropriately freaked out.
Grandma Joanie called us just as we were finishing up, so we headed over to the new Hinckley Center. She serves on the National BYU Alumni Board of Directors and had been there since Wednesday attending various classes and conferences. Doesn't she look official in her alumni blazer??
She and my dad (and Taylor who somehow weasled a free meal ticket) had an alumni banquet dinner to attend that night, so we were on our own. When I first talked Jon into coming to Provo for Homecoming, my silver dagger was promising him we'd get Bombay House for dinner! Bombay House was easily our favorite "special occasion" restaurant-- whether for date night, birthdays, family in town, you name it, we LOVED their chicken tikka masala. We ordered takeout so the kids could have Happy Meals, and amazingly enough it did not disappoint after all these years, and it's still the best we've ever had!!
Continuing on with our "Walk Down Memory Lane," here's my apartment at the Riviera (2nd floor on the far left), where I met Jon in the ward, and that doorstep is the site of our very first kiss. Awww! The kids were totally grossed out by that little factoid, but there you have it. History was made here, kids!
My mom got tickets for Lucy and I to attend the Homecoming Spectacular show at the Marriott Center, so while Jon took the other two for ice cream and over to my aunt's house for bedtime, Lucy and I headed to the concert!
We had GREAT seats! Right front and center.
They have all of the BYU specialty groups perform, and this year's special guest was none other than David Archuleta. I mean, how cool is that?!? Lucy was enamored the entire time with the Ballroom Dance Team, the Cougarettes, Vocal Point, Women's Chorus, Young Ambassadors, and of course, Archie himself.
How cute is he?!? And he is PHENOMENAL live. Such a talented singer.
We got back late to my aunt's house in Spanish Fork, but woke up bright and early for the Homecoming parade the next morning. Here's the brand new Provo temple they salvaged from the old Tabernacle that burned down.
Welcome to BYU! All dressed up in our blue and white and ready for the parade! That morning sun was brutal-- right smack in our faces the entire time. My kids were dying, ha, ha.
We stationed ourselves right on 9th East, directly across from Wasatch Elementary school where I worked as a teacher's aid in 1st grade for 3 years (while simultaneously working at the BYU Bookstore, completing a residency, and attending school. Jon also had 2 jobs and 18 credits. Ahhh, the good ol' days!). Easily my favorite job EVER. Also we had a fantastic view of Squaw Peak!
Just before the parade started our long-lost Boise cousins met up with us, and we got to meet brand new (1 month old) baby Tommy Palmer Morris. Such a darling little guy!!
Zach is THRILLED to finally have another boy cousin to play with! He loves all things babies, and couldn't wait for his turn to hold Tommy.
Wee-Wee's turn to hold the baby! She was very sweet with him, which is mildly reassuring for me (wink, wink).
Finally the parade started and the candy was flowing!!
Grandma Joanie (and Grandpa Tom Tom and Taylor in the background) walked in the parade as part of the alumni board and were sure to save the kids lots of candy! The grand kids sure got a kick out of seeing them part of the parade!
Afterwards we walked over to the Wasatch playground to let the kids run wild for a bit. Lucy, Eva, and Zach of course pair up, and now Leah and Sophie are good buddies-- I turned around and they were just walking hand in hand, jabbering to each other about something! I'm so glad Leah has a little buddy to play with and isn't left out of the fun!
We headed with Devin and Sarah (plus 6 kids) to lunch at Gurus-- another little fledgling restaurant on Center Street that was just barely starting out when Jon and I were there. Now it's thriving too, and has some seriously yummy sweet potato fries!
Sarah and baby Tommy were headed back to her sister's house to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon, but we got one last picture of the cousins all together before they had to go! Devin and Sarah also met at BYU (or at least in Provo), so that's a lot of BYU babies!
As soon as I saw the new "Swig" by the Riv, I knew I had to try it! I think everyone has seen the many, many copycat recipes on Pinterest for their "Dirty Dr. Pepper's" and pink sugar cookies, so right after lunch we swung by and officially joined the club. I'm hooked!
We headed back over to the Wilkie to meet my parents and Taylor, and while everyone shopped at the Bookstore, Jon decided he'd take Zach down to the barbershop in the basement (where pretty much EVERY male freshman goes to get their haircut while living on campus) and give him the "hipster 'do." Zach wanted it to look just like Taylor's hair, and for an $8 cut, he LOVES it. They are two slick-back cats! Zach has been obsessing about his new hair all weekend.
We found free creamery ice cream for Homecoming and couldn't say no. What does a little more sugar on top of parade candy, cousins, and sugar cookies hurt???
We decided to kill some time before the football game started by bowling down at the Student Center. It was SO hot in Utah! 85 degrees, and I was sweaty and swollen. I was just glad to be inside before a long 5 hour football game...
The bowlers ready to play!
We have some serious characters in this crazy family-- love my dad's bowling stance there in the background, and Zach puts some seriously wacky spin on his ball as he chucks it down the lane. So funny to watch!
GO COUGARS!! Ready for game time in our BYU blue!!
The game started at 5:30 p.m. and we were ready for all the pre-game fun and fireworks. I wasn't sure how Leah would do, but she had a blast being surrounded by all of the noise and excitement and there was plenty to keep her attention.
Rise and Shout! The kids loved singing the fight song anytime BYU scored, and it was pretty high-scoring game so they got lots of opportunities. Such a fun family memory!
Back to where it all began.... I'm glad I snatched him when I did!
Final score:
BYU 45 ECU 38
Cougar Victory!
Lucy and Grandma got to help Cosmo and the football team ring the Victory Bell over at the Marriott Center after the game (Jon and I had already headed home after the 3rd quarter with the sleepy little guys), and she is now totally and completely convinced she wants to go to BYU when she grows up. I'm so thankful we not only got our Walk Down Memory Lane, but it made me re-appreciate how lucky I was to be able attend BYU. What an amazing school, producing upstanding, intelligent, and successful young people. Plus we got to taste some of our favorite college treats, and spend time with family, even if it was only for 1 1/2 days. We'll definitely have to make Homecoming Weekend a tradition. GO BYU!
BYU Homecoming 2005
(Think we've changed just a little??)
