Top Ten Tuesday - Provo Trip

Derek and I just got back from a wonderful week in Provo with his family, and we're kinda wishing we were still there! So for this week's Top 10 list, I'm listing...

Top 10 Fun Family Memories

1. Derek's new tie.  And book, and hex key set.  Whenever Derek's gone, I miss him a lot.  When I miss Derek a lot, I want to buy him a present.  Gift giving is my primary love language.  Not usually a problem unless he's gone for a long time.  Then I buy him multiple presents.  This time I bought him three.  It was like it was his birthday or something!  He loved all three, but I think he loved his new tie the most.  I found an awesome deal at Costco on an awesome green tie.  He's worn it twice already!
   
   
2. Seeing funny things nieces and nephews do.  For example, one afternoon two nieces and one nephew were discovering the joys of pepper jack cheese.  And of course since it came from a cheese block there were plenty of "cutting the cheese" jokes.  Funny thing was it was the nephew who didn't get the joke.  While the girls were giggling uncontrollably, he was looking confused and saying, "Ok, what part of the body is 'the cheese'?!"  They finally gave in and told him.
   
   
3. A 27 mile bike ride with Doug.  So this wasn't me, obviously.  It was Derek and he thoroughly enjoyed it!  Doug is his oldest brother.  He graduated and left home while Derek was still pretty young, so Derek jumps at opportunities to get to know him better.  Derek came back happy that he completed the ride.  He hardly even seemed winded, and he only crashed once.  It was his own fault, and a little silly so I won't post the details here.  You'll have to hear it from him.  AND he got rid of his watch tan.  He's been trying to do that for months now!
   
   
4. Playing card games.  Daryl and Kim brought a big box full of different card games.  We love playing games.  You might even say we are a game playing people, so we really enjoyed playing with family over the week.  Especially on Saturday night.  Six of us (David, Daryl, Kim, Sarah, Derek and I) played 5 Crowns, and were over the top silly.  It was so much fun!
   
   
5. Running errands with Kim.  One morning, all the grandkids and most of the brothers went on a canyon hike.  I was feeling a little sad because being pregnant, I wasn't able to go.  But then I found out that my sister-in-law, Kim, wasn't going either (she has a 4-year-old) and was going to be running some errands.  Perfect!  I wouldn't be stuck at home and bored!  And boy, did Kaylee--the 4-year-old--entertain us!  It was hilarious!
   
   
6. Blockus Duo.  While Kim and I were running errands, we stopped by a really fun toy and games store called Funfinity.  The store has so much great stuff but sadly is wildly overpriced!  I stood there looking at their great selection of games--any and all of which I would have bought in a heartbeat if I had the money--for way too long!  Finally, I decided I couldn't live without buying Blockus Duo because I knew Derek would love me forever if I gave him that game.  So I got it and he loves it, and I love it too.  I actually won once or twice!
   
   
7. A present from Derek.   While I was waiting for the store clerk to wrap Blockus Duo, who walks in?  Derek!  Good thing she had it mostly wrapped.  I was shocked to see him there and he was surprised to see me as well.  I thought he was still in SLC with his Mom picking up his brother David.  I asked him what the heck he was doing at the toy store (I didn't figure that was a place he normally went by himself), and he said he was there to buy me a present!  How cute is that?!
   
   
8. Going to a Korean Restaurant.  Everytime we're in Provo, Derek and I love to visit the best Korean restaraunt we've been to in the States, Sam Hawk.  This trip, we were able to go with Derek's parents, his brother Doug and two of his kids, us, and our friends Yi and Sarah.  Delicious food and wonderful company!
   
   
9. Playing Mah Jong with Yi and Sarah.  Yi and Sarah are very near and dear to our hearts.  Yi is our oldest and best friend from college and his wife Sarah is wonderful!  We love to spend time with them whenever we can!  On our last trip down to Provo, they taught us how to play Mah Jong, the real Chinese way.  We got together again this week and played.  It was so much fun!  And they brought us some fun stuff back from their trip home to China.  Thanks guys!
   
   
10. All the 4th of July Festivities.  Derek's family really knows how to party!  All day Saturday we had fun things to do.  Saturday morning some of the family went to the 4th of July parade.  Derek and I elected to stay home and make cherry turnovers (yummy!).  Parades really aren't for us... yet.  Our kid's still baking.  That afternoon most of the family went kayaking and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Kim and I again stayed home for the same reasons as mentioned in #5.  We played games and took turns kicking each other's trash.  That evening we had a great BBQ and then we watched the fireworks from BYU's Stadium of Fire.  A great day full of family and fun!
    
    And a bonus!  It's really hard to limit it to 10 great memories!
    
    
11. Going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.  My sister-in-law, Becca, was able to get us all tickets to the temple open house.  Yay Becca!  It was a great idea!  The temple was so beautiful and it was special to be there as a family to experience it.  I was a little disappointed though because at one point Elder L. Tom Perry walked right past us and we didn't even notice!  The ushers had separated the line so that something could get through.  They didn't tell us what. When a group of people started to pass us all we thought was, "Well, that's not a wheel chair," and turned back around so that we weren't staring at a bunch of strangers.  Little did we know Elder Perry was in that group!  Darn!