Wednesday, July 30, 2014

S is for Summer, Sage, and Special...

This summer marked a special one in the Roddy home! Being that the boys turned twelve back in Feb. and Sage turned eight in May we had a couple important ordinances that needed to be performed and in order to share these special events with our extended family we decided to hold off until this summer when we'd be out in Utah so all our family and friends could be a part of it. We have so many great memories from the boys' baptism out in UT and we wanted the same for Sage. It was also so nice for the boys to be surrounded in the circle by all our dear friends and family.

It's funny flying into SLC from OH rather than WA. After living in Ohio for a couple years now where the landscape isn't something to write home about it's amazing how beautiful Utah feels again. When we use to travel from WA to UT I never remembered thinking how beautiful UT was because we were leaving beauty to come to beauty so it was a wash but leaving from OH to come to UT is a whole other thing. Boy, how beautiful it is.

We spent our first weekend making our traditional trip to the BYU bookstore for Jack to pick up heaven knows what...another football helmet, shirts, shorts, you name it. The boys also got in a round of golf and then on Sunday my parents wanted us to attend the 'Spoken Word' in Salt Lake with them since it was a special patriotic service for the upcoming 4th of July holiday which was quite nice and a first for us. We also took advantage of being up there to tour around the beautiful temple grounds!







During the two weeks we were there the boys attended a lacrosse camp with their friend Wyatt and a climbing camp that Teagen and Sage joined in on! It was a great way for them to spend their mornings. In the afternoons we usually would meet up with the Moes for some pool, something that has become a bit of tradition each year for us! We just pick up from where we left off the previous summer!





Of course one of our favorite things to do after the pool was to pick up a shave ice!!! I could eat one of these every day!!!



One of the highlights of coming to Utah in the summer is getting to celebrate my dad's birthday with him which happens to be on the 4th of July. This has been a stressful year for him health wise so how wonderful it was for the whole Knudsen clan to fly into town. We even arranged to have family portraits taken as we never know the next time everyone will be together again. The day began with Kan Jam tournaments and ended with a boom! Jack's mom and sister also arrived into town on this day in time for Sage's baptism the next day!



Of course the highlight of the trip was Sage's baptism and the boys receiving the Aaronic Priesthood! We were so fortunate to not only have all our family in town with the exception of Jack's brother and his family but to have so many friends come celebrate with us. From a mission companion to friends from NY to our old bishop in WA that Jack served with and his beautiful family to some surprise visitors to longtime family friends, we were touched by the outpouring of love and support for Sage and the boys especially considering what a busy weekend it is for most families! After a wonderful service we invited anyone who could join us to come by for food and fun! It was truly a great day!




This was the first time that our kids had met some of the Bawden cousins so one afternoon we headed up the Canyon to share our special place with them and to let the kids run loose and play. There isn't a summer trip to UT that goes by without us spending a few afternoons up the Provo Canyon! So here are Melissa's kids. As you can see Sage and Ellie hit it off real well!



We also had another birthday to celebrate! Look who turned nine!!! Our sweet Teagen...



Another trip up the canyon with my family...




Our final Saturday in town we spent up at Park City! It was a perfect way to end our vacay!





Look whose paths crossed!!! We haven't seen Marcus and Edie since we left WA but they happened to be up from Vegas for a mission farewell. Little did we know earlier that day that they'd be crashing with us for the night. I played tour guide taking them up the canyon and we had a lovely brunch up at Sundance before they had to head to their farewell that afternoon! Great times.



How wonderful it was to be with my family in UT. My parents are truly the best hosts ever, always cooking, cleaning and doing everything they can to make our visit enjoyable. Thank you mom and dad for all you do for us. It was also such a treat to meet up with some of our other friends during the time we were there. Unfortunately we never seem to have enough time to see everyone we'd like to see but for those we were able to meet up with it was great. Those lunches, brunches, dinners and desserts sure make our visits even that more special! Thanks for making time for us.


1 comment:

The Knudsen Family said...

We were glad we got to spend some time with you all. It was a great visit. We are glad we could be there for all their special ordinations. Thanks for coming to Utah so we could be there.