We've been counting down the years until Aspen Grove! We were originally planning to go as a Blaylock family in 2020, but when they shut down camp due to COVID we changed the family reunion to St. George. This was my first time attending Aspen Grove as a true guest, not just for a meal or activity. We left early Saturday morning so we could get there in time for check-in. We made great time, and traffic was very clear through the mountains which was a big blessing. We hurriedly signed up for tournament games and got settled into our rooms. Everyone arrived within an hour, and we were so excited when we had an entire floor of Beckham Lodge all to our family. We also got to have Uncle Lynn and Aunt Marilynn, and Brian and Emily Jensen's family with us for the week! We explored the playground and all the fun places before dinner.
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| Jay has become quite the climber. |
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| He's learned to do ladders, so he can get to the highest level of slides at every park |
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| Jay went down once by himself, but then wanted Dad to come with him. |
Sunday was rainy, so unfortunately we didn't get to attend church in the amphitheater. Our family easily took up a third of the Tree Rooms and Jay did awesome in Nursery. Sunday is a fun way to start the week and ease into vacation. No sports were played, but we enjoyed talking and celebrated Brad's 40th birthday. Steph did a great job planning and we all had fun celebrating him.
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| Jessica never goes halfway on the decorations! |
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| Many of us wore gym shorts in Brad's honor, here's M presenting him with our gift. |
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| Sunday we did have a nail painting party, which was great! |
I honestly can't remember day by day what we did, so I will simply share highlights. It was wonderful to be in the mountains and enjoy fresh mountain air. I also loved not having to cook, they even would find me special gluten free desserts following every dinner. Jay always ate an awesome breakfast, and the other meals were very hit or miss. He loved the dining hall, it was a place to people watch. One of the dining hall managers found Jay one meal and asked Jay if he was the kid he saw up early every morning walking around camp, then gave him an awesome BYU Aspen Grove hat. I thought it was very sweet of that manager to take note.
We had a few hours the first couple of days with Jay attending Rompers. We didn't plan to take him to group in the afternoons because we wanted him to nap, but we were excited to have our mornings free. The first day, he did really good and lasted until lunch. Day 2, we got a call a few hours in that he wouldn't stop crying and we needed to come get him. For me, it was flashbacks to daycare days and my mama heart couldn't handle it. We tried day 3 and it was even shorter before we got the call, and we enjoyed the rest of the week hanging out with him wherever we went. Jay loved exploring the elevators, pushing around suitcases, and finding snacks in Grandma and Grandpa's room.
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| Our little explorer |
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| He loved Nathan and Michela |
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| Jay liked to pretend to sleep on the couch cushions, off the couch. |
Evenings were one of my favorite parts of the week. The adults would all gather in the main room and talk. We heard Ashley and Carson's dating/engagement stories, as well as Uncle Lynn, Aunt Marilynn, Brian, and Emily's. It was a continuation of what we started in St. George and it was so fun to hear. We talked about all sorts of things, and laughed, and enjoyed each others' company. We wanted to tell everyone in person we were expecting Baby #2, but didn't know exactly how to bring it up. M finally stood up and said, "I have an announcement..." and proceeded to tell them I was pregnant. Everyone thought they way he stood up and informed people of the announcement was so funny, they made him do it a couple more times.
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| One evening of chatting, look at the table of snacks! |
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| Andrew and James did a little performance for us one evening too |
The few hours Jay was at Rompers we made the most of our time. M and I played tennis, which was a big adjustment from playing pickleball. The court felt so big and you had to swing so hard to get it over the net! We enjoyed the new ropes course. I did as much as I could, but got tired and didn't want to overdue it. M did all the different paths, and loved it! He does great at things like that! We also tried our hand at air rifle and laser tag. We had a family laser tag time, and M was the star of the show. Everyone ganged up on him during the second game because he was so good! They also created a couple escape rooms in the old cabins. We had a lot of fun, and only had to ask for a few hints. We also played a few rounds of pickleball and taught Olivia how to play. The family signed up for the sand volleyball tournament so we had a game every day. We made it to the finals and lost in a close match. I loved playing volleyball, it had been a long time and we had some good, fun matches. Kyle needed a partner for the final doubles tennis match, so I got to play with him. We won! We racked up another 'ship, and I enjoyed playing with him. He is a great tennis player, and his form is perfect! I think people could make a video of his form and use it for demonstration and teaching. I also did my first water aerobics class with the sisters, which was fun to try out even when the water was so cold. Jessica taught us yoga one morning, and she was a great teacher and made it fun and engaging. Sports were certainly a big highlight of the week. Every day doing something to get moving and use our energy in fun ways. I am so grateful for Grandpa who often watched Jay so M and I could both do whatever sport was happening at the time.
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| M and I entering the upper ropes course together |
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| Walking on free flowing posts |
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| Go Daddy! |
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| We crossed paths a couple times, which made it fun! |
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| M was one of the only ones who could do all the challenges on the course, and this swinging ball one was one of the hardest! |
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| Pickleball - M and Olivia vs. Nathan and Michela |
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| Setting our sights for shooting! |
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| Nathan and Michela won the sharp shooter award, and Michela even got 100%! |
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| After the game! |
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| Kyle and I with our championship award! |
M took a nap with Jay and let me do Aspen Follies. The Blaylock's knew pretty much every game by heart and how to win and how to get the fastest time. My favorite one was when Grandpa volunteered to get into the holey bucket and get water poured on him. We didn't win fastest time, but it was worth seeing Grandpa snug in that bucket with water being dumped bucket after bucket. He was a great sport and I think we all had fun. There was also one night with the family dance where Jay stayed for a little bit, but was much interested in the nearby park. I was happy when M came and joined us and we had our own dance party in the fenced in park where Jay could run around and have fun.
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| Mike, Caden, Me...not sure what game this was. |
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| Andrew carrying Cambrie holding that ball between her legs to see how fast they could go around that cone. |
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| The Jones's were so kind to Jay, he loved playing with them! |
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| Jay and M at the dance |
One evening we had family pictures, and I loved how they turned out. The photographer did a great job, and got some good pictures of the whole family as well as of our little family. Jay was a super trooper and smiled and looked happy in some of the photos. We ran from there to Frontier Night, where Jay loved the balloon animals and the train.
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| M was able to join us for a small part of the night after a ward missionary call. |
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| Jay thought it was super fun to chase Grandpa with his sword! |
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| A little blurry because he never wanted to stop swinging the sword. |
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| Panning for gold! |
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| Choo choo! |
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| His facial expressions don't show how much he enjoyed it. |
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| Jay's favorite part was running up and down this tunnel. |
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| Grandma, Jay, M |
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| We got one family photo in BYU gear, so fun! |
The week went too quickly, and it was sad to say goodbye at the end. Mom always said to leave while you are still welcome, and I think we did. We were certainly tired, but had an awesome time. As we were going to our car to leave, an RV took too wide of a turn and hit our bumper. I was horrified and had many flashbacks from the sounds and events of our past experiences. After we did all the insurance switching, M and Grandpa administered to me. I was really struggling to be calm and felt much better after receiving a blessing. M, Jay, and I went over the "the castle" which is the amphitheater in the mountains next to Aspen Grove for a quick visit. I told M 5 years ago there that I wanted to marry him. It scared me at the time to commit to that, but it's the best commitment I have ever made and I really had no reason to be afraid. M is the greatest blessing of my life, my best friend, companion, and an even better husband than I ever imagined I would ever find. It was happy to remember the moments of our courtship, and spend some time together there.
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| Jay and Daniel |
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| Maybe someday we'll get a decent picture of these two, they are so fun! And will be such great buddies getting into all sorts of mischief. |
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Giving sweet hugs goodbye.
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| Me, Jay, M |
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| Jay loved climbing around the amphitheater |
We finished our trip with lunch at a taco shop with Nathan and Michela, then spent the rest of our day and evening with Uncle David and Aunt GayLynn. We enjoyed seeing their new home, while also feeling weird we weren't at their home that I've known as their home my whole life. They are always such fun hosts and we loved our visit with them. We were blessed with a smooth drive on the way home. What an amazing week it was, and grateful to Grandma and Grandpa for making it possible for us to go!
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| Aunt Gay Lynn, Jay, M |
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| Our little artist - in training! |
