Lakewood (Colorado), Lehi (Utah), snow, sun, fun times, Rachael’s blessing and Graduation – Have I missed anything?

Where do I start? I guess at the beginning would be good. We flew to Denver on Monday 30th March after traveling down to the Holiday Inn at Heathrow the day before. We had a direct flight to Denver arriving at 4pm local time, where Jess and a very excited Jack were there to pick us up. Jess and Ben live at Lakewood which is the fourth most populous city in the State of Colorado which is about 15 miles west of Denver (that's guessing) and about a 40 minute drive from the airport. Jack was so funny and in his excitement at seeing us he just kept repeating our names and jabbering away in his own language.










During our 4 days there we experienced a variety of weather, from warm sun to cold blustery snow, Jess had told us about just how the changeable the weather can be from day to day and she wasn’t joking. We didn’t see much of Ben in our two 4 day (longer for me) visits to see them as he was still in his busy season at work, often getting home in the early hours of the morning. Jess and Ben live in a lovely apartment in a nice area right by Bear Creek, with great trails nestled in wooded areas that are home to a lot of wildlife. So on our few walks during our time there, we saw many squirrels, a hawk, many different types of birds and beaver damn but sadly we didn’t see any beavers. We were thoroughly entertained by Jack one our walks, apart from having incredible energy he loved to pick up sticks and stones to throw into the creek, but you can’t take your eyes off him for one second otherwise he is off.


So some of the things we got to do in those few days were ~ Beth and I got to attend Jessica’s aerobic class! Steve, Jess and Beth did baptisms in the Denver Temple while Jack and I went shopping at the Mall and I bought him a drum! Steve bought 2 new pairs of shoes as there is very little choice here in England (he takes size 13!). We went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory down town Denver (a wonderful place), Ben’s Dad Mike and His wife Liz took us there, also we had dinner at their house (they are such a wonderful generous couple). Ben was able to have the Thursday off work and we visited the ‘Red Rocks’ which are nestled in the Rocky Mountain Foothills fifteen miles west of Denver. The Red Rocks is a geologically formed, with an open-air Amphitheatre that is not duplicated anywhere in the world. Not far away we visited the Dinosaur Ridge which is one of the world's most famous dinosaur fossil localities.



On Friday 3rd April we flew to Salt Lake where we picked up a rental car and were met By Aaron and Josh; it was so lovely to see Josh who was so excited to see us. We were also so excited to see Kimberly and Rachael who was now 2½ weeks old, but still had that new born baby special something about her and we had lots of cuddles and kisses. Steve and I went out that evening to a Bristol Mission Reunion held in Murray hosted by President Lorenzo Hoopes. This was a first for Steve and after nearly 30 years since he finished his mission he was excited to meet up again with some old mission friends and as always to see President Hoopes, who is just so incredible for his 97 years.


We were also able to attend the Sunday morning session of General Conference on 5th April, this was a first for both Steve and Beth and wonderful to experience for all of us as we listened to the words of the Lord’s servants.


We had a fun packed week with the Presbury Jr. Family (although Aaron was in work for some of the days), Josh had a list of things he wanted to do with his Pops. Apart from visits to the park right by their house we visited Hogle Zoo just outside of Salt Lake City, the Dinosaur Museum and Josh and Pops went to the movies to see ‘Monsters Vs Aliens’. We had dinner with Kimberly’s family and caught up which was fun as always, visited with our friends Craig and Katie Pritchard and their brood. Aaron, Steve and Beth went with some friends to see the ‘Real Salt Lake’ football game against 'Washington DC'. Steve and I were able to do a session in the newly opened (2 weeks) Draper Temple. Oh and Beth got her hair permed and it looks lovely!



We finished our 10 day stay on a high note with Rachael’s blessing on Sunday 12th, this was done in Aaron and Kimberly’s home as it was their Stake Conference that morning. We had a member of their Bishopric in attendance along with us three, Kimberly’s family Randy, Kaelyn, Stephanie, Scott and his girlfriend Shaylee, also Marcus our nephew and his wife Nichole. Sadly Jess, Ben and Jack weren’t able to be there!







We said our sad goodbyes and headed back to Denver where once again Jess was there to pick us up (it felt like ground hog day other then the fact Jack wasn’t there to greet us as he was home napping).



We had 3 and half days there before Steve and Beth flew home on Thursday 16th in very heavy rain, but thankfully it wasn’t a day latter as the rain turned into a snow storm and most flights out of Denver were cancelled. The weather in Denver had proved once again to be unpredictable as on the Tuesday before we had spent a lovely afternoon at Denver zoo in the warm sunshine. Ben had the Wednesday afternoon off work and took us to a candy factory which was pretty fascinating to watch them make candy canes and to partake of free samples!



















Steve and I did a session in Denver Temple which is about half an hour drive from where Jess and Ben live, which meant this visit we got to attend 2 new temples or rather temples that we hadn’t attended before, Denver and Draper.


Jessie did a photo shoot of Beth in her prom dress from 6 years ago, as I looked at the photo's it's scary how alike they look! Another high light was being able to view Denver from the 47th floor of the Wells Fargo Building down town Denver where Ben’s Dad works, the sights were incredible.


We also gave Jack some early early birthday gifts, Thomas Tank Engine bubble blowing train and bedding, needless to say he loved it.










We had dinner again at Mike and Liz’s place they really spoiled us and we got to meet Mike’s brother Jeff and his wife Sally and also Ben’s grandparents. Jess and Ben love living near family and we can see why, they are great people. I have to say Jess has turned into quite the cook making some great meals and delicious cinnamon rolls and bread.










As I mentioned the snow came down pretty heavy on the Friday and Jess and I went to visit Liz and nearly didn’t get home, it was scary but Jess has become a real pro at driving in the snow! But by Sunday it was nearly all gone with a beautiful warm day. However with all the flying and the high altitude I developed a Sinus problem and felt pretty rough on and off that weekend. We visited with Liz and Mike on Saturday and they took us out for a lovely Chinese meal and on Sunday we took dinner over to their place.










Monday morning I woke with a headache and we left early for the airport my flight was at 8.29am and although I got there 1 hour and 15 minutes before my flight, I missed it because of the continual problems I had with United ever since I booked my flights last December. It’s a long story and I won’t go into other then to say I was really mad and I ended up getting very upset because I was feeling ill and the way I was treated by the United representatives. I had also heard them being rude to another lady who spoke to me afterwards and apologised for their behaviour (me being English). I did complained and did get some compensation and it made me realise once again that there are way too many people that work in customer service that shouldn’t because they so obviously don’t have the personality or patience to do so I told United that! I did get on the next flight although I was told I would be lucky to get out of Denver that day because they were still getting over the problems of cancelled flights from 3 days earlier!








My headache only got worse and by the time Aaron met me at Salt Lake airport my head felt like it was about to explode on top of that I felt very nauseated. But my day was brightened when I walked into Aaron and Kimberly’s house to be met by Josh saying ‘Mama’ as he excitedly hugged me and was so evidently happy to see me, I thought he might say ‘Oh it’s you, where’s Pops and Auntie Beth?’ I knew the only way to be rid of my headache (I had also taken 2 lots of different pain killers) was to go and lie down, so I did and napped for a couple of hours and although I felt a little strange on waking my headache had gone! Kimmy and I headed to J.C.Penny as they I had 35% discount vouchers that were only valid that day and I was able to purchase some birthday gifts for Steve, we had fun although disappointed to find the ice cream place shut (well it was after 10pm!).












I had a fun week with Aaron, Kimmy, Josh and Rachael, at the same time missing Steve and Beth. The weather was a mixed bag, but that didn’t stop us having fun as we visited the park and went on evening walks around where they live, again to view some incredible wildlife ~ pelicans, a crane and lots of Canadian geese. We also went to the mall shopping and for ice cream at Coldstones and I continued to eat lots of yummy food as Kimmy cooked delicious dinners and cookies and banana bread!!!!












Jess, Ben and Jack had driven from their home in Colorado on Wednesday to Utah for their Graduation. They were able to come and visit us on the Thursday and Josh and Jack had fun playing together, we went on a walk to the park and found a Geo Cache and they played in the back yard on the trampoline. The boys are such characters, so different yet they do share some characteristics they both have a sense of humour (I guess that’s not surprising when you look at the Dads) and they both love Thomas Tank Engine, we just absolutely adore them and Rachael of course. While we were visiting with Jess she asked Steve to describe both of the boys in 3 words and Steve came up with the following Josh – gentle, sensitive and detailed and Jack – bruiser, action and dynamite. There were several times that they both had us in stitches.


Friday 24th April was a great day as Jess and Ben graduated from BYU. Jessie’s graduation was held in the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse Building at 2pm and she graduated with a Bachelors degree in ‘Dance Education’ from the College of Health and Human Performance.


Ben’s graduation was in the Marriot Centre at 5pm and he graduated with a Bachelors and a Masters in Accounting from the Marriott School of Management. Ben also got a distinction and is a member of ‘The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi’. Well I figured this was something important but didn’t know what it was all about so I looked into it and found the following information – Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent graduate students. The society was established to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study and to promote the "unity and democracy of education". It was founded in 1897 and the society's motto is Φιλοσοφία Kρατείτω Φωτῶν (Philosophía Krateítõ Phõtôn), which is translated as "Let the love of learning rule humanity", and its mission is "to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others. So well done Ben and Jess on your great achievements especially seeing you managed the last 2 years with an addition (in the shape of Jack) to your family, we are very proud of you.


















I felt pretty exhausted on Saturday and was glad I had extended my stay by a day given my sinus problems which were by now a lot better and a very busy Friday. Aaron, Josh and I went over to Jessica and Jason’s (Ben’s step sister and her husband) house for breakfast with the rest of Ben’s family. It was lovely to see them all again especially Ben’s Mum Carolyn and Dave and his sister Michelle and her family although we had seen them all at the graduation. Kimberly and Rachael stayed home as Rachael was sick and having been to the doctors the previous 2 days the diagnosis was RSV Respiratory Syncytial Virus. I asked the doctor we saw on Thursday if he knew what we called it in England because I was curious as I had never heard of it over here in the UK and he said it is RSV is known as Bronculitus in England. But a different doctor on Friday said that the RS virus can cause Bronculitus, not that RSV is Bronculitus, and so I still don’t know what we call it here!










When we got back from the breakfast Kimmy rightly so was concerned as Rachael’s breathing was somewhat laboured and doing what the doctor said to look out for – her chest going in under her ribs, so off to the doctors Kimmy and I went with little Rachael for the 3rd day running. Surprisingly her temperature and oxygen levels where better then the day before in spite of her sounding worse, the doctor said this was quite common and suggested we take her over to the hospital next door and have her suctioned, at this point I didn’t know what that meant! We were seen there by a doctor who put on a gown, mask and gloves and at this point I felt my stomach churn! He asked Kimmy to put Rachael on bed and told us what he would be doing, which was to put saline up her nostrils before sucking out the mucus from her nose (with this loud contraption) and then he would then be putting a fine tube up her nose, down her throat to continue to remove mucus. He asked Kimmy to hold her down on the bed by placing her arms over hers and then holding her head still with her hands.


















I thought oh my goodness this is going to be horrible as Kimmy turned to me and asked me to help! So between us we held her down on the bed while the doctor did what he needed to do and I was right it has horrible as Rachael screamed and choked as the procedure seemed to take forever. I couldn’t watch but did peek a couple times and was horrified when I saw the tube coming out of her mouth, but the doctor soon rectified that. I just wanted to cry as I saw poor little Rachael trying to struggle free from the uncomfortable procedure as the doctor went up both nostrils twice and I found myself turning to wall praying silently – please let this end. The doctor stopped and said to Kimmy you can pick her up and comfort her before we do anymore, thankfully her chest sounded better and he didn’t need to do it again. As horrible as it was the procedure did help Rachael and she didn't need it doing again.










I left the next morning said my sad goodbyes to Kimmy and Rachael as Aaron and Josh took me to the airport. However Josh fell asleep and when he woke I was gone and did exactly what Aaron said he would do and that was to ask ‘Where is Mama gone?’ He wasn’t too happy but Aaron explained that I had gone on an a plane back home to see Pops and Auntie Beth, to which he replied ‘I want to see Mama, Pops and Auntie Beth’ and Aaron told him that he would see us again in 6 months. So when he got home he excitedly ran into his Mummy and told her Mama, Pops and Auntie Beth are coming in 6 days! Bless his heart he got the 6 right!


My flight home was long, but then isn’t it always going home? My flight was late leaving Salt Lake because of storms in Chicago and so I missed my connection to Heathrow, but thankfully there was a later flight and I didn’t have to wait too long and arrived back at Heathrow at 11am Monday morning!


















However I'm pleased to report that Rachael is doing much better as you can see from these lovely photographs of her.