December Weekend in Utah

My niece, the oldest grandchild on my parents' side, got married on Saturday December 8. Patrice and Grant were flying in together from Texas and so my mom called and asked if I wanted to come. That way all the Hibberts would be together for the special occasion. Who is going to say no to someone buying them a plane ticket for a quick weekend get away? Not this girl.

I touched base with Xela, who is in Rexburg, Idaho, and she began looking for rides down to Salt Lake for that weekend. Everyone descended on Hibbert Headquarters Saturday morning and it was GREAT!! I love spending time with my family.

Xela spent Friday night at Neil's house, eating pizza and watching a movie with her cousins and then drove in with Neil to pick me up from the airport. It was so good to see her and give her a hug!! I'd been looking forward to this weekend for weeks and that hug was one of the major reasons. We were going to wait for an hour until Grant and Patrice got in, but Neil decided to head back to his house to pick up the cinnamon rolls he'd forgotten. His wife, Amy, had made these Cinnabon sized rolls for us to eat and he'd left them. He lives close enough we could take the hour to make a loop for the rolls. Yes, they were that good.

Once four of the seven Hibbert siblings were in Neil's car, he asked if there was anything we wanted to do. The only thing, aside hang out with family, that I wanted to do was to donate at the Giving Machine, which was located on Temple Square. That's where we headed before going to Mom and Dad's.

The machines are located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The lobby is decorated and has this glorious tree as its centerpiece. Someone is playing Christmas songs on the piano the whole time.

There was a line, but it didn't take more than 20 minutes to get to the machine and while waiting, volunteers gave you a sheet of the options so the five of us reviewed and tried to decide what to buy for someone in need. Then it was time to make a selection and get your picture taken.

Which one? Which one?

Xela working her card to pick her item

Donated. Receipt & sticker in hand.
Smiles on our faces

After walking away from the Giving Machine empty handed, Neil and Grant suggested that we ride the scooters around downtown. Xela, Patrice and I had to download the app on to our phones, which Xela and I were able to do without a problem. Trice's phone kept arguing, so she decided to hit the Lion House in search of their delicious baked goods while we found scooters and rolled around Temple Square.

Daily Shot of the Temple
Hibb Sibs + Xela on Temple Square

We went around Temple Square and around the Conference Center block a couple of times, racing up and down the hill on the north side of the Conference Center (thankfully not much traffic, as we were in the street). Xela made us all nervous as she fearlessly zipped down the steep hill on her scooter. I was very glad I had a long coat and gloves because zooming around cutting through the winter canyon winds is a little crispy on the body. We made a stop at Neil's car so he could get his gloves.

Towards the end, Neil lent his scooter to Patrice so she could ride for a bit back to the car and we headed to HQ.

Much more fun wheeling around than I thought

I love that Dad always greets us with a big hug and "Oh! It's so good to see you!" His mom used to do the same thing when we visited them back in the day. Grant, Patrice, Xela and I were crashing at their house for the night, after the wedding so we put our bags downstairs. We went to the back deck and because the Texans hadn't seen snow, Grant and Neil decided to make snowballs and aim at something.

"That sunthing on the fence." I don't know who suggested the terra cotta sun disk, but it took less than five minutes of being home and one accurately aimed snowball to drop the thing and crack it in two. We were all laughing, including Dad who had purchased said item as decor for the fence while Grant apologized for having a better aim than expected.

Grant holding the target of the winning shot.
The fence behind him, that you see over the stairs,
used to be where that hung.

After that snowball sacrifice, more snowballs were created but the aim became a blue water barrel in the back garden (it was already on the ground). There were a couple of hits and then Neil tried to get some snow in the bathroom window which had been left open (Dad likes the crisp air contrast coming out of a warm shower). He was not successful and I don't think Grant dared try.

We had to be at the hotel for the wedding by 5:30 so we had time to chat and snack.

I remember Dad stringing the beads on this tree. It is one of the trees that is in the living room all year long.

Here's a conversation regarding the cinnamon rolls and how Amy was going to get to the wedding: whether or not Neil should go back to Layton and pick her up.

We got dressed up, Matt and Beka were already to go as Beka had to be there earlier than everyone else to play the piano background music, and then went in separate cars (Neil and siblings in one, Mom and Dad in another - at least I think they went together) to Little America Hotel where the wedding took place.

Patrice, me and Grant waiting for ceremony to start

It was a nice ceremony, the groom's vows were super sweet for someone that thought they weren't very good with words. Then there was a dinner (HUGE piece of steak with a large potato and sauteed veggies - delicious), words from the fathers, a game for Kelsey and Jared to play together with onlookers to laugh with them, and then DANCING!! We Hibbert siblings love to dance and jump around together. Some of our favorite memories are dancing in the living room together as kids.

But first, the  eye dropping moment of the night - Mom and Dad got out on the dance floor during a slow song. My dad DOES NOT dance, so a number of cameras were grabbed to catch the moment.

From L-R: Tiff & Corey Wride, Mom & Dad, Matt & Beka
(Tiff is 8 months pregnant)

The dance floor was not that well lit, as you will notice in the following videos of us Hibb Sibbs jamming. In this video, my sister, the very pregnant one, does the Hammer-time thing with Neil.

It's her 12th child, so nothing intimidates or inhibits her in regards to pregnancy.

Us old farts weren't very familiar with this song and were trying to figure out how to dance to this one.

We danced and laughed for three hours - SO MUCH FUN!! Then we met back at HQ for some more visiting before Sunday when everyone had their own congregations to attend. Additionally, Patrice and Grant had to be at the airport by 1:30 and I had to be at the airport at 5:30. Those of us crashing at HQ went to church with Mom and Dad. It was interesting to be in my childhood church building and to see some of the people whose kids I grew up with and who were some of my leaders growing up.

Mom and Dad drove me and Xela to the airport to drop me off before taking Xela back to Neil's house where her ride would be picking her up later. I got another big hug from Xela, a good hug from Mom and Dad as well and then I headed to my gate.

It was a quick trip, but one that I'll remember and treasure for years to come. Hanging out with my family always brings joy to my soul and happiness to my heart. There's a family reunion in July. Time to start saving so we can get the kids out there to play with their cousins. :)