Family Friendly Vacation Destinations - Utah Natural History Museum

If you're looking for a museum that welcomes and educates your children . . . this is the place for you. The Utah Natural History Museum is located on the University of Utah campus in SLC and everything is hands on and child friendly. We spent a day in Salt Lake City during spring break and this museum was certainly worth our time and money. Tickets were $9.00 for adults and $7.00 for children.

The rock and mineral display was one of my favorites.

My children loved the life-sized dinosaur displays.

The museum is beautifully designed and each display was educational and fun.

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Family Friendly Vacation Destinations - UTAH ROCKS

If you're looking for a family friendly vacation spot I suggest Goblin Valley and Capitol Reef. We spent our Spring Break in these two beautiful areas in Utah and this is what we found.

Goblin Valley is wonderland of strange and interesting rock formations. This area is wide open and hands on fun. Spend an hour or two hiking or take an entire day to explore a place that looks like another planet.  Most of the visitors hike in the area directly below the parking, but we spent out time in the valley to the far right and had the entire area to ourselves. Admission was $7.00 per car. There is one restroom and a nearby picnic and camping area with showers. If you have more time try hiking in slot canyons near here. Our favorite is the Little Wild Horse. You can hike the entire loop or just hike up as far as you want and then hike back.

Goblin Valley is perfect for families.

Spring and Fall are great times to visit.

Capital Reef is another favorite area where the crowds are small and the beauty overwhelming. When we drove through this year, all the fruit trees were in blossom and there was no admission fee. You will see rock formations that will astound you. Be sure to get out of your car and see the Native American petroglyphs, take a hike or enjoy a picnic.

The rock formations are especially stunning at sunset

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Blessing Day for Lily

The miracle of a new baby always touches my heart in a way nothing else can. Welcome to life my dear Lily. Your Grandma Baadsgaard loves you so.

My daughter Ashley and her husband Hyrum blessed their beautiful new daughter Lily on Easter Sunday...such a perfect day to celebrate the miracle of life.

Lily wore the same blessing dress that her mother Ashley Laura wore twenty-one years ago on her blessing day.

Lily has two dimples and a happy loving spirit just like both of her parents.

Her tiny bracelet was made by her Aunt Amy and her blessing dress was made many years ago by her Great Aunt Lisa.

Photos by Arianne Baadsgaard Cope

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Sammy's Baptism

My grandson Samuel Jared Cope was baptized this weekend. I will always remember the soft look in his eyes, his gentle smile and the tears that came to his eyes as he made a promise to be like Jesus. I love you Sammy.

Samuel is a miracle baby - born too soon with a long stay in the hospital. His fragile beginning makes each day we have with him seem like such a blessing.

Arianne and Jared Cope are wonderful parents to their beautiful family of four children: Samuel, Sophia, Logan and Liam. I love having them live close to me so I can see them more often.

Samuel had many people who love him attend his baptism. We are all so blessed to have Sammy in our lives.
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Celebrating Easter in My Heart

 

My heart has been healing after the recent loss of my grandson.

 This Easter season

means so much more to me this year because

I desperately long to see

my precious grandson Caleb again.

Because of of Jesus Christ, I know I will.

    
"Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place-the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed. The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job's question, 'If a man die, shall he live again?' To all within the sound of my voice, I declare, If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth.

    "I believe that none of us can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, but I am grateful every day of my life for His atoning sacrifice in our behalf. ... The darkness of death can ever be dispelled by the light of revealed truth. I am the resurrection, and the life, spoke the Master. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."  President Thomas S. Monson

Amy, Aden and Tessa Visit

Amy, Aden and Tessa came to my house this past weekend. Can you tell why I loved having them here? What a blessing they are in my life.
Photos by Arianne Baadsgaard Cope
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Introducing My Brand New Granddaughter Lily

  Photos by Arianne Baadsgaard Cope
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Happy Birthday Andrew

Andrew is Turning Two

By Grandma Baadsgaard

When you’re turning two, you have a lot of work to do

But some don’t understand, what makes your life so grand

There are dozens of toilet paper rolls to unzip on the floor

And shiny silver handles you just have to flush once more

You are king of the hill in high chair land,

or digging for treasure in the back yard sand

Before the day is over, there are cell phones to hide

and a long set of stairs waiting for a tummy slide

When you hear water running you just have to undress

And eat lots of food before it is blessed

There are cats to kick and noses to pick

and lots of gooey worms to smear and to stick

There are ants to squish and new friends to enlist

And adult appointed naps time you just want to miss

You have to figure out how everything works

And make careful plans to drive mom berserk

There are bubbles to pop and spilled milk to mop

People to become like firemen and cops

But when the day is over you just want your mom

She rocks you to sleep and sings you a song

                 Though you’re a hand-full, you’re not two for long.                         

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Having fun at the Wax Museum and Junior High Drama Production

The people around my house have been having fun pretending to be someone else lately.

Alisa as Cleopatra, Josh at Albert Einstein and John as the Beast!

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Spring is Here!

There are daffodils blooming on the south side of my house.

No matter what happens during the day, I just can't quit smiling.

I even danced while I was cleaning the house today. 

Have you ever seen a flower that brought more sunshine!

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Color Day In Spanish Fork

Just in case you were wondering why there were thousands of extra people walking around Spanish Fork covered in brightly colored dye this past weekend. . . An estimated 80,000 people turned out for the Festival of Colors at the Hari Krisna Lotus Temple in Spanish Fork this past weekend. The Festival of Colors, also known as Holi, is a Hindu two day festival. This festival has several legends associated with it. Thousands of people gathered on the hill of the Krishna temple between Spanish Fork and Salem, Utah. They threw brightly colored powder on each other, chanted and danced to live music. Holi, the largest Indian festival, is held on the first weekend of spring to celebrate the beginning of the season.

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The Tender Kindness of Friends

A few days after their son Caleb died, my daughter April and her husband Dallan opened the door to an unexpected visitor. Tom Holme and his wife stopped by to bring a gift. They said that Dallan's co-workers and friends in the BYU Athletic Department had been talking. They didn't think flowers would mean too much to Caleb's grieving brothers. So they tried to think of something that would give the boys something to look forward to. Their gift . . . a trip to Disneyland. With all the expenses of the funeral, April and Dallan knew a family vacation was out of the question for a long time. When April called and told me, she cried.
Just before the trip Caleb's younger brother asked his parents if Caleb could get resurrected so that he could come with them. Caleb was not resurrected but he was with them. I'm sure of that.
Thank you BYU Athletic Department.
And don't forget to "WINK!"
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When We Plant Sunshine

Happy Birthday Sammy.

Here is a story I wrote just for you.

I love you so very much.

Sammy’s Garden of Miracles

by

Grandma Baadsgaard

When Sammy woke up one morning, sunlight streamed into his room like sheets of honey. Sammy opened his mouth into a big yawn and felt the shimmering rays tickle his tongue.

“Sunlight is sweet as honey,” Sammy thought smacking his lips. “I will capture one ray of sunshine and plant it in my garden.”

So Sammy held his lips tightly together until he reached a warm spot of earth in his backyard. Then he leaned down close to the brown sod and listened.

He heard the earth people under the warm ground and they were humming, “Sammy is here. Something wonderful is about to begin.”

Sammy smiled for he heard many unseen friends. Then Sammy brushed away the earth and made a tiny hole with his cupped hand. Next he parted his lips ever so slightly. Out came the ray of sunshine so quickly he had to immediately blow the shimmering wave into the rich brown earth before it flew away. Then he gently patted the dirt over the warm place creating a small mound.

Sammy was a wise boy who knew that the earth was full of wonders. Each day Sammy returned to his mound of earth and dreamed a new dream.

Each day Sammy said, “There is magic in sunshine if you plant it just so and never stop believing something magical will grow.”

Then one day something happened that made Sammy feel sad inside. His cousin Caleb died. On the evening after Caleb’s funeral, Sammy was looking out the window into his back yard. He watched as the blue dark faded into black. Just then he saw something shining on his mound of earth. Sammy ran outside to take a look. It was a moonbeam streaming down from the sky in the black night. Sammy looked up.

“Caleb?” Sammy asked as his face was bathed in moonlight. “Can you see me?”

Suddenly the tiny moonbeam filled all the dark space all around him. Then Sammy’s mother walked through the back door and knelt beside him.

“Will I ever see Caleb again?” Sammy asked his mother.

“Every person has a shiny spirit inside their body,” his mother said. “That spirit is what makes our body dance and sing and play. Caleb’s spirit is not inside his body right now but it will be again someday. We won’t be able to see him until we die, but he will keep sending us sunshine every time we open our hearts and let his warm inside.”

Sammy wiped his tears then took his mother’s hand. Then they slowly walked back toward the house.

“I miss Caleb,” Sammy said.

“Me too,” his mother answered.

When Sammy woke up the next morning all the dark was gone. Sunshine was streaming into this room like rays of honey once again. Sammy felt the shimmering light tickle his tongue. Then he remembered the ray of sunshine he planted in his back yard. He jumped from his bed and raced to the back door. As he swung the door wide open, Sammy wondered for a moment if he were dreaming. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Sammy’s entire back yard was filled with bright and shining yellow daffodils and tulips swaying gently in the morning breeze.

“There is magic in sunshine if you plant it just so and never stop believing,” Sammy whispered, “something magical will grow.”

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Sister Love - Fine Art for the Soul

When I was raising my daughter Arianne, I don't remember a time when she didn't have a pad of paper and a drawing pencil in her hand. Running through life was not enough for her . . . she wanted to stop, savor, relish and re-create the rich details of the beauty she quietly observed around her.

Now Arianne is a mother of four young children and she spends her days home schooling and creating with her children.

When Arianne's nephew Caleb died a few weeks ago, her heart longed to help her sister April at such a tender time . . . so she took out her camera and her oil paints. She spent hours taking photos and creating a stunning and emotional hard bound book with images of Caleb's final dressing at the mortuary, funeral and burial to give her sister. Then she dusted off her old oil paints and brushed the final strokes on her latest masterpiece . . . an oil painting of Caleb.

This painting of Caleb is the first thing April sees when she wakes up in the morning and the last thing she sees when she goes to sleep.

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March River Walk

For family night tonight

we took a walk. 

One of our favorite places for walking

is along the Spanish Fork River trail near our home. 

Here there is 

quiet

water falling over rocks

wind rushing dry leaves across the path 

creaking trunks of aging trees

 sudden song of meadow-lark

deer grazing in the fields. 

Here winter is melting away 

yet in the mountains nearby, 

snow and ice hold fast.

In our hope

we know warm is coming.

Spring is around the next bend,

just out of sight.

Cold and ice will leave our quiet pastures

our towering mountains.

The grip of death 

can not hold fast for long.

Then all that was lost - will return to living.  

These beautiful pictures were taken by my daughter Arianne who continues our family tradition as she takes walks with her own young family now.

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