When Momma's Away The Boys Shall Play

Tyler recently just came back from the trip of his life. We decided several years ago that we wanted to carry on Birch's family tradition of getting to go to Salt Lake City for General Conference the year you turn eight. Tyler had been looking forward to this trip for quite a while. When it was Alex's turn both Birch and I were able to go with him (we were there in conjunction with a surgery at Primary Children's); Tyler's trip turned out to be a Daddy/Son trip.
After flying into SLC the first stop was my brother's work site, lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and then off to Provo to spend the night with my sister Leah and her family. The kids (and dads) had a fabulous time making rockets. Tyler loved being chased after by his cousins!
Each day was filled with visiting grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc... Here Tyler is with his Great Grandma Gina and Rudy.
Birch's grandparents are currently serving a mission in SLC and ironically live next to my grandparents. Each grandparent had a special family meal where Birch and Tyler were able to catch up with long lost family. Above: Aunt Laurie, Zach, Birch, Tyler, Grandma Ditto, and Grandpa Ditto.
What a treat it is to have so much family when we come visit! Tyler loved seeing his cousin Sofia and his Uncle Matt and Aunt Jessica.

Tyler at the Conference Center.

Tyler and Birch on their way to conference.

A highlight of the trip for Tyler was his first ski experience. It was a gorgeous day and Birch says that Tyler caught on quite quickly. They both came home with quite a doozy of a sunburn.

Pizza slice Tyler.

Next it was off to Boondocks for some wild fun.

I rented the cheapest possible thing for Birch and Tyler while in SLC. When they went to pick up the car the salesman offered a free upgrade to a black convertible mustang. Tyler thought he was in HEAVEN!

Birch really enjoyed the time with just Tyler. Having a big family we are finding that we need to really schedule one-on-one time in order to make that happen. Tyler writes below that it was strange to be without his other siblings but that at the same time he really enjoyed the alone time. We missed them while we were partying it up in Spokane but I'm so glad that had such a wonderful time. I already put dibs on taking Alysee in a year and half.

The following is a write-up that Tyler did at school when he returned from his trip. He did a great job writing it and it gives full detail of his trip: