Salt of the Earth

Last week my parents traveled to Utah to experience a bona fide white Christmas. Unfortunately, what they experienced felt a whole lot like a Southern California in winter, i.e. fifty degrees and no snow.

On the bright side they did have a real room to sleep in. Robert rallied the troops and actually finished building my parent's room the morning their plane arrived, once again proving the power of a looming deadline.

Two days before my parents got here

One hour before arrival

We have more California guests showing up next week and I've wondered if I can squeeze another major home improvement project out of Robert before their arrival.

Totally kidding.

For those of you that don't know Bob and Wendy (Mom and Dad's first names, used here to make me sound cool and give my parents some kind of identity), I'm sorry. Not because you won't understand this blog post but because I can only imagine your lives are greatly diminished by not knowing my parents. They are literally the nicest people on the planet. I'm often told how nice and smiley I am, but get ready for this... I'm the cynical one in my family. I grew up on Planet Happy, and for all you skeptics out there, it really is as nice as it sounds.

Bob and Wendy 1970's

Bob and Wendy 2010's. Smiles unchanged. 

Aidan loves my parents as much -- if not more -- than I do. It could be because Nana has never told him no, but I think it's because my parents just know how to make a kid feel special. Days before their arrival, Aidan asked me how many days they were staying. I told him they'd be here from Wednesday night to Sunday afternoon. Aidan got pouty faced and said, "Well, that's not a very long time." Maybe he thought they were moving in since we did just build them a room.

Some of the highlights of the trip:

Dad walking the Aidans to school in his Bear Bryant hat, purchased specifically for this trip.

Setting off to Dilworth

Aidan's first basketball practice where my parents cheered as if it were a game.

When Bob and Wendy are in town it is top priority for them to see normal things. I always want to pack trips full of once-in-a-lifetime activities, but they know it's more important to see their grandson in his day-to-day life. They want to drink coffee in the morning and talk, walk Aidan to school, meet our neighbors, and go to Aidan's sporting events. And he wants to show them his stuff as well. Aidan's one regret this trip was not getting to show Nana and Papa his archery range. Next time.

Of course, we still had to do the touristy Salt Lake stuff, which this time of year means the Christmas lights at Temple Square. My parents and I love all things Christmasy and beautiful so this was right up our alley.

Truly a must-see

An unseasonably warm night at Temple Square

Uncle Rob and Brent's house made the Christmas lights tour as well. Our own little Temple Square in Sugar House 

In typical fashion my mom also wanted to spend at least one day shopping and I was happy to oblige.

Banana Republic at City Creek

Despite the lack of snow and Bob and Wendy's general contentment in keeping things low-key, I packed lots of holiday events into their four-day trip including a sleigh ride in Midway, the Festival of Trees, and a local production of A Christmas Carol at Hale Center Theater.

Like father, like daughter

Horses rumps as we left the parking lot

We sang Christmas carols on the sleigh ride and pretended the lack of snow didn't matter

Hot chocolate and cookies back at Santa's House

Festival of Trees in Sandy

Taking selfies while Robert called us repeatedly to tell us he was parked outside. Whoops. 

Aidan and Mimi who still pretend they don't like each other. Silas middle, cold-shouldering the camera.

Awesome ice cream Christmas Tree

At Hale Center Theater's A Christmas Carol

Blurry theater lobby photo. I promise to get a new camera in the New Year. 

While Bob and Wendy are in town it is imperative to show them off so my Utah people know I come from good stock. It's equally important that my parents see how awesome my friends and family are in Utah so they worry about me less. To that end, I made sure we snuck in a dinner with the Bennetts and the Fuentes and a breakfast with the Cummings. It was so nice for my mom and dad to see how easy it was for Christine's and Lenore's families to come over for an impromptu potluck. I don't clean for these friends, and we all bring something to dinner so it's easy on everybody. Lenore brought the veggies, Christine brought the salad, and I heated up Costco turkey pot pie. Voila, dinner for 13.

My dad with Betty. 

Danny couldn't meet us for dinner but caught up with us later at Festival of Trees. Lenore later told me that Danny's nickname for my parents was "Salt of the Earth" which feels like a perfect moniker for my good, reliable, trustworthy parents.

Breakfast with the Cummings family

On my parents next to last morning in Utah, we met the Cummings family for breakfast. We showed up late because we went to the wrong IHOP first and when we finally got to the right one JoAnn, Bruce, Maddie, Miriam, Heather, and Alex were all seated at one end of the table. On the other side of the table there were five open seats, ostensibly for me, Robert, Aidan, Mom, and Dad. In a quintessential Bob Tripp maneuver, he grabbed a chair from one end and moved it to the other side of the table next to JoAnn and Bruce to catch up. I loved this subtle but bold switch because it is so my dad. Nearly anyone else would file into empty seats at the open end of the table or cling to the security of being next to their own family, but my dad knew this would be his one chance to catch up with Bruce and JoAnn and he didn't want to miss an opportunity to cultivate that relationship. It was a simple thing, but it was also charismatic and completely in character for him. It's those small moments that make me miss my parents more than anything.

The end of this trip was made easier by the fact that we'll be in LA in two weeks for Christmas. It made hugging my parents goodbye at the airport a little less painful to know I'll see them again so soon. I love how proud I am to show off my cute and fun parents. I love watching Aidan show off his life in Utah to them. I like seeing the best parts of me in them and how the similarities seem so much more obvious now that we don't see each other all the time. Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful trip.

John and Bob, your turn to visit your wonderful sister in Salt Lake. Who knows? Maybe you'll even see some snow.