Terrific 12 Trip

In our family, we celebrate three special birthdays for each family member. The first trip, called "The Great 8", is an outdoor adventure trip with Dad to celebrate turning eight years old and being baptized. The second trip, called "The Terrific 12", is a trip with either Dad or Mom to Utah to attend the Salt Lake Temple for the first time, to attend General Conference, and to spend one on one time having fun with a parent. The last is a trip with Mom and Dad when you graduate from high school.

My husband and middle son returned this week from Jeran's Terrific 12 trip.

While coming in to Boise, the plane had to divert it's course around a substantial storm front. With one side of the plane sunny and clear and the other side dark and ominous, it made quite an impression on my son.


My son said that attending the Temple was "beautiful".


He thought the underground tunnels were awesome.


They were able to attend both the Priesthood Session and the Saturday afternoon Session of General Conference.


After attending the Temple, the guys headed down to Moab for some adventure. My son's favorite stop in Moab was at a fossil shop.


He bought an impressive megaladon shark tooth fossil. I sure wouldn't want to meet the owner of this tooth!

Most of their time in Moab involved off road driving in Uncle Ben's Jeep.


At one point they came around a corner and my son's eyes got very big. They saw a Jeep in front of them and he realized that they were going over the same rock. He quickly asked to be let out.


Once out of the Jeep, my boy found a small rock and wrote a message for future travelers!


The desert in Moab is impressive. The guys enjoyed being out in a very different environment than at home.


The guys were looking for dinosaur remnants in the cliff face and they thought they had found some small dino eggs. Upon further inspection, it turns out they were only wasp eggs. Good thing they didn't bring these home in the suitcase!



My son also had a great time with his younger Willis cousins. Besides celebrating Easter together, they spent a lot of time on the trampoline. He was so popular that when it was time for him to go home, his cousins had a little weep.