Humanitarian Award.

Thursday morning we left bright and early, 8:30 to be exact, bound for Provo, Utah. We were going in support of Amanda (from China) receiving a humanitarian service award from BYU for her efforts in China. We are so proud of her and so happy she's finally being recognized. She is such an incredible example for Flower.
We made a couple of stops along the way but made pretty good time. We landed in time for lunch. We went to the much talked about Cafe Rio. I didn't like it. I'm not sure what the big deal is but it was not good. Worst beans I've ever had and the chicken tasted funky. Anyway, I made KG go through the Skippers drive-thru so I could eat something in the car. I miss having Skippers in Boise. :( Anyway, we went all the way to Utah without any idea of where we'd stay. After lunch we drove around to find a place. We checked Priceline, put in an amount and bam, awesome price for a new hotel in the perfect location! Score.
We fell in love with the room.

Pretty bed made in crisp white, accented with shades of mint green and turquoise.

A fabulous modern window seat that covered the unsightly air conditioner.
Obviously the girls thought it was neat.

First place they hung out.

And jumped off.

They had these super cool reading lights attached to the beds!

A neat little desk by the sofa but could be seen from the bed by opening the handy little window.

Flower was quick to test the bounciness of the beds.

We give it two thumbs up.

They had a docking station for iPhones/iPods. How cool is that?
Very cool since I forgot my charger. Super score!

Cool lighting.

Totally rad sofa and pillows.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love River's neck? Cause I do. She has a very thin, defined neck for a baby and I think it's so pretty. The following photo, as well as one I note later, are examples of what I mean.

Blow drying a bald head is hard work!

River made herself right at home.

Really liked this mirror. The light was behind that ring. Sweet!

The doors all had this sort of frosted glass. Pretty darn creepy when River put her hands on it. Looks a little alien-esce.

In no time at all it was time to leave. That provided some good running of the hallways.

We attempted to find Noodles and Company. We thought we could walk.

We were way off track and very confused. But my people looked cute in the cross walk!

Beautiful mountain outside our hotel room.

We finally drove to our destination and enjoyed time with Amanda while meeting people that have volunteered at Starfish.

The girl in the photo volunteered at Starfish shortly after we picked up Flower.
Her brother is the one on the right and he was volunteering while we were there getting Flower. We went out to eat with him and went to church. It was really neat to see him again.She volunteered at Starfish with the girl above.This couple came to meet Amanda for the first time. Their daughter is in China and is going to volunteer at Starfish. So cool.

There were several people that have followed Flower from the very beginnings of Starfish and it was so good to meet them in person, rather than just comments on our blog.

It was nice visiting but this was our queue to leave. :) We were all pretty warn out. We made a quick stop at Coney's Custard for some cold treats on our way back to the hotel. It was yummy.
Friday morning we slept until 8:30 and then went to the hotel's free breakfast. This wasn't just a continental breakfast but a full fledged breakfast that was actually good.
After returning back to our room KG and River went back to sleep, Flower laid in the dark, and I got to enjoy a nice bath while reading a People magazine.
At noon we checked out and headed on over to BYU. The event was held at the Hinckley Center. Very handsome building and great views. The meal we were served was not so great. But the reason for being there was well worth the drive.

This lady, Caiping Sun, volunteered at Starfish when Flower was there.

She was so happy to see the little girl Flower has become.

Here they are now...

...and in 2005.

It was very special for us to see Amanda being awarded for her efforts. She graciously excepted her award, with Flower by her side, and then gave a lovely speech that even made us emotional. We are just so grateful for her!

River was sound asleep through most of it which was a big relief.

Here are some photos of the program.

After the awards ceremony people flocked around Amanda to get as much info as they could. It was very cool to see so many people interested and wanting to meet her.

We finally pulled her away for some photos of those that came to support her.

I adore this photo. It shows Flower's sass and River's admiration for her!
(please note River's neck again :))

While Amanda was being interviewed, and we were waiting to be interviewed(yes you read that right, I had to be interviewed.on camera.with a microphone pinned to my shirt. not fun. But if it will benefit Amanda and the babies, it's worth it.) we went outside to enjoy the sunny weather and the views.

The girls immediately went to the grass and started hugging without any prompting from us!
I loved it.
These might be two of my favorite photos of them together.

They ran around and played. It was really nice.

Then Flower had to use the bathroom so River just wandered and wandered without a care in the world.

She'd wave as she passed by.

I'm so in love with their tights. Flower wore both pair last winter and I'm so happy to get them out for the cold weather again.

After the interviews and good-byes, we hit the road. On our way out of Provo we stopped at this cupcake shop. I've heard from several folks about the goodness of this place. Not bad.Not bad. My favorite was the strawberry shortcake and cookies and cream.
Flower and River were given BYU bags which held a t-shirt and pom-poms. River was tormented by her sister with the pom-poms on the way home.

We stopped off at Maddox for supper.

This is how the girls were when we finally rolled into Boise at 11:30 pm. Poor things.

It was a quick trip but so worth it. And it somehow felt like we were gone forever. It was also awesome to still come home and have the weekend to enjoy. :) And a busy weekend it was.