Utah Vacation, Part Trois

There is a creepy new show on TLC called “My Strange Addiction” that chronicles the bizarro lifestyle choices of people who eat couch cushions or comet, sleep with their hair dryer, or go tanning as often as thrice daily. Alixa has her own obsession, although hers is not especially unique, as it is shared by many people, notably including her brother-in-law Nate. She constantly craves Café Rio pork salads. So much so that even though we were in Utah for two full weeks at the end of December, she forced her family to pack up and head out again only three weeks later so that she could get her fix. Her addiction has also caused her to react in a hostile manner towards those people who are “crazy” enough not to feel the same way she does. She often speaks of wanting to punch people in the face for not fully appreciating the goodness of the Café. She may be clinically insane, but she makes great lunches for Jarom to take to work every day, so he accepts the bad with the good.

Lixi trying to take a nap

While they were out in Zion collecting stamps towards their next free burrito, they decided to attend the 80th birthday party for one Paul B Winn on the top floor of the Joseph Smith building at Temple Square. There was quite a collection of relatives and friends, many of whom Jarom had not seen in years and Alixa had not seen in ever. It was a touching tribute to a great guy who has lived a pretty remarkable life and seems to have a few decades left in him. All of the Winn children made the trip, so the rest of the weekend was spent doing a variety of fun things with the family. On Saturday there was a bridal shower for Kristi, attended by a whole lot of women. Jarom and Jenna did the smart thing and took a nap that lasted nearly the entire time. Then they drove down to Lehi to see Zak and Sam and their little munchkin, Eva. After a meal at Café Rio it was off through the Provo Canyon up to Heber where they had a horse-drawn sleigh ride planned. When told that she was going to meet some horses, Jenna was nearly out or her mind with excitement. However, once she saw that they were a pair of 2,000-pound draft horses and were nothing like the stuffed animals she loves so much, she decided that she didn’t really want to be close to them. Her mean mother forced her to get within a few feet, which terrified her and brought out some serious tears. The ride was far more relaxing, despite the chilly weather. Jenna enjoyed looking up through the clear mountain air and pointing out the many stars that she saw.



Throughout these past few trips the Winns have noticed an aggressive independent streak that Jenna is developing. It is fun to watch her learn to do things by herself, but sometimes it gets a little tiresome because she becomes irate if you help her in any way, shape or form. In fact, if she is in her independent mood and you help her, she will undo whatever help you provided so that she can start from scratch all on her own. So if you put her up on a couch that she was climbing by herself, she will jump back down to the ground and began the ascent again. She will also scream at you, usually just “no, no, no!” at the top of her lungs. So Jarom and Lix have learned to just let her take her time and do her thing, or to distract her if they need something done right away, like buckling up her car seat or putting on her shoes when it is time to leave. But it is definitely cool to watch her personality grow and to see her be able to do so many things that she couldn’t before. She is always proud of herself when she accomplishes her task, and she has learned to say “ta-da!” when she finishes.

A fine example of her newfound independence

On Monday they headed back down to Provo to take some pictures of Eva and Jenna at the request of their mutual grandmother PJ. Lixi’s aunt Christy was kind enough to offer up her services as a photographer. Her original idea was to go up the canyon a little ways and get some shots of the kiddos with the snow and the river as a backdrop. Sounds beautiful, right? Except that the two subjects were dressed in summer dresses, one isn’t old enough to sit up by herself and the other is afraid of playing in the snow. So after about five numbing minutes we headed back down the canyon to take some pictures in and around Christy’s house. I don’t have the photos yet, but I’ve heard that there should be some pretty cute ones. After the pictures Jenna left with PJ, and Jarom and Alixa headed to Rodizio’s, where they were meeting a large contingency of the Winn family for a wonderful evening of Brazilian grilled meat. Due to some traffic congestion most of the party was delayed, leaving Jarom and Lix by themselves at the table for about 20 minutes. Classier people would have waited until everyone got there before they hit up the salad bar and started having chunks of cow delivered to the table, but little Bo gotsta eat, and Jarom didn’t want Lix to feel bad for eating solo. So the table was already warmed up when everyone finally got there. But nobody cared and everyone enjoyed themselves.

They both fit, so their parents could carry them onto the plane

Tuesday began with a trip to Mimi’s for a farewell breakfast, and then it was off through the snowstorm to the airport for the first flight of their three leg journey to Denver, Minneapolis, and then on to Richmond. Fortunately there were lots of empty seats so everyone could stretch out a little, which is always a nice treat. So now everyone is back in Virginia, where there are no Café Rios to be found. Hopefully her withdrawal will not be too severe, because who knows when we’ll be able to visit the Rockies again.