My parents sold their house in Poway a few years ago when my dad retired, and moved from San Diego up to Alpine, Utah. What on earth for, you ask? A bunch of true Californians who have never seen much snow – the entire fam was a little freaked out by the change. Especially my mom (an avid sun worshiper) – she pretty much dragged her feet the whole way. But my dad had a vision when it came to building their dream house and really felt inspired to make the move. While we miss having them close, we are all in love with their house and LOVE spending vacations there. Before I do a post about Thanksgiving, I thought maybe I should set the backdrop.
My siblings and I have all affectionately dubbed the house “The Mansion.” Now, whether it actually qualifies as a mansion I don’t know. I’ve been in houses that are bigger. But lets just say that my entire house would fit into about one half of their basement. Or easily into their garage. How sad is that? They are up at the top of a mountain and have an AMAZING panoramic view from the back of the house. They look out over the Mt. Timpanogas temple and all the way out to Utah Lake.
When it was built it was featured in the Parade of Homes and so they had a decorator and lots of fun stuff to show off. I would describe the place as classy, comfortable, laid back, kid friendly, and more than anything else FUN. Which, if you know my parents is completely fitting of their personalities. They are way too cool for their age and their house totally reflects that. Another bonus when you tote small children – nothing is too fancy to touch, my mom keeps all necessary kid equipment handy, and there is plenty to keep the kids entertained. They even have their own little toy room underneath the stairs. Plus, there are plenty of bedrooms and even more important – bathrooms! A great feature considering the sheer numbers our family can bring in. 9 kids, 26 grandkids (I think), and 1 on the way.
Basically it is a total party house – complete with HUGE movie screen, pool table, authentic 50’s style diner and memorabilia – featuring mini fridge that is always fully stocked with freezing sodas and treats, microwave, popcorn machine, deep fryer (that my dad makes THE BEST fries in), malt machine, hot dog machine, ice cream maker, etc. I am still bitter that I was not able to take advantage of it as a teenager or college student. The basement can be completely shut off as well – it’s got a whole separate kitchen, laundry room, etc. Out back there are two huge decks, a fire pit, BBQ, sandbox, full sand volleyball court, hot tub, trampoline, sled run, the works! My parents are totally living it up in their later years…. which I think is awesome.
Turns out visiting Utah isn’t so bad. 🙂 I’m always telling my friends about how I love to go stay and actually get to relax while I’m there. I thought some pictures to back up my claims might be a good idea. And yes, I just spent an entire blog entry bragging about my parents and their cool house. So sue me.
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