From West to East

We had a terrific trip back home. First we stayed in Evanston, WY with my sister where the weather was perfect. We wished we could have stayed there longer but the next day we were off on the road.

 You have 2 seconds to name this. :)

 The kids in front of Old Faithful just after it erupted.

 We had a nice walk around other geysers and hotsprings. The weather was gorgeous and the kids were in good moods.

 Kylie holding Makenna.

 Spencer was so good to push Kaitlyn around the whole walk. He is really good to her and makes her laugh a lot. He is especially helpful when the older girls and I are tired of taking care of her.

 This was a scene in the Bighorn National Forest after we'd climbed thousands of feet. Reminded me of Heidi. We were at the top of a huge mountain and then there was a beautiful valley up there with pretty little white flowers and lots of trees. It was only 63 degrees up there too. If the little girls weren't asleep in the car I would have stopped and soaked it all in. I love the mountains.

 Swimming in the hotel hot tub and pool in Rapid City, SD.

 Eating dinner of mac n cheese cups in the hotel before going to Mt. Rushmore.

Mt. Rushmore! Kaitlyn was trying my patience like never before so it wasn't all fun but I hope it was a good experience for the kids. I remember being impressed when I was little.

The next night we went to De Smet, SD where we saw the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites and the pageant, "The Long Winter." We've always loved her books so this was a treat for us.

 The next day we drove through Minnesota. Here we stopped at a rest stop and let the kids play a castle game they made up on the playground.

 That night we reached Nauvoo in time to do some pre-show activities like these stilts.

 Then we saw the Nauvoo Pageant, which was also fantastic.

 Someone driving by saw me taking a picture of my kids and insisted I get in it too, so this is a picture of all of us.

 Then I took a picture of just the kids close up.

 We went to church there on Sunday and saw some of the sites. I attended the temple Monday morning and then we saw a few more sites and rode in a covered wagon.

 Monday afternoon we went to Carthage Jail.

 That night we had a delicious dinner and fun FHE with second cousins in Missouri.

 Tuesday we saw the St. Louis Arch and went up in it. It was awesome! I'm glad we did it despite the long wait and hungry tummies.

 Tuesday night we stayed with my sister in Nashville and the next morning she took us to breakfast at Krispy Kreme. From there we made the final leg of our trip: 10 hours to our home in North Carolina.

 We arrived home at 7 to a house decorated for our arrival. Eight weeks!

Nathan also had a hot dinner waiting, probably the only time he cooked while we were gone. It was delicious: pasta, salad, and bread. It was also the only time he went to the store while we were gone. It sure was good to see him again.

So that's our trip home. It was awesome. I'm so glad we did it and we'd do it again in a heartbeat. We had a blast.

Utah Fun

We left the campground and lake and drove to Reno where we spent the night with my former BYU roommate. The next day we drove to Springville, UT where we spent the weekend with Nathan's brother and his wife and 5 kids.

Uncle Morgan (visiting from Florida) maintains his reputation as the favorite uncle by playing with the kids. He played tag games outside, told stories or played computer games with them. Here he is playing Kings Quest II with 9 of the 12 kids.

 Kylie and Madalyn pass a Sunday afternoon crocheting with their cousins. I loved walking into the family room and seeing children quietly working away. The rest of the drive home the girls crocheted little dresses and skirts for dolls of various sizes. 

 Devouring delicious homemade ice cream!

 Monday we went to a creek to play.

 Makenna showing her splits. She may be chubby but she's flexible.

 Tuesday I took the kids around Provo, showing them the apartments I lived in and the Provo Temple.

 Spencer took this picture of us walking around BYU. It was the first time most of the kids have seen this beautiful campus and they loved it. I hope they can attend college there.

We also went to Temple Square for their first time and quickly saw a few sites. Here they enjoyed dressing up and dancing in the church history museum. After Salt Lake it was up to Wyoming where we began our week trip back to North Carolina.

Our Month in California

We had a great time at my parents' house. I loved hanging out and enjoying the gorgeous weather. My parents yard is beautiful. I could sit on the porch swing and look at it all day. It condones an amazing feeling of relaxation and all's right in the world. There are no neighbors or cars or busyness. I loved having my kids have that freedom of playing outside whenever they wanted and essentially doing whatever they wanted: tree house, trampoline, swing set, bikes, kitchen set, table tennis, and all the other outdoor activities. They played inside a lot too: cars, games, movies, and more. It was relaxing for all of us; no school or chores or places to go. I think kids these days need more free time like this.

 Kaitlyn exercising with Mama (my mom.)

 Spencer and his cousin learning to chop wood with Papa (my dad.)

 Mama was a huge help with my little girls. She's so good with them and Kaitlyn adored her.

 Makenna

 Spencer on the zip line.

 One Saturday we had a great time burning brush with Papa.

 Afterward Mama let us roast marshmallows.

 Yummy s'mores!

 My beloved house I grew up in.

 The front yard and field.

 One day we took the kids swimming.

 Papa taught Spencer how to drive the lawn tractor pulling a load of leaves. My dad was so good to teach Spencer all these yard chores as well as car maintenance. He can fix anything and I was glad Spencer could spend these weeks with him and learn things he can't at our house.

 One of the few pictures we got at the fireworks. We had a great time.

 Makenna Marshmallow

 After 3 weeks at my parents' house we went camping with all my brothers and sisters. My older brother got us all matching family reunion t-shirts.

 Madalyn relaxing in the hammock.

 Kaitlyn

 Thomas spent a lot of time playing cars in the dirt.

We water-skiied, knee-boarded, played on the water trampoline, swam, rode bikes, played catch, and lots more but I don't have pictures of those.

 Our last day was Alexis's birthday.

That night we drove to my BYU roommates's house in Reno where she made a cake for Lexi.
As we left California it hit me that our vacation in California is over. I've been looking forward to our trip home because of all the fun sites to see but I got sad realizing how much I love California and our stay there was over. It went by too fast but I'm grateful for all the wonderful memories we made that we get to take with us. Hopefully it won't be another 6 years before we go back again.
So Thursday we left CA and now we are starting to make our trek back east over the next 2 weeks. First stop is Utah where we'll stay the weekend seeing relatives, BYU, the temple I was married in and first apartment, and Temple Square. Next Tuesday we'll drive to Wyoming and continue site-seeing and driving east from there, arriving home late July 25.