Quick Cousins Trip

Jeremy decided on his way back from his fair in Wyoming to stop by and visit our cousins in Wyoming.

I wanted to visit our cousins, too, so without his knowledge, I made plans to visit the same day so we could meet him there and have some nice family time. He was pleasantly surprised. We had lunch together and talked sooooo much and later Nichole rode the rest of the way home with Jeremy.

Have I mentioned I love my family?

It was also Play Outside Day so Jet had fun playing outside with our cousins' dog. 

Farewell Summer Reading

At the end of July, we finished up our Summer Reading Programs at Orem Public Library and Provo City Library. So the beginning of August, Nichole, Jr., Lucky, Jet, and I went to the closing event for Orem's held at Scera Park. Jr. Jr. didn't feel like going and Jeremy was gone at another fair, this time in Wyoming and this time without a hurt back.

Lucky, Jet, and I got to ride on the Orem Express train that drove around the park. We got there early enough to miss the long line waiting for it.

We played some games then spent a lot of time on the playground. Lucky was a big helper with Jet.

After we finally left, we made a quick stop at the Orem Library then went home and had ice cream.

Summer reading fun!

Road Trips!

Hey, family! Let's go on a road trip!
Car wash first! Then lots of driving!

Let's go on a road trip to Wyoming!
Lunch at Independence Rock? Let's do it.

Uh oh. We didn't make it before Independence Day which is what the landmark was named for. Groups from both the Oregon Trail and pioneers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tried to make it there before Independence Day so that they wouldn't be caught in the snows later in the season.
Of course we had a van and we were going the opposite direction and I couldn't stop thinking about the video game we grew up with- Oregon Trail. I wasn't worried about anybody in our party getting sick or dying along the way. And our lunch was in the cooler. We didn't have to shoot a buffalo and only be able to carry some of its meat back. Ham from the grocery store is much easier. Man, life is good.

Let's go on a road trip to Montana!
It really is nice to have air-conditioning in our van. Even if we got to the hotel after midnight, it only took us a day to get to our destination from Utah. And our kids are good travelers, although a long day in the van plus too much junk food isn't the best on someone's tummy. Yay for cool air in the room.

Let's go on a road trip to North Dakota!
Never been to North Dakota before? That's okay. Neither have we. Oh, now we have. It's nice that there's a reservoir so close to the border so we had time to take a morning to find some new birds- never seen a brown thrasher before, now I've seen many- and throw rocks in the water. We also saw male and female orchard orioles.

Let's go on a road trip back to Montana...
so Jeremy can finish up his amazing balloon scene. A cowboy snoozing in the desert with landscape and animals around. Love it.

Let's go on a road trip back to Wyoming!
Good thing we went to church in a little branch 2 1/2 hours into the drive. It gave us a chance to dry off after loading the van in a downpour.

After church, we enjoyed the scenery on the drive.

Time to visit cousins! We love you guys. Thanks for letting us crash at your place overnight and play and talk all day.

Let's go on a road trip back to Utah!
Just in time to celebrate National Root Beer Float Day on August 6. Yumm!

Let's go on a road trip to Monticello!
Yeah, we'll stay in Utah this time. Such a short 5-hour drive.

Too bad someone got a bug bite that made his hand puffy and scared Mommy. Thankfully my dad was able to give me some advice over the phone that made me worry less. Also thankfully I was able to get hold of a local bishop who was able to find someone who was working across the street from our motel to come right over to help Jeremy give Jr. Jr. a blessing- also helped me to worry less. He's fine.
The fellow that helped us out even checked with us after church on Sunday to see how our little boy was doing.
The church building we went to was right next to the temple in Monticello.

Let's go on a road trip back to home!
Just in time for the neighborhood ice cream social the night we got back...

and the annual juggler's BBQ the next day.
The boys again enjoyed bouncing on the bounce house, several of us enjoyed some juggling practice (reminds me of my college days), and we all enjoyed food.

Road trips are fun! And exhausting! But we survived. Go, us!

What We Did for Eat Your Jello Day

On July 12, we went to visit cousins in Wyoming.  We love cousins in Wyoming.  The kids had fun playing together.  The adults had fun chatting together.  We had lunch and dinner together before we headed home.

 Nichole and Jr. again:

 
Since it was Eat Your Jello Day, we brought a Jello Salad to share and the fruit salad they made had Jell-O brand pudding powder sprinkled on it.

We had a nice rain storm while we were there as well.

It was good family time.