Utah Road Trip - Part 2 - CACHE VALLEY

We have spent so many years in Cache Valley for the 4th of July. This year, we stayed with Lauriann's cousin, Tami and her husband, Brian. We had the best time we have ever had up there. We had so much cousin time and enjoyed how flexible they were--even in the middle of a family baptism. On the way up, we stopped at the new Brigham City temple. It was fun to see it being built!






We were able to go to Grandma Bodily's home for a bit, too. It was fun to see it--it looks so much the same, but is so different at the same time, without her there. Garn and his new wife have really kept it up while making it their own place. The kids got to go on a ride with Garn and Lauriann's cousin Brett in Garn's golf cart...they really got a kick out of that! On they way out of town, we got to stop at the Lewiston cemetery to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bodily's gravesite, too.






The Lewiston parade was cold this year--started raining and everything. This is so different that what we have in California--it is always hot on the 4th of July. But, it was fun. It cleared a little later in the day and we had a lot of fun with the Braeggers at their home. The kids played in their 'hideout,' rode horses, played on the swings, found a little snake and just enjoyed being on a farm. We headed back to Tami and Brian's that evening and played and did fireworks. That was the end to a really fun 4th of July!
















After a few more days enjoying cousins and Cache Valley, it was time for us to head home. I always like to extend trips, so we stopped in Park City on the way home. Read Part 3 of our Utah trip to see what fun we had on the way home!

Utah Road Trip - Part 1 - ON THE WAY UP

We haven't been to Utah for several years, so we decided it was time to go again this summer. Utah during the 4th of July is particularly fun, especially because there is so much family to visit with. We had a great time, which is why this post is so long!

We started out with a stop in Las Vegas to visit our good friends, Tyler and Christina, and their two kids. We had left pretty early in the morning with the intention of getting there a little after noon. Little did we know that we would have quite a long detour near Baker...we had just passed the town and being summer, it was 118 degrees. Traffic slowed for some unknown reason and as soon as we braked, we blew a tire! Luckily, we called AAA and we were able to be towed after waiting for about 90 minutes back to Baker, where we got a new tire and were on our way again. Thank goodness the car still ran, because we had air conditioning and the DVD player. The detour was actually pretty adventurous...we didn't know that it was legal for towing companies to put you on the back of a flatbed tow truck while you sat in the car. We had a blast doing it--and if you've ever been on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, it felt pretty similar to that. Below are the pictures of that quick part of our adventure and the culprit for the blown tire. Once we were fixed, we went on to Vegas and had a nice visit with Tyler and Christina.

After Vegas, we were off to Provo. We wanted to show the kids the town, temple, MTC and BYU and it was a good place to stop for us, so we stopped there for a night before moving on to my cousin's home in Roy.

Over the summer, Kylie had the chance to participate in a play put on by our stake about the Mormon pioneers and their struggles as they crossed the plains to the Salt Lake valley. She played a little girl named Bodil Mortensen. This little Danish girl has become the symbol for pioneer children and their hard work and dedication in the pioneer movement. There is a statue of her at This is the Place National Monument in Salt Lake, so we stopped there before heading to my cousin's house so we could find this statue. We had a nice time there, but it was getting ready to rain so we didn't stay too long.

We had a great time in Roy with my cousin, Laurie, her husband, PJ, and their four daughters, Kaitlyn, Sydney, Jaycee and Tessa. My Aunt Marcia lives with them, too, so it was fun to see all of them. We wish they lived in California--they are just so much fun! Our kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins, going to their Vacation Bible School and being spoiled by their Aunt! We always seem to have a cool thunderstorm when we are there...and the sleepovers, video games, sprinkler fun, dogs and ice cream never hurt!

After Roy, we were off to Cache Valley for fun with Lauriann's family--See Part 2! Thanks to Laurie and family for such a great time this summer!

We love our Daddy!

Father's Day was really fun this year. We spent the weekend doing some of David's favorite things - watching airplanes at LAX, eating at In n' Out for lunch, and spending the rest of the day at the beach nearby. We decorated the car windows just to embarass him, and he almost insisted that we take another car to church on Sunday morning. No way - we had a great time watching people's reactions as we drove by. We just wanted to make sure he knew how special he is!

We had to show all sides of the car, because Kylie, Chad, and Cameron each had a part in decorating one of the windows. :) We have used these window crayons around the house many times since then, and they have been a lot of fun to have around!