Road Trip . . .

And now for another marathon post . . . Why does it seem that most of my few-and-far-between posts are so gargatuan? Perhaps because, for the most part, we live very regular, hum-drum lives and occasionally when something out-of-the-ordinary happens, I feel the need to document that we have, in fact, done something interesting. In this case, it was the month of July. We turned a trip to a family reunion into a month-long trek that took us from Texas, to Washington, to Idaho, to Utah, and back to Texas again. Overall we had a wonderful time, but tired mom with a new baby (who was a dream -- easiest part of the whole trip!), lots of different locations, lots of long drives, erratic bedtimes, and lack of routine made for some interesting (to say the least and I mean to really say the least) behaviors on behalf of the rest of the kids. We are still trying to get back to normal. I think I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Thankfully, the girls are good car travelers -- especially good thanks to the Leapster and portable DVD player. Mark had masterfully planned our trip to Spokane, WA: four days of 7-8 hours of driving, arrive at nice pricelined hotel, take a dip in the hotel pool, go to bed, wake up, partake of the free breakfast in the morning, stop at a park for picnic lunch, and repeat. It ended up really being quite fun. The ride home? Not quite as fun. Overall we covered roughly 4500 miles and our favorite state to drive through was Montana.

Will was a rock star throughout the whole trip, and this is how he spent most of it. I could gush and gush about what an amazing baby he is (thank goodness for my sanity's sake!!). He really only cries when he is hungry or tired, started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks, is the most calm, pleasant little fellow imaginable! I just can't express how grateful I am for his temperment and how much I love my little man!! He is also quite the young traveler. At 10 weeks old he had been to 10 different states, and his first six weeks of going to church were in six different buildings.

We hit the jackpot the last night of our roadtrip in Billings, Montana. The hotel pool looked questionable, but we all felt like we needed to vent our cooped-up energy. Mark spotted a family fun center (I think it was called Geyser Park?) and we were able to feed and entertain the whole family for 2 1/2 hours for $45! They had go carts (our favorite), a terrific inside playground (the girls complained of being cold at 70 degrees and breezy!), and these bumper boats.

A few hours before arriving in Spokane, we stopped at the incredibly picturesque ol mining town of Wallace in northern Idaho. The pine-covered mountains were spectacular and we enjoyed getting out to stretch our legs and tasting some amazing BBQ at The Smokehouse restaurant. As fun as the trip was, though, we were all ecstatic to reach Spokane and be welcomed by family!

Spokane: Family Reunion

Last year, our family reunion was at Jennifer's and Matt's in Dallas. This year, Emily and Isaac hosted the family in Spokane, WA at Isaac's parent's house. Isaac's parents were so incredibly kind to vacate their dream house for a week so that the whole Ward clan could come crashing in with all of their little kids in tow. They were so, so very wonderful -- an amazing, humbling example of kindness and generosity. We are all so grateful to them for helping to facilitate our getting together! The setting is so beautiful, set on a hill among wheat fields, and Isaac's mom, Anne, is an amazing decorator. The house had so many beautiful touches. It was like having a resort all to ourselves.

Mark and Dave battling it out on the tennis court.

The pool was the girls' favorite part.

Will and Grammie

The girls with Auntie Em and Lucy

Mark, Will, and Isaac at Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane.

Abby playing on the blocks at Riverfront Park.

Abby on the giant Red Flyer wagon slide at Riverfront Park

Jane and Lucy

Aunt Miffy and Jane on the carousel at Riverfront Park

Will meeting his cousin Jane Hawkins for the first time. Jane is 5 weeks older.

She might be five weeks older, but she's not much heavier and not much longer. He is a big boy!

The girls went on their first hike ever during a visit to Couer d'Alene, Idaho with Grammie and Grandpa and Uncle Dave.

With Uncle Dave at the city park in Coeur d'Alene ( the mouse on the Moose's antler is named Millie).

Grammie, Emily, and Aunt Miffy

Jane and Emma taking a bath

Emily playing the piano. I just loved the moment with the setting sun coming through the windows.

Silly cousins Emma, Lucy, and Jane

Idaho

Mark had to return to work after Spokane and so I went with the kids to Pocatello, Idaho to spend a week with Mark's parents. Here we are at the zoo. Unfortunately, most of the animals were taking their naps. I was so happy to be able to meet up with one of my dearest friends from high school, Leslie, who lives in Rexburg. We hadn't seen each other for about 7 years and it was so good to get caught up! She is such a lovely, loving, amazing woman! (And major apologies to all of my friends who I didn't end up being able to see! I'm so sorry it didn't work out! Things ended up getting so crazy when we arrived in UT!)

And the kids got along splendidly . . .

Emily was able to fulfill her year-long dream of having a lemonade stand (in Texas the weather makes it a little prohibitive for us to sit out in the heat for hours). We made all of the plans the night before and woke up to find that the neighbors across the street were having a garage sale! The girls were thrilled with their venture.

Spending time with Great-Grandma Berrey

Pioneer Day!

I was so glad to be in Salt Lake for Pioneer Day so that the girls could get a taste for what it is all about. We loved visiting "This is the Place" Park the day before Pioneer Day with Grammie, Aunt Sara and Cannon (who weren't able to join us in Spokane), and Sara's sister Lindsey and her kids.

The girls enjoyed riding the train with Grammie . . .

And they loved the pony rides . . .

and they got a huge kick out of the candy cannon that shot salt water taffy out into Main Street

My memories of the Days of '47 Parade include walking blocks from the car to the parade site, jostling through the crowds to find a spot where we could see, and then sitting in the hot sun for several hot hours (although it was fun and exciting nonetheless). I didn't know if I could quite manage to traipse down to Salt Lake from Midway with all of the kids and fight the crowds, but my mom, and I decided that it was worth it for the girls to have the experience and it was perfect! We found a spot on the steps of a Methodist church in the shade where the girls could clearly see all of the action unimpeded and a parking place steps from it. It was so much fun!

Visiting Grammie and Temple Square

A must for every visit to Utah is spending time with my Grammie -- the kids' Great-Grammie Virginia. Grammie is an angel and always has been. She has a beaming smile and a loving heart. Unfortunately, the past few months have seen a decline in her mental acuity, but we had a tender visit with her after the parade and enjoyed introducing her to little Will.

After visiting Grammie, we had lunch at the Lion House Pantry (where I used to occasionally go with my dad for my birthday lunches) and took a tour through Brigham Young's Beehive house. We then tooled around Temple Square enjoying the peace and the gorgeous gardens.

Jane offering me a "sunny" flower.

We went up to the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which looks down on the temple and Jane pointed to the Angel Moroni and said, "Look at that trophy!" I guess we need to talk a little bit more about Angel Moroni.

Jane took this picture in the Tabernacle and the girls thought it was neat that they could clearly hear a pin drop on the stand even though we were way in the back.

My favorite place on Temple Square

Utah . . .

After so much traveling and packing and unpacking, it was such a relief to spend two weeks at my Aunt Sally's summer house in Midway, UT (thank you, Aunt Sally!). I grew up spending many summer days in Midway at my Ward grandparents' summer home and so it feels like home. There is nothing on earth quite like the freshness of Midway air and the quiet peacefulness of the town. It is one of my most favorite places on earth and the home of so many treasured memories! The girls loved it, too, and it was a chance for us to try to get caught up a little on sleep and rest. Not only is there nothing like Midway air, there is nothing like the fresh smell of Midway after a mountain rain storm. Luckily, it rained several times while we were there. The girls took the opportunity of an afternoon storm to don their swimsuits and run around in the rain.

Nearly every year since I was 8 until Mark and I moved away from Utah, I have hiked Mount Timpanogas with my family. It is my dad's favorite mountain and so once a year, usually Labor Day weekend, we would wake up bright and early, drive down to Utah Valley, and begin our hike. It was a full day affair. We would stop at each of the major waterfalls, have lunch amid the wildflowers on the banks of glacier-fed Emerald Lake, and push on to the windy summit overlooking all of Utah Valley. Then we would cruise down the mountain with my dad singing silly German songs he learned on his mission and stop for fresh fruit shakes at a fruit stand in Orem on our way home. Sweet, sweet memories. So, Miffy and I decided that we would tackle the trail to the first waterfall with the kids. It was a definite highlight of the trip and so good to be back in the mountains!

My little hikers

Miffy and Abby on the rocks by the waterfall

The cooling mist was so refreshing! We sat on the rocks and ate snacks and just enjoyed the total peace and beauty!

Miffy had the idea to visit the Great Salt Lake before we were to pick Mark up from the airport (since they are in the same neighborhood). It had been years and years since I had been there and we all thought it would be fun. We parked by old Saltair and trekked across the salt flats to the water. The stench and lake flies were awful, but the alway-intrepid Miffy led the girls into the lake where they had a ball wading and floating. Katie kindly took Will back to the car and out of the heat. I stayed on the shore and tried to take pictures with my woefully inadequate point-and-shoot camera. We followed it up with some salt water taffy from the gift shop which almost made us forget the stench and the flies.

We spent our second-to-last day in Park City where we had so much fun eating pizza on main street and taking a ride on the alpine slide.

We then blitzed down to Millcreek canyon to make it to Aunt Sara's sister's wedding. It was worth pulling over to the side of the road to change into our best clothes so that we could see Matt and spend time with him, Sara, Cannon, Katie, and Miffy.

Will and Aunt Katie

We enjoyed breakfast the next morning with Matt, Sara, Cannon, Katie, and Miffy. We had to cram in as much family time as possible since we only see each other pretty much once a year!

The girls with Uncle Matt

Mark and I then dashed off to my Jerusalem reunion (hard to believe it was 16 years ago that we were there!)where we had a lovely, lovely time catching up with good friends and wonderful people! It was so wonderful to reconnect and hear about how and what everyone is doing. Jerusalem was such a life-changing experience for me. It was great to relive some of the memories.

As we were packing up to pull out that evening, our sweet, dear friends, Mike and Jen Thomas (who had just arrived in Salt Lake with their four boys that morning) drove out to see us. It meant so much to have them come! It has been three years since we have seen each other and it was so wonderful to get caught up!! There is nothing like good friends who love and accept you for who you are -- foibles, quirks, and all. I just wish I could have seen more of said friends on this trip! Next time, though, when there is no new baby in the mix.