A Date with my boy

It was so great to be in Utah and see family that we haven't seen for a whole year.  That's the longest we've ever been away from Utah.  That's probably the hardest part of being in Indiana.  It is so far from both my and Jerry's families.  We feel very blessed to have been able to see both families this summer - Jerry's in May, and mine in July - but it's still hard being far enough away that we can't take a quick trip to visit.  I want my kids to know their cousins and grandparents well, so we will milk any time we get with them.  

My brother got some free tickets for a 24th of July concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Because Jerry wasn't there I got to go on a date with my handsome boy.  Seriously??!!  Isn't he such a good looking, and fun boy??  I am a lucky gal.  We had a good time.  Interestingly enough there was a little video presentation of the pioneers and their trek west that Hayden actually really liked, I'm sure having just been at Palmyra the week before, and doing our own trek west - lucky us, we got a car - and our stop at Martin's Cove made it come alive a little more for Hayden.

 These two boys are so cute.  Hayden and his cousin, Ethan are just the best of friends.  Hard to believe they are only 7 months apart, maybe Hayden will suddenly shoot up and Ethan will stop getting so tall! haha.

We went to a 24th of July party at a friend's house and got to see some great fireworks.  They had their own little soap box car that the kids had a blast riding down the hill in.

Luke and Annelise are only 2 weeks apart. 

 Umm, have I mentioned that this little girl likes to take pictures of herself?? haha

Martin's Cove and finishing the long drive!

Wednesday morning we left from Sturgis, SD and headed to Utah.  We were so excited that it was the last day in the car!  We were anxious to just get home, but we did take a small little stop at Martin's Cove in Wyoming.  I would love to go back some time, when we aren't so rushed.  There was a beautiful spirit there.  Martin's Cove is where many of the pioneers got stuck in the middle of an early winter storm that hit in October.  Many of the pioneers died. 

Rebecca pulling her own handcart

There are many of these plaques around telling stories of the pioneers.  Their strength amazes me. 

Then we got back in the car for the last 5ish hours.  

So, what do kids do in the car for 4 days??  Play with toys, rotate iPhones, and iPads every half hour.  Listen to music and books on tape.  Yell and scream every once in a while.  Eat, eat, and eat.  Spill, spill, and spill some more.  They also take lots and lots of pictures with my phone like this..

 and this...

and about 5 more just like this..

 and this

And these have to be my favorite ones - and a little worrisome too.  Seriously, she's only 5!! haha

 She loves to take pics, these are from once we got there, but had to include how cute she is.

Really, no idea where she learned to take pictures of the little kissy face?!

Mt. Rushmore

After Niagara Falls we stopped and grabbed some quick lunch then Jerry and I had to say good bye :( and we were on our way to UT.  Angela was awesome and brought all her fun ideas that she got from Pinterest that helped make the car ride more enjoyable.  We also decided to take another little detour along the way so we could see some fun things, even if it meant adding a few more hours to an already VERY LONG trip.  The first day we got all the way to my house in IN.  Even though we got here at almost 1 am, it was so nice to sleep in my own bed.  The next morning we stopped by the school to see John before heading out. I have to give my kids major props!  They really traveled so well considering 4 days in the car driving about 12 hours a day - that's including stops, etc.

We stopped at Mt. Rushmore on day 3.  Wouldn't you know it, just as we got there it started to POUR!!!  Huge rainstorm.  Not so ideal when you're going to an outdoor landmark.  The weather had been perfect up till then.  We drove up to see what we could see, and not much.  We went back down the mountain and thought about getting dinner, while the storm passed.  But there was absolutely no parking.  So we drove for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do, and suddenly the weather started to clear up.  We quickly went back up the mountain and really lucked out.  By the time we parked the weather was perfectly clear. 

 

Such hams!!

My silly kids wanted a picture of them shaking their booties - or showing the backside of Mt. Rushmore.

Yet, one more picture of Mt. Rushmore

 As we were in the gift shop just before leaving the rain started rolling in again.  By the time we got in our car it was pouring again.  We really lucked out.  I'm so glad we stopped there, even if it meant adding a few hours of driving to the trip, and driving through ugly, boring South Dakota- whole lotta nothing!!!  It was a great stop, and we were so lucky to be able to see it.

Niagara Falls

 Sunday morning my awesome sister-in-law, Angela flew into Rochester and we picked her up at the airport.  She flew out to help me drive back to Utah with the kids.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! We picked her up, gassed up, and started on our trip to Utah!  Buffalo is only a little over an hour past Rochester, and on the way to UT, and Niagara Falls was only 10 miles out of the way, and yet, another place I've really wanted to go so we stopped off at Niagara Falls.  Jerry was able to come with us, even though it meant backtracking a bit for him.  He had to drive to Boston that day to be there to work Monday morning. 
I'm so glad we went there.  It was AMAZING!!! We did stay a little longer than we'd planned, but I wish we could have even stayed longer.  We were able to go on the Maid of the Mist boat ride to see the falls up close.  WOW!  Both the US and Canadian side were so beautiful in their own ways.  We got tons and tons of pics.  Hard to narrow them down, so enjoy!!

The US side.

I think the couple behind us - who took a picture of us with their own camera btw, just because they thought we were a cute family... might have been wondering what the deal was with me AND Angela.  We really made it clear that she is married to my brother, she lives in UT, I live in IN- hopefully they didn't think we were sisterwives. heehee.

I think it's so pretty the way the water hits the rocks on the US side.

Me and Angela

Tired, tired boy, that didn't like wearing a blue poncho.

Looking over to Canada

This is a little foggy because the mist was so thick.  This is the Canadian side which is so majestic. 

Canadian side

Canadian side

Sorry Angela, I couldn't resist adding this picture.  It's my favorite!!