Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

Well, we're back from a 2 week vacation in Utah.  We had a fantastic time....except for Shane came home with the swine flu. (Self diagnosed....we'll see what the doctor says...)

Here are the highlights of our trip:

*We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House and it was b*e*a*u*t*i*f*u*l.  Abby especially loved the "temple water" (fountain out front) and Kaydee just thought the whole thing was great.

*We went swimming at the "beach" (what Kaydee called the Gunnison Bend Reservoir)  Both Kaydee and Abby had fun splashing in the water, building sand castles, and swimming in the icky fish water. (I was less than enthusiastic after having been spoiled by chlorinated pools lately....I just like being able to see what I'm walking on.....)

*We drove out to Callao to visit Uncle Don & Aunt Beth at the ranch.  Just the girls went (Greema, me, Virginia, Dorothee, Kaydee & Abby) so we had a fun road trip.  Aunt Beth took us for a tour in the Gator--Abby LOVED it.  She stood up right behind Aunt Beth and shouted "WEE!" as we drove through gulleys and blazed through cokkleburs. [intentionally mispelled to avoid censoring] She also loved all the "animals"  (both cows and horses are "animals" and there is no convincing her otherwise....although she does know that horses say "Neigh" and cows say "Moo"...go figure.)  We had a picnic in the upper field where Uncle Don was cutting hay.  Then we walked around the yard and showed the girls where we had played and climbed trees when we were growing up.  We also went through the Pony Express Station and Kaydee signed the guest book.

*We got to celebrate Pioneer Day in Hinckley--and it was AWESOME.  My dad's cousin Ted and his wife Barbara and their son Blaine came (as they do every year) and it was so good to see them. Kaydee called them "the guests."  She asked if she could sit by "the guests" at the parade.  It was hilarious.  Kaydee and Abby brought home 2 grocery sacks FULL of candy (I kid you not--the sacks were FULL).  Abby had a small mishap with her diaper midway through the parade---one of the velcro straps broke and her diaper slipped through her shorts and down her leg.  HA HA!

The speaker of the day was Elder Richard G. Hinckley  and that was REALLY neat.  He talked about our Pioneer heritage and I took Kaydee and Abby up to shake his hand after the program. 

We went to the rodeo that night--both Kaydee and Abby had a great time staying up WAY past their bedtimes.  Kaydee asked why they call it a "Hide Race" if nobody hides, and if they used "real bulls."  Abby kept saying, "This is FUN!"  and when the cowboys would come out of the shoot or the cowgirls would start the barrel races she would say, "Here we go!"  After the bulls she told Shane, "I want a bull." 

*We went up the Oak City Canyon for a "Mountainous Adventure" aka picnic in the woods and it was especially fun because Blaine was still there and joined us for dinner and games. 

We flew home Tuesday.....and now we're getting ready for school to start next week.  WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO!?!?!?

Thanks, Mom & Dad (Greema & PopPop) for a SUPER TIME!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!! (And miss you!)

There are WAY too many pictures to choose just one for the front page, so go check ALL of them out in the July Album!!