Family Pictures

Thanks to my ever-so-talented cousin Ross and his wife Katie,

we had a quick and easy photo shoot in Grandma Ginger's backyard after dinner one evening.

I'd say they did a pretty incredible job! 

Although the initial goal was to just get a big family shot,
we were able to take individual family pictures and grandkids/grandma pictures too!

Ross even snapped a couple individuals of kiddos as we were  

switching in and out of our picture places.

Audrey, Arian, Jill, Grace, Kenneth.

Duane, Rella, Kelty.

Up next...and FINALLY, our time in Provo with my family.

Sleepover with Grandma Ginger

During the first week of our stay, when we were at Kelty and Duane's house, Grandma Ginger took the two big girls for two nights and three days of fun!

They had such a blast doing a variety of fun activities including:

*Beading necklaces and bracelets.

*Taking Chica on several walks.

 

*Swimming at the local community pool.

 

* Arts and crafts.

 *Sparklers...

*Fireworks....

 

*and glow sticks.

 

On the first night they attended an International Dance Festival and were delighted

 to watch as people from all over the world performed their native dances.

 

They also attended the local farmers market and had lunch there.

 

Another fun activity was 

rock climbing at the all new and rather expansive community center.

 

And last but certainly not least, they spent an afternoon at Bridal Veil Falls  

eating a picnic, climbing and swimming.

After the falls they enjoyed ice drinks and shaving cream fun in the bathtub.

 

Boy were they wiped out after all of that fun. 

Thanks Grandma Ginger for a very memorable few days!

It was sure nice for this mother to have just two kiddos to care for during that time.

Riding Lessons

 Here are some great shots my Mom took of  

one of the two riding lessons that Aunt Kelty gifted to the girls.

When each of the girls was offered the chance  

to stand on the horse they were game!

This enthusiasm for adventure bodes well for our  

upcoming trip to Disney World in Novemeber!

At one point in her lesson Avery got a little carried away with kicking the horse, imagine that, and he took off running. 

This was enough to scare even the bravest new little rider. 

After the shock wore off she took a break for the shedding of many tears.

 Soon enough Avery was ready to hop back on the horse and stand up in the saddle.

And our sweet little horse fanatic Aspen was in heaven on those horses. 

She would circle around and around the arena  

demonstrating a variety of new horse rider tricks.

We were thankful to have an audience for the girls which included Aunt Mel, my Dad's sister.

In fact, on the second to last night of our trip Avery and Aspen had a special sleepover at Aunt Mel's house and Brinley had a special sleepover at 

Aunt Kelty and Uncle Duane's.

Brinley was thrilled to participate in a three hour long game of Monopoly and then giggle with Aunt Kelty as they drifted off to sleep.

Avery and Aspen enjoyed learning about Aunt Mel's antique dolls, watching Leave 

It To Beaver, going to a park, eating a special treat and playing with Mel's kitty.

The girls are already looking forward to their next sleepover with Aunt Mel!

So many fun memories were made in Utah! 

It's just taking a bit of time to gather pictures from various sources and document them all.

Young Family Reunion

Above are

Mandi and Darren's children.

Trayden 4

Ryler 2

and they have a baby girl on the way!

 On Saturday Daddy flew in and met us at the big girls second horse back riding lesson in Provo. From there we headed back up North for a few days with the Young Family.

The girls were thrilled to have the chance to ride horses again during the Young reunion.

Even Reese was able to have a turn riding this time. As you can see she was not the least bit intimidated by these creatures that towered above her.

The farm we rode horses at was just down the street from where 

Grandma and Grandpa Young just moved to. 

In fact we even saw locals riding horses down one of the main streets in town!

Everyone was able to have a turn, which is saying a lot for our sized group.

One afternoon we took family pictures at a park. 

I will have to see if I can get my digital hands on a copy of some.

We had the profound opportunity to sit in the company of Cody's Uncle, Jim Slade, and hear him recount stories from his days as an Army Ranger in Vietnam. What an incredible few hours it was. This indeed was one of the more special experiences we have had, to sit at the feet of one who served so nobly for our country and hear, in detail, about many of the top secret missions he carried out. We left that evening with an even greater respect and appreciation for those who serve our country.

We had lots of time to hang out together, eat 

 and get to know our nieces and nephews better.

One evening Aunt Robyn planned several fun arts and crafts for the adults and children to do.

The kids made the grandparents a tablecloth with hand-prints and colorings.

When the kids went to bed the adults made necklaces and headbands.

Here is Reese giving Aunt Robyn a smooch! 

Aunt Staci planned a movie afternoon, complete with popcorn made in a movie theater popper. She went the extra mile and also created this 

cute photo booth with props to take pictures in.

 

 Below are 

Stuart and Christie's children.

 Mason 3

 Zaylee 2

Caden 1

One morning Christie made 

all of the ladies hair into "bows."

 Above are

Mandi and Darren's children.

Trayden 4

Ryler 2

and they have a baby girl on the way!

To the left are  

Tim and Robyn's children

Maddie 5

Luke 3

And last but not least here is Cooper age 3, Staci and LP's son. They also have a baby girl named Scout who is

 shown above with Cody.

On the last day we went to a little reservoir called "The Beach," 

which is just up the road from Grandma and Grandma Young's home. 

A little sand, a little water and a lot of sun is a perfect recipe for childhood fun!!

Pictured above is Aunt Sarah.

Pictured below is Grandpa Young, Uncle Stuart, and in the background 

is Uncle Darren.

Right before heading to Provo Avery lucked out and was made into a sand mermaid with the help of several cousins, aunts and uncles.

 

 It was so good to see our Young family and spend time with them!

Off we FLEW...to Utah!

 Reese started out our very early morning flights with her typical disposition. 

I can't blame her since I was holding back tears as we waved goodbye to Daddy at security and I headed off alone with all the kids for our journey. 

 

 The pilot kindly and invited the girls into the cockpit. He even offered to hold Reese while I

snapped a picture of the big girls!

When we arrived in sunny Utah I felt a sense of victory and relief!

Kelty, Duane and Rella were there to pick us up with hugs and food for the weary travlers.

While staying at Kelty and Duane's we did several fun things beginning with  

a visit to Duane's work.  

A full service kitchen stocked with any food you could ever want, scooters to ride around the office space with and open work spaces surrounded with walls of windows and incredible views (like the one above) really does make Duane's work a FUN place to visit. Oh and did I forget to mention the game areas with mini basketball hoops, air-hockey, ping pong and video games? 

After riding scooters, eating food and playing games the 

children did not want to leave when the time came to say goodbye.

Below is one of the "decorations" at Duane's work. 

The girls also liked the talking Panda Statue.

In his free time Duane spends time with other brilliant inventors/computer dudes, in their "Hacker space building, locating in downtown SLC. I was able to hop over there one evening and it was really neat to hear about and see  

inventions coming alive there.

Here you can see a video game system Duane put together with spare parts he had around.

While Duane was at work, Kelty was a busy bee hosting the five of us!

Stories with Kelty at bedtime ended each night off so perfectly.
 

On our first full day we headed up the mountain to the 

Park City Olympic park.

It was so cool, SO COOL, to watch the athletes practice!

If you look closely you can see a ski jumper in the sky doing a  

triple spin turn dive like move.

The girls were mesmerized watching as jumper after jumper did amazing flips before landing in the pool below. We even watched little kids go off smaller jumps and land in the pool.

We rode a ski lift up the hill and watched as other skiers as they practiced 

different types of long jumping moves. 

What I have yet to tell Cody is how Reese threw a crazy tantrum when we got on the lift and I had to put her in a vice grip to save her from plummeting to the earth.

  

Then we headed back down the lift (with only a minor tantrum on the way down) and learned about the Utah Olympics at the interactive Museum. 

Soon enough we needed to rush home and put fussy Reese down for a nap.

We enjoyed yummy meals at Aunt Kelty and Uncle Duane's house...

so good that sometimes we just skipped utensil use and just chowed down.

Kelty arranged a special opportunity for each of the girls to have

two horse back riding lessons! This was a highlight indeed!

Grandma took lots of great riding pictures that I will post shortly.

To minimize the days that we needed to rent a car, we used Kelty 

and Duane's two cars to get around for the first few days.

Another fun outing was our trip to the  

Thanksgiving Point outdoor market and Dinosaur Museum.

The two big girls were enjoying a two-night slumber party at Grandma Ginger's during this outing.

Thanks Kelty and Duane for being such gracious hosts.

Your downstairs apartment was a great home for a few days!