Busy Weekend

This weekend we attended a fun Stake Activity. We had a luau (with a pig) that was done by a Sister Missionary that baptized several people from our area 30 years ago. She even named some of her kids from people she baptized in the Rome, Georgia Ward so many years ago. They came back to Georgia and gave us a great show. This is as close to the Islands as we are going to get.

Fun times in Salt Lake

After taking our family reunion, we finished the week in Salt Lake. We were able to see the rest of our family and friends. (Sorry friends I didn't get any pictures of you.) We stayed up half the night laughing and talking about all the good times. How we miss you and love our barbeque's.

Justin and I were able to spend a day with McKenna and take her to the Salt Lake Temple for the first time to do baptisms. That was a day we will never forget.




We also were able to attend the Days of 47 parade on the 24th of July. It was good to just be with family, relax and enjoy the sights. It was so fun to see Alex, Sydney and Jack. They are our friends that just moved to Provo from Georgia.



We were able to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Hill and enjoy a fun day at the Lehi pool. The kids loved playing with all the Star Wars toys Grandmas has collected over the years. We spent a few days there after they returned from Yellowstone.

We were able to spend some fun times with Grandma Monson. We got to go to our favorite place and eat Sconecutter food. We spent some time at Murray Park and ate some real good ice cream. The kids had a blast when Grandma spun them around until they were dizzy using the playground equipment.

Our highlight of the trip was Grandma Johnson's 85th birthday. The menu was dedicated to all of Grandma's favorite foods for us to enjoy. It turned out great. The kids enjoyed running around the yard. It was so fun to be able to spend the day with her. I am glad we were there for the her birthday.

Family Reunion

Well it has been a fun summer. We were able to have a family reunion up at Yellowstone National Park. When I was trying to figure out how many people were with us, it took me a good 10 minutes to get some kind of count. I thought I had the number straight until I figured out that I did not count a whole family so I had to recount. We had 45 people with us. Did I get everyone? Email me if I missed you. Talk about a BIG FAMILY. Top that! We have had this all planned for quite some time. Did it all live up to our expectations? stopping at every gas station on the way up to Yellowstone, Mosquitos and 20 bottles of OFF, feeding and cleaning up for an army, enough people in our family to sink the boat to Jenny Lake, dirt everywhere, disturbing the peace, kids running around like wild animals, the joy of many opinionated people in our family, a powerful thunderstorm, sleeping on the hard ground, trying to fit everyone in the few vehicles we had, and a long drive (and for some a long plane ride also).

The things we loved about our family reunion:

*Elk, Deers and Bears (oh my!)
*pictures, pictures and more pictures
*Ryan's slide show
*Old Faithful
*Campfire with smores
*Swimming and boating in Yellowstone and Jenny Lake
*Dutch Oven Cooking
*A little bit of Grace (Grace's baby blessing in the campground at Colter Bay)
*Justin's art work during the trip
*a $3.00 shower at Colter Bay
*Madeline practicing her music on the way up for her July 24th Tabernacle Choir Concert with Donny and Marie
*visiting Jackson Hole, Wyoming
*two $8.00 cake mixes from the grocery store for peach cobbler (Yum!) Thanks Dave!
*phone and internet services in Evanston, Wyoming to be able to call our Stake President back after several attempts to reach us
*Family from all over the country
Georgia
Connecticut
Arkansas
Utah
Idaho
Nevada
California
PRICELESS!!!!!!!!

Hike at Jenny Lake

Dad getting dinner ready

The kids in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The kids at Old Faithful

Boating in front of the Grand Tetons