24th of July Celebration...

We went back to Blackfoot, the kids and I, to spend some more time with Greg and Wendy. The kids just enjoy being at Grandma and Grandpa's house and so when Grandma gave them the option of going to the park or staying at her house, they opted to stay there and they had the best time playing in the backyard! She got out the little pool and they played in the sprinkler. Then they got to pick peas and got so into it that soon they had picked them all and then Greg had Luke pull the plants out. He worked diligently and got paid for his efforts. Emma say the money exchange and decided she too wanted to be helpful, so she swept the walks.

Then they had a surprise visit by "Billy Bob". Greg dresses up in the funniest overalls and the funniest fake teeth and a hat with hair and he had them all fooled! Gavin wouldn't get close to him!

Great Grandpa Rose was honored at the Ogden Rodeo because it was cowboy days, so we went and enjoyed that.

Chrystal's husband Chris held BOTH Luke and Gavin so they could try to get a t-shirt!

We went back to Park Valley for the July 24th celebration. It is quite the event there....you start out with a great breakfast, then there is the program at the church. This year they played "Win It in A Minute"...there were all kinds of games that you have to try to do in a minute, Emma got picked to go up for one and she won! Then there is lunch, then all the races, which the kids loved! They got to do the foot race, the three legged race, and the wheel barrow race, and then the rodeo. Emma got to ride a sheep and Luke was brave enough to do the calf riding. I think I was more freaked out then the kids. Bill tried to hold on to Emma but her sheep pulled a tricky maneuver and got away from him. She ended up riding a good distance! When the first kid got out on those calves I was amazed at how big they were and I tried to convince Luke to back out :) He was tough and said he was still riding. He did a great job too and Bill's friend held onto him so he wouldn't get hurt too bad :) Bill was in the rodeo and gave us a scare. He and Amber were participating in the ribbon races where Bill lasso's the calf and then Amber goes and pulls the ribbon off it's tail. Well when he did get the calf by the neck, he was leaning one way and the horse another, and the horse slipped and both of them went down. The horse actually LANDED on Bill! He was on top of him for about 5 minutes before they could get him off in a way that wouldn't crush Bill. It was the scariest 5 minutes! You didn't know if Bill was even alive under there! They put him in the ambulance and rushed him to the hospital. (Rush meaning an hour drive to Tremonton). It was a relief when they called from the ambulance and we could hear Bill's voice. He said he had a bad head ache and his knee really hurt. It ended up that he broke his collar bone is all! The next morning when we saw him the first thing he asked Emma was how her shoulder was after falling so hard off her sheep! Hmmmm, that is the perfect example of how selfless and sweet Bill is! Here he is in a sling and all bunged up and he is worried about little Emma :)

They honored Grandpa at the program for turning 80 this year!

Matt's cute cousins Hannah, Whitney, Katelyn, and Chrystal

Kate and Luke were buds!

Aubrey and Emma at the rodeo!

Then it was back to Salt Lake for a day or two before we flew home. It was sooooooooo fun to be able to go to lunch with my friend Jodi Eldredge Fountaine and her husband Don. I have been friends with Jodi since the 2nd grade when she moved in. Her husband Don and I were great friends in high school.

And then the sad day came when we had to leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was hard to say goodbye to my mom! But what a great trip filled with wonderful memories!!

Week 4

Our final week we made it out to Tooele to have lunch with my Aunt Pat and cousin Wendy. We usually pop in and pop out, but this time we had such a special trip! My Aunt Pat said she wanted to take us to the Tooele Pioneer Museum. They have a picture of my Great Great Grandpa Gillespie. (I'm actually not sure how many "Greats") We saw the most interesting things....like this floral art piece made from the hair of "The John Gillespie Family".


There was this really cool old cabin that they had moved to the museum...

The first piano brought to Utah by ox by Brigham Young....

And this is the old jail where next to it hangs a picture of my relative John Gillespie, who was the sheriff...

The museum was actually not open that day, but my Aunt Pat knows the guy who runs it and he opened it up so we could see the picture of John Gillespie. He was so nice and he let the kids pull on this big rope and it rang the bell that is outside on the top of the building!

After the museum Aunt Pat took us to the cutest little candy shop and she bought each of the kids a treat.

And we couldn't leave Tooele without driving past my Grandma's old house where my dad grew up. It was so weird to see and it brought back floods of memories.

MORE catching up with old friends...I got to see 2 of my great girlfriends from High School...Wendi and Racie!!!!!!

And Matt Brown stopped by too!

And then lunch with my old Young Women's leader and GREAT friend Ruth Cooper!

It was a wonderful trip of reconnecting with old friends that I love, and spending quality time with my parents, and seeing all the different family members!

Week 3

With Matt gone, the rest of the trip was spent catching up with my old friends! I had the best time going through my old boxes of stuff where I found old letters, journals, and pictures. I couldn't get enough! One night I stayed up until about 3:00 reading my journals. And then I spent the next day in my pj's the whole day! When we got on Skype with Matt (where we can see each other on the web cam), at the end of the conversation Matt says "Kids, remind mommy to shower everyday" :) ha ha ha! I could have spent the rest of the trip relaxing at my mom's and reading old letters! It was so nice and I felt like I was home again!

Cute little Brynlie and her friends had a pirate party fundraiser. I was so impressed! She had about 26 kids and they had all kinds of activities planned. My kids loved it.

We went to the Children's Museum...

And I got to go out to lunch my old companion KATIE BASTIAN!!!!!

My other old companion IRINA and her cute family stopped by my mom's for a visit. She has 2 year old twins and a 1 year old! Talk about busy :)

Then we made a trip to St. George to see my brother Scott and his family. I LOVE spending time with them....I always leave being soooooooo impressed with my cute nieces and nephews. They are so talented, righteous, and I love how they treat my kids so cute.

Dallen pulled out this hilarious wig that reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite!

We went to the Tuacahn Theater and saw Tarzan! It was awesome! (VERY hot, but thank goodness to Scott, we were well stocked with water)

We ran into the Sandalls there!

Devin and Dallen took Gavin "jogging". He STILL talks about how he went running with them :)

As we were saying goodbye Danny asked Gavin for a kiss. Gavin kissed him and then Danny said this is an Eskimo kiss and he showed him how to rub noses. And then he taught him a butterfly kiss....and he fluttered his eye lashes. And then Gavin says "Now let's have out teeth kiss!" And he moves forward to put his teeth on Danny's! Ha ha ha it was so funny! Let's just say that Gavin was NON-STOP entertainment for Scott's family. Scott later emailed me and said that they are continuously quoting Gavin and his funny little sayings like "That's u-sgusting!"