Utah trip

After the Simpson Reunion, we went back to Gayle and Randy's for the night. We went to Sacrament Meeting the next morning and saw some old friends (part of our old ward). We were able to spend Father's Day Morning with them which was nice. Pretty much the rest of the day was not celebrated, except calling my dad and J to wish them a happy day. We wouldn't see J for a few more days and had just left dad the night before. Even though we didn't celebrate Father's day in the traditional sense, I feel very blessed that I have a wonderful father and a great relationship with him, J has a wonderful father that I love and respect greatly and I picked the Best dad for our kids! ;)

We left around noon to meet up with Jake and Olivia. They were going to carpool with me to Utah. I was very grateful for them. It eased my mind to have someone around who could help if we needed it. And caravaning with a motorhome hauling a trailer is not an easy task. We drive slower! But, every time I apologized, they said no problem....Most of the kids rode in the motorhome together, which was fun, and for awhile Jake drove it so I could visit with Olivia in the Suburban. It was a fun trip. We got stuck in a severe rain storm (which is saying a lot for a PNWener!) and some high winds. But we made it. We stayed at Jake's that night. When we got to their house Olivia whipped out a cake for him birthday! and Father's day mixed, I guess. We had fun.
The next afternoon I headed to Carrie and Lori's. We stayed there for a few days. The first order of business was giving Lori a haircut. She wanted it shorter, but not too short ( Matt likes it long). We realized if she went a little shorter than she figured Matt would not freak out over, she could donate her hair to Locks of Love. She has beautiful, wavy red hair, so we figured it would be a treasure for someone. We chopped 11 inches off....and got this:
It was gorgeous on her! We were excited.
Ellie got in on the excitement and also wanted to donate her hair! so, We cut 12 inches off her head. She has always had long beautiful hair. It is almost her trademark, if you don't count her long skinny legs! But she was brave. Carrie, on the other hand was freaking a bit...but she got over it very quickly...

Because Ellie looked soo adorable and grown up in her new cut! I didn't get a shot of her ponytail. But it was long! When we were done she went around the neighborhood showing off her new do! She was soo excited. One of the neighbor girls also came over interested in getting hers cut to donate as well, but must have decided to wait a bit.

One the last night we went over to Judd and Sherrie's. They had a dutch oven dinner, which was wonderful. chicken in a yummy sauce, potatoes with bacon, cheese and some veggies. Carrie made her dutch oven zucchini with butter and parmesan which is a family favorite. I made rolls and forgot to add salt...whoops....

Sherrie tried a recipe for a dutch oven turtle cake, which ended up more like a hot fudge sauce for the ice cream. not sure what happened there, but it did not work. Oh well. didn't get photos of all the dutch ovens on the back patio, but it was very impressive.

Carrie brought her gell nail kit, so was working away on a few people, Kas included, which Jackson looked on.

Here is my tom boy showing off her poor, unfortunate knees....she kept falling and banging them up! Kas says they are not poor or unfortunate....but strong! I think we won't have to worry about her wearing mini skirts when she is older though! ;)

The boys loved jamming out with Glenn in their theater.



Carrie and I helped Lori refinish a hutch she found. It is going to look awesome. but I didn't get to see it finished. I should check and see if she has it done yet. It is amazing what a paint job can do to update a piece of furniture!

This is a common scene on Lori's couch.

Anyways, we had a great time. It went way too quickly. I love my family so much and love hanging out with them. It is hard to live so far away from all our family. But we will cherish the times we do have together. Next up is the Warthen Reunion. J worked until wed morning. He drove all day to Caldwell, and then decided to continue on and meet us at Judd's so he wouldn't have to ride in the heat. Every few hours he would call or text me so I wouldn't worry, so it wasn't a restful night for either of us. He was happy for the bike ride, though, and I was very happy to see him. on to Heber!