Thursday, June 12, 2008

My thoughts exactly


This about sums up how we all felt at the end of the journey!! It was great to get out and travel through this beauty that is around us. It was great to have my parents with us. Traveling with family is great, but is is always great to get back home!!!




Last stop of the journey was Jackson Hole, Wyoming. My mom was feeling very lousy about this time, so she slept in the car, but we went to Jackson Hole. Eric took the kids to the rec center where there is a great inside swimming pool and play area for the kids. After walking through the shops with my dad, he insisted on me getting this hat. I kept eyeballing it as we walked by, kind of fun. I'm not a real hat person, but at the moment, it just felt fun!! After picking up Eric and the kids, we drove a little out of town to see the impressive, massive Grand Teton mountain range. It just pops out at you when you go around a corner of highway. Very magestic!!!

Fort Bridger, Wyoming





This was a neat stop of the journey. Fort Bridger in Wyoming. One of the trading places and forts that the church bought on their journey west. This was the place (at least that what the plaque said) where the church built the "Mormon wall", and then burned their places when Johnston's army were coming. So, there was a recreation of the actual trading post, but all the smaller houses were not there, just signs and pictures. It was still a beautiful green place. There is a museum there as well. It was a pretty good sized place, and I am sure served for a great place for the church to rest and the army used it as well.

Pictured to the left is my dad, Halee and Ethan behind a hand cart. Then Jeffrey riding at the kids' part, and lastly was an actual covered wagon that was left at the trading post. Gave you a great idea of just how meager the mode of travel was for the pioneers. How different from our cars that run on gas by themselves that have air conditioning, leather seats and even tv's to pass the time!!!

Feeding the prairie dogs




If you ask my kids their favorite part of the trip, they will say feeding the prairie dogs. This was a rare, and very cool experience. We were driving from Utah to western Wyoming and enjoying the beauty of it. We pulled over to this rest area for a potty and stretch break. I don't remember which kid started it, but someone sat on this wall with some goldfish. A prairie dog came up behind them, then two, then four and they just kept coming!! They were feeding them goldfish and popcorn right out of their hands. The hillside was just moving with tons of prairie dogs. These little guys were not a bit hesitate or afraid of us. They were also very plump, I am sure they haven't figured out that we provide them with many yummy, sugary treats!!! As we were leaving, another family was enjoying feeding them as well. Very cute animals, and a fun treat for the kids to enjoy this. Pictured is Halee and Papaw Britton beginning with a prairie dog, middle is Jeffrey hand feeding a dog, and a shot of how plump these guys were!!

Farmington, Utah


This is my mom and dad at the Farmington, Utah cemetary. Or actually, it was a park just across the road from the cemetary (you can see a peek in the back). My dad's parents are buried here, so whenever we have been in the area, we would come to the cemetary and find their gravesites. I am now kicking myself because I didn't take any still pictures. I was busy doing the video camera that my mom is looking at in the picture, I didn't think to take still pictures as well. This is always a hallowed moment when we find their resting places. The cemetary was absolutely beautiful with a flower arrangement on EVERY grave in the cemetary. It was the day after Memorial Day, so we figured it was a youth activity or something to provide beautiful flowers for everyone here. It sure made it stand out. The grass was so green, and it was a cool sunny day. Perfect weather.

More zoo fun




The kids loved playing on the animal playground at the zoo. First is Halee being a turtle, I laughed so hard I could barely take the picture. Something struck my funny bone when she did that, I couldn't stop laughing. Next is Dallin on the big alligator, and Dallin again inside a huge spider web made out of ropes. That was really cool, I think we should make one of those in our yard when the new house is done!! Very cool.

Hogle zoo




After leaving "This is the Place' we drove across the street to the Hogle Zoo. Once again, there were school buses, but we went in anyway. There was no way the kids were getting in the car again after being teased with the zoo. It is a great zoo now. I haven't been there since they put in a whole other addition to it. We didn't go through all of it, we were done and tired about halfway through. They now have a train that takes you around the zoo, so the kids were fine with not walking the whole way. It was fun to have my parents along with us. Altough my mom was having a hard time walking and feeling bad, we still enjoyed having her there. Pictured to the left is half of Eric and Dallin, behind them is Ethan and Jeffrey and behind them is my mom and then my dad on the train. Middle picture is Eric and Dallin on the train, and last picture is Dallin talking to the monkey. He loved that!!

This is the place




After picking my parents up from the Salt Lake City airport, we found a fun little Motel 6 outside the city for the night. The next day, we were going to take them to "This is the place." We haven't been there since before I was married. I went when I taught in Bountiful, but not with my family. Well, it was a good idea, but it was also the last week of school, and so there was about 5 buses there for field trip day. Needless to say, we didn't go in. We just walked around the monument and looked at the scenery. My mom was already having a hard time with the altitude, so they were fine with that.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

More to come

Geez, I haven't been posting on here for awhile. I have been busy having my parents in town, and driving all over the countryside seeing the sights, now I am a busy bee planning and planning for girl's camp next month. I try very hard to keep the house decent, and the kids doing their chores and playing outside, but I haven't even looked at the computer, or at least the email part of it, for a while. I will post pictures of our travels when I get a chance. =)