Utah Trip

My husband is the BEST!  This past weekend he sent me on a trip to Utah to attend some important family events.  He was such a sweetheart.  We had some frequent flyer miles, so he told me to just book the ticket, take Isla, and go.  

My brother Zach graduated with honors from the University of Utah.  He is now an engineer….. and starts his Master's program next week.  We are so proud of him.

My cousin, Janelle, got married in the Salt Lake Temple.  We are so happy for her!  And we are happy to welcome Robbie into the family.  We Gibbs girls don't settle, so we know he has to be pretty awesome to have snatched Janelle.  :)

On the many trips to Salt Lake, we drove Grandpa and Grandma Gibbs with us in the van.  Isla held Grandma's hand and it helped her stop crying.  Grandma then rubbed Isla's feet, which put her to sleep.  (Isla is so much like her daddy!  She loves to have her feet rubbed.)  I love my Grandma.  She is so sweet.

 The reception was held outdoors and it was a bit chilly, so we went inside Robbie's parent's house.  Grandma and Grandpa held Isla and snuggled with her… until she started getting fussy.  It had been a busy day.

 I saw my brother, Jens, at the reception.  He had grown a mustache during 'March Mustache Madness.'  Not only did he decide to keep his mustache, but he bought some wax to tweak up the ends for special occasions.  Oh how I miss my brothers!!

 On Sunday before church, we met Zach and Stacie to go see little  Kaisen's grave.  He is buried right next to Grandpa and Grandma Montgomery.  I started bawling as soon as Mom and I drove into the cemetery.  When I got out of the van, Zach said, "Why are you crying?"  I am often amazed at how strong Zach and Stacie are, even though I know they have a hole in their hearts even bigger than the one in my own.  We love you Kaisen and will never forget you.  You and Isla are our little cousin-twins.

Monday morning, we got up bright and early to catch our flight back home.  Isla was absolutely fabulous on the airplane ride home.    It was great!  She slept most of the time.  I sat in the window seat.  My 'row companions' also were very quiet, as they were sleeping off hangovers from a recent trip to Las Vegas.  I was able to kick back and finish reading Mockingjay without any interruption.

Andy picked us up from the airport.  Isla told him all about her Utah adventures.

Get Air!

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"Andy and the boys flying high
with Jens and their cousins at Get Air,
a trampoline park in Utah."

Pappy's Swing

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"Pappy's Swing"
(taken at Utah)

The boys have spent many an hour swinging on the swings that Pappy (and my brothers) helped to put in the trees in my parents' backyard.  We've had a few issues with sharing (4 boys, 2 swings= minor problems).  

Wiped Out

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"Abric sleeping through church. Yesterday was a big day."

Yesterday was such a long day.   We woke up at 5AM (EST) to catch our flight at 7AM.  Thanks to gaining two hours, we all arrived in SLC at 10:30AM (MST).  We grabbed some lunch, went home to Mom and Dad's house.  We showered quick and changed clothes for the funeral.  The funeral was at 3PM.  We went to the church house about 5:30 PM for a dinner that the ward had prepared.  We visited with our cousins and then came back to Mom and Dad's.  Connor and Logan came over and the boys played and played while we visited with Jens, Tiffany, Zach and Stacie.  The boys got into their jammies and were in bed by 8PM.  Technically we had all be up since 3AM (MST).
This is why Abric slept through most of church today.  

Leaving Philly

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"On board and all ready to go!"

Nauvoo

Nauvoo- beautiful city with so much history that it is almost magical. Something happens to a family when they go to Nauvoo. Not only do they go back in time, but they feel the love, spirit, and testimonies of the people who lived there.
We were able to meet up with my uncle Richard, aunt Lori, and Lori's brother's family. Here is Ewan playing with Maggie and Ian. They got along so well and had so much fun playing while we went to the temple.
Harrison in front of a sun stone from the original temple, which was built in 1846. It was destroyed and then later rebuilt in 2002. Pres. Hinckley gave a great talk about rebuilding the Nauvoo Temple. Click HERE to read it. My favorite quote from that talk is

Today, facing west, on the high bluff overlooking the city of Nauvoo, thence across the Mississippi, and over the plains of Iowa, there stands Joseph’s temple, a magnificent house of God. Here in the Salt Lake Valley, facing east to that beautiful temple in Nauvoo, stands Brigham’s temple, the Salt Lake Temple. They look toward one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake.

The Nauvoo Temple stands on a hill overlooking part of the city. On those grounds are two statues of Joseph Smith and his older brother, Hyrum. I love these statues. I hope that my boys will grow up to love and support each other as Joseph and Hyrum did.
Before the Nauvoo Pageant began, they have lots of pioneer activities for the spectators to participate in. The boys raced in potato sacks. (I think Harrison was holding his own with the bigger boys.)

Played tug-o-war.

Rode/Pulled a handcart.

Sawed a log of wood.

Stick wrestled.

Just before the sun goes down, the pageant begins. It tells the story of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in their city, Nauvoo, IL.
My cousin, Adam, was in the pageant. My boys loved spending time with him and his cousin MacInlay.
After the pageant: l to r: Lori, Richard, Nicole, Andy, Abric, Zane, me, Harrison, Adam, and Ewan.
It was so hard to say good-bye, both to Nauvoo and to my family. We don't know when yet, but we will definitely be back!

Back on the Road: Day 2

We spent the night in Kearney, NE, which is exactly halfway between Boston and San Francisco, in case you were wondering. That is just one of the fascinating facts I found out about Kearney while the boys swam and I did the laundry. This museum straddles I-80.
We stopped in Winter Quarters for lunch, just outside of Omaha, NE. This is where the Mormon Pioneers stayed during the winter of 1846-47.
We went inside the visitor's center for a tour. The boys got to dress up like pioneers.

First, we said good-bye to Nauvoo.

Then we packed our wagons to get ready for the trek.

We got to go inside a cabin that would usually house two families.

The boys got to spin a wagon wheel to see how the odometer worked.

The boys got to pull a handcart.

They also got to go into the bottom of a ship that would bring saints from England and Europe. One family only had one bunk to live in during the 3 month trip.

A pioneer with a wink and a smile.

Back on the Road

The time had come to head back East. We decided to leave from the cabin and cut off that western corner of Wyoming and head straight up a scenic highway into Evanston. The plan was to get back on I-80 from there. The drive was beautiful, it saved us about 1 1/2 hours, and we even had an unusual experience on the highway. We saw a herd of sheep coming toward us.

We rolled the windows down so the boys could hear them bleating.
We had to stop until they passed. I was having flashbacks from when my friends Nicole and Sheree and I had gone up to the Tetons one summer to visit some friends who were working there. On the way home, we were met with a herd of cattle that time. It was insane! Having experienced both, I'd rather run into a herd of sheep.

Git along, little lambies!

Andy also had this genius idea to give the boys each a giant jawbreaker. We figured they could nurse those on the long drive. Well, not only were they great to eat, but the boys figured out that they could draw on themselves, too.

I think the jawbreakers made it one more day until they met their fate in a gas station garbage can. After cleaning up spit-painted body parts and blue-poopy pants, I was done. (Sorry for the TMI.)

At the Cabin

Aaahhh, the cabin. Is there a better place to relax? Hang out with family? Play games? Roast marshmallows and eat s'mores?
Especially when you use the ginormous Campfire brand marshmallows. Those suckers were huge and oh so yummy! We were all in marshmallow heaven.

Playing travel-sized mah jongg.

While the boys worked their way through the clues for a treasure hunt that Andy made.

We made them run all over.

We had to tire them out, right?

The final clue led them to the old pine tree up the mountain where their bounty awaited.
The next day, not only did Beau and Amanda surprise us by showing up, but we also had another visitor.

A young bull moose.

He grazed about 50 yards away from our cabin while we had our final night of marshmallow roasting.

Good times.

Triple Birthday Bash

Tiffany had the idea to hold a triple bday party for Ewan, Connor, and Logan while we were in Utah. We had a Fantastic 4 theme because A. They are all turning four and B. because super heroes are super cool.
Jens amazed me beyond belief and made the Fantastic 4 symbol on their shirts.

Blowing out the candles.

Uncle Beau made a pinata. Yes, it is in the shape of the flag, but it is not burning. Those are crepe paper streamers. Let's just say the pinata was a HUGE hit! (pun intended).