Utah Trip (Part 2) - Time with Michelle's Family

BEWARE:  LOTS OF PICTURES!

After spending time with Travis' family, Leah and I headed to Glacier National Park with some of my family while Travis spent the week at Scout Camp.  This was my first time going to Glacier and it is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. The water was clear, the scenery was green, and the architecture of the buildings was amazing.

 

 We ran into a few animals!  The black bear was only a few feet from our car, the moose was foraging in the lake, the deer was in the middle of the trail during our hike, and we found the bird at our campground.     

 

By the end of the trip we calculated that we spent almost 40 ours in the car!!  We had 2 full vehicles and the kids were amazing!  

Of course that is not all we did...we went hiking to a few different waterfalls and completely wore out the kids, Leah even fell asleep on a few of the hikes. 

  We also spent some time at a few lakes and eventually decided to actually get into one...man was it cold!!  The temperature of the water didn't seem to bother the kids or my brother Scott and I. (OK...so it only took me about an hour to get up the nerves to dunk myself!)

Can't hangout at the lake without skipping rocks!

  On the drive home we drove through Yellowstone and arrived at just the right time to see Old Faithful erupt.  While waiting for it to erupt Leah kept saying "Wait for it...wait for it...wait for it...", she pretty much entertained everyone around us.  I love that kid!!

What trip would be complete without getting a flat tire on the way home.  We had to unpack everything in the back of the van to get to the spare tire out.  Good job Craig and Angie, and thanks for letting me take pics while you were changing the tire.  

 I love family trips and spending time with everyone.  Most of all, I love watching Leah get so excited to see her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and her cousins.  Thanks to my family for such a great trip!

 

Utah Trip (Part 1) - Time With Travis' Family

What is the best thing to do when the heat reaches 115 degrees in Phoenix?  Pack up and go see family in Utah!!  Travis's brother Brandon, his wife Anne and their kids were in Utah so we headed there before they left.  Travis has not seen them in 2.5 years so we wanted to make sure our trip overlapped with theirs. 

The funniest part of our trip was when we arrived at Travis' parents house and Brandon and Leah had the following conversation (while Travis was holding Leah)

Brandon:  "Who is better looking, me or your daddy?"  

Leah: (Looking at Brandon, then at her daddy, then whispering) "Ask me quieter."

Brandon: (whispering) "Who is better looking, me or your daddy?"

Leah: (whispering) "You are!" 

I guess she didn't want Travis to hear her answer...but he did.  Poor Travis! 

 I love watching Leah play with her cousins and also watching Travis with his nieces and nephews. I am so glad Travis was able to hang out with them for a few days before he had to head back to Phoenix to go to Scout Camp.  

Being the good son that he is, Travis changed the batteries in his parents smoke detector and while up there noticed the fan needed to be cleaned.  

The kids spent a lot of time jumping on the neighbors trampoline!  Of course the adults had to have a turn too.  I only wish I could do the crazy stunts that I did when I was younger!

All the kids love to read books

Playing with Grandma's dress-up clothes

Pretending to be Uncle Braeden

Leah loves her Uncle Braeden

After Travis left Leah and I went with Travis' family up to Bear Lake to go see a play at Pickleville Playhouse.  On the way up there we stopped by Utah State University to see the campus, buy some apparel and eat some amazing AGGIE ICE CREAM!!  

 

When we arrived at Bear Lake we had to go to the Lake first and let all the kids put their feet in the water.  I think the adults wanted to put their feet in just as much.  

Running to the lake

Leah and her cousins

After playing at the lake it was time to go eat dinner and watch the play "The Hanging of El Bandito".  Anne's relatives own the playhouse, write the plays, and are some of the actors.  This play was one of the funniest plays I have ever seen, Leah even loved it.  If you are ever visiting Bear Lake I highly recommend going to a play at the Pickleville Playhouse!

Leah was a little nervous to have her picture taken with "The bad guy"

According to Leah this was "The prince and princess"

Grandma and Sadie Visit

My mom and my niece came out to Phoenix to visit us for a few days!  (We never thought anyone would visit us in the summer with 120 degree weather!)  We were so excited that they came and we had a ton of fun and did our best to keep cool.

The first thing Sadie "HAD" to do when they got here was go swimming.  We were all for that, it is the best thing to do during the hot Arizona summers.

Leah had to show her Grandma and cousin that she can float

I just love this picture

The next day we went to the Aquarium, it was indoor with air conditioning!!  The girls enjoyed learning all the fun facts, seeing all the fish, and taking fun pictures.

On the way home from the aquarium we stopped by the new Phoenix Temple site to see the progress of the construction of the temple.  We can't wait for it to be done so we can have a temple 10 minutes from our house.