Back to Wyoming

On July 3rd, we went to church at our ward in West Valley.  It was so good to see everyone again.  We got quite a few double takes.  It was funny to watch as we surprised people with our presence.  That night we drove down to my brother Jake and his wife, Jill's house where we had a BBQ and slept over at his house.  We woke up and had a nice lazy start for the day, drove around BYU and took the kids out to Brick Oven for lunch.  

That night we had a Jensen Potluck Dinner at the park and I'm sad I wasn't with it and there are no pictures.  It was fun to catch up with a few of my cousins, aunts, and uncles, from my mom's side.  Then it was driving back up to Magna for the night.

Tuesday, July 5th, we got up early, packed up, and headed back to Orem so my mom could attend a meeting with her siblings.  The kids and I had a picnic in the park, ran a few errands, and drove around Orem to see where we lived when we were newlyweds and the first two of our children joined our family.  The younger ones don't quite understand why they didn't get to live there too.

After the meeting, we picked my mom up, went and saw my uncle's new house, and then headed to the temple.  My mom and Christina watched the other kids while I was able to go in and attend a session.  It was so nice to go, I just wish it wasn't so rushed.  Then we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed back to Wyoming.

The next morning, we woke up to cows being herded up the road in front of my parents place.  Later that day, we decided to drive up the canyon at the end of the road they live on.  My parents were telling the kids about a pond they could play in up there.  When we got closer, we discovered the cows didn't make it very far up the canyon yet.

The kids decided to have a different kind of fun.

 My parent's dog, Lex, got left in their car and wasn't very happy about it.

 But it added more entertainment for Ethan than the cows did.

 And Samantha slept through it all.  I was shocked.  The smell, the loud mooing, all of it.

 And then woke up as we began back down the canyon.

I stopped a little on the way back down and took a few pictures.  I miss the green already.

 And we found a straggler who is missing the rest of the herd.

 Thursday, July 7th, we spent a good chunk of the day helping my mother clean out her garage.  The kids did great helping pulling boxes out from under the camping trailer, organizing, sweeping things out, and putting together a few benches that my parents had bought.  Daniel and I worked on a glider bench while Christina and Amanda built a little kid's bench.  That night we went to Montpeliar, ID for Studebaker's Pizza.  It was a fun treat for the kids.

The next day, we had fun riding the 4 wheelers.

 And playing in the fire pit.  Her face tells it all.

 Samantha got on long enough for a picture and then she was done as soon as it started moving.

Amanda is our little dare devil and kept telling me to go faster.  Jonathan went around the property once and was done.  Daniel and Christina had fun.  Daniel got to ride with Grandpa and Christina and I rode together, taking turns driving.  I heard her later tell her Dad that I was trying to kill her.  Guess she's not use to mom having fun like that.  I'm usually back with the kids while Dad has his fun with them.   Thanks Grandma for watching the little ones for us.