Utah Trip: Part 3 - The Reunion



Our main reason for going to Utah this summer was for the Green Family Reunion - my mom's side. We get together every three years, and it's lately been in Utah since the largest majority of the family is concentrated there. It worked out well for me when I lived in Utah because I didn't have to travel, and this year it worked out well for me because I was able to visit other friends in Utah, too!

 

We had our reunion at Bear Lake in northern Utah, and even though it wasn't quite warm enough for lake activities, the view was gorgeous. I went on a walk/run each morning that we were there, and the scenery definitely made it worth it. 

We had this giant house to ourselves, which worked out really well because everyone was able to have their own space to retreat to (each room had a bathroom), but there was plenty of common space, a huge kitchen, a pool and hot tub, and a volleyball court. It was definitely the best place we've found so far. Unfortunately, Micah and I are single so we don't merit our own room. So rather than share a room with lots of little girls, we opted for trundle beds in a giant utility closet. It really wasn't too bad, except that there was no air so it got kinda stuffy at night. And yes, I do make my bed even when it's in a closet.

 

We had a talent show night, which ended up being really fun. Micah and I sang a song while my mom played, then I played and sang a song, and Dominika performed a song that also told the story of how she and Isaac met. This was her first time meeting most of my mom's family, so that was really fun for everyone to hear. Isaac and Thomas also showed some pictures from some projects they'd been working on.

Afterwards, everyone went to the kitchen for some snacks - which were mostly just leftovers from previous meals (which were all delicious. We seriously ate well.) Isaac wanted some Rice Krispies, but none of the bowls were big enough to fit his needs, so he just busted out a mixing bowl.

There was lots of playing the whole time - we had a ping pong tournament, we played dozens of games of volleyball, card games, board games...and everyone loved playing with the cutest 2 year-old at the party - Malcolm. Dominika also brought some props for a picture booth, which worked for planned and unplanned pictures.

We took pictures the last night we were all there. Since we were about to drop Thomas off at BYU to start school and football, we did a BYU theme for our immediate family.

Here's the whole clan that was there. We were missing a few people, but we really did have a big majority of the family! I'm really grateful to come from big families on both sides.

Holden had his 7th birthday while we were there, so we sang to him, gave him presents, and Isaac made Mississippi Mud Cake and Dominika made cupcakes.

On our way down into the valley from Bear Lake, we stopped to go to church at a random ward in Perry, then went to my friends the Zogmaisters' house for lunch. The Zogmaisters were my surrogate family while I lived in Utah, and I still feel so close to them. It was really fun for me to have my two families meet and spend time together. My dad's a great grandpa, even to kids who are not his grandkids - like Maijer.

That night we all gathered in Bountiful to have one final picnic meal that my Grandma Carole could also attend (she wasn't able to make the trip up to the lake). It was also Thomas' last night before school started. He rode down to Provo with VoNique and Jared, while my parents took Micah up to Logan for EFY, so it was Micah's last time seeing Thomas before we left to come home. Thomas gives her a hard time, but they really do get along pretty well, and I know she'll miss him a lot at home. She had a hard time saying goodbye. :)



Utah Trip: Part 2 - Babies, Thai, and Temples

My first stop in Utah: Aub and Ang and Thai food. I stayed with my friends Angela, Whitney, Hailey, and DeeAura several days while I was in Provo and the first day, Angela took off work early and she, Whit, and I met Aubrey for lunch at our favorite Thai place. It's. So. Good.

Afterwards, I got to see Aubrey's new house, which is gorgeous, and she, Angela, and I hung out and chatted while I got to hold this chubby baby Tess. Erik came home from work early, too, so it was fun to see and talk to him.

I love and miss these girls.

And I love and miss this Aubrey.

The next day, my family picked me up to go up to Salt Lake and my dad surprised me with this book (which I'd barely mentioned) and chocolate-covered cinnamon bears - something you just can't find in Indiana. Most of my family hated them, but I got my dad hooked and he bought several more bags while we were there. Score.

Isaac and Dominika rented a van and brought Jonah, Emerson, Nalon, and Holden out for the reunion. We met them in Salt Lake City so Dominika and the kids could see Temple Square.

 I think this is my favorite picture from the trip. I love this people, and I love this place.

Utah Trip: Part 1 - Fathers and Presidents

We left for Utah on Father's Day, so everyone came over to Tessa's for dinner, then we left from there. My dad has become a huge example to me of hard work and consistent love, and I'm grateful to see both my brothers following in his footsteps.

Our get together was also a goodbye party for Thomas, since he'd be staying in Utah for school. He's a giant anyway, but especially compared to these tiny nieces and nephews!

We started out that evening and drove through the night. My dad and Thomas manned the wheel most of the time, with the exception of the hour or so that Micah practiced. We drove through Illinois during the night and woke up in Minnesota. I can't say I was very impressed. I guess I always thought of Minnesota as this arctic place with tons of lakes (Land of 10,000 Lakes, right?) but instead it was just tons of flat. We continued on into South Dakota, which was a whole lot more of nothing. Seriously. No mountains or hills, no buildings, nothing. This was the view from one of the rest stops we stopped at.

In South Dakota, we stopped at the famous Wall Drug in Wall, SD which is essentially a giant tourist shop. I don't remember seeing any actual medications. This picture was prompted by, "Show me your Wall Drug smiles!" Pretty typical.

I love road trips. I think it's the greatest way to travel because you get to see tons of stuff on the way! My pitch for the drive out to Utah was a small detour up to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. Obviously, everyone else was excited for that idea.:) Maybe not, but they went for it. And I think everyone was glad we went, because it was really, really cool. The area around Mt. Rushmore was absolutely gorgeous, but when we got there it started storming. And then hailed. We waited a little bit, though, and it calmed down so we were able to venture out and explore the area. (Until the insane hail downpour after our visit on our way down the mountain).

I think my favorite part was learning about how the monument was created, from the conception of the idea, to the planning, to the execution of the carving. For example, they actually carved most of it using precisely placed dynamite. Isn't that crazy? And all of it happened in the 1930s, when they were operating with so much less than we have today. The Presidents were also touched and even shed a few tears. Or raindrops.

My dad is stately enough to be a carved president.

The area that Mt. Rushmore is in is called the Badlands, and it is beautiful.

In Rapid City, we visited the Dinosaur Park, which was in fact a hill with some juvenile-ishly painted giant dinosaur replicas. It was actually built a long time ago...I want to say in the 1930s...so that's something.

The next day was a scheduled day full of driving. We drove through Wyoming, which is typically less than thrilling. I do love the huge blue skies, though. You just can't get wide open spaces like that anywhere else.

We filled our time by listening to talks on CD, playing a word-guessing game on my phone, and listening to stories from my parents. Thomas drove the whole day, I think, and I kept him company up front while Mom, Dad, and Micah camped out in the back.

Out of nowhere, we stumbled upon the Church's historic site at Martin's Cove in Wyoming. None of us knew where it was until I saw a sign for it on the side of the road. We were able to stop and see Devil's Gate and the site where the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies were stranded in the early winter weather 150 years ago. I was touched by the deep faith these Saints had in order to give up everything and take with them only seventy pounds of personal items across the country to start a new life with fellow believers. It was a wonderful surprise that we wouldn't have been able to see if we hadn't been driving. See? Road trips are the best.

Resolutions, Friends, and Graduates

So...I didn't post at all in June. Yikes. I'll throw a ton of pictures at you from before my Utah trip, then I'll just have to throw a ton of pictures at you from the trip.

 

By way of New Year's Resolution reporting...so far I'm on track for most of them! My temple goal was to go every other month and to study specifically for the temple the week before I go. I haven't been as great about the studying part, but I have been going more than every other month. A few months ago, our branch president (the leader of my congregation at church) challenged us to go every month, so I've made that a priority. I can't say that I've had any exceptionally spiritual experiences, but I do get a lot of satisfaction from doing what I know I should be doing.

 

I also paid off my credit card! I got so excited about the low balance towards the end that I ended up paying more than I could afford just to see the balance go down. Then I had to put more stuff on my credit card because I hadn't left myself enough to live on. Oops. But it's down for real now, and it is so satisfying! 



The last few weeks of school were rough. Like really rough. The first semester of school was by far one of the hardest things I've ever done, but by second semester things had gotten a bit better and I was actually not hating my life. Then the last month of school happened. In the students' defense, we were testing for about four weeks straight, which is really tough for anyone, especially very social middle schoolers. They were over it, I was over it, and it was just a bad time for everyone. These McDonald's cookies were in order more than once, even when I had to wait twenty minutes in the drive-thru to get them.

I've been quite social lately. I'm pretty impressed with myself. The day before Memorial Day, I had some friends from my singles branch (the congregation I meet with) over to play games. These are the only two pictures I have from that night: brownies and Ron sleeping. Apparently it wasn't that exciting of a party. The brownies were a delicious breakfast the next day, though.

Here are some of my new (or renewed, in Crystal's case) friends: Crystal and Chris.

This girl's one of my best friends. After we took this picture, she looked at it and said, "I'm cute." True.

The second-to-last day of school was field day. Since our school has no sort of field, we took the kids to a park across town where they had basketball courts and volleyball courts and a pool. My job was to supervise the pool area while chatting with my teacher friends. Done.

The teacher friends: Amy, Rebecca, and Kelly. They made work less miserable a lot of the time.

And this is how they really are.

The first weekend of June was Thomas' graduation. WHAT?! I can't believe that he's that old already, although he is a giant so I guess it's not that hard to believe. The whole family came out for his graduation, which was fun, except the trying-to-keep-the-kids-nearly-silent-because-the-microphone-wasn't-very-loud part.

 

They mad the students give their gowns back before they could go out to take pictures. Weird, right? At least his tie matched his hat.

What a good-looking family I have! Of course these pictures were absolutely painful for Thomas.

 

Post-school lunch with the teacher friends before Rebecca went back to New York for the summer. Kelly insisted on going to an outdoor restaurant so she could bring her new puppy Admiral. I didn't touch him, obviously.

How cute is she? Like for real? She still uses her pacie when she goes to bed, and you can tell when she's sleepy: pacie in and rubbing her nose with her blankie. I think this day she even let me snuggle her. That's a big deal.

Summer's the best. Seriously. Teaching is the best job ever during June and July!