To Utah and Back!

Back in May, Jonathan's adopted brother from Uganda, Dan, and another fellow LEU mentor, Erin, got married, so we went to Salt Lake to be see the wedding.  I took some pictures on my camera, but I can't figure out how to get them off.  It was a beautiful ceremony and I was grateful to meet some of the people who played such an important part of Jonathan's life. 

We decided to make the trip a mini-vacation.  We left on a Thursday and drove halfway--stopping in Kanab. 

The kids love staying in hotels because they get to watch TV. 

Then Friday morning (my birthday) we made a long drive to Logan to visit my grandma and grandpa Garrett.  It was a great visit.  My grandpa is pretty sick, so we couldn't stay long, but we had a nice short visit.  I have another picture on my phone of my grandma reading to Faythe and Ephram.  Too bad I can't get them off.  The kids took a walk to the creek and played out back.  Then we drove to my grandma Hodges' house in Syracuse where we stayed for a few days. 

On Saturday, Jonathan met a mission buddy for a fishing trip and the kids and I went to the park with Grandma and hung out with her all day.  We also spent Mother's day with her and went to her ward.  Her kids came over that night and we had a nice visit with aunts and uncles and cousins.  We also took a "Sunday drive" out to the Great Salt Lake.  We hoped that we could just drive up to the lake and see it, but you actually have to pay $9 and go out to Antelope Island to be able to see anything.  In hindsight, we should have changed out of our Sunday clothes. . .

We took off our shoes, the boys rolled up their pants and we waded out into the lake.

Even though they had rinsing stations, we still ended up with so much sand in the car!

Monday was the wedding.  Jonathan's sister, Alison, watched the kids during the ceremony, but we took them to the luncheon and the reception with us.  There was real African music and dancing and the girls joined in on the fun. 

Tuesday morning we started our journey home.  We stopped in Cedar City and stayed with Jonathan's cousin and her husband, Angela and Joe for a night.  Angela is the one who introduced me to TJEd, so it was fun to visit with her about homeschooling. 

Wednesday morning we took the kids to a reservoir and did some fishing.  There we so many bugs, that I and a few of the kids stayed in the van at first.  It took us awhile to venture out.  Turned out that the bugs were harmless and left us alone.  It was a rough start, but Jonathan soon caught a fish--it was a great one for him, but I can't remember what kind--and was content for the rest of the morning.  A few favorites from that morning.

We drove the rest of the way home that evening and spent the next day doing laundry.  Vacations are fun!