Family and Fun on the road

I know you are all dying to see everything we did on our vacation (yeah, right), so here are the highlights of our drive and visits with some of my grandparents. It was good to see as many family members as we did, although we never have enough time to see everyone we love so dearly.

Jed loved staying in hotels. I am always a little embarrassed to do so, because I always feel like we're so noisy. There must be jumping on the bed, exploring in all the closets, running in the hall...

We made many pit-stops along the way. Jed is majorly afraid of public restrooms, with their automatic flushing toilets and noisy hand-dryers. We tried to encourage him to use the least scary bathrooms, but usually we ended up taking ourselves to the potty, then pulling out the Froggy Potty in some out-of-the-way location for Jed. It's a unique way to see the country.

To keep Jed occupied on our long journey, I always try to find interesting toys at the dollar store or thrift stores, then pull them out one at a time when Jed gets bored. Since he's so in love with all the Toy Story movies, I found him a Mrs. Potato Head and some dinosaurs, among other things. He especially enjoyed turning his T-Rex into a vegetarian.

Some naked bouncing in Santa Fe!

Since we were stopping in Colorado to see some of my grandparents, I wanted to go by the cemetery where my Grandma Donna is buried and put some flowers on her grave. There were so many gorgeous wildflowers on the side of the road and I couldn't pass them by.


Jed really enjoyed running on the soft grass at the cemetery. He also enjoyed climbing the head stones...aak!

On our way out to Utah/Wyoming, we stayed with my Morgan grandparents. We got there early in the day and had an amazing lunch, made ice-cream, picked apples with my grandma, and just enjoyed resting. It was so good to be there!

a late-night snack of hot dogs after picking apples.

Me and Grandpa LaMont

Jed and my uncle Curt, who he loved

Jed wasn't too thrilled about taking so many pictures, but I love my grandparents so much and had to have a picture with them!

This is definitely the most attractive spot we stopped to pull out the Froggy.

Jed is such a good daddy to his Baby Bear. He would wash BB's face and wipe his bum all the time!

BB also needed a diaper. Dave helped Jed fashion one out of a wipe.

I also found these lego-like linking toys for Jed. I thought he'd love stacking them up, and he did, but his favorite thing to do with them was pour them out, yell "Make a mess!" and put the bucket on his head.

After we left Jed in Utah with my parents, Dave and I headed north to Wyoming for our backpacking adventure. We stopped in Evanston to hang out with our friends Serena and Kirk.

It was so great to see them! As always, we didn't have nearly enough time, but it was good to be together. I was sad Jed couldn't be there with us to play with their adorable girls.

After we got done backpacking, we were able to relax in Big Piney for a little while. Dave's sister Ruth and her family had just moved back and it was so great to see them. We have missed our family and the good ole days in Rexburg!

Our feet were so tired, so I gave myself and Dave a little pedicure. And what pedicure would be complete without nail polish? Our nephews Don and Dave were so intrigued by the nail polish. I painted their toenails (much to their dad's consternation) and then the boys wanted Uncle Dave to have painted toes too.



The boys picked out Uncle Dave's nail colors--Dave gave him pink toes, and Don wanted their toes to match. Love all these toes! I was just sad Jed didn't get to be there.

The next morning, we headed back to Utah to pick up Jed and hang out with my family for a while. More of this in another post! Too soon, it was time to get back on the road.

Yet another pit stop!

We stopped to stay the night with my Papa in Colorado. We had a family cookout and it was great to just hang out and watch the kids play.

Jed took an instant liking to my cousin Jake. They were completely inseparable all night long! Jed even woke up asking for Jake the next morning and was so sad when we told him Jake had gone home.

Papa and Grandma Donna have always had an amazing garden, and this year is no different.

It has always been my inspiration!

I love my Papa so much!

He got quite a kick out of Jed. After we said our good-byes, we headed down the road. It was a long drive home, but we had a lot of fun, and it was great to get home again! Thanks again to all our family and friends who took time to see us and let us stay with them, and if we missed you, we love you and will try to see you next time!