Next we stopped at Bear Country in Rapid City or maybe it was the Black Hills. You drive through the park and look for several different animals. It was so much fun! We thought we'd maybe see a few bears, but we saw probably 30-ish. There were so many and they'd walk right up to the van. We had Oscar with us and were a little fearful of what would have happened if he had barked. We made sure to keep him quiet. :) The kids loved it! Chase was more interested in just driving the van. We also got to see some really cute bear cubs (as you can see behind Gracie and Parker in the 2nd picture).
After Bear Country we headed for Mount Rushmore. Phil had been there before as a kid, but I never had. It was so neat to see. I asked Gracie who the faces were of and she said without hesitation, "George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson." I was shocked! I hate to admit it, but I couldn't even remember them all. I was so proud of her! I loved being there and experiencing the excitement of it all with my family! We watched the film on how it was made and it was amazing what they did to make that. When we were leaving Gracie fell on the sidewalk and skinned both her knees and ankle in 4 different places. Poor little girl!
We drove to Casper, WY that night and got to a motel around 10:00. By the time we unloaded, sneaked Oscar in (ssshhhh), and got Chase's port-a-crib up, Chase had gotten his second wind and was wired. He was so giddy and hilarious, of course until it was 11:30 and we wanted to get some sleep for the long drive the next day. From 7:00 that morning when we started driving until that night, Chase only slept 1 hour and 45 minutes in the car. Ummm, are you kidding me?! Exhausting (for me)! When we put Chase down to sleep he cried and cried and would have nothing to do with laying down. After a bit, Phil took him out into the hall and walked him around for 30 minutes until he fell asleep. When he brought him back in the room to lay him down Oscar barked and woke him back up. So Phil took him back out and walked him some more and got him to sleep again, but when he brought him in and laid him down he woke back up again. So then I took a turn and walked him around the halls trying to get him to sleep while Phil went down to the front desk and asked them if we could get some of our money back if we left now. It was so maddening because we were thinking we should have just kept driving because we weren't getting any sleep and wasted $90.00 on the motel! Well eventually at 1:30 am Chase fell asleep in the bed with me and Phil slept on the hard floor. Not how we planned that night to go! The next day we drove the rest of the way and got to Ogden around 4:00 pm. Again Chase only slept 1 hour and 50 minutes the entire day. What the heck?! I remember as a kid my parents would have to wake me up just to see the sites and scenery on our road trips. Parker and Gracie were perfect little kids the entire time. They also slept even less than Chase, but I guess when you have non stop movies to watch, Nintendo DS to play, and an iPod to listen to there would be no reason to sleep. Fortunately they were able to sleep through Chase's screaming in the motel, hopefully the people in the rooms next to us were too. :)
Once we made it to Utah, we had a busy week planned. We tried to get as much in as we could while Phil would be there for the week. To start it off we got to see our good friend Ashley Pace and her girls. They were in town visiting her family, which live really close to my parents. So we got the kids together for an afternoon at the Splash Pad. It was so good to see her!
My mom put together a reunion (even though they were already having two others this summer) with all her siblings just so we could see everyone. We have the most amazing family! We are all so close and love each other so much. I grew up having really close relationships with all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles so it's really weird for me to have to re-introduce my kids to all of them every time we see them (which is obviously not often since we've been gone for the last 5 years).
We went camping to Mantua, which was SO GREAT! It's our family (immediate and extended) tradition to go camping in Mantua every Memorial weekend and we haven't been able to go for the last 5 years so it's always a hard weekend for me when I know everyone is together having a ball. So my parents were so sweet to take us there for a couple days. My parents brought their 4-wheelers up and we got to take the kids on some really great rides up to Willard Peak (we couldn't make it quite to the top because there was still snow). Parker wasn't thrilled about it. He was fine, but he didn't like to go real fast. Gracie on the other hand definitely has the "need for speed!" She is a little maniac! She just wanted to go really fast the whole time. My dad took Phil and I up some really scary trails. I used to live for that stuff and had guts of steal. Uh....NOT so much anymore! We went up a really steep, narrow and muddy trail. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! I hate to admit it, but I was so scared! I was secretly crying behind my helmet and goggles and just praying that we'd make it out of there alive! Haha! Dad, I love ya, but this little mama is too weak for that stuff anymore! :) I'm just thankful my dad was so sweet and got off his 4-wheeler and walked down the mountain sliding in the mud to get my 4-wheeler and bring it up in a couple scary spots. Phil's Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson live in Logan and came down to see us while we were there. It was so good to see them and we are always amazed how fabulous they continue to look. Shanan brought her kids and Chandler up for one of the days to play and of course we had so much fun with them! Oh I can't forget to mention the penny candy store there at the campground. All the grandkids and cousins go there every year on Memorial and so Grandma Holgate couldn't wait to get Gracie and Parker in there to experience it too. :) I guess I should also make note that Phil just hated leaving Oscar while we went four wheeling so he and my dad made a basket for Oscar to ride in. It looked hilarious! Phil, you crack me up!
To end Phil's week in Ogden we had the Watt reunion with his family at Cherry Hill's. We had planned to go swimming there that day, but it was raining and in the 60's so we played on the playground and went miniature golfing instead. Despite the cold and rain, we had a really good time catching up and hanging out with his family and of course eating some really great food!
Then we were off to St. George to spend the week with Phil's family. Bryan came down from Logan and Jen and her two little cutie pies, Anna and one month old Owen came down also to spend the week with us. Lindsay lives there so she and her two handsome boys, Drew and Dawson, were able to spend most of the time with us as well. It's rare to be able to get all of his siblings together at once, so this was really special. We had a great time hanging out. We went and saw the movie 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs', the production 'Tarzan' at Tuacahn, and Grandpa Stephenson set up a fun morning for us to ride Trigger the pony at his school. Gracie and Parker had a great time helping Grandma and Grandpa pull veggies from the garden. We of course couldn't leave St. George without going to our traditional lunch at The Pasta Factory. Things got a bit crazy at times with 7 grandchildren, 4 still in diapers, and 7 adults in the house all at most times. Also adding in the fact that 8 of us (Drew, Mike, Jen, Anna, Phil, Gracie, Parker, and me) got the flu while we were there! Bodily fluids were coming from every direction! Yuck! (And unfortunately when we made it back to Ogden, Lanny, my mom and dad, Emma, Kory, and Kaden all got it! What a bummer!) That stuff was wicked! Bryan was the clean-up-the-throw-up KING! I was completely amazed at how he jumped right in (all night long I might add) every time Gracie threw up and helped her and got all of the sheets and pajamas washed up and cleaned. Gracie you owe him....ooooor maybe I do! :) Then he went and sanitized the whole house after each person got sick! What a great guy! He was such a huge help with all of the kids. Thanks Bryan! But all in all we made some great memories and really enjoyed our visit with them all!
Unfortunately Phil had to fly back to Sioux Falls to work, but
fortunately the kids and I got to stay with my family for 2 more weeks. We did so many fun things! The kids had a blast with their cousins! Some of my very favorite moments were the ones that I got to spend a quiet afternoon watching TV with my mom! A few other favorite moments for me were shopping for bras at Victoria Secret with my mom and Shanan, going to see Eclipse with my mom, Shanan, Izzy and Emma, playing kickball with Shanan and our kids in her backyard, eating at Lee's Mongolian with Kirk, boating at Willard Bay with my dad and mom, and a BBQ at Brad's house with our family. We got to see my Grandad and have a luau lunch with him. He always cracks me up with his jokes! We also went to the Dinosaur Park, The Treehouse Children's Museum, the Splash Pad, a Holgate famly reunion, the Hogle Zoo with mine and Phil's family, 4th of July fireworks at Clearfield, and much much more! Some of the highlights for the kids: Gracie and Izzy's lemonade stand, Gracie and Emma's slumber party, eating lunch with there cousins at Marlon Elementary, Parker and Kory playing their Nintendo DS's and Uncle Kirk's arcade games, jumping on the trampoline, Gracie, Izzy, and Emma listening to Justin Bieber and having fashion shows, ice cream or Oreo's and milk with Grandpa Holgate, and just simply playing hard!
I kind of got this bug in my head that I needed to feel youthful again and do some of the things that I enjoyed as a child. Front flips on the tramp -
check. Water skiing -
check. Okay, really that's about all, but it felt great! I got right up my first time water skiing and while it wasn't as fun as it used to be, the sense of accomplishment that I could indeed still do it felt great! Phil also got up his first time too and did awesome! Again, like the 4-wheelers, Parker wasn't thrilled to get out in the tube behind the boat, but he was the first one that dared to do it! Gracie loved the tube! She could have done it all day long if we had let her. And what do you know, she kept shooting her little thumb up in the air at Grandpa to go faster and faster.
When we went to see Eclipse my mom and I were at the snack counter ordering popcorn and as soon as they handed her the bucket of popcorn she pulled out a grocery sack and right there at the counter, dumped the popcorn in it and then handed the girl the bucket back to get her free refill! Haha! I laughed so hard and couldn't help but think what a genius my mom was! Now Shanan on the other hand was just mortified and couldn't believe she would do such a thing! She wouldn't even hold the grocery bag of popcorn that was for her, I had to hold it for her! We laughed and laughed about that!
These are all but four (Kelsey, Eliza, Stephen, Derek) of my parents grandchildren.
Top: Kaden, Braden, Chandler
Middle: Jake, Logan, Hannah, Emma, Izzy, Chase
Bottom: Chloe, Parker, Gracie, Ethan, Kory
My dad only has one brother and no sisters. So in this picture are
all of my dad and my Uncle Dan's children. This is the first time we have all been together for probably a decade. They are the neatest family and we truly love them so much!
(Our Holgate cousins: Kyle, Kevin, Trent, Karalee, Dayna, Kari)
My amazing and beautiful siblings: Brad, Shanan, and Kirk.
I haven't seen most of my friends that I grew up with in West Weber for up to 13 years and since February I have been planning for us all to get together when I came into town. We went and ate at Union Grill in Ogden. I can't even tell you how amazing these women (Strange to call them women...last time we were all together we were girls!) are. It was as if we had never even been apart. I thoroughly enjoyed every second with them catching up and reminiscing about "the good ol' days." We talked and talked for 4 hours until they kicked us out because they were closing or I think we could have gone on for another 4 hours. I love you all and I am so grateful for the bond that we continue to share year after year. I definitely want to plan on getting together every time I come into town.
(In the picture: Keri Rauzi Meyerhoffer, Janeal McFarland Hall, Stacie McFarland Austad, Natalie Hancock Hansen, Candace Atkinson Stone, Amy Hadley Mann, Mandi Holgate Stephenson, Holly Heiner Erickson.)
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We love our families so much and are so thankful to them for the sacrifices they made so that we could be there with them this summer. We will forever cherish the memories and bonds that we made and will look forward to many more in the future (hopefully near)!
