Day 1 - Trip to Utah

June 26th, 2009
Day 1 - Trip to Utah

We spent two weeks on vacation this summer!
We left at 5 am so we could get in a full day.
The kids were so excited!

This is the highway that takes us from our house
to Southern Minnesota. It is so beautiful here.
These pictures don't do it justice.

Leaving Minnesota...

Driving across South Dakota...
yep, it looks like this the whole way!

Passing the Badlands. Jez loves this place.
We didn't take the time to do the scenic loop, but
we got to see them a little bit from the interstate.

Driving into the Black Hills of South Dakota.
They are beautiful too. Both times I have been there
there were thunderstorms. There was a severe
thunderstorm alert as we were pulling in to Keystone.
It is crazy... the thunder is so loud and you can hear/feel it
as it crackles and ricochets through the rock.
Our family will remember when it did that while we were
there for the family reunion a few years ago.
It is amazing and makes you feel so small
against the power of the elements.

We stopped at the Cosmos Mystery Area on the way
to check in to our hotel even though it was pouring rain!
Jez and Josie waiting for the tour to start.

Watching a ball & water run uphill.

Talden standing straight...
while leaning about 45 degrees.
Jez hanging on to Josie.

Us falling over outside of the barn. :)
(Notice the tricky camera work... you can see
how straight the photograph is by looking at our feet)

Josie taking a break from all the crazy gravity.

Supposedly the left side makes you short and the
right makes you tall... what do you think?

After Cosmos we went to check in to our hotel.
We found this awesome one a few weeks before we left.
Everything was either booked or super expensive
($240 for 1 room at the Super 8)...
this hotel was a best kept secret for sure.
I came across it on a tourist site for the area and
they had a "Family Suite" which slept 8!! And it was
under $200 for the night. That is not easy to find,
especially there! We loved it and highly recommend it
if you are ever in the area. It is the Rushmore Express.

Note the dining table that seats 8! We ordered pizza!
I know it seems silly to be so excited over a hotel room,
but seriously it is so hard to travel with our family.

View of the President's Alpine slides & Helicopter Tours.

We walked over and took our kids down the slides.
They had a blast. Jez and the kids had never been so they
were nervous/excited, but it was fun. They all wanted to
go again, but it is too expensive to do more than once!

The helicopter pad for the tours was between our
hotel and the slides. Our hotel is the lodge in the
background. It was a perfect evening.

My attempt to get a photo of all my kids
together at Mount Rushmore.

Ha! This was the only picture I got of Josie's
face the entire time and it was because I
tricked her! Oh well, what can you do?

It was a really fun (and long) day.
After Mount Rushmore we went back to the hotel,
had pizza, got ready for bed and slept until 3 am...
then we got up and hit the road by 3:45.

Random Updates...

It's been awhile since I have blogged so these go back a ways. I was looking through my pictures deciding what to post and here's what I came up with...

Valentines (told you it's been awhile)

My Visiting Teacher brought this very cute bread to us with some other festive Valentine's.

Talden made a "shark box" for his valentines.
The shark ate them all. :)

Jacie made a Bear Bag, but wanted to show her
TeePee project instead.


Josie's 3rd Birthday!!
She's so cute... and now fully potty trained. (Yay!!)

Josie with her new haircut.
Little Julia running at the park.

Jez's 30-Something Birthday! :)
Yes, his cake is a store bought brownie with M&M's.
Tells you what kind of days we've had around here.

Happy Birthday Present...

it has heated leather seats, sunroof, 6 disc CD changer,
drives safely down the interstate, cannot seat 7,
and is the first car that Jez has ever shopped for
and purchased for himself in his life...

Last Sunday we drove both vehicles down to see Jez's
family and then took his brother out to see his kids.
We took them to lunch and the park and then went
back and grilled out/made dinner for everyone
(his mom, dad, and two of his brothers).

Sound of Severe Weather/Tornado Siren

Just in case you've ever wondered what it might sound
like when the sky turns green and things are flying outside
your window. (You don't get the full effect because it is
sunny and bright in the video, but I'm not sure I will ever
get it in it's true form... this is on testing day.)
***Make sure to pause the music at the top of the page
so you can hear it better.***

Jez had his Regional Rock Star competition
last week in Minneapolis. We were hoping he would
get to go to Chicago for it, but they flew everyone
else here instead. They only selected the top 3 to
move on to the national and he didn't make it
to that one, but I am proud of him for
making it as far as he did and for all of his hard work.
He is always trying to work hard to take care of our
family and I appreciate all he does for us.
(Love you sweetie)
We collect keychains from places we've been and
things we do so he got one to add to our collection. :)

The kids made dinner Saturday night

Pigs in a blanket and fruit pizza...

(Not so healthy, but lots of fun...)

Jez worked all day yesterday so we celebrated
Mother's Day a day early. :)

Our trip to Michigan

We were so excited to see my family for Spring Break. We got up early (4 a.m.) on Friday and drove to Michigan to see my sister and her family, and my parents who flew in from Utah. We had a great time and loved spending time with everyone. We got home yesterday after spending FIVE whole days together as a family!

I didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few.

Driving into Chicago
I would love to spend a few days here with Jez as tourists. I was able to go with my mom about 12 years ago and it was so much fun. We were VIP's on the trolley tours and got to go to the top of the Sear's Tower, to the Pier, Grant Park and Buckingham Fountain, the Art Institute of Chicago, UNO pizzeria, the Cheesecake Factory, Miracle Mile and everything else in between. We even road the L-Train at midnight.... but that is another story. :)

Cute little Julia
She was so good on the 12 hour drive.
We were surprised at how well she did.

Sweet little Josie
This is at my sister's house. It was cold, but nice for
the most part. We loved their house and all the big
trees everywhere. It is very beautiful there. We will
have to visit again in the summertime when everything
is green and leafy. :)

Our Jacie
Jacie excited to play with her cousins and see
grandma and grandpa.

Snow's Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival
Saturday morning we ate breakfast at a farm where
they had all you can eat pancakes, french toast, waffles,
eggs, three different kinds of sausage, fresh apple cider,
and FRESH MAPLE SYRUP!
It was so yummy. They had the buckets on the trees
collecting maple and they did tours of how the syrup is
made. We all had fun and were stuffed full for the day.

We also got to go to an indoor soccer game and to church with everyone. On Monday night my family watched the kids so Jez and I could go to dinner. We went to P.F. Chang's. It was really good (I normally don't eat Chinese Food). I am glad we went to try it. We will definitely be back!

My attempt at getting a picture of
the Sear's Tower at night.

Yesterday we left the hotel at 3:30 a.m. so we would miss the Chicago rush hour traffic. We made it all the way to Madison before the kids woke up and wanted breakfast. It was perfect. After breakfast we only had about 4 hours left of the drive. We were happy to be home again. :)

My Rock Star :)

Verizon has been having a "Rock Star" Contest for their sales reps. Jez was the one chosen out of his store to compete at the district level. Before we left on our trip he had to do a sales presentation at the district headquarters. We found out while we were at Trinette's that he won that round too. He will now go on to compete in the regional which I think is in Chicago. The winner of that round goes to Nashville. I am proud of him for all his hard work. I love you Jez. You Rock!