Hindsight is 20/20

Unfortunately we rented the smallest possible car for the longest leg of our journey eastward. Imagine Chad, 6'4'', tucked into a itty bitty Ford Focus. Imagine me sitting in the passenger seat, so close I'm almost sitting on Chad's lap. Imagine our kids, sitting so close behind us we can feel every shifting of their legs. This is how we started to Utah. Ahhh, good times. Nothing like road trips in a clown car to strengthen family ties. If we wanted family togetherness, for the next 11 hours, we were going to get it. And then some.

I don't think I took any pictures of our unfortunate accomodations but I should have.

So, on the way to Utah, we stopped in Winnemuca, Nevada where Chad's dear Grandma Dora is buried. That was a nice thing to do and I'm glad we did it. We rented redbox movies along the way and took many stops to stretch our legs out, as we were fairly folded in half in that little car.

Finally, we made it to Lisa's at about 6:30. SO glad to be there. And thus commenced one of my favorite parts of my whole vacation... a very laid back, take-it-easy week. We went to the farm at Thanksgiving Point, where we rode ponies and wagons and saw lots of farm animals, including some of the littlest baby goats that were so adorable. We ate some ice cream at the little ice cream parlor. Aubrey and Heidi enjoyed their ice cream and asked me to take a few photos while we were there. Aunt Shugee would be proud.








We had a fashion show at Lisa's house. We watched movies. We made delicious homemade tootsie rolls. We went to BYU and had J Dawgs. Mostly, we just enjoyed these wonderfully adorable little people.











We also went to the cabin. I love that little cabin. It's the perfect place for relaxing.



We got reacquainted with my recently returned missionary cousin, Tyler.



This guy has always been a little bit more like a brother than a cousin and we had a good time, wiht him and my other cousins, Brock and Audrey.



They're all good sports with all the things my children wanted to do with them. Tyler gave his homecoming talk on a Sunday we were there, so we got to be there for that, and I'm just his cousin, but I was pretty proud to be related to him as he talked about his mission and his testimony. My aunt Heidi asked me and Chad to sing and although we were a little intimidated about singing in a ward we didn't know, and also to learn a song without the benefit of the piano accompaniment until the day before we sang it, it ended up being a good song with a good message that we sang to the best of our ability and that I hope was as well received as we intended.

After 9 days with my sister, we went to Henefer to Chad's brother's. Every time we come, when we pull up, I pretty much say, "bye kids!" see you in a week!" because they love their cousins, get along wtih them so well, so much so that when we come, they all just disappear into play rooms and game rooms and backyard and we only see them at mealtimes. I love that they love their cousins.



I hope these sorts of things keep them bonded to each other, and they remember the fun times they've had together. And it was mulitplied this time because it was a family reunion of sorts, with three of Chad's brothers and their families there. Some of the things we did were: Airplane museum in Ogden, going to see the movie 17 Miracles, which was remarkable and touching, going to the Kamas water park, and Mom's Day Out in Park City, where we rode a Zip Line down the mountain. I am convinced I have the coolest mother in law around because even she did it, despite some trepidation at the top of the mountain.



After visiting in Henefer for a week, we drove up to Rexburg. Many of the Stolle children made Ricks college their stopping grounds and we went to check it out. Also, we drove into Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is one of the most beautiful natural places I have ever seen. The drive in to the park, is amazing. It is beautiful meadows with sparkling streams flowing through and tall mountains. It was an idyllic looking place. The whole park was a wonder- not only that landscape, but rolling hills and a big glassy lake elsewhere. Huge, powerful waterfalls, too. And the geysers! Old Faithful, seeing it, was surreal. Wow! To see in person what you hear about and see pictures of all your life, is pretty great. We saw lots of wildlife and wildflowers and I would LOVE to go back there some day and spend a lot more time than we did.







After Yellowstone, we went to Jackson Hole Wyoming. We stayed in the ultra posh Snow King lodge that looked out on the Teton mountains. Also a place I would love to spend more time. We went and saw the Bar J Wranglers perform- a country music show with some talented and funny singers and musicians. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and the sensation of being COLD in the evening.

We drove the following day to Martin's Cove. We pulled handcarts and checked out the visitor's center. Since I have a relative, Chesterton John Gillman, who was in those ill fated handcart compnay, it was especially meaningful.



The last big stop we made was in Casper, South Dakota. We saw Mount Rushmore! Another surreal experience. And to tell the truth, the monument itself wasn't as big as I imagined it to be in my head. It was still very interesting, of historical significance, and one of those times where you feel proud to be an American.





The rest of the trip home was fairly uneventful. We did stop in Nebraska at a family cemetery where Stolle relatives are buried. It was smack dab in the middle of acres and acres of cornfields and was tricky to find. And it was very, very old. Most of the headstones were from the 1800s and many of them were so worn it was almost impossible to see what names were on them. We were fortunate to find the headstones we were looking for, and just out of curiosity, or at some level, respect for those buried there, I went around and looked at most of the headstones. I imagine not many are visited. There were an awful lot of babies buried in that cemetery- probably typical of the time period and lack of adequate medical care, or advanced medicine. But I was struck by the fact that to these families who had lost children, their loss was no less heartbreaking. You could tell by the things engraved on their babies' headstones: "A sunbeam from our home has gone" I felt a strange sort of kinship to these 1800s Cornhusker families. And so glad we found the headstones we were looking for.





The kids were SO. GOOD. pretty much the whole way. We were all exhausted by the end. Not one more redbox movie, or one Happy Meal, was going to keep us all 100% happy. Actually, I felt sick to my stomach when it came around to mealtimes after days and days of non-home cooked meals with the thought of another fast food restaraunt.





I can't possibly put into words everything we did and all the fun we had. I love taking trips and seeing both the people and places we love and are familiar with, and the ones that are distant and unfamiliar. It is a blessing to have the time off to take the long trips that we do.