6/11-6/22/08 Utah/Yellowstone Trip

We had an amazing time in Utah & in Yellowstone! It was wonderful to see everyone again! The kids all had a great time with all their cousins, aunts, uncles, & grandparents. Yellowstone was amazing! We loved every minute we were there.

It was way warmer than the online weather forecast! Tate ended up dehydrated & had heat exhaustion. He was burning up one night & all the next day. Mark & his dad gave him a blessing. Just so happened we were in a cooler part of the park the next day. There was still snow around, so he had baggies with snow in them on him. It helped. He had a great time even though he had to watch it & not get too hot. We went to Old Faithful & waited forever ~ not so faithful anymore. lol When it finally went off, it was amazing! The boys thought it was cool, but hated waiting so long. The hot pots & geysers were so cool! They stank SO bad, but of course, the boys thought they smelled great! yuck!

When we got back to Utah, we went to the This is the Place Memorial Park. There was tons of cool things to see & do. The boys all made arrowhead necklaces. They all got to eat homemade butter, too. It was a nice day with grandma & grandpa Syme. We had Joe, Cole, & Dylan with us, too. It was a lot of excitement & fun. They all loved the petting zoo & horse rides! Cecelia even kissed a calf! It was too cute! She was so excited at all the animals. She eventually passed out in her stroller.

We went to visit grandma & grandpa Rit after This is the Place. Julie had her parents there as a wonderful surprise! We hadn't seen them since Tate was a baby! It was great to visit! The boys had a blast playing with their cousins & uncles & aunts. Auntie Katie was there with her daughter & one on the way. Uncle Jon & Jill were there with Preston. Uncle Mike was there & had fun bouncing on the trampoline with the kids. It was a blast to hang out & eat with them all! Rich & the boys (Mark mostly) played a ball/rope toss game. It was pretty heated competition! We all laughed so much at them! It was a wonderful evening!

The day before we left to come back home, we went to Grandma Syme's house. Every year, they do a big family BBQ for Father's Day. We all were in Yellowstone, so they waited a few days & did it when we were all there. It was SO wonderful to see everyone that we hadn't seen in years! Most of the family hasn't been around Mark & I as a married couple & he as the father of the boys. We were a little anxious, but it all went really well. Jackson wasn't a threat b/c he was on house arrest. Boyce was in poor health, so he didn't bother us. It was so nice to be able to relax & enjoy the family! The boys had a great time running around with their cousins & uncles. Jay farted on Uncle Mike, so he & Uncle Travis ganged up & sat on him~poor Jay!!! It was a great turn out & so much food & fun! Grandma Syme even started a water fight! It was so funny!!! We sure miss them all!!!

We finally headed home. Cecelia was tired of being on the road & so were we all! She got car sick before we even got out of Utah. (it was NOT a good thing!) The road trip was long, but very much worth it! The boys had a blast jamming out to the music & filling up on junk, junk, & more junk food. Cecelia got super silly as the hours ticked on. We all had a marvelous time!