June Summer Vacation

We started off our 2 1/2 week trip by going to Six Flags.  We had so much fun at the water park and also at the amusement park.  Kamren and Ashleigh loved all the thriller rides.  Kevin and I took turns watching the little ones.

Kamren and Ashleigh loved telling us how to get places by studying the maps.

Connor is enjoying the carousel ride.  It was so much fun to see him go on so many rides.

We went to Wisconsin next to visit family. We were so excited to visit 3 of Kevin's siblings.  We hung out with Kody and Meghan for a day.  We loved going on walks and hanging out.  Kamren loved playing with Faye.

Meghan was so nice to make snow cones for the kids.  They loved all the fun treats she had for them.

We then headed to visit Kristi and Rich and their kids.  We have a tradition to get the girls nails done and make jewelry.  Ash had a blast making a bracelet for one of our family pictures.

Happy Father's Day.  We went to church together and also had a picnic the day before.  It's always fun to be together.

Aaron was so sweet to come home a day early to be with Kamren.  Kamren loves his cousin Aaron.  They sure love playing army together.

We headed to Kary and Emy's house on Father's Day.  The girls were so sweet to make all the girls a head piece out of flowers.  Lexi was so nice to sew Barbie stuff for the girls.

All the cousins had fun dressing up and playing with the cat.  We also went on a fun walk to the park.

We did our longest day from Wisconsin and Minnesota.  It was an eleven hour drive but we loved all of our stops.  We went to the SPAM museum.  I don't know if I've ever had SPAM but we bought some to make the kids some to try.

Sioux Falls in South Dakota was so beautiful.  We were able to get close to the Falls and cool off because it was so hot.

 

Corn Palace was a great tourist stop.  It's fun to learn about the history of why people do things.  It's amazing what they create out of corn!

All five kids had fun in the air conditioned building because it was extremely hot outside.  It was fun to try all different kinds of popcorn.

The badlands were amazing.  We loved watching the mountain sheep and prairie dogs hang out. 

It was quite a windy day.  Our favorite part was how quiet the land was.

Total tourist stop but we love tourist stops!  The kids had fun going through the shops.

Kamren and Ashleigh loved popping their heads in all the different scenes.

We watched the donuts being made and had to try them.  We heard they were good and they were yummy!

I've always wanted to go to Mt. Rushmore.  It was a beautiful site.  I felt so much pride for our country and so blessed to be a part of it. 

The kids all became Junior Park Rangers.  We learned lots of new things about how Mt. Rushmore was created.  Wow, amazing!!

My friend told me about Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  It's enormous.  We walked all around it and enjoyed learning about all the legends.  The kids were ready to be done with walking but we made it.

Custer Park was fun to visit so we could get a close look at all the Bison on the roads.

Here' beautiful Mt. Rushmore.

Kamren was so nice to carry Brynn around parts of Devil's Tower.  It took us a lot longer to get around it than we thought but it was a beautiful day.

We also walked around Independence Rock and watched all the cows hang out.  We looked for pioneer names and listened to pioneer stories as we walked around.  One man gave up all is food and starved to death so that his children could carry on and they survived all the way to Salt Lake City.

Martin's Cove had a special spirit.  WE wish we had more time to stay there.  They kids enjoyed pulling the hand cards.  The weather was perfect.  We got a great tour around the cove and learned more about the special pioneers.

Behind us is where the Martin Handcart company brought the pioneers for five days to escape the winds of a severe winter storm.  You could really feel the power of their faith.

Having fun swimming with cousins in Utah.  It's really my third cousin and their fourth cousin.

Kamren and Ashleigh are eating their homemade french fries from my cousin Ted even though I call him my uncle.  They also enjoyed their first yum burger and tried fry sauce.

So fun to catch up with my cousin Susi.  We roomed together for a year at BYU.

It was a quick stop visiting Cathy but we loved it.  The kids loved all the fun treats they got walking around the house!

We decided to surprise the Littles and see them for a little bit.  We miss having them in our ward.

We strolled Salt Lake Temple Square.  The kids were fascinated by all the missionaries from different countries.

Brynn is enjoying the new Book of Mormon museum downtown.

We went to the BYU store and got the girls pink BYU shirts.  They wanted a more girly shirt:)

We had to get our cinnamon bears.  Yummy!

 We stayed with Kristy and Woods and visited his new dentist office.  We also went to Wasatch Mountain State Park and enjoyed the scenery.

 We are now in Aspen Grove enjoying our Woolwine Reunion.  All the cousins connected right away. 

 It was nice to have the kids watched for some time during the day and us siblings were able to go on a hike together.

 We even got to visit our Aunt Gloria and grandma.

 Kamren did the rock wall and ropes course.  He made it look so easy.  He is our little monkey.

My favorite part of the reunion was just hanging out together sharing stories.

Whew!  We made the long drive home and we feel beyond blessed that everything went well with our van.  The Lord truly blesses us.  We are sad to be home again, but we loved our time together.  We can't wait for our family vacation next summer.