Texas

We finally made it to Texas and Grammy's house, where the boys joyfully reunited with Harley

Enjoyed Daddy's belated birthday cake

 And took in the Zoo.

  

 (Elephants and Penguins are now Andrew's favorite animals. )

They had a great bird exhibit, where you could feed the birds. Practically had them eating out of their hands. So cute. =)

We visited Dallas, and saw the Dallas firefighter's museum. All kinds of antique fire engines, and the boys got to "Drive" them. A great way to spend the afternoon. =)

 But after all that adventuring, it's good to be home. =)

Big Hole in the Ground

After our whirlwind weekend, there was one more stop before heading back east: The Grand Canyon. We'd seen pictured before, but they just didn't do it justice. Neither do these. It was absolutely breathtaking.

They had a junior ranger program, which the boys go all excited about. They had to find things like squirrels, condors, and all kinds of rocks. One bigger than they were. That seemed to be their favorite part. =)

They attended a park ranger story time

Saw some Native American Hoop Dancers

And took lots of pictures

 

 Nathan got tired of the pictures, but he was happy to show me his belly button (New word of the week) 

 Finally, they earned their junior ranger badges, and were officially sworn in. So proud. =)

All that rangering can wear a fella out. =)

 Daddy and Mommy stopped for a few more views before we left for good.

Amazing day. So glad we took the time to stop. 

Starting home, and seeing friends

John's contract ended on July 3rd, so we packed up the van (Once again, amazing how tightly we fit everything...) and headed north for a whirlwind tour before heading home. We spent the 4th with a good friend from my student teaching days, and the boys had a blast with their boys, and of course the pyrotechnics that went along with the holiday. I don't think they got a lot of sleep that night. =)

The next morning we took them up to Salt Lake to see temple square. Their favorite parts seemed to involve water.

The view wasn't bad either.

We got a family photo on the steps of the temple. Almost at the very spot John and I took a photo the last time we visited, the day after our wedding. (And sadly, I can't find the picture. Oh well)
  

Of course, my little clowns had to post for some shots on their own. =) 

By the time we left temple square, they were pretty tired, from the excitement, and I'm sure the lack of sleep the night before. 

OUr next stop was in Poccatello Idaho, and the wedding reception of a good friend. A "little brother" of ours. The boys' favorite part was the trampoline nearby. 

But they did leave it occasionally. 

After the reception we continued north to Rexburg Idaho to see a dear friend and old roommate, Marnee. Our boys had a blast together, and we even got a few posed shots for posterity.

Well, as posed as you get with 5 small boys. =)

 And here's Marnee and I. It's been too long in between visits. We need to fix this. 

 As we left Idaho behind, we stopped briefly in Logan to show the boys where we were married. They thought it was great. Such a beautiful, peaceful place...

 

Our last stop in Utah was in Provo, and one last posed shot with Ella and Lily. Once again, we tried... =)

John and I also got an unplanned tour of the ER and Labor and Delivery at the local hospital. Diagnosis: Kidney stones and a UTI. Yeah... That's what you want on a road trip... On the bright side, that was the shortest ER visit we've ever had. And, I finally started to feel better. =)