Let's Play Catch Up!

We have had quite a whirlwind of events since school let out on May 22nd. We have been to Utah and back, Spencer and Gabrielle went to EFY at Brigham Young University, Gabrielle turned 14 years old, and we have been on the Pioneer Trek in the north Georgia mountains. All were amazing experiences. It has been exciting! Here, I will share some of the fun from our Utah trip and then later I will share about the trek. Hold on to your hats--I have ALOT of pictures to share with you. To start, these are the teenage cousins at Grandma's house.
We had a huge family gathering of my Dad's side of the family on Memorial Day. The cemetery is right across the street from my parent's house. That is where my grandparents and my cousin were buried. It was really neat to do this together on Memorial Day. My Dad and his sister share a little about their experiences growing up together at their parents grave site.

All the kids love Uncle Chris. He is always getting lots of attention.

My Mom is the Relief Society President at the Care Center close by. She asked my girls to come and sing for their church meeting. There is a wonderful spirit there. I know my girls felt it. It was good for them to be able to serve in this way.

Gabrielle helped my Mom bring these ladies back to their rooms.

Cute cousins. We were just missing 2.

Joseph and Eliza catch some rays in between playing in the fountain at the Gateway Mall. Can you believe they have this in the middle of the shopping area? It is a highlight every year.

Every 20 minutes or so, the music comes on and the water comes shooting out of the ground. It is quite grand. The kids go crazy. It is just too much fun. We also ran into some friends from Georgia who have since moved to Utah. Everyone likes to go to Gateway.

Gabrielle turned 14 while we were out there. We all met at Leatherby's for ice cream. It is the ultimate in ice cream parlors.

Time to take the kids to EFY. Here Gabrielle met her room mate and other kids in her group. It turned out that the girl to the left is Gabi's 2nd cousin! I recognized her and asked her who her mom was. She told me and I said," Your Mom's my cousin!"

I took this picture right before we left to drop Spencer off. Spencer did not even know these guys, but by the end of the week, they were all his buds. I told him, "You'll be glad I took this picture."

We spent a day at Boondocks, with my brother's darling daughter, Abby. She is a hoot! Here they are resting in between mini-golf.

Eliza was SO brave and wanted to drive the kiddie karts all by herself. Way to go Eliza!

Heritage Park is the place where the pioneers settled after their long trek to Utah. It is all set up like an old city of how the pioneers lived.

The girls loved to be able to pet the little lambys and goats.

This is how the pioneers cleaned their rugs. They just beat the dirt out of them. We have come a long way, baby.

I love little girls in bonnets. Much cuter than I looked on the trek.

Check out this fun little train!

Temple Square is so beautiful.

We sat and watched several brides and grooms coming out of the Salt Lake City Temple and getting their pictures taken.

Isn't the temple amazing?

That's all folks!