Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Utah trip week 2 & 3

So I'm a little slow in posting, but I lost a few pictures and didn't want to post till I found them.  Guess what?  I found them.  Yay!!!
WEEK 2
Week 2 started off with a specail invitation to visit the jerusalem movie set in Goshen.  It was so awesome walking thought the set, hearing where each story would take place and actually being able to visualize the stories like you were there.  As amazing as this was, the very best part for me was at the end when we were getting ready to leave and we were extended an invitation to visit the garden of gethsemanie.  Goshen isn't exactly the greenest place, so among all the weeds and brush, I wondered where in the world they would put such a beautiful place, but as you come over the hill it takes your breath away.  They've planted grass and trees and made these beautiful stone walls that take you to this large old oak tree and you can't help but feel the overwhelming feeling of the spirit.  I could imagine the savior kneeling at the base of the tree and feel his love for me.  In that moment, I gained a deeper understanding of the atonement and what it meant for me.  This is a picture of the oak tree and the court of the gentiles.  They were even better in person.



My kids really loved helping grandma in her garden.  Payties favorite part was her hollyhocks and her daisys.  The boys took what they picked and each made their own soup for lunch.  They had a great time gathering eggs and tyring to catch the chickens too.










There are some cool places (among the weeds) to take pictures, so these are some of our fun pictures in a wheat field, a cherry orchard, and the sinclair gas station.




It was fun to see some of our friends and go to some of our favorite places.  The kids even got to go to the zoo.



Lunch with the Petersons.  We miss them so much.









I always enjoy seeing my grandma.  It was funny to see her helping Ethan with his video game.


We ended the week by heading up to Park City and Milan flying in to join us.  Milan's uncle passed away last year and the family decided to go together and do his work.  While we were in the chapel waiting to start our session, we ran into Elder Taggart (I guess it's not Elder anymore) who was also in the chapel waiting for the same session.  It was so fun to see him, but weird to run into him.

WEEK 3
Park City is always so much fun. we love coming here.  This year we were there on grandma's birthday so we went bowling.  This kids loved it!  It was fun to watch Payton try to figure it out.






We always try to ride the slide and the mountain coaster, but this year Carson finally weighed enough to ride the zip line. He was sooo excited.





My little buddy Kinley

The Owens Kids and The Evans Kids





Milan, Craig, & Rebecca
This has trouble all over it.


Mills Family Reunion and Grandma's Birthday 

The in-laws (the favorite children)

Mills Family

It was this beautiful ladies 80th birthday, which is why we were all together.

This is Monty, this is how he wore his gun the whole weekend.  So funny.

My Grandma and Grandpa Mills



It's hard to see the picture on the shirts, but it's my little sis dressed as a mexican.
This is what's on our shirts

The reason why you NEVER fall asleep in my family.  This is what happens to you.
My beautiful little sister Annie.
 This was a great ending to our great trip to Utah.  Probably the thing I miss most about home is my family.  I wanted to say thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy lives to spend time with us, those who fed us and housed us.  We really appreciate all of you and love you very much.  We couldn't do these trips without all of you.
To those of you we didn't get to see, we love you and wish we could have had more time to fit more in.  The invitation is always open for anyone to come visit us.