An unexpected trip to Kansas!

The weekend after I got back from Utah, we took an unplanned trip to Kansas.  My father-in-law was in a weird accident and pretty much shattered his ribs and collapsed a lung when he fell off a carnival ride he was helping with.  We decided to head out there after he was released from the hospital to see if we could be of any help.  

Dustin and Melissa helped at the lumberyard.  Patty and I were pretty much in charge of keeping the kiddos off Grandpa and entertained.  

So we swam in the pool.

 Grandma worked miracles at breaking up and warding off competitive/jealousy fights between Gillian and Jack.

 Cute Gillian

 Lunch at the fun table with Grandma.

 Oh and then there was the bee sting incident.  Gillian and Jack were going outside to play in their Great Grandparent's backyard, when they both start crying and screaming.  I run out to find that they both had been stung by some bees that were living under the porch stairs.  It was pretty traumatic for both kiddos!  

 And we can't got to Kansas without enjoying some good fried food at Greg's!  Here is Zander eating either a fried mushroom or fried spicy cheese balls!  

 

 On our way out of town we met Lynn and Patty after his doctor appointment in Hays.  We decided to let me experience Long John Silver's for the first time and appease a craving of Dustin's.  

 Don't the boys look great in their pirate hats?  

It was a short, unexpected, but fun and hopefully helpful visit to Kansas!   

Hogle Zoo

I promise this is the last post from my Utah trip!  Then I will at least be to mid-August in catching up! :)  

While in Utah, I was able to take my boys to Hogle Zoo.  Lisa, Pace, and Lily came with us!  It was such a nice day, and the zoo was pretty cool!  

They had some pretty cool new moving, roaring, water spitting Dinosaur things!  And here are some of my favorite animals:  giraffes, elephants, and spider monkeys (cuz they look like my husband and boys!)  

 Lisa's boyfriend, Pace, was fun to have along.  He carried the kiddos, showed them cool stuff, carried them, lifted them, and got just as into everything as them!  He also was entertaining pretending to eat and punch dinosaurs in pictures and acting/looking like a gorilla! :)  

Me and the boys by the cool T-Rex!  

 

Lily and Jack wanted to steal the park patrol ride!  

Enjoying some fun stuff at the park.

Inside one of the cool buildings!  

Pace, Lisa, and Lily

Also in this building we witnessed the nastiest and most graphic part of the visit.  And yes, I will now share that gross story. 

So we were looking at this cool, yet nasty looking bird when all the sudden we realize there is another bird in there, a pigeon.  Well next thing we know we watch this vulture-y bird RIP the head off of the pigeon.  If you look closely in the picture you can see the pigeon head between the mean birds legs.  Yeah, needless to say, we quickly ushered our young children and their innocent eyes elsewhere.  

 

Did we measure up?  

Playing on/with some of the statues!  

Some other fun pics from the day!  

The boys and me on the train ride around the zoo.

 The boys playing at the kid play area!

We had a great time at the zoo and an long but amazing trip to Utah!  I hope the boys enjoyed the memories we made as much as I did! :)  

Yes...still Utah trip highlights! :)

I am almost done documenting the 3 weeks we spent in Utah this summer!  (Then maybe I can get caught up on Fall here on the ol' blog!)  I am glad that I am taking the time to put everything down though, because our time with our families is so precious. 

I had so much fun taking the boys to do different things. We went to fun parks and one day I took them mini golfing. Jack absolutely loved it and still talks about it to this day and wants to go again!  I love how his tongue is out when he swings! :)    

Here are just few random pics.  Popsicles outside, enjoying the lawn chairs, and my beautiful mom and me!  

 The boys couldn't get enough of their daddy in the short time he was there with us.  We played outside, swung on the swings, went mini golfing again, and snuggled lots!

Here are some attempts to get pictures of the cute kids in their church clothes after church. Of course we couldn't get one with them all looking! :)  

 And here are some fun pictures of us after church.  I especially like the one of crazy Lisa and Pace with me! :)

We were also able to be there to celebrate my Dad's birthday with him!  

 I was able to go and do a temple session with my beautiful mom!

I also got to go see one of my best friends from Bozeman who now lives in Draper!  It was so great to see Missy!  It is amazing how we can get together after not seeing each other and just talk and talk and we are still so close!  

 And Abe and Jack played together like old times!  They had a grand old time together!  I sure wish we could be neighbors!

Only one more post to come - Hogle Zoo!  

A visit to Grandma and Grandpa Belnap's House

 One of the highlights of my trip to Utah was spending some time at my Grandma and Grandpa Belnap's house one day!  It was so great to see them, chat, enjoy their DELICIOUS produce and Grandma's cooking, ride the 4-wheeler, and just sit and enjoy their company in their beautiful backyard.  My Grandparents are well into their 80s but they are truly AMAZING and so full of love and life!

Jack was super excited to get some rides on the 4 wheeler with Grandpa around the church parking lot.  I had fun giving both boys rides and going a couple of times by myself too so I could go fast! :)    

 Here are some fun pictures from our visit.  Jack and Z both mowed down their corn on the cob and enjoyed popsicles on the porch.  In the bottom middle picture they are showing off some of the yummy veggies that we got to take home with us!  Yippee!  
My Grandma is so beautiful and sweet! She always says I am a girl after her own heart, and I am happy to be!   She is amazing, and I am glad I have things in common with her.  I love to visit with her!  She was so fun with Jack in her back yard.  She showed him snap dragons and how to make a doll out of another kind of flower!  I bet she was such a fun mom to have! :)

Grandpa!  What a guy!  

 I absolutely love this picture of my Grandma and me!  I will treasure it always!

 And I love this picture of my Grandpa! This is how I will always remember him, in his boots, in his garden, and in his element! :)  While I was there he taught me about how corn and potatoes grow (no.  I didn't know before) and about how he plants and waters his garden.  It was interesting, educational, and I sure am appreciative of his garden!  

 Another great picture!  This picture shows my Grandparent's beautiful flowers and Zander having way too much fun playing in the dirt! :)

 Oh it was a wonderful visit, and I am so thankful for the times I have to spend with my amazing grandparents!

On the way home we stopped at Kirk and Amy's house.  Jack had a great time playing with Miss Mylee.

 We also made a stop to see the beautiful Brigham City temple that is being built!

My 10 year Logan High School Reunion

I can barely believe it, but this summer was 10 years since I graduated from high school.  I can't believe I am that old!  So while I was in Utah I was able to attend my 10 year high school reunion.  My sweet husband drove out to Utah alone just for the weekend to be with me!  I was so thankful to have him there and it was good to see him in the middle of our long trip away from him!  

I was kind of bummed/annoyed that so few people came to the reunion.  There was probably only 10% of my class that came.  Many of my friends that live in Logan or close by somewhere in Utah didn't come.  Seriously, how often do we have a class reunion!? But it was SO great to see so many people.  There were people I haven't seen in years.  It was fun to see people and chat.   

This picture is from the day portion.  With kiddos demanding attention it was kind of hard to visit, but it was great to chat with some old friends.  This is me and my friends Brooke and Carolyn!

 These were the friends at my table that we sat with for dinner :  Amber and Ann

  Me and Smalls (Angie)

 Some of my good friends there: Chalice, Jason, and Kara

 It was pretty fun to see how many kids people had, what jobs they had, who they married, and what they look like now!   

Here I am with my sweetie after the reunion!  

I was glad I attended.  It was great to see the people that I did!  Hopefully more people can show up to the next one!  

More Utah Fun!

Our good times in Logan continued with a fun trip to the Logan Aquatic Center!  My boys LOVE to swim.  They had lots of fun, and even though Grandma and Aunt Lisa were worn out, my boys wanted to stay!  

 The little fishies!  Check out Z diving into the water! He was crazy!  

Me and the boys enjoying the pool!  

And isn't this a great picture of Jack and Lily, just chilling and taking in the scene during a break at the pool! :)

 We went for another walk on the Logan River Trail by the golf course.  It was crazy to see how high the water had been with the flooding just a couple weeks before!  I love this walk!  I also got to run a 5k  on this trail on the 24th.  It was super fun!    

 Here is Lisa and me being dorks doing some planks!  I don't think this is real "planking" but we were definitely holding a plank position! :)  

 One perk of staying in Logan is access to some of my favorite eating places, all of which I got to enjoy while I was home: Costa Vida, Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, and of course Chick-fil-A! :)  

There is a park just up the road from Grandma and Grandpa's that is always fun to go to! 

Just some random pics of my boys being dorks at breakfast time.  In the one picture Jack had stuck dinosaurs in his crocs and was showing me.  

  And, oh yes, still more to come!