3 Little Monkeys . . .: Family Fun!

I'm going through withdrawal and I'm hoping this posting will help. We just had the best 7 days and I'm so sad it's over! My sister Brenda, her husband Gary and their teenage kids Jason and Brittney; my sister Kris and my brother Devin all came up to visit from Texas! We hadn't seen most of them since last summer and we hadn't seen Devin in 5 years, so we had fun catching up! We certainly stayed busy and it was fun having a house-full (my dad even stayed with us for a few nights!)

They arrived Wednesday evening (after driving about 22 hours!). We had dinner at Chuck-A-Rama (Gary's favorite) and stayed up till midnight chatting!

Thursday we had a reunion at IHOP in Sandy, then we browsed at Gardner Village. My dad picked Devin up at the airport in the afternoon and then we all went to Firehouse Pizza for dinner. We spent the evening in the yard, enjoying the summer evening and doing a few fireworks.

Friday we went to Park City and did the Alpine Slide, the Alpine Coaster, and Kris, Devin, Jason and Brittney did the Zip Line as well. What a rush! Then we spent the afternoon at Uncle Cardell and Aunt Rosanne's house in Provo Canyon. I think they live in a little piece of Heaven - cottages surrounding a little pond with the towering mountains as a backdrop. So nice! After we got home, we watched "The Duel," a crazy, cheesy, but oh-so-good movie.

GOING UP . . .

GETTING READY . . .

HERE WE GO!

YEE-HAW!

PLAYING IN THE MUD . . .

ENJOYING THE POND

DOING THE TARZAN SWING

MAKENNA HAS BEEN TERRIFIED OF DOGS LATELY BUT SHE TIMIDLY (BUT QUICKLY) MADE FRIENDS WITH CLANCY, ROSANNE'S DOG. CAN YOU SEE HOW PROUD SHE IS? SHE AND CLANCY WERE BASICALLY INSEPARABLE!

Saturday we took a tour of the Kennecott Copper Mine (where our grandpa worked for decades), ate at Artic Cirlce (the Texans got their Fry Sauce fix!), then Dad had to take Devin to the airport - it was a quick trip for Devin but we loved being with him! After that, we hung out at Dad's house in Murray for a bit before we went to the Jacobson reunion at Wheeler Farm.

IN FRONT OF THE FAMOUS "BIG TIRE" AT KENNECOTT COPPER MINE

A BUCKET-FULL OF SWEETNESS!

CHECKING IT ALL OUT

WHEELER FARM

FEEDING THE DUCKS

KASIDEE ENJOYING A DONUT (BUT THEN SHE REALIZED SHE DOESN'T LIKE GETTING HER FINGERS STICKY SO SHE FIGURED OUT A CREATIVE WAY TO EAT IT!)

Sunday we slept in and had a lazy morning then took a picnic lunch to City Creek Canyon. We spent several hours enjoying the ride, the picnic, and taking lots of pictures.

On Monday we had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory and browsed at Trolley Square and the Gateway. Then we came home and had pizza and birthday cake for Kris (her birthday is tomorrow).

PLAYING HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS

BUBBLES

Everyone left early this morning (around 7:30) and have their long drive ahead of them. We have just enjoyed every minute of their visit - the house seems awfully quiet and lonely without them here. The girls especially miss their entertainment (Jason and Brittney!), and I'm missing having lots of people to help with Kasidee! What fun memories we have created, and we can't wait till we can get together again!

GARY & KASIDEE