Vacation Part 2 -- Wyoming

After spending a few days in Colorado with my parents, we headed up north to Wyoming for the main reason of our trip, a Cleveland family reunion at Martin's Cove. For a few hours, we experienced just a small part of what our ancestor's did by pulling handcarts across the plains in order to settle in the Salt Lake Valley. (Of course our journey was made much easier in the fact that it was only a few miles long, we had nice clothes, shoes and food to eat and we only carried a small load in the handcarts we pulled. Plus the temperature was a perfect 70 degrees outside so we didn't have to contend with bitter cold, wind and frostbite.) This was my third time in Martin's Cove, and each time I am left with a profound respect and appreciation for those early Saints who sacrificed so much in order that we may enjoy the fruits of the gospel today.

Abby and her cousins pulled a miniature handcart to start off our journey (my mom made bonnets, hats, shirts, scarfs and dolls to help create a somewhat pioneer look for us all. My sisters and I complained a bit about wearing the bonnets, but they actually were great for keeping the sun off our faces)...

Stopping for lunch. Landon was completely tuckered out by the whole experience, and he didn't even have to walk any of it!!

Martin's Cove...

My awesome brother-in-law Ben who ended up pulling this handcart by himself (with four kids inside, mind you) up this sandy hill...

Devil's Gate...

It was a great family reunion and it was great to be reminded of what an amazing legacy we all share in. After returning to Grand Junction, we had a couple more days to chat, hang out and just relax with my whole family. We had such a wonderful time out West and can't wait to go back again!!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!!!

After a busy and fun-filled few weeks, I decided to get back into the blogging world again. We had a great time on our vacation out West. Here are a few highlights...

We flew into SLC and had just enough time to visit with Jason's uncle Bryan and aunt Lynda before heading to the Oquirrh Temple Open House. Abby was quite fascinated about going inside, although she was pretty disappointed that she couldn't go swimming in the baptismal font!

It was a beautiful (albeit windy) day, and we were reminded once again just how beautiful Utah is.

We spent a few hours with Jason's brother Lance before heading over to Grand Junction to see my parents...

My parents were kind enough to watch the kids for us so that Jason and I could escape for a night to Snowmass Village. It was our first kid-free night since Abby was born and we had a great time together.

Snowmass Village was a perfect spot for us to enjoy. We went on lots of hikes...

And even spotted a few animals along the way...

We really enjoyed the beautiful scenery...

And discovered just how difficult running at 8300 feet in the mountains compares to running at sea level!!!

But most of all we enjoyed having some together for just the two of us. We definitely agreed that we can't let three more years pass us by before we do something like this again...

Stay tuned for more pictures from our vacation out West...

We've got a walker on our hands!!!

At 13 months old, Landon has finally taken his first steps. He thinks walking is pretty funny, as evidenced by this video. We all get a kick out of him learning this new trick!!

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I see London, I see France...

One of Landon's most favorite activities is to pull out all of our DVDs and videos and dump them in a pile on the floor. One night while he was doing this I noticed he was starting to lose his little pajama bottoms which made this usually annoying activity a bit more fun for me to watch...

"Hmmm, it seems to be getting a bit drafty in here"...

"This looks like a pretty good one"...

"The gangsta-look" (low-riding pants with a long shirt that barely covers the briefs underneath)...

"Whatcha lookin' at?"...

"Even with falling britches, I'm still pretty darn cute!"

Princess Parade

Our local Chick-Fil-A sponsored a "Princess Night" a few weeks back and we decided it would be something that Abby would love. I think Abby nearly fainted from seeing all of the different girls in their princess get-ups and her smile and happiness was worth the chaos that "reigned"supreme that night!!

Our little princess all ready to go...

Each girl was greeted at the door by "Prince Charming" and they were all given a flower as they entered...

Abby and her friend Lauren in pretty-princess fashion...

"Cinderella" even made an appearance and greeted all the little girls...

Cinderella and her "Princess Possy" (this group probably represented about a fourth of all the little girls that attended this event, not to mention their parents and families!!)...

Jason and I would have to really consider ever doing something like this again (it was truly chaotic), but certainly a lot of fun to do at least once!! These girls were just all so adorable in their little get-ups, especially one special little girl named Abigail. She repeatedly talks about going back to Chick-Fil-A, but I think she may be a tad disappointed that her visit won't always include Prince Charming, Cinderella and hundreds of other little Princesses too!!

Kissable little face...

Is it just me, or does anybody else get this overwhelming urge to kiss those fat little cheeks on this adorable little boy?!?!?!

Independence Day

July is just flying by for us, so before too much time passes, I wanted to post about our 4th of July activities.

The day started bright and early for us (5:30 a.m.) since we decided to participate in the "Mile-Long-Plus" yardsale that they have in Hagerstown. It's done in our neighborhood as well as all of the ones surrounding us and it is a HUGE deal around here. Basically thousands and thousands of people show up from all over (PA, WV, MD, VA, etc.) to attend each year. We were only shoppers last year since we didn't realize what a big deal it was, but this year we decided to try to get rid of some of our junk (uh, I mean "treasures") as well. We made nearly $300 in just a few hours which we were really happy about. It's a nice way to meet people, make money and clear out unwanted household items all at the same time!

Later that night we had Tasha, Jeff, Coldon and the Merrill family over for a BBQ, some outdoor games, and fun with the Wii. Afterwards we all headed down to Williamsport to watch their firework display (and do a few sparklers of our own too!)

Some of our group waiting for the fireworks to begin...

Sparkler fun...

(Abby was terrified of sparklers last year, but she managed to hold one this year without screaming in terror. I think it helped that all of the other kids were so anxious to have their turn that she figured they must be worthwile, right, right?!?!)

Having a little too much fun with fire...

We enjoyed the short but sweet firework display as well. Overall, a wonderful day and we had fun celebrating our freedom and country with great friends and family!!