We Travel to Utah...Again! Mission Reunion, The Ranch, and Girl's Night!

I feel like this year is the Year of the Utah Trips (I think that is a real Chinese year or something like that). We went out in May for a wedding, then again in July, and we'll be back at Christmas time for a mission homecoming. Yikes! My pocketbook is feeling the strain :)

We left for Utah with the van packed and the DVD player working (and it worked the whole trip!). We had snacks for the kids, workbooks, crayons, and movies. We were set! Little did we know that our kids do not feel as if they are seasoned travelers. They hate being in the car. They hate being buckled in for hours and hours. And since they can't tell time, we hate hearing "How many more minutes" or "Are we almost to Utah" or "When can we get out?" Seriously, we were in Fife (like 15 minutes from our house) and Bryce says "Are we almost to Utah?" Ugh! Not a good sign. Road trips are not fun! They used to be, before we had kids. But now I dread them, and mostly it's because I feel so bad for my kids!

Last time we went to Utah I broke up the posts so they weren't overloaded with pictures, and it's easier for me to do it that way. So why ruin a good thing? I'm breaking my posts up by activities, so stay tuned for more Utah posts!!

When we got to Utah Bryan and I dropped off the kids, changed clothes, and headed to his mission reunion. Bryan served in the Texas Houston Mission, and usually they hold reunions during conference weekends and we never make it. But for some reason they held the reunion in July this year, the same weekend we were going to be there! Imagine that! Bryan was super excited to see some old friends and try to locate some other ones. It ended up being a great time where we got to hear from Bryan's mission president and mingle with those there. Bryan also got the information of one of his companions that he had lost contact with. He was sooo excited about that! I would have taken pictures, but Bryan felt they weren't necessary. Men. So difficult.

Saturday we went to the ranch to help Grandpa move his cows to another pasture. It was so cool to watch! Definitely not something we get to see in the city. We went on a tractor ride, played in the creek, watched the cows being moved and had lunch. Always a good time at the ranch!

If you haven't seen the post below, this picture should tell you how Cole feels about horses.

Or maybe this picture helps?

On the tractor. It wouldn't be a trip to the ranch without a tractor ride!!

Roger tried to open the fence, and then found himself in a little predicament :)

Cole felt that since Roger was driving he needed a helmet?

Looooove the views at the ranch!

Moving and sorting the cows. I learned the cows are loud, smelly, and not very cute.

Janalyn and Ethan in the creek!

Love this picture of Bryce. He's mad at me for shooting him over and over again with the water gun. Man! I'm such a pest.

The water is coooold! They had a good time anyway.

Bryce does not share Cole's fear of horses. He loves them!

After the ranch we raced home to make it to Park City for a much needed Girl's Night Out. Janalyn, Cindy, Kristen, and I met Lindsay in Park City for shopping and dinner. We shopped for almost three hours (that's a lot for me, mostly because usually I have three whiny kids with me) and then went to a cute little restaurant. The food was good and the service was too! Since we were sat outside, the restaurant let us hang out and talk well after the restaurant had closed. It was a fun time chatting with my sisters-in-law and we had a good time joking and catching up and laughing. We should do it again!! And this time I'm getting the tacos :)