Our Road Trip

For our vacation this summer, we wanted to center it around going to see our grandma on a mission in Montana, so we took a road trip that went through Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and then back to Utah. It was our whole family of seven plus Uncle Jeff. We just drove through Wyoming and Nebraska, and then stopped in Rapid City, South Dakota for a few days. We saw Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, and went through The Wind Caves, which were all amazing! After that we drove up through North Dakota to Billings, Montana to visit Grandma! It was fun to see the little mall, and the area that she was in, and, most of all, her. We spent the day with her and then went to Yellowstone. After a day there we drove down to Idaho to meet our cousins at Lava Hot Springs. Ron, Brooke, and Jeff all had their reasons to return home early, so we split here. They drove home, stopping to see the Idaho clan, while we took our time and stopped for the night. We didn't go to the Hot Springs, but we went to the awesome swimming pool. After that we went home at last! Here are some pictures from all the different places we went:

Of course we saw some funny/really weird signs:

Some of us didn't like sitting in the car very long....

There were some wild donkeys that would just come up to your car, and this one stuck it's head in to say hello to us.

Here are some more....

Mount Rushmore was amazing. Even though it didn't take up the whole mountain, like we expected, it was still incredible.

The Grand View Terrace.... (duh)

Ha ha! Look at that happy little boy!

Jeff will get mad at me for this picture, but it's pretty much the only one we have of him.

This is "The Pose." You will see it more...

This is a waterfall in Yellowstone that we hiked to see:

Aw.... Kodak moment.

Here's Laura, contemplating life.

More waterfall...

Now it's Brooke's turn to contemplate life. I should have had her open her mouth so it would look like the waterfall was coming out of it.....

"The Pose...."

....x 2

Here we have an Elk.

More wild donkeys....

We went to the TOP OF THE WORLD!!!

Deer....

The buffalo would be proud of this picture if they saw it.

Here we are with Grandma! It was sooooooooooo great to see her!

Here are Dad and Alex butting heads when it was time to stuff the baby in the backpack.

Here we are in the cave. Don't let the flash fool you, it was cold and dark in those caves.

Ha ha! Surprise! I took a picture!

:) As you may see, by Laura's face, it was so dark in the caves that when you took a flash picture, it hurt your eyes.

Here we have the Billings, Montana temple.

Here's the sunset when we were on our way to Idaho, gorgeous, huh?

Austin and Jayden at Lava Hot Springs:

Alex love swimming in the hotel and at Lava so much!

At Lava Hot Springs, there are 3 platforms that you can jump off of, and when Ashlyn and I learned we were going to leave soon, we decided to do the highest platform. Let me tell you, that platform is high, and when you hit the water, you get the most painful wedgie of your life. Enjoy!

Alex was actually really good while driving, but we still had to entertain him. A good way to do that is to teach him to sing and dance! Here are the products of our teaching:

While we were in Yellowstone, we were driving along a road when a buffalo walks into the middle of it. Jeff was just waiting for the buffalo to go along it's merry way when the car behind us started honking. Jeff waited for the buffalo to go to the other side of the road then started inching past it. Just when we were driving by, I (oh, so stupidly) yelled, "Bye bison!" and then it snorted and started running after the car. The car was too fast for the buffalo, but I got it on camera! I didn't get when it was charging us, because I was too scared and turned the camera off, but if you listen, you can hear it snort. Check it out:

Laura's Recovery

Hello! We haven't posted for a while, so I just thought I'd update on our family. First of all, Laura is doing well. She was able to go to cheer camp and her pick line was taken out. A few weeks ago, she felt like she was coughing up liquid, so my mom decided to not take any chances and take her to the doctor. As it turns out, she got pneumonia again, so she was put back on antibiotics. The doctors are now looking at causes for her sicknesses, and right now, they're looking at her asthma and allergies. Below are some picture of her at cheer camp, and then her at Youth Conference to prove that she is alive and thriving.

Maybe some don't know, and maybe some do, but Brooke is actually a cheer coach for the Hunter High cheerleaders. She goes with Laura to every practice, barking at the cheerleaders to run two miles (just kidding.... well... kind of) and, well, coaches. Here they are at cheer camp.

Laura is looking away, second from the left.

Here's the team after they won the spirit stick.

Beginning formations...

Left to Right: Alex, Alex, and Laura

I got this picture in our back yard and just wanted to post it. Pretty, huh? Think I have the makings of a photographer?

Here's more proof that Laura is alive. Here we are at Moab, Utah for Youth Conference. Even though Laura looks like she's going to pass out, I just caught her by surprise with this picture.

-Rachel

Laura's Week

On Wednesday Laura complained of a shoulder pain and wanted to be checked out. When I went to get her she was in tears. I took her to an Instacare and they Xrayed and found a lung absess and pneumonia. She was sent up to Primary Childrens Hospital and admitted. A lung absess is fairly uncommon in a young person and is often associated with some serious conditions like tuberculosis. So for 3 days the doctors ran tests and we waited for results. It appears that the bacteria is strep or staff depending who you talk to but it is responding to antibiotics. She's getting really stir crazy because she can't leave her room, but she's feeling better. Hopefully she can go home on Monday, but she will have a picc line and will receive IV antibiotics for a few weeks. She's sad about missing so much school and cheer, but she'll be back on her feet soon. So many people have offered help. Ron, Brook, Rachel and even Alex have been great to fill in the gaps with sitting with Laura, bringing her things, taking care of things at home. We are very grateful to Primary Childrens Hospital for the excellent care they have given to her and how they take care of the parents as well.

Disneyland!!!!

Okay! So my mom already did a post about California, but it didn't cover a quarter of the trip, so I decided to do my own post! Check it out!

Ha ha! This was the first blackmail picture of the trip. :) I told my mom it was going right up on the blog! ;)

:) Marissa wanted this car:

The infamous sign that you see as you enter Disneyland...

These are the letters in CALIFORNIA as you enter California Adventure, and there was no "M" so we just did "N"



Hey! That's me!

Laura...

:O It's Mickey Mouse!

"Now that I've met him, I want to be just like him!"

(From left to right) Brooke, Marissa, and Rachel. Just look at my sunburned nose!

You all know that restaurant that you see as you enter the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, well, we went to it! The food was sooooooooooooooooooooooo good!

Too bad Alex didn't see the awesomness of that diner date...

Ha ha! This is what you get when you have two 12-year-olds in a fancy restaurant!

Marissa was absolutely terrified to go on Tower of Terror....

...and here's the picture to prove that! (Oh, just look at that happy child on the right!)

Dad and Alex on teacups...classic.

That's right, Dad. Ram the little kids.

Alex met a "real live airplane" ha ha!

Our second blackmail picture! Brooke's *ahem* rear after Splash Mountain.

The beach was amazing! I haven't really ever been to the beach, so going there for 20 minutes in the cold was perfectly fine!



Just look at that sunset!

There's me and Marissa, making the most of what time we had there!

SEA WORLD! Is that Shamu?!?! Oh yes it is!

Wale tails! (Don't worry, Mom and Dad wouldn't let us sit in the splash zone)

Beached whale! Oh no! Beached Shamu!

Now comes the end, but don't worry...

...THE END!

Well, my picture don't even begin to cover the amazing time we had, but there's a little taste of our trip!

-Rachel