Funeral in Chicago

Bryce and I spent August 16-21 in Chicago to attend my Uncle's funeral. My Uncle Ray died at the age of 84 on August 12. I was very thankful that I was able to visit him in May when he was still going strong. He was an incredibly smart, genuine, caring and thoughtful person. I will remember him quite fondly as we had many wonderful times together. He was a great uncle and I feel very blessed for all the time I had with him.

I was able to visit with my cousin Stephanie and her family while we were in Chicago. She has four great kids and a wonderful husband. Her youngest looks just like my daddy when he was little.

My Aunt and Uncle were almost married for 57 years (2 weeks short). My Aunt June has been very strong through this and is planning on moving to a retirement home in the middle of September. I of course, cried through the entire funeral from the time I sat in my chair until we all got up and went to the luncheon. Not surprising for those of you who know me. I love you Uncle Ray, you will be missed.

Babysitting is Fun

Bryce and I love being an uncle and aunt and try to take advantage of every opportunity we get to watch our nieces and nephews. On Monday night Amber and Spencer had tickets to James Taylor, so we took Easton, Camden and Bella home with us! On the way home we got the boys snow cones, hence Camden's blue lips!

The boys played with our neighbor Erin and traced themselves with chalk (I think Camden ended up with 12 guys) and rode bikes. Easton didn't mind riding the pink bike, but Camden wouldn't! He would, however, ride the purple scooter!

After snow cones, what better way to end the night then with popsicles! The boys even shared their popsicles with Bella. She would bite off huge chunks of popsicle, suck on them,then spit them into her hand and keep shoving them back into her mouth. She ended up a big sticky mess, but really happy!

Thanks Erin for sharing both your bikes, your scooter and even popsicles! You're awesome!

We Have Great Neighbors

A couple of weeks ago our fabulous neighbors, The Drury's, invited us and the Luft's to spend the weekend with them at their cabin. We all headed up to the cabin, which is just outside of Duchesne, on Friday July 26. The view from the front porch of the cabin, WOW!

After sleeping in on Saturday morning we went for an ATV ride. We took a 10 mile ride to some really cool rock formations.

Chandler, Erin, Kylee and Trevor on top of the rocks! Before we started out on our ride Cary had mentioned to us that it looked like it might rain. None of us were worried, we figured it wouldn't be that bad or it would blow over. About 5 minutes after we got to the rocks it started to rain, then pour and then hail. We were all huddled together under a tree (not sure it was really helping) yelling ouch as we were pelted with hail! We also ended up covered in pine needles and crap from the tree we were under. Hey Terra, I'll do you if you do me! Easy boys, just trying to get the crap off us!

All the rain and hail made for an interesting ride back to the cabin! There were huge mud puddles on the trail and we were soaking wet already. The minute we hit the trail mud was flying everywhere! I told Bryce to get me out of here, as I was freezing cold (tank tops do not do much to keep out the hail). As we were flying down the trail getting pelted with mud I was thinking to myself: I should have taken Jeri up on her offer of a helmet, goggles, etc. Bryce wanted a picture of us after the muddy ride so bad that we waited at least 20 minutes for everyone to get back to the cabin. And yes Clint, this is the dirtiest I have ever been!

After a nice shower we all gathered around the fire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. Thanks Terra for the pictures! Thanks Jeri and Cary for a great weekend at the cabin. We're ready to come back anytime!

Nice and Monte Carlo

Our favorite stop on the European cruise was Nice and Monte Carlo. We spent the morning in Nice where we went to an open air market. There were tons of flowers, fish, fruit, vegetables, pastries, etc. We snacked on some fresh pastries and dried fruit. After that we headed to Monte Carlo. Above is a picture of us in front of the palace where the prince of Monaco lives.

There is a spot in Monte Carlo (just behind us in this photo) where you can see 3 different countries: Monaco, France and Italy. Wow!
With our new friends Ken and Joe in front of the church where Princess Grace is buried. Remember Grace Kelley the famous actress? She married Prince Rainier and became Princess Grace of Monaco.
The Monte Carlo Casino is probably the most famous attraction in Monte Carlo. Here we are in front of the Grand Casino, which was featured in the original Casino Royale James Bond movie.

I was in car heaven. I have never been anywhere where you would see a Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Audi sports car, etc. drive past while you were just trying to cross the street!