Driving the Truck

The Penske truck was extremely slow. It seemed like the people driving the truck were always the most cranky so we had to take turns to spread the love. (It was like wearing a horcrux for all of the Harry Potter fans...) Steve and I drove the truck with Hewitt in between us for the two longest days. Hewitt was amazing. He was so happy to be in the truck. I think he got more attention in those two days then he has received in his whole life. Of course he loved it. We did have a few other stops along the route that I didn't have pictures for including visiting with our friends the Brysons in beautiful Couer d'Alene, Idaho. Why I didn't take pictures is a mystery. We also stopped in Billings Montana for the Fourth of July where Steve lost his phone. Our favorite food stops were Five Guys and Quiznos. Those places both hit the spot and properly rejuvenated us to continue driving. This is one trip that we won't forget anytime soon.

Five Guys

5th Stop--St. John Washington

We stopped at my Aunt JaLynne and Uncle Rick's house in St. John Washington. This small town is heaven. The boys and Ali golfed in the morning and then we all played a game of good basketball (it's been a long time for me and it was super fun) at the high school gym and then jumped in the pool in the afternoon. In between we managed to ride their four wheelers, go skeet shooting at the local gun club, take a bike ride to the park, and watch World Cup. It truly was my kind of vacation and we already can't wait to go back. JaLynne also made us some homemade ice cream. Brilliant.

I shot the balloon my first attempt. I should have stopped then. I continually got worse.

Boys jumping with a sprinkler under the trampoline.

The boys kept score for us in the box.


Thomas riding a four wheeler with Aunt Jay

Mt. Rushmore--4th Stop

This stop was quick as it was the only day it rained. We got out of our car, walked to the lookout point, made a quick tour of the visitor's center and got back in the car.

3rd Stop--Badlands National Park

I don't have any pictures from our second stop in Des Moines at Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Britney's house. I think my Mom does though. I just have yet to see them. Thanks to Jeremy and Britney for letting us relax and enjoy their house. Britney made an amazing bbq and Jeremy entertained us by continuing to fall down a hill while racing around his house. Great evening.

Our third stop was at Badlands National Park where we stayed at a KOA cabin for two nights. The Badlands were amazing. They were different than anything I had ever seen before. The rock jutted out of the grassy land suddenly and sporadically. Even after hearing the rangers lecture on the cause, it didn't really explain the phenomena. I left feeling that no one really could explain why it happened, they just had some pretty good theories. Our first night there we sat through a astronomy presentation by one of the rangers on the night sky. It was pretty incredible to see all of the stars. And the sunset was breathtaking.

We took a great hike the next morning. There are basic starting points and trailheads, but from there you can roam and explore pretty much anywhere. It was fun to point to a high spot on some ridge and then try to figure a way to climb to the top. I must admit that I was nervous for the boys a few times, but my family was good at holding their hands and watching out for them. The boys did great climbing by themselves. I had to hold Donny on the way down, but even he climbed much of the way to the top. That afternoon during the heat of the day we went back to the KOA and swam in the pool for a few hours and then hit the rodeo that night followed by smores. Ironically enough we ran into some of our friends from Michigan, the Dains and their grandchildren. We loved playing with them in the pool and making smores with them at night. It was also nice to be equipped with all of their gear from the RV as well as extra food. Thanks for providing the smore stuff!!!

Uncle Tim, Uncle Ben, and Thomas. You can see the path to get out there isn't very wide. My Mom couldn't watch.


Steve and Hewitt


We climbed that big ridge behind us right after this picture was taken.


I have never been to the grand canyon, but this little canyon was very impressive.

Climbing at night. The sunsets were beautiful.

If you can blow off those petals, you really deserve your wish.

Our Michigan friends

Our really nice neighbor made animal balloons so he came and entertained us one evening while we made smores. He was good.

First Stop Nauvoo

So I failed to mention in the earlier post that my Mom, Dad, two brothers, and sister all flew out to make the 2700 mile, 46 hour drive west with us. We drove the two cars and the one Penske truck. We were quite a sight. The two cars drove much faster than the Penske so they would often arrive at our intended destination a few hours before the truck. Each car had a boy, which made the travel much easier. The boys traveled great especially with the help of technology. I believe between the three vehicles we had two laptops, two portable DVD players, two Nintendo DS, and one leapfrog pen with about ten books. We also had a few fun, new activities including a bunch of new magnets which we put on a cookie sheet for Donny, a child's play laptop, dice game, blocks game, and 6 new Bakugan toys just to name a few. We were set. Thank you so much to my family for helping. It made the trip more of an exciting adventure rather than a long car drive.

Our first stop was Nauvoo Illinois where my Grandpa and Grandma Wells were serving a mission for our church. The city is where many of both Steve and my ancestors gathered all of their belongings and left to go West in a covered wagon or handcart. It held a lot of meaning for both of us and it was fun to get the specially guided tour by Grandpa and Grandma. The first night we arrived we went to hear Vocal Point, a singing group from BYU, put on a show. Thomas was watching the show and wiggling his front tooth when out it came. He was very excited to show everyone his new big gap. Thankfully, the tooth fairy remembered to come at the hotel even though Mom fell asleep really early. Thanks Dad.

We walked from Grandpa and Grandma's apartment to the place to play pioneer games. Uncle Tim got Aunt Sarah a really cool game where you throw a wooden hoop between two sticks. It was interesting that these simple games could be as entertaining to the kids as our current games technologically enhanced games.

You would think that these pictures would be cute to me and would bring back fond memories. They don't. This was Hewitt refusing to move from this spot on the hill. I finally just left him there hoping he would follow me. He didn't. We finally drove to the bottom of the hill and Grandma Wells coaxed him into the waiting van. Hewitt can be extremely difficult when he sets his mind to something. There is absolutely no bribery or threat of discipline that would move him. I wonder how long he would have sat on this hill.

Nauvoo's Main Street is lined with many working trade shops as well as refurbished pioneer homes. We enjoyed watching how things used to work. Our favorites were learning about how pioneers made bricks, printed the newspaper, and mailed letters. The best part of the afternoon for me was when my family took the boys from the printing press back to the pioneer games area and I laid on the grass and fell asleep in the warm sun. I wonder how often the pioneers did that activity.

Steve standing in front of his great, great, great, great grandparents headstones.

Our Trip West--Saying Goodbye

Words can't express our difficulty in saying goodbye to our dear friends in Michigan. They have definitely become were our family over the past two years and we already miss seeing them regularly. To my immense joy and in a fitting way to finish our time there, we spent our last night in Michigan toilet papering our good friends the Leavers who are Ute fans and have been rubbing in recent conference changes. They also managed to play a very good April Fools joke on our friend Tiffany with a free rabbit giveaway on craigslist as well as teepeeing other various friends in the ward. Let's just say they had it coming... haha Here are some pictures from our last week. (Many pics were on my Mom's camera, which I don't have yet so sorry if I missed any)

My Dad doing a magic show

Tim and I were teepeeing ninjas. We plastered their house in BYU posters.

Right before we left in our big truck.