And before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and cousins and our best of friends. This is always the hard part and the kids always ask to stay in that beautiful place just a little bit longer. I always wish the answer was yes, but we have to go sometime. So we had some farewell get-togethers to get in our last hugs from everyone, and we had a blast doing it!
The Sunday before we left we had the annual Whitehouse-Sato-Peterson BBQ and it was great as always. Brian's family has known these families for many years and it is so fun to be a part of their annual gathering!
We discovered that most adult men love Pokemon Go, and the boys wouldn't leave Uncle Trevor alone all evening.
On Monday, Brig spent the majority of her day doing all our hair, and we spent the rest of evening with the Wilson fam at the park.
These kids are the #1 reason our kids hate leaving Utah. We get to spend so much time with them during our visits. Even though we were there for almost four whole weeks, it is just never enough time. We love all these cousins so, so much!
Luckily we got to have Avery for one last sleepover at Grandma Cindy's house. I think Eve was definitely the happiest!
Brig and her kids made it back over for their final goodbyes on Tuesday and the kids were as pleased as punch about that-
They had to have one more bracelet making session!
And at Grandma Teresa's house I think this was Eve's way of saying, "Don't keep these glasses away from me too long...come see us in Texas soon!"
This girl is a nut.
Wednesday morning came and it was time for us to get on the road. It is always crazy how quickly our time in Utah comes and goes but each time we leave my heart is full of gratitude that we could be there. Because we don't live by family we miss out on a lot so it makes these extended stays so special to me. I love to reconnect with friends and extended family, but lazy days at grandparent's houses or with my sisters and sisters-in-law are my favorite! Thank you to everyone that hosted us, put up with us, and filled up our "Utah cups" - we felt really happy as we pulled away from West Jordan, excited for the next time we will be there!
We decided to make a little family vacation out of our road trip home and the first stop was Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, Utah.
None of us had ever been to this part of Utah before and seeing this landscape was really awesome. It is crazy what a difference three hours can make!
This area almost felt like another planet and really helped with the prehistoric mindset.
We checked out the museum before catching a shuttle up to the main attraction.
That building in the background was literally built over the mountain to preserve all the bones inside. Pretty neat.
It is so fun to make stops like this now that the boys (mostly Thad) understand what's going on and why it is so amazing. I love learning new things about new places and I love discovering them with this little family of mine.
Eve wasn't going to be left behind in all that learning. She knows what's up!
There are over 1,500 bones in the side of this mountain and a whole lot more that have been excavated and sent around the country to be put on display at museums.
We had booklets, electronics and park rangers to help us learn as much about it as we could and it's safe to say the boys loved it.
We weren't sure what to expect when we decided to head here but we are so glad we did. It was a wonderful learning adventure for our family and I would recommend it to anyone passing through the Vernal area.
We spent the second half of the day driving through the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, eventually making it to Denver that evening.
These pictures taken out the windows of our van do not give this part of the country justice by any means, but I couldn't even sleep because of how beautiful the drive was.
Rocky Mountains = Happiness
We spent the evening swimming, eating and watching Studio C. It was the best night.
It was pretty freezing so we had to swim inside, but the kids didn't mind one bit as you can see.
What perfect ending to a wonderful day.
The next morning we headed to the Colorado State Capital and somehow managed to make it to the end of a 45 minute tour of the capital so we could make it to the tippy top for some good views of the city. It was worth it.
Our poor group had to suffer through a lot of our kids being front and center instead of the tour guide. Sorry, people!
There was a lot of gorgeous, ornate work done in the capitol and although the tour was somewhat torturous with three small kids, it was fun to learn the few facts we did and try to help the kids to learn and appreciate the work that went into something like this.
I like this rotunda area that had all the pictures of every U.S. president. It makes me nervous to think about whose picture is going up next, but we sure have had some great leaders of this country, and I am beyond grateful to be a citizen of this great nation. That I know for certain.
And we finally made it to the top and it was almost deja vu of the Grand Canyon with Wes running like a wild man, but we had fun taking in those views!
Those Rockies aren't as close as they are in Salt Lake, but it was so much fun to see them in the distance like that.
Before heading down we checked out the museum inside.
And then we made our way out to the "mile high marker" that gives this city its claim to fame.
Taking it easy in the Mile High City!
After that fun little outing we headed to find lunch-
and ended up at this darling little pizza joint that did not disappoint!
It was a pretty small place but they fit us in and served some delicious pizza.
We still had quite a drive to Amarillo, but as we were walking to our car I checked to see if Denver had a temple that we could check out. Lucky enough it was 25 minutes south, the exact direction we were headed! I love to see the temple and the Denver Temple was no exception.
After this stop we had to GET SERIOUS and hunkered down for a long seven hours in the car-
Luckily we had some views like this-
And barely missed this national park by an hour in northern New Mexico-
We thought we would be able to drive to the top of the volcano and look down in, but the gate was closed once we got closer so pictures had to suffice...this time.
And this is how we made it the last two hours to Amarillo-
Eve was being a fussy cuss and getting squished in the back seat with her brothers to watch a movie was the only thing to keep her quiet! I won't say if the car was or was not moving when the switch was made, but I will tell you it was totally worth it.
And after a short night's sleep we were on the road again and made it back to Round Rock late afternoon. We were all so happy to see our house after a whole month!
There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed, playing with your own toys and hugging your own sibling on your own rug!
We sure love you, Utah, but will be right here down in Texas if you want to see us. There's no place like home!
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