Goodbye McDougal's, Goodbye Utah

I don't know if y'all know, but I have a pretty amazing mother. Her name is Cindy and I can't think of a better lady to call Mom. At the end of our trip we celebrated her retirement as the office manager at McDougal Funeral Home for the past 25 years! For as long as I can remember my mom has been working there. When she made the decision to retire around the beginning of the year, we couldn't let the opportunity pass to recognize her for the dedication and sacrifices she made for our family over all of her working years as a mother with five children. There are lots of reasons my mom worked and all of those reasons led back to us, her babies. She wanted to make sure we were happy and healthy, and this job helped her provide both of those things. It wasn't rainbows and butterflies, but it was a job she was good at in an honest environment and gave her the security she needed. What a wonderful example she is to all of us of working hard and doing what has to be done!

She was hesitant to let us plan this whole shin-dig (she doesn't love being the center of attention), but we insisted. Between all of us siblings and our spouses, we pulled it off with flying colors!

 We hosted the party at Haley's church in Riverton. It was so fun to decorate, pull off a delicious menu and of course see all the wonderful people that have loved and supported our mom over the last 25 years!

(Disclaimer: I am not a professional photographer and some of my pictures are blurry or focused on the wrong thing. I'm a work in progress!)

  

All the grandkids loved being together and passing the time while the adults did their thing- 

I don't think I had to worry about Eve once that night.

 Avery is a little mama and I love it so much!

What an amazing night we spent celebrating this wonderful woman we are so blessed to call Mother.

We love you, Mom and thank you from the bottom of our hearts! 

XOXOXO 

After spending this wonderful evening with my crazy fam, we got up bright and early the next morning to say goodbye to Utah for the summer.

We decided to take the scenic route on I-70 across Colorado and it did not disappoint! We drove through beautiful ski resort towns and enjoyed the scenery the Rockies had to offer. I think we will opt for that route every summer!

We tried to do some sight seeing and check out Royal Gorge in Canon City, but we missed it by 5 minutes. Seriously. Our GPS took us to the South Rim that no longer allows entrance into the site, so we drove to the North Rim and the visitors center closed at 7pm and we pulled up at 7:05. Boo! We could have paid $54 to drive across the bridge, but didn't think it was the wisest use of our money so we opted for some pictures from a view point-

This crevice supposedly goes down a mile or something like that. I bet it's cool, but we may never know for ourselves.

Oh, and it was raining. So a quick, squinty-eyed picture is all we ended up with as a family!

After our detour and pit-stop after 12 hours of travelling, Brian was a total rock star and drove another 7 hours to get us to Amarillo, TX! I didn't think driving until 2:30am was our smartest move, but he said he was up for it even if I fell asleep so we went for it. Brigitte hooked us up with a Marriott in Amarillo and we got a good five hours of sleep before hitting the road again.

 This girl was pumped dad let her take the wheel and she got us back to Round Rock well before dinner time!

And these boys were pumped to be reunited with their house, toys and friends!

As much fun as we had in Utah, there just isn't anything like home sweet home and we were all more than happy to be back in our own beds in our own house in our own neighborhood. How blessed we are to love two places so much.  

And Everything In Between

Between all of our celebrations and trips within our trip, a lot of other fun was being had!

Hanging with the Hills

We had to hang with the Hills before the 24th because we weren't going to have a chance afterwards because of their summer plans (this is the night we got infected, but that is neither here nor there).

We sure love these besties of ours!

  

Bee's Game

We were super bummed when Thad couldn't come with us to the Bee's game the day on the 25th, but we had a blast with the rest of the Monsen/Whitehouse gang.

To say the boys love Uncle Merit is an understatement. He is the best!

 We had quite the crew there and it ended up being a perfect night for a ball game. The firework show was one of the best we have ever seen and we really enjoyed spending the evening with some of our favorite people.

These brothers were so cute with their babes. Wes and June make quite the cousin pair!

Temple Night

One of my summer goals was to find one name from my family tree to take to the temple. Our amazing Family History Specialist at church came over the week before we left and spent two hours with me and helped me find SIX names! Three men and three women. Haley, Brian and I took care of the ordinances leading up to the endowment and then a few nights before heading back to Texas we went to the temple with Jer and Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Kent to complete the endowments. It was a special night spent with special people.

Mad Time with the Madsens

We heart the Madsen family so much and are so glad for any time we get to spend with them. I got to see Heidi a lot this trip (though it's never really enough), but it was great to hang out with hubbies and kids a right before heading back to Texas.

This little Lucy...couldn't you just eat her up?

The kids had such a good time together racing up and down the hill, side walk chalking and pretending about who knows what!? 

My heart breaks a tiny bit each time we drive away from them for another 5-6 months because I long to live by my friend that I adore and have our children be the best of friends.

 One day.

 That's what Heidi and I keep telling ourselves...one day.

Cute Kid Moments

One night while the boys were showering, they didn't do the smartest thing...

They found the razors in the shower and shaved their LIPS!

AAAAAHHHHH!

I seriously overreacted when I saw what they were doing, but there was kind of a lot of blood and it freaked me out! Luckily Brian got things settled down and they survived just fine.

And then there was Tired Thad-

This was in the midst of him being sick and he came up to find Brian in the morning, but he was on a run so Thad just gave up. I love him so much and I'm so glad Brian snapped this pic!

When we were getting family pictures taken Grandma Cindy was so amazing to be late to work and come help us with the kids. The boys were at the end of their rope and she saved us with some story telling and being the nice grandma that she is.

These boys love that lady!

When the Wilson cousins came to town we had to hit up the splash pad and they all had a blast together!

Miss Macie and I were BFFs while there, but I didn't snap a pic. I sure love that Macie girl! 

Grandma Ramona and Grandpa Ralph always enjoy a visit from these happy faces: 

We spent a good part of the morning chatting with Grandpa Ralph about his Utah Honor Flight and he pulled out all his pictures and scrapbooks and it was just a blast to hear him talk about all of it. The kids played their little hearts out so it was all a win-win!

Legacy Midnight Run

Two nights before we left the three of us ran a race up in Davis County:

Brian ran the half marathon and Tiff and I ran the 10K.

It was an evening race and I ended up loving it more than I thought I would! Brian started at 9:30 and Tiff and I started at 10pm. I'm so glad I had here there to pull me along because I don't think I would have done it as fast I did without her! 

 Tiff and I never get enough time to spend together when we're in town because we're both splitting time between family, so it was the perfect opportunity to be together and get our chat on!

I need to get post race pictures from Tiffany, but we all ended up being second in some way...Tiffany and I in our age divisions and Brian took second overall!!

Yeah, he's fast!

We didn't get home until around 1:30-2am and it was a struggle, but Tiff kept Brian awake on the way home and we all recovered for the retirement party the next night.

Goodbyes

We spent the morning of our last day in Utah with the Monsen/Whitehouse fam. Teresa hooked us up with delicious food and we just had a good time hanging out with each other and saying our goodbyes. 

Somebody finally found a Coke with this girl's name on it, and she was kinda ticked when we wouldn't let her have it...yeah right!

And there you have it!

There are so many pictures and I'm sure there are several things I'm missing photos of. We are always busy having a good time in our favorite place!