Wyoming Part III

Last Sunday we drove down to SLC and spent a few days with Mark's parents, his brother James and family. We also got to go out to Tooele for dinner with some extended family. We spent a few hours at Thanksgiving Point's Dinosaur Museum which was fun for the kids and the big kids for that fact. Afterwards we made our way back to the hotel for some swimming. The next morning, Mark & I took Max up to temple square in SLC where we spent an hour or two at the conference center, tabernacle and visitors center. They are doing some construction there so we did not get great close-up shots of the temple. But, I was so glad that we took the time to do this. Max was quite tired by the time we got there and was a bit of a handful but, I was happy to spend this time as a family. I love to see the Christus statue and this particular time I really felt the spirit. I just felt as though the Lord was telling me to hang in there and good things are coming our way. Our prayers are being heard it is just taking a little longer than we want.

After temple square, we drove back to Star Valley Ranch in Wyoming and got there on Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning Mark had a phone interview with a company here in Blacksburg, VA which was really exciting. We are hoping they will call for a phone interview this week. Keep your fingers crossed! After the phone interview, we received a call to confirm an interview with another company in Billings, Montana for Thursday at 1 pm. So we reloaded the suit cases and car and Grandpa & Grandma Tippets drove with us over to Billings which took about 8 1/2 hours from SVR, Wyoming! We drove through Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park - coming and going which slows you down a bit. But, the parks were great to see. We saw lots of snow, buffalo, moose, elk, deer, antelope and a few other little critters. Once we were in Billings, our hotel had a great indoor pool so Max was thrilled and could not wait to get in the water! Mark had his interview on Thursday and we spent that day driving around, seeing the town, looking at properties and we did find the temple. Friday we drove back to SVR, Wyoming in time for dinner, laundry and bed! Saturday morning we got up drove back over to Jackson and flew home through Atlanta! To say the least we have logged some miles on mom & dad's CRV but we laughed and sang lots of songs and had a great time together.

.... Things you would have heard in the car this past week:

The wheels on the honda go round and round, round & round ....
The people in the honda drink lots of coke, lots of coke, lots of coke ....
Don't get too close to the buffalo ....
Max, do you need to go poopie, again?
Max: I need to have a meeting and pretend to drive.
Max: Are we almost to the hotel yet? Are we going swimming now?
Mom: No we are not giving you the whole bag of gummy bears!
Max: Mom, I didn't swallow my gum!
Grandpa: Max look at the buffalo ....
Grandma: Max, you are such a little sweetheart ....
Dad: Sure hope these interviews go well!

Here are some photo's from this past week. We are so thankful for family and friends who are supporting us through these difficult times. We love you!

Wyoming Part II

After we got done with our painting, Max was more than willing to help Grandpa work in the garden and Mark was excited to help ride the lawn mower. Here are some pictures of them helping Grandpa in the yard.

After helping in the yard, we were able to meet up with Garrett & Ginger in Alpine, Wyoming. Garrett (Mark's brother) drove down from Idaho and we had dinner at a little pizza shop. The cousins were happy to meet each other again since it had been almost two years since they had seen each other. It was great to catch up with Garrett & Ginger and we are waiting for their call on when their new addition arrives.

More to come ....

Tales Of Our Get-Away!

We have had quite the adventureous two weeks .... our trip included visiting Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Montana. I have lots of pictures to post and I will do my best to journal our trip with the details that kept us moving!

After getting settled in to mom & dad's house in Star Valley Ranch, Wyoming the next day was Memorial Day. We celebrated by going down to the cemetary in Thayne, Wyoming where local guards had a small ceremony. Prayers and songs were offered followed by a several shots being fired. How grateful we all are for those who have served in our military to fight for our freedoms along with all those who serve now to help keep our freedom. Almost all of the graves were decorated in this cemetary. Quite a sight to see. By the way, it was a bit difficult to explain to Max why we were in a cemetary, honoring those who had died or gone back to live with Heavenly Father. But, we did our best to teach him to honor and show respect.

Thayne, Wyoming Memorial Day 2009

Teaching Max (3) to honor & respect those who have served.

Local Guard who conducted the ceremony.

Afterwards, we went back to Grandpa's and had some much needed play time in the yard. Grandma & Grandpa have beautiful views from their yard and fun trees that all the grand-kids like to climb. Yes lots of snow still in the mountains of Wyoming at the end of May.

We talked quite a bit about what we could do all week while we were there ... and our final decision was to help Grandma & Grandpa paint the upstairs of their house. (Mark is an excellent painter if you didn't know.) After several trips to the hardware store we were finally able to get enough tape, paint & supplies to get the job done. We painted the two bathrooms one color and then the living room, kitchen, hallway, and two bedrooms a green color called "honky dory". We laughed about the name of the paint but in the end we felt as though the walls did turn out great! Somehow I missed pictures of the bathroom.

Taking a dinner break from taping!

In the taping process ... love high angled ceilings!

Maxs' favorite activity with the exception of "having a meeting" in Grandpa's truck where he can pretend to drive was swimming. Here he is on SVR's pool with dad & Grandpa. We had to take a break from taping & painting!!

Work in progress.

Some finished views.

Once the painting was done, and all the furniture & pictures were put back we all agreed that the painting looked great and that the pictures really stood out. Many of the pictures in their home were painted by Grandma Tippets (dad's mom), crossed stitched by Marie (Grandma) Tippets or woven by dad (Grandpa) with his various weaving techniques. More pictures to come.

Each night before we settled down we would get out and try to go for a walk which usually included dipping our feet in to the "very cold" stream near their house. Here are some pictures of the walks and some of the beautiful flowers in their yard.

More pictures and stories to come tomorrow.... stay tuned!