Epic Summer Vacation Part 2 - Utah and Las Vegas

We stayed with Tyler's sister and family in Spanish Fork, UT and spent the next week hanging out with Tyler's family. I was able to go to the Payson Temple by myself one morning. The temple was gorgeous and I was so happy that I got to go.

We drove up to Salt Lake one day to be with Andrew and his family while he went through the temple for the first time. Uncle Justin was awesome enough to stay with all the kids on the temple grounds. Abby, and the other older cousins, were able to do baptisms in the Salt Lake temple for their own family names. They said it was awesome. We took pictures after the session.

Here's a picture of all the family and friends who came to support Andrew. And we also had a picture taken of our family right outside the Salt Lake temple.

We went out for lunch afterwards at a Spaghetti Warehouse. It was at Trolley's Square in Salt Lake and there was this cool caboose in the middle of the shopping center, so we of course had to have a picture. I also grabbed a picture of the cousins while we waited to be seated in the restaurant. Andrew got his mission call to the San Fernando Valley mission, Spanish speaking.

We did some shopping while we were in Utah and Tyler wanted to check out the Scheel's store which is a Outdoors/Sporting Goods store. The girls liked all the statues and had to have pictures.

The bear statue right inside the store was also a huge hit. I guess the girls decided to show us their bear claws in this picture.

We spent one evening with the cousins at a park where the kids could play and the dads could fish. I took pictures of the kids while they explored the area like this bridge that crossed the river and of the kids playing on the playground.

They also played a game of Red Rover, so I grabbed some pictures during that time. The kids loved having their name called and running to the other side. Luckily no one got hurt.

Lucy, Taryn, and Anson are all within 6 months of age and they love playing together. They are the easiest to take pictures of since they still don't mind being bothered by me when I ask them to "smile!"

We decided to hike the Y on the mountain since my kids hadn't done it before. I don't think I've hiked the Y since I was there in college. We grabbed a quick photo at the entrance to the trail before we set off.

There are around 10 legs going back and forth as you hike up the trail. We took our time, stopped in the shade at each turn and even looked for some geocache spots along the way. Those stops made the trip more bearable, especially for the young ones.

Those rest spots were also the best times for me to grab pictures of the cousins together.

We finally made it to the Y! I waited at the mid-point while everyone climbed the last steps to the top of the Y, so I could get this picture of all of them at the top with part of the Y between us.

Once I also made it to the top, I took some pictures of the valley behind them as we rested on the benches and had snacks.

Everyone made it without too many complaints. I had Tiffany take a picture of me and Tyler together too. It was so sunny to look at the camera, but the view across the valley towards Utah Lake was breathtaking.

We had just visited with Audrey Kasallis's sister in El Paso when they were in Texas right before we left town. They live in Springville, the next town over from where we were staying, so we met up with them at a splash park for all the kids to play together. Here's the picture I took to remember our time together with our new friends.

We had a birthday celebration for Aunt Tara, which was the last time we all were together with Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons during that week. The kids entertained us with their acrobats and musical numbers.

We took this picture of all the grandkids together with Grandma and Grandpa since Andrew would be leaving on his mission within the next month. Aubrey had a fun time using Andrew as her "horse." She loved being able to see over everyone.

We headed off the next day for the rest of our family vacation. We stopped in Las Vegas on our way to California. We spent a couple hours that evening walking around the strip. One of our necessary stops is always the M&M store. The girls really wanted their pictures next to the two girl M&Ms, green and brown.

We have a picture of the girls by this photo spot from a couple of years ago too, but the bright colors make it a perfect spot to take pictures every time.

Since Grandma and Grandpa Black had just been in Las Vegas before we saw them at the family reunion, they had mentioned the Statue of Liberty made out of licorice. So that became an adventure for us to find, which we did in the New York, New York hotel. We also passed through the Hershey's store and found this cute new photo spot.

Our other necessary stop on the strip is always the Bellagio hotel. We usually are going through Las Vegas in the winter time, so it was fun to see how the hotel was decorated during the summer. Their usual Christmas display was full of other beautiful flower displays like this huge plate made from flowers.

We walked through the Planet Hollywood Mall as well to see the indoor rainstorm, which is one of our favorites. We found a fountain light show outside the V Theater in the mall as well, which was new to us.

With all the walking we did, the girls were champs, not complaining very much. They knew we were headed to California for the remainder of our vacation, but they had no idea what was to come. We had kept the details of our vacation and the planned vacation stops a secret. This was just the beginning...

Epic Summer Vacation Part 1 - Family Reunion

We started off on our epic summer vacation by driving to Gallup, New Mexico. Aubrey lost her very first tooth in the hotel and she was so proud. She showed it to everyone that asked and asked me to put it on Facebook so everyone else could see.

We took a few pictures while waiting for breakfast because the lobby seats had high backs that made for cool back drops. The girls liked playing on the designer tables that looked like Grandpa's bongos. 

As we traveled, we stopped at a couple of places to try geo-caching. It was so much fun. Right before the entrance to the Grand Canyon, which was our first stop of the day, we followed a trail to our first geo-caching spot. The girls were so excited when they found the spot and dug out the container. We added our names and reburied it. It was so exciting! 

The Grand Canyon was amazing. We had never been before. There were a lot of people, but the view was breathtaking. I took a ton of pictures, but here are a few of our favorites.  

I loved how you could see the vastness of the canyon and view in this selfie. 

That night, we made it to our hotel site which was a lot of little cabins together outside of Panguitch, Utah. We were staying there along with Grandma and Grandpa, Paul and Melody and family, and a lot of my cousins and Aunts and Uncles. We met as a smaller family reunion at a campground for dinner. This first night was the mini-family reunions so it was just my Grandma Willes and all of her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. My girls loved meeting and playing with their second cousins. Tessa and Aubrey each found girls that were close to their age and they ran off and played all night long. Abby and I played volleyball and some of my cousins came out to play with us as well, which was a lot of fun. 

We hadn't seen Paul and Melody in months, so it was fun to catch up with them too. Melody had to be silly in our selfie picture. 

My dad's sister, Linda, has three girls and a boy, opposite from my family of three boys and a girl. We were the closest cousins on my dad's side growing up. Here's a picture of my girls with my cousin's kids. They didn't take long getting acquainted and having the best time together. I love getting together for extended family reunions. 

The main family reunion was held on Saturday. It was for all the descendants of Earl and Eva Marshall who were my Grandma Willes' parents. We had reunion shirts and Grandma Willes' family was royal blue. Here's a picture of my girls with Rebecca in front of our cabin hotel and of the girls in front of my great-grandparents home in Panguitch, where my Grandma grew up.

We took another picture in front of the house with all of Grandma Willes' family that was available that first morning before we toured the house. My dad remembers going their for Christmas and other holidays and playing with his cousins in the backyard.

After a Boy Scout pancake breakfast, we walked around downtown Panguitch waiting for their Pioneer Day parade to start. We found this monument/park that told the story of Panguitch pioneers who had walked on deep snow by using quilts. Some people even stopped to tell us stories of their own ancestors who were apart of that group. It was really cool.

My Grandma and her brother, Don, were in the parade as the Grand Marshalls. Everyone from the reunion got to walk in the parade with them if we wanted to. The girls and I walked the last half of the parade. It was fun waving to everyone and tossing candy.

Tessa loved this green sports car, so we took a picture with the driver while they waited to move along in the parade. At the very end of the parade, the fire trucks stopped and just started spraying water up into the air. The kids thought it was the best thing ever as they got soaked and ran after each fire truck trying to get in the line of water-fire.

My great-grandpa Earl Marshall was a pharmacist and this was his store. One of my relatives is still the pharmacist there today. My older brother, Paul, is a pharmacist and knew that that profession ran in our family. There were displays inside this drug store that had items from my great-grandpa's original drug store. It was so cool to see. Abby bought a huge metal volleyball player for her bedroom from this store. She and Tyler thought it was too awesome to pass up.

We had the majority of the meals and activities at the stake center in town. Here's our family with the Marshall Reunion sign. 

I tried to take one picture of the entire group. There were so many of us there. They also took a picture of all the 1st generation cousins. So my grandma and her brother Don are sitting in front and my dad with all of his cousins are standing behind them.

Here's a picture of our entire family reunion with all the different colored shirts. One color for each of Earl and Eva's children and their descendants.

We also took pictures of each family branch. Here are all the royal blues of Grandma Barbara Willes' family.

The kids found things to entertain themselves and one of my cousins took this picture while my kids played with their second cousins, making up their own games to have fun. 

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There was a talent show so my dad put together a percussion piece called Kawf Dooda Code. It's a body percussion number where everyone makes sounds like they're sick, but to musical rhythms. It's hilarious and so cool. Abby and I did a part together and performed with Paul and Joseph, Mom and Dad, and my cousin Bree and her mom, my Aunt Linda. Everyone loved it. My dad played his steel drum too. It was so fun. Some of the kids performed songs or dance routines, so Aubrey was a little upset with me that she didn't get to do some gymnastics, but enjoyed watching everyone perform.

There were a lot of planned activities and crafts for the kids. I helped with some of those to keep the kids entertained. They got to color, fingerpaint, make crowns, snakes, and rockets. Tyler and Abby went fishing with some of the older kids while I stayed with the other three girls while they shot off their rockets. I think Tessa's rocket was one of the rockets that flew the highest into the air.

My dad's cousin who lives in Panguitch owns some horses, so we spent some time at their house letting the girls ride the horses and ponies. My girls were super excited to get to ride horses. Abby missed it since she was fishing and was a little sad about it. I took a lot of pictures and videos of the girls as they each took turns on each of the horses. Here's one picture of each girl on a horse.

Even Taryn had a great time and was not scared to try the bigger horses and take multiple turns because she thought it was so much fun.

On Sunday, we went to church at a branch near Panguitch Lake. The church building was surrounded by these beautiful flowers. After church, before changing for lunch, I tried taking some pretty pictures of the girls, but the sun was so bright. Besides their squinty eyes, I loved the pictures and the bright colors of the flowers and their dresses.

Another cousin owned a cabin near the lake and church, so we stopped there to change clothes and have lunch. The kids played around the huge yard. We were there with my first cousins, so these kids are all second cousins, but they loved playing together and getting to know each other better.

We also pulled out some home videos and pictures of my grandparents when they were first married and when my dad and Aunt were just babies. It was so cool to see. We loved seeing some video of my grandpa Black. He was usually taking the videos, so you don't see him much. He died when my dad was eight years old, so my dad and Aunt were loving the videos and pictures that had him in them. Here we all are surrounding my Grandma as we watched the videos.

Before leaving the lake and Panguitch, Tyler wanted one more go at fishing. The girls hung around and played while Tyler fished. We didn't catch anything, but the scenery and view were beautiful.

Tyler and I had to take a picture on our last day with Corbin Allred. His wife is one of my second cousins. He was the emcee for our talent show, and is known in the LDS world for his acting. He's in movies like Saints and Soldiers, which I loved. He is now a Paramedic EMT in Oregon, but we had to take a picture to show all of our friends back home. :)

As we left Panguitch to head our separate ways (us up to the Provo area, and my parents and Paul and Melody to Las Vegas), we stopped by Bryce Canyon which wasn't very far from where we were. We had never been and it was so cool to see another huge canyon and national park. We had to do a little climbing, but the kids were good sports and the view was definitely worth the climb.

Here's our family at one of the lookout points.

And here's a picture of me and Tyler.

And one of just the girls. The canyon was so pretty and so amazing.

As we walked back down along the rim, we took some more pictures. Here's some of me with the girls and Tyler with the girls.

I love this picture of Tyler and Taryn because their smiles are so good. I LOVE Tyler's smile in this picture. It's so genuine and how I think of him all the time. One of my all-time favorites!

After saying our goodbyes to my family, we finished our journey up to the Provo area to spend some time with Tyler's family. As we drove through the pretty Utah landscape, we stopped at one more river to try fishing. So far, Tyler had not caught any fish. But luckily, this time, we hit the jackpot. Within minutes Tyler had caught a few fish and released them back into the stream. They were catching so easily that each girl took a turn and caught fish too!

I think the final count was 15 or more fish caught with each girl catching at least three fish each. They each took a turn and I was able to get pictures one round and videos the next round.

They had so much fun and didn't even mind holding up the fish they proudly caught. It was so much fun to watch them all. They were all having so much fun.

Eventually, some bad weather moved in or else we would have stayed longer. It quickly got cloudy and started to rain and when things started falling off the high cliff that was right next to us, we decided to quickly get back to the van before larger items starting falling from the cliff. Besides our quick departure, it was so much fun and such a great way to start our epic family vacation.