Reese's Pieces Day 3 - Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

Pioneer Day

Pioneer Day is a state holiday in Utah.  It commemorates the arrival of the first pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley.  We decided to celebrate Pioneer Day this year by remembering and honoring our Pioneer heritage.  So we loaded up my van and my mom's van and headed for Tooele (pronounced too will uh).  On our way there we stopped at Saltair and walked out to the Great Salt Lake.  In the picture below, if you notice the dark ground close to the water, that darkness isn't actually ground.  It is bugs.  I don't know what kind of bugs.  But there were about ten hundred bajillion of them.  They kind of hover over the ground and swarm out of your way when you walk.  If you look where Zac and Em are standing you can see they have moved out from where they are and are hovering in a circle around them.  As disgusting as it was to watch, it was also highly fascinating and very hard to look away from.

The aroma in the air was just lovely.

Our first stop in Tooele was the park which is the first place that first settlers of Tooele camped.  Among those first settlers were my 4th great grandparents Cyrus and Alice Tolman.  We ate lunch at the park and let the kids play for a while.

Then we went to the Tooele library to see a monument to the first settlers

 There was also a 1/2 size replica of the mud wall the settlers built for protection

Then we went to the Pioneer Museum 

 We saw the layout of the town and were able to see where Cyrus and Alice lived.

There was a table by the front door and there were some items that someone had just brought in to donate to the museum.  Addy was fascinated by this telephone, although I'm pretty sure she had no idea what it was.

The kids loved seeing the arrowhead collection.  All of these arrowheads

 in this room are from one persons collection.

The kids got locked up in the first Tooele jail

We saw a log cabin

Hey!  It's Cyrus!

The first Tooele Cemetery where we have a distant Aunt buried.

Cyrus Tolman is my 4th Great Grandfather on my mother's father's side of the family.  After leaving Tooele we headed for Rush Valley (the next town over) which was settled by my mother's mother's side of the family, the Arthurs.  This picture was taken at the cemetery in Rush Valley at the Arthur family plots.

This is the cabin that my great grandfather was born in.

Last time I was here, there was no one here to show us around and we had to view the cabin from the other side of the fence.  But this time we got lucky and Lois, the lady who owns the cabin, was there and let us go in and look inside.  Lois' father and my great grandfather are brothers.  Lois said she lived in this cabin until she was 7 years old.  She is working on restoring it and was working on it when we were there.

The inside of the cabin

I am so glad that we were able to take the kids on this little adventure and let them explore their Pioneer Heritage.  I am so thankful to my pioneer ancestors who gave so much for what they believe.  It is because of them that I am who I am today.  It is because of their faithfulness that I have a testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ and his restored gospel.  I  hope that my children and I can carry on their great legacy of faith and make them proud.

"How can we pay our debt of gratitude for the heritage of faith demonstrated by pioneers in many lands across the earth who struggled and sacrificed so that the gospel might take root? How is thankfulness expressed for the intrepid handcart pioneers who, by their own brute strength, pulled their meager belongings in handcarts across the scorching plains and through the snows of the high mountain passes to escape persecution and find peaceful worship in these valleys? How can the debt of gratitude possibly be paid by the descendants of the Martin and the Willie and the other handcart companies for the faith of their forebears? . .  The descendants of these pioneers can partially settle the account by being true to the cause for which their ancestors suffered so much to be part of." -James E. Faust

It was a long fun day and we were all worn out when it was over.  One the way home Emily took about 50 pictures with the camera.  Below is just a sampling of them.

To see the post of my last visit to Tooele, click here

Reese's Pieces Day One

Reese's Pieces Day Two

Reese's Pieces Day 2 - Monday, July 23, 2012

On Monday morning Scott, Kristy, Steve and I went to see Batman while the kids stayed home and had some cousin bonding time together.  Later that afternoon we decided to go do some target practice.  We walked to  a place out behind our house.  (Just in case you were wondering, we did not shoot beyond that point shown in the picture above.)

Addy and Baron.  At this point their relationship was still fresh and new and they were

 able to stand next to each other and even touch each other without fighting.

Kristy and Baron

Baron and Owen shooting for their first time ever.

Tia

 I just had to post another one of these since by the end of their trip I had 

completelyforgotten that this kind of affection ever took place.

Kristy.  She didn't want to do this but we made her.  She used Emily's gun.

Spencer

When we got back to our house, Sam and Teresa and their friend who was helping them move, and my mom and Lauren were all at our house waiting.  Sam and Teresa had  graduated from BYU Idaho just a few days before and were on their way from Idaho to Ohio to start a new job.  We had to keep their dog, Beano in the house so he wouldn't eat the chickens.  He was freaking out at the window and kept jumping up and down so he could see them.

 For dinner we made our own individual pizzas.

Teresa

Sam did a little magic for the kids.

Zac said his goodbyes to Beano.

Scott and Kristy made us root beer floats.

Kay and Lauren

  Eating their creations

I'm not sure what they were watching on TV but Scott seems to be interested in it.

We found a snake in the garage.

And Tia and Aubrey and Emily got dressed up for the occasion.

Finally the time came to say goodbye to Sam and Teresa and Baby Snow and Beano.  We loaded up their moving van with all of our baby stuff!  YAHOOO!!!!  We have loved having them so close to us and will miss them.  We will also miss the birth of their little baby in a few months.  But we are excited for them that they have this new experience and opportunity and wish them the best of luck in this new phase of their lives.

Ohio Update:  Sam and Teresa are getting settled in and Sam is now in week 2 of his new job. They already  have friends there who have helped them so much.  Here is a view from his office.

Reese's Pieces Day 1 - Sunday July 22, 2012

The day after we got home from our little Idaho adventure was the start of our week long Reese adventure in Utah.  We went to church and then went to my mom's house where she had made a delicious pork taco dinner.  This is the first time the kids had seen each other since last summer.  BFCs (best friend cousins) Aubrey and Tia were happy to be reunited.  Emily was happy to see her boys again.

This is Spencer.  He is Steve's brother Mike's oldest son.  They live in Kentucky.  Spencer spent two weeks in July with us while he worked for Steve.  He just left to go home Tuesday of this week (July 31st).  We loved having him here.  I already started making plans with him on our way to the airport for next summer.

Living proof that Redskins and Cowboys fans can peacefully coexist.  Even in the same family.  Even in the same family that is from DALLAS TEXAS!!!  That is OK Owen, we forgive you.  It would seem that Owen and Tia's school is the Play60  school for the Redskins so their players are always at their school.  That is so awesome!

We were just glad that it wasn't a 49rs jersey since he is predisposed to be a San Francisco fan since that is where his dad is from.  Although he does have 1/2 of his mothers Dallas blood in him.  I guess with that inner struggle going on, he made a good choice on picking the team where he is from.  Good job Owey!

CUTE BOYS!

Flashback/Flashforward Friday - Family Resemblances

Flashback: Rose Prom 1988ish

 Flashforward: July 2012

My brother Melton and his family were in town from Washington for a visit.  They came to our house for dinner on Wednesday July 18th.  What?  You can't see the family resemblance?  Addy was so confused.  Melton kept calling me and Lauren "Sis" and he was calling my mom "Mom", which he always has done since he pretty much lived at our house most of our teenage years and became a part of our family.  Addy took me aside and whispered in my ear, "Mom, who is Melton?  Is he really your brother???"  We had a cookout in our back yard.  It was so fun seeing him again and meeting his wife Marie and their kids.

It was fun to see these girls having so much fun together.

Side note: Later that week Steve came home from work late and was telling me about how he took some of his guys out to dinner at Pizza Hut down in Provo.  He said that while they were there this big black football player tried to start a fight with him.  I asked him what happened.  He said he was just minding his own business walking over to get his drink when outta nowhere this guy came up and shoved him.  I was like  "Are you serious???"  And he started laughing and said "Yeah, but it was only Melton".