Trip to the Black Hills

Last week Rick, Kaitlyn and I took off on a road trip. Our destination was to see Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills. Although I was excited for the trip I certainly did not know what a great time was in store. We began our trip Monday evening after Rick got home from work. We drove as far as Rock Springs and overnighted there. The next morning we headed up the middle of Wyoming. Martin's Cove was right on our way so we stopped for a few hours and took the hike into the cove. (no handcarts) It was a long hot walk but it sure gave us an appreciation for all the handcart pioneers who suffered so greatly in this place. There were missionaries along the way to give us actual accounts of the pioneers' experiences.

There was a very peaceful feeling in the cove. That night we drove the rest of the way into South Dakota. We stayed in Custer that night and headed out the next morning. Our first stop was to the Crazy Horse Monument. It was very impressive. It has been in the works for 50 years. It is completely privately funded so it is taking quite a long time. With the invention of modern equipment the process has been speeded up through the last 10 years. There is still a long way to go.
This is the actual model of what the mt. will look like when it is completed. I love the comparison of the model to the real thing.

Our next stop just a few miles down the road was the reason for our trip in the first place. Neither Rick nor I have ever seen Mt. Rushmore (except in pictures of course) so we thought we would make the trek to see it. Long Drive. But totally worth it!

A close up. So MAGNIFICENT!

That night we made reservations for a chuck wagon dinner and show.

We ate at the Circle B Ranch.

Rick and Kaitlyn were brave and tried the buffalo that was on the menu. I played it safe with chicken and beef. Afterwards we were entertained by some cowboy singing.

The next morning we headed back to the Circle B for a trail ride. Rick looks quite dapper as a cowboy don't you think?

Later that day we traveled up to Deadwood city. We started our tour at Mt Moriah cemetary (otherwise known as Boot Hill) We saw many infamous graves including "Wild" Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Truly, throughout the whole trip we caught ourselves humming "Take me back to the Black Hills, the Black Hills of Dakota" (ya know, the song that Doris Day sings as she plays the part of Calamity Jane......a true classic) One thing I was not expecting on this trip was the sheer beauty of those Black Hills. So incredible!

Having fun on main street.

We left Deadwood at 1:00 and drove all the way to Jackson Hole. Nine Loooong hours. This is the part I did NOT like about the trip. I can't stand being in the car for that long. The good thing though was we counted over a hundred antelope, almost a hundred buffalo, about 50 elk, lots of deer and 1 moose. I'll tell you though, there is a lot of desolate country in WY!

This is our cute little cabin in Jackson.

Our first day in Jackson we went on a river rafting trip. Can I just say...........totally worth that 9 hour drive. Those rapids are soooo much fun!

Afterwards we did a little shopping and bought a few souvenirs.

Before we left Saturday morning we had to stop at the Snow King Resort and take a ride down the Alpine Slide. Here comes Ricky!

Overall we put over 1700 miles on our suburban! I'm not much of a get in the car and drive kinda girl (my husband is totally into this) but I must say this was truly an unforgettable trip. It will be looked upon in many years to come as a wonderful memory:-)

Lake Powell

We had a fantastic weekend! We drove down to Lake Powell (our first time ever) and met my sister Deanna and her husband Kelly on Friday. Their son Andrew and his wife Mary Ann were there as well as my parents.

We got to Wahweap about noon and loaded everyone onto the boat.

Here's Kenni ready to have some fun! My mom and dad are ready to go....hats and all!

Aren't they cute? (That's Kelly holding the boat)
We boated up to Face Canyon and stopped to have some lunch. This is Kelly and Deanna's boat. There were 10 of us with room to spare. A VERY nice boat!

Rick, Gary, and Kendra playing in the water!
A little cold when you first get in but great after that.

After lunch we drove up to Cathedral Canyon. So incredible! Beautiful cliffs and narrows that we took the boat through. Here's Deanna and I (and Gare's backside) as we're coming back through the narrows.

After that we went up another canyon and hiked to Rainbow Bridge.

Gary was barefoot so Kendra was kind enough to give him a piggyback ride.

Shoot I erased the picture...it was so cute!

After a good nights rest we were at it again the next morning. Jeremy (Kelly and Deanna's other son) and Mindy and their 3 kids joined us. The kids are so cute and loved the boat and water! We set up camp on a nice beach and then headed out for some water sports!

The kids relaxin'

We each took our turn being on the water. Here's Gary...his first time to ever try wakeboarding! He got up on his 6th try and had a huge grin on his face the rest of the time. He loved it and got to be quite good!

My turn on ski's! I am so not as young as I used to be!

Kendra kneeboarding.

She didn't like that so much but really had a good time on the tube!

Rick had a blast kneeboarding on the short rope! He said the wake feels about eye level and kinda scary! You can tell by the look on his face what fun he is having!

Even my mom (who's 70) and my nephew's wife (who's 7 mos pregnant) went tubing. Crazy ladies! All in all it was a most excellent weekend and we definitely want to go back to Powell again. Next time with more family!

Love, Love, Love summertime!

Copycat

Kendra had her hair cut and colored last week and I thought it turned out so cute. I decided that I was going to have mine cut exactly the same way. She didn't mind.

Imitation is the best form of flattery!Here's the back. Hers is shorter and I should have gone shorter too. Maybe I'll go back and have a little more taken off. Abby Vought (Loveless) was our stylist. She is in our ward.
Hopefully I can style it tomorrow. ....... I have to use a flat iron.
That'll be interesting:-)

Oh Yeah! Kendra has started her new business. She is working at Shear Pleasure in Tooele. She's done a couple of facials, face waxing, pedicure (on a guy who had never had it done) a back wax (very hairy guy) and she's doing an arm wax and another facial wax on Friday. I'll put some pics up of her room after we get a few more things up on the walls.....it turned out cute. Give her a call and make an appt. The back treatment is wonderful! You will not be dissapointed. Oh, and also she is offering a free parrafin wax with any service or if she really likes you maybe a free brow wax:) Come and see her!

Night Out

You know how sometimes life gets extremely hectic and you feel like any alone time as husband and wife just isn't there. Sometimes everything else takes over. From house remodel taking most of our thoughts and what needs to be done next.... to church work....to family stuff....to work....to whatever. I knew that I wanted to have a get away.

Last night Rick and I enjoyed a night out. We had dinner at The Garden and just enjoyed some alone time. It was WONDERFUL to sit and have a conversation without the phone ringing. (Yup, left it in the car) ..........finally.

This picture really tells me that I have GOT to do something with my hair. Yikes!

We stayed at the Ellerbeck Mansion B&B up in the avenues. A nice large room decorated in a mariner motiff. We awoke to freshly made blueberry pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit, and homemade hot chocolate.

It was wonderful because we spent THE WHOLE day together. First, we stopped at Wal-Mart and purchased some flowers for our back patio. Geraniums and petunias.

Next we stopped at Kohl's. Rick has been missing his pants for a while now. (Last week he couldn't find any only to find out that Gary had been wearing at least one pair. How could Gary not know those were not his pants? They are only THREE sizes bigger than his own. And he had his belt cinched up really tight to keep them up. I swear.......teenagers. Of course, I take all the blame since it is I who folds the laundry. I put them in the wrong pile. My bad. As for the other pair of pants.....still no sign of them) Anyhow, back to Kohls. Rick bought 3 new pair of pants plus some shorts and a couple of tees.

Doesn't he look happy?

Next it was off to the golf course. What a perfect day for golfing! We tried out a new course...I think it's called Stonebrige (just off Bangerter) This was our 1st game of the season and our loss of balls proves it. This course is LOADED with water and while I lost only 3 balls to it Rick lost AT LEAST eight.

After he lost 3 balls on Hole 1 in the first four hits I knew it was going to be a doozy. Rick is soooo cute when he gets frustrated. I know he wanted to swear a couple of times but my hunney kept it under control. LOL

You know what they say though....

"My worst day golfing is better than my best day at work"

What made it great though was that there was no one behind us the ENTIRE TIME. We took mulligan after mulligan and didn't worry about holding anyone else up.

After golfing we stopped at Chili's and each had a Quesadilla Explosion Salad (Sooo0 good) and got home in time to plant our flowers and some stuff in our garden too.

What a GREAT 24 hours!