Souvenirs, Novelties, Party Tricks

Today is one of the first days it hasn't smelled like a campfire outside, what with all the smoke that has been blowing in from the big fires in California and Oregon and a big fire that was up one of the canyons in The Big City. It has rained a lot, which has cleared the air and spurred the weeds to grow even more lush and green than they already are.

July was a busy month. There was Sophia's wedding, of course, and at the end of the month Husband and I took our two youngest (the boys) on a road trip to Indiana to drop off my father-in-law's car so it would be ready for my in-laws when they moved into their new home. They had no desire to take a Great American Road Trip across half the country (they paid movers to haul their furniture and a professional animal mover to take their dogs and cats) but I saw it as an opportunity for both a little vacation and to show the boys some country outside our own state. We drove in a leisurely way over five days through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, southern Illinois, and into Indiana and watched the landscape change from desert and mountains to rolling green hills and and fields of corn and soybeans and forests. By sticking to the smaller two-lane highways and mostly bypassing the big interstates, we got to see all the little towns and small cities that make up the heart of America. After spending a couple days in Indianapolis to rest and visit one of my brothers-in-law and his family, we flew back home and helped MIL and FIL clear out the last of their belongings from their house and say good-bye to their home of the last nine years before flying off to their new home and new adventures. 

Mum and Dad standing on their Utah doorstep for the last time. There were tears from my MIL. My FIL really doesn't get too sentimental about things like that.

Tower Hill at Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Missouri. This place has incredible significance to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and when we stopped there on a Sunday, we had it all to ourselves. It was so peaceful. I had been here once before as a teenager and had a strong spiritual experience, so I was very excited to be able to visit again and have the boys there.

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

We went to Nauvoo, Illinois, the Monday after visiting Adam-Ondi-Ahman--another place of significance for LDS people. We were able to take a carriage ride and a tour of the shoe shop and printing shop and stand on the banks of the Mississippi River. 

In Indianapolis, we visited Conner Prairie, a living museum of American frontier life in the 1700s and 1800s. Husband, Joseph, and Little Gary are re-enacting the hot air balloon trip that we took there.

At the Indianapolis Airport waiting to fly home. This was the boys' first airplane trip. Fortunately, both legs of our trip went extremely well and the boys managed to snag window seats both times.

We stopped at a natural history museum somewhere in Kansas. Little Gary rode the big spider.

This is me and my grandson, Tyler, at my niece's wedding a couple days ago. When he saw me, he ran right up to me for a big, squeezy hug. I adore this precious little boy!