Day 4-5 Lander Wyoming

Monday morning we piled back into the van and headed to Wyoming. It really must be a good age for the kids because they have done so well in the car...knock on wood. Mostly movies but we break it up with some toys, coloring, reading, and snacks.

Wind River Range-Just outside of Lander.

One of John's favorite places.

Never seen it as green as it is this year.

Polly Pockets-great Ice Breaker!

We happily arrived in Lander and while we were catching up with Jillyn and her Mom Linda it started to rain-big Huge Raindrops. It was a pretty impressive storm. John made the comment that he'd never seen it rain in Lander before-The drought must be OVER!

The kids had a ball playing in the storm!

Tuesday: Sinks Canyon-lunch, park & Nature Hike

Future Rock Climbers

At the Trail Head kids picked them up some beautiful bouquets.

Jillyn & Baby Kate

The hike plum tuckered Tate out-he finished it the way we'd all like too, asleep and being carrying.

We stopped and fed the HUGE Trout.

Tate on his 1st Date with Ruby Duby!

Tuckered Ruby & Josie right out!

After Dinner we headed out and saw some TeePee's and some original houses and building from early settlers of Lander. For sure want to go when they are open next time. Very intriguing.

Next we headed to the Johnstone's to have a ride on the horses. George was nice enough to saddle a few horses (for us and their current guests-grandson & friends). The kids had been looking forward to this pry since we left a couple of years ago. It's one of the highlights of their trip to Lander.

We weren't too sure we'd get Tate on a horse, he seems to love them from a distance but always hesitant to get anywhere near one.

Little did we know he knew which horse he wanted to ride, and it wasn't the cute little brown horse Mr. Friendly. He had pointed at Midnight earlier a rather large grey and white speckled horse but he's always pointing at horses so I hadn't paid much attention. He didn't even hesitate when I passed him to his Dad. He was in 7th Heaven!

As the horse riding wound down a storm blew in, the wind was howling and all plans for a bonfire were put aside. Linda, Jillyn's Mom doesn't get discouraged we still made smores by a Natural Gas fire from the stove top. :)

Wish I'd gotten a picture before Mitch left-One of John's old roommates. Jillyn and Mitch are some of our dearest friends-We love Lander and so thankful we could go visit them.

The time went all too quickly and we wished we could've stayed a few more days-but Jackson Hole was calling and so off we went.

Day 3-

What a day-not so many pictures but a great day nonetheless!

There was an Elder who served in the Spanish Group in our home ward who was having his homecoming this weekend so we thought it would be fun to go and say Hello and Goodbye. Elder Bengt Grua is one of my favorite Elders served in the area. We connected both being from Utah, he claims to love my cooking, and he cracks me up with the things he says, such as proclaiming, "Miracles are happening Bro. Payne, Miracles", and "it's Legit", which has actually caught on with the rest of the missionaries.

We were very surprised when as the meeting was to begin we all stood up and in walked our Dear Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. Elder Grua's father is his Dr and has been very supportive of Elder Grua's Family. The girls know his name and that he is our prophet but at 4 & 6 not sure the magnitude of being in an intimate setting such as a sacrament meeting with the prophet is understood. It was a wonderful experience and for John and I cherished to be able to see and hear him speak. As he was leaving-when I asked Tyler to stand, she politely declined and said she needed to finish coloring. McKenna was a bit upset saying "Thomas S Monson can't leave, I haven't seen (met) him yet."

That afternoon-We returned to the Payne's and spend the morning with our Payne family until it as time for them to catch their plane.

We love our Grandma & Grandpa Payne and so glad we could spend a few days with them!

We then dropped in on Great Grandma & Grandpa Harris-to say "Hello", visit the horses and eat ice cream. Then we were a tad late to dinner with Aunt Amber and Uncle Norm & Uncle Mark. The food was wonderful and it was fun to spend some time with them.

Day 2-Payne Reunion

Day 2 began...

With meeting one of our new cousins

10 week old Baby Whitney Wahlstrom

Here she is with her sweet and beautiful Mom Amber

Then we have our Binki Babies-although Tate's getting a little big...

That afternoon it was a bittersweet reunion on Saturday as we all gathered at Fred & Marion Payne's house. Aunt Marion passed away last February and her birthday was July 15th and so we gathered to celebrate Marion's life and and share our memories of and with her. She was a grand and wonderful woman-who lived a beautiful, life-always opening her home to family and friends. We love her and miss her terribly!

We did take advantage of having so many of us together with a few pictures!

Our Favorite Photographer

The Don Payne Family (minus Jennifer) 2011

We had a great time seeing everyone!

And We're Off...

We waited for July 14th for what seemed like forever.

It might as well have been Christmas when I announced it was time to head to Utah.

We couldn't get it in the car soon enough, despite the long drive ahead of us.

We're all happy and excited!

Driving up Mt Rainier we found the snow was still a little high.

The moon was full, high and bright-it was beautiful and made for great scenery on the drive.

Which became a little longer than we expected luckily Audrey came to the rescue and offered us room at her house in Boise-our ambitions of making the drive through were a lil high.

We had a great time catching up and that night then Friday morning we caravan down to Utah together and had a little reunion with the Payne Klan.

We got together and swam, and swam and swam!

It was probably the 1st time my kids have really played in a big pool and they Loved it!

Especially being with their cousins, aunts, and uncles

Uncle Michael took on the kids-Not sure who won but all had a great time.

It was sooo fun getting together and seeing those who could come.

Wish I'd been better at taking more pictures, but trying to be more interactive and not intrusive.

Good Moments Worth Jotting

The past few days our kids have been very loving. Tate has become quite the cuddler, especially in the morning wanting to be held while he catches a show. Thursday morning he discovered "Racking Stripes" a movie about a racing Zebra. He was so excited to have a movie with so many horses, talking horses no less and when McKenna woke up he jumped up excited to see her, and screamed with excitement "Show, Horsie", brought her over to watch with him. The rest of the day was actually filled with lots of hugging between sibling as they danced and played. Maybe not the whole day but it was one of those happy heart days.

Last month in Primary the kids learned "Praise to the Man" and have loved singing it. Today as we were cleaning the car I ran in the house to grab a rag and came back out to all 3 of them screaming I mean singing the song at the top of their lungs as they madly scrubbed the windows and seats. Another moment you hope to lock in your mind (so I'm writing it down) it was awesome!

Summer Day Fun July 5-9

Recovery without visitors is slow-but there is school lunch every day, the library on Wednesdays, the Zoo, birthday parties and PETER PAN!

We have returned to the Cafeteria at the local school for "Hot" school lunch. It's a lot of hit and miss with the kids, but it's a fun social situation to run into friends and playing on the playground afterwards. Last year I struggled with monitoring to ensure that mothers were not eating or stealing their childrens lunch, but this year I've come to terms with it and have resolved to keep myself honest and support the government and appreciate that I don't have to make or clean up lunch.

We also returned to the Library where Miss Anita is telling stories and leading the kids in crafts. Tate wasn't feeling good which worked out well for me as he just wanted to sit on my lap the whole hour. The girls enjoyed the stories and coloring and putting together a paper train.

We also went back to the zoo to pay the rest of the animals a visit.

The Peacock was the animal/bird of the day. Tyler was our photographer: She couldn't get enough!

There are some beautiful bushes in full bloom

We caught the last half of the animal show in the outdoor ampitheater.

The zoo is always funner with friends so happy to go with Miss Genny & Elana.

Saturday Tate went to his 1st birthday party-an outdoor swim party with a big jumpy castle. The weather was perfect and we had a great time getting to know Kingston and his parents better. Only wish I'd gotten some pictures. It was nice to see another kid Tate's age-always makes me feel a little better about the developmental behavior of my lil guy.

The girls and I were treated to a Night Out to See Peter Pan. It was the first play they've seen and they Loved it! The music, the dancing, the singing, We LOVED It!

Cathy, SJ, Tanner & Leslie-

Afterwards the girls were able to get their pictures taken with some of the actors/actresses. I was afraid they were going to be a lil shy, and Tyler did fight with it...but she did it.

Smee-who was hilarious

Tiger Lilly

Peter Pan

Wendy-who had an amazing voice!

Tinkerbell

The Lost Boys

Thanks Cathy! We had a great time!!!!

Movie Clips-

These are a couple of our favorite moments from the 4th of July

Capturing Tate's excitement over seeing the Horses is priceless!

Just goofy real life fun in the Sprinklers

Playing down at the fountains outside the Children's Museum/Pacific Science Ctr