Snarrstruck: Utah Trip- Week Two

The girls and I had been wanting to hike to the Y, and Wednesday morning was the perfect opportunity. Grandma and Grandpa joined us for a beautiful morning climb. It was wonderful weather and the views were stunning.

Later that day, we went swiming at the SCERA- Luke stayed with grandparents and so we were really able to enjoy our older children which is such a treat. That night we had to venture to the fairy house (a little secret place in Dad and Pat's backyard). The little girls danced with the fairies and we all sampled fairy food. Very magical!

By now, our other cousins were trickling into town, and it was so good to see everyone and enjoy being all together in one place!

Cole got to go with Grandpa Kirk in his truck to the dump. For this boy, there was nothing better, and I'm pretty sure it was the high light of his entire trip!

On Friday, we took off early for Helper (my mom's hometown). There is nothing like going to Helper! For me, it is such a nostalgic place- full of concrete memories of people I love. I have such happy childhood memories of being there. Even though my kids haven't been there very often, they also love Helper. When we are around the Mascaros, it's like they just know that these people are my mom's family and we are all connected. It also helps that the Mascaro's are absolutely hilarious and so fun to be around! We hung out at Grandma Betty's house and went swimming at the Helper pool:

Here are 7 of Betty's great grandchildren (babies in the strollers):

We all LOVED seeing darling Audacee:

And meeting baby Cael for the first time:

Another shot of the "greats":

I love my Aunt Jodi, Uncle Kirk, Heele and Dooder so much:

Being at Gram's house was comforting but also made me miss her even more. It was fun to see so many treasures. Cole and Regan got to ride on the old famous white horse:

Of course, the four wheeler came out:

Then we went to picnic at the park next door and we got caught in this amazing downpour!

After, some kitties were drowning in the puddles so Uncle Kirk set to work rescuing them.

Before we left, we had to take some pictures on the couch. We always did that same pose whenever we were at Gram's. Now there is a whole new generation in the pictures.

Our day in Helper was probably one of my favorite days from our whole entire trip. There is just something about going back to your roots. Next time, we definitely need to stay longer in Helper!
On Saturday morning, we met some dear friends for breakfast at the park. We met the Hamilton family when we moved to Iowa 10 years ago! We have stayed in touch as we have both moved around...and we were thrilled to learn that our time in Utah would overlap, since they currently live in South America!