Road Trip 2018: My fam

While Whitney was having a blast at BYU, the rest of us went out to Roosevelt to spend some time with my parents and Destiny.

I was the only one who got to meet baby Paul

before this, so everyone else got the treat of 

snuggling with this cutie patootie.

Babies are so fun!

Especially when you can give them back to their moms. :)

We spent one day out at Starvation Reservoir.

We rented a kayak and a stand up paddleboard.

It was a beautiful day and we had fun out on the water.

Several years ago, my parents took me and the kids hiking

at an amazing place in Dinosaur National Monument called Harper's Corner.

I've wanted to go back many times, but it's about a two hour drive from

their house, so after driving across the country, I'm not usually up for it.

But this year, I was determined to make it happen.

Andrew had to work, but the rest of us hit the road.

It was a fantastic hike!

Just as good as I remembered.

The views are amazing!

The Green River and Yampa River 

flow into each other in this area.

A fossilized sea shell

Look how little the girls were last time we went!

2010

You hike out to a precipice where there are varied views all around.

Beautiful.

After a beautiful hike,

we got into some trouble on the drive home.

Flat tire.

And our lug wrench didn't work...

And the problem with being WAY out in the boonies,

our phones had NO RECEPTION.

Agh!

Thankfully, a park ranger drove by and helped us out.

He ended up having to call AAA for us.

They sent out the big guns.

And they had the tools we needed. Yes!

Cousins

Sillies

Singstar!

Every summer, Missoula Children's Theatre comes

to Roosevelt and they put on a play in a week.

They have auditions on Monday,

rehearse throughout the week,

and perform on Saturday.

Both Q and O got parts in The Pied Piper this year.

Q was a mouse and had an adorable line about

some fancy cheese name that I can't remember right now.

Camembert?

Olivia was a villager.

Since we were going to leave town on Friday,

the directors let us come to a dress rehearsal.

The girls did SO good and I was so happy we got to watch them.

Last minute snuggles before we left.

Care Bear doesn't have far to go before 

she'll catch her Gigi in height!

More cousin pics, with Trini this time.

It always goes by too fast,

but I'm so glad we got to spend some time with my parents

and Destiny and her family.

Whitney's Big Week at YASE

Since Whit is starting high school this year, she was old enough to participate in Young Ambassador's Singing Entertainer's Workshop at BYU. YA is a singing and dancing group. It is a perfect combo for Whit and she was SO excited to go. It was hard to be away from her for a whole week. And she was really bad at calling or texting us, so we had no idea how it was going, but she was just too busy having fun and she loved every minute.

I stalked YASE's social media and grabbed a few

screen shots when I could find her.

Devotional with Brad Wilcox

Voice rehearsal

Dance practice

(Or yoga?)

At the end of the week,

friends and family are invited for a performance.

It was a beautiful evening.

Whit was in the Blue Group.

The evening included big group performance,

smaller ensembles, and solos.

It was FANTASTIC.

Can you see her in the back in the red shirt?

Nice jump!

Such a good performer!

I love watching this girl on stage!

In the back row, second from the right.

Finale number.

Gigi and Grandpa made it out for the first performance.

And Grandpa and Grandma S came out 

for the second performance.

Whit's biggest fans!

I'm so happy that Whit got to have this experience. It is the best of both worlds for her--combining her love of singing with her talent and experience in dance. She's already counting down the days until she can come again next summer!