Sunday, July 26, 2009

Other Highlights

We were able to go to our daughter Amanda's grave in Pleasant Grove. I remember taking walks down there every Sunday when we lived there and just sitting around it with the kids and talking. I miss those days.


We were able to take a tour of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It made us excited for the Open House of our Laie Temple. It will be great to play a part in that.

After being gone for one month we knew it was time to return home and face our responsibilities. I did learn one thing - I would like to vacation like this every year:)




Lagoon

We hadn't planned on going to Lagoon but our dear friends, the Harris family, were able to get some great discount tickets so we decided to go. Cody was the dare devil and went on every ride that was wild. Tanner (Mr. Motion Sickness) went in every haunted house there but few rides. Good old Mom even braved the "Wicked" ride which you see above. You go straight up and then dive straight down. Believe it or not, we ran into our friends from Laie at Lagoon. What is the chance of that????

The Harris and Tueller Family


On to Idaho

We moved on to Idaho to see friends and family. We stayed in Idaho Falls with my brother and his family. We had so much fun seeing them and their kids. They just moved to Idaho Falls from Tenessee and so we rarely got to see them. It was so fun to see old friends again and spend time on the weekend with Adrian and Erin who are at BYUI - Erin working and Adrian studying.





Our dear friends from our Idaho Falls ward, the Griffiths, invited us to their cabin in Island Park. Everytime we go they treat us like royalty. John takes the kids down the river in the raft during the summer and in the winter he takes them sledding down the stairs to the river. Bobbie has all kinds of treats for the kids. The highlight is when we do smores around the camp fire. We always have a wonderful time with them.






This is a game the kids love to play while there. Tanner doesn't like the competition so he chose to chop wood after a swim in the freezing river instead.














Bobbie feeds the rock chucks daily and so there is a whole family that now camps on the back porch. I think they have even let the aunties and uncles in on the good deal because the next day there were even more of them. The view from the cabin is fantastic. At night as we looked across the river we saw deer. The next morning when we had breakfast on the deck we could see otter in the river. I love the peaceful feeling there.







Life After Boston

After 10 days in Boston we headed back to Utah. We met up with Steve's family in Eden, Utah at a great resort called Moose Hollow. The three bedroom condo was beautiful and cost us only $99/night. Erin, Michelle and Adrian were able to meet us there and spend the 4th of July weekend with us. I just wish I had Michelle's pictures to post. She is the photographer in the family and does such a fantastic job.



Erin with her cousin Morgan.


Michelle (our adopted Hawaiian daughter) and cousin Olivia.



Adrian and her cute little cousin Truman. Truman was such a joy to be around. He always seemed so happy, no matter what we were doing. Sarah (his mom) said he is just happy being around people. We feel blessed to have Truman as part of our family. There is a giant spirit in that little body of his.
We rented a jet ski and went to Pineview Reservoir. Michelle will have to get my password and post her pictures because I have nothing to prove we ever did that. We rarely splurge on things like that so it was a real treat for the kids. (They chose to do that rather than go to Lagoon. )

On to Church History

The big rock is the front step of Joseph Smith's home he was born in. Tanner took a leaf from the tree and has been drying it. He wants to save it forever.






We thought since we were so close to some church history that we should take advantage of that and so we drove three hours north to Sharon Vermont, to the birth place of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The rain cleared long enough for us to take the short tour and then it began to pour again. As we were taking the tour they asked where we were from. We explained we were from Hawaii and they saidthe day before a missionary couple, who had just returned from serving in Hawaii, had come through. It turned out that Steve knew them well. Steve e-mailed them and told them we were following them around.

More History


We were able to see Walden's Pond and Concord Massachusetts. Concord is also full of history. It is where the first shot in the Revoluntionary War was fired. There are also many great authors that lived here. If you ever played the game 'Authors' you would know most of the people from this beautiful little community. Here my guys are standing in front of Thoreau's boat house.








The Big Pay Off



After following mom all over Boston the boys finally got the prize. The grand tour of Fenway Stadium - home of the Boston Red Sox. Since the boys are all baseball fans we knew we couldn't miss this. We had to break the family piggy bank but thought it was worth it. They just happened to get on the next to the last tour because the owner of the Red Sox was getting married in the stadium that day and so it was closing early. (You can see the tents set up for the wedding.) I think it was the highlight of Boston for them.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Boston's Freedom Trail

Our first tour site was John Adam's home. We learned more about that great man and his role in the history of our country. The next day Steve started his conference and the boys and I set out to do the Freedom Trail.

This is the harbor near the end of the Freedom Trail. You can see the Memorial for the Battle of Bunker Hill in the background.


Teenage boys get really excited about American History. These three couldn't handle all the excitement!


These markers are found throughout the city, along with the red bricks, that help you know you are still on the trail. I think the trail is almost 2 miles long.








Our Big Summer Trip



After over 24 hours of flying and layovers we finally reached our destination of Boston. Our niece, Marne', who lives just outside of Boston came (with her little family) to our hotel to visit and have a swim. We were so excited to see them and have a few days to visit with them before they left for their vacation. The kids swam everyday. Tanner was in the jacuzzi when the woman in charge came and told me "he will have to get out of the jacuzzi because you need to be 12 years old." I kindly explained that Tanner was indeed twelve, just a very small twelve. We reminded him once again that he needs to eat more.