Free Time

Jared and I in front of Salt Lake Temple

Jared and I attended church with his father on Sunday morning.  We had been staying with his older brother but they meet for church in the afternoon so we had a bit of time to kill before we could meet up with them at their place.   Neither of us had been to Temple Square for some time and heard of a few new items they had on display and such so we drove up there.  It was a beautiful day out as you can tell from the picture. 

Family Reunion

Jared, Linda, and three of his sisters

 
Every August, Jared's mother and her cousins and relatives have a reunion up in the Wasatch Mountains outside of Salt Lake City.  It starts at 9 a.m. but the breakfast crew shows up around 8 a.m. to set up and begin cooking.  For the last two times, Jared and I were assigned as part of the breakfast crew.  I believe is his uncle and auntie are permanently on the crew and oversee everything for the breakfast. 
This year I did not get to see my younger sister for very long and knew I could take advantage of the time I could spend with her if I invited her up (Jared's family is laid back).  She decided to join us later and brought her boyfriend along. 
The last two times we have gone to the reunion, Linda always brings up old boxes of Jared's belongings from his old room.  This time we found a wig and had a little fun with it (see picture below).
Lunchtime is the best time because there is always a ton of food.  It is always so good and filling.  Linda's uncle always bring some brisket.  The person in charge (changes every year) plans the games and such activities along with the assignments to head them up.  They also are to make sure everyone is notified of the date and place, buy the food for breakfast, and more.  It is always a blast at least when we are able to attend.

Jared's 70's wig

Jared, me, my sister and her man

Zion's

Zion's National Park

On our hike to a pool

 

So our final pit stop before heading up to Salt Lake was St. George, Utah where my mother resides with her husband.  We pulled in Tuesday evening and spent the night there.  The next day we enjoyed a visit to the St. George Temple and a short visit to the Visitor's Center to learn a little history of the temple.  After our time there and a change of attire, we headed to Zion's National Park, a place where Jared hadn't really 'tasted'.  As a young single adult, I had been there twice and climbed Angel's Landing both times.  What a view to see of the Three Patriarchs!  This time around, however, we didn't have time to do that hike so we decided to do the shorter hikes to and around the Emerald Pools.  It was very refreshing with the misting water dropping off the rock above us in the picture above especially on such a warm day which are typical in Southern Utah.  One thing that had stopped the hikers in their tracks was a rattlesnake off to the side of one of the trails who eventually slithered away.   Jared snapped a picture of the creature.

The Rattler

THE Grand Canyon

Once we left Nicole and Benson's, we headed on a route that would take us through a part of the Grand Canyon.  We chose to stop and take a few short walks to see different views of the park.  Neither of us had been before so it certainly was a sight to behold.   All around us for miles as far as the eye could see was this huge, massive canyon.  I wished we had had more time to explore and spend a week there.   Even then, I think we would have just hit the tip of the iceberg. 

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

Jared

So shortly after my return from New Hampshire, we headed up to Utah for Jared's mother's family reunion that takes place on the first Saturday of August in Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah every year.  This time, however, we decided to make a few pit stops along the way.  We left the 29th of July after work with everything ready to go.  We drove until close to midnight and stopped at a rest stop.  After a short slumber in the car, we made our way over to southern New Mexico to visit Carlsbad Caverns.  We pulled up as they were about to open at 8 a.m..  The guided tour was sold out in minutes so by the time we made it inside the visitor's center the tickets were sold out.  We decided to just buy an admission in and do the walk ourselves.  It was quite the trip inside and quite a sight to see - a lot of stalagmites and stalactites and other formations of sorts. 

A very tired Kristen

Pit stop #2 was stopping outside of Phoenix, Arizona for a couple of days to stay and visit with Jared's sister and her family.   We got to see their new place and to visit a place that served Thrifty ice cream.   That Monday night we had fhe with them with a lesson on David and Goliath.  Jared brought along his sling and some materials to make one for everyone.  For a demo, we bought some marshmallows to be our 'rocks' and a battle of marshmallow slinging one another eventually ensued and ended with everyone laughing and exploded marshmallows all over the room. 

"One fish, red fish, blue fish"

One fish

So during my two week journey back East, my sister-in-law had a work convention down in Florida leaving my brother for a bachelor for about a week.  Instead of him taking the whole week off from work, Linda and I volunteered to help him out.  We got to spend it with two of my nieces and a nephew.   With a pool in the backyard and two parents who enjoy swimming, they have taken to the water too! The little blue fish below and I would go close to the deep end and jump in.  He loved it!  I spent most of my time with him and his older sister outside in the water just about every afternoon while the one little fish would nap.  During the day we sometimes played the original Mario Bros on the first Nintendo that his dad, his uncle, and I got for Christmas many years ago.  I could tell that his dad showed him some of the old tricks to get 'extra lives'.   We would play tag and other games.  And then while they were sleeping Linda and I would clean up around the house.  Needless to say, when the three weeks were over, I was ready to fly home to Jared.

  Blue fish

Up Noth

My dad and I at Glen Ellis Falls

Linda, Dad, and I above the Falls.

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After the party on Saturday, my dad, stepmom and I headed up north to Berlin.  I spent a week or so there and had some good fun.  We went strawberry picking en route to visit some of their friends and to go see a Celtic concert.  The musicians were so talented.  The berries were oh so yummy....we made jam later and Linda made a strawberry-rhubarb pie.  That didn't last long because pie is my dad's favorite dessert especially that kind.  We of course had to make a visit to the East Side Mall (a thrift store).  I found some great deals as always.  Another day we went to a historical site looking for some family history in the upstairs of the house.  We did not find much of anything helpful.   We also made a trip over to Kate and John's (stepsister and husband) house in Vermont around the fourth.  They live on an old farm and the view is beautiful.  My father and Linda planted a garden there so there was lots of weeding to do as one could imagine as well as organic pest control.  Linda tilled around the potatoes and I heaped up the dirt around them.  I had heard that that is what you do.   Later, when harvest time came around I heard they were the best potatoes that they had ever had.  Then on the third, John is somewhat infamous for setting off a bunch of fireworks so we got a show that night. 

**Side note: 'Noth' is how North is pronounced if you are a native from New Hampshire.  You simply drop an 'r' and then add it where it doesn't belong.  Example: Linda would be Lindar.

The garden at Kate's in Vermont.