Our family pulled into Bountiful UT

on the evening of July the 3rd

We had been on the road for 27 days at this point

We settled down but not for long

More adventures were to come

But for this evening and the next day we enjoyed

family and good ol' USA pride

Walking to the city fireworks

Enjoying the local city parade

For my little this was a first

She was thrilled to fill a bag full and candy and see the horses and floats go by

Nothing beats hamburgers and hot dogs with cousins

Most of the gang not looking at the camera

but having a super fun time hiking together

A healthier and fun version of donuts on a string

a girls(s) and her horse

6 months ago as we were working through our travel plans for this summer

we took a poll amongst our girls

asking them about places they wanted to see, people to visit and things to do

One vote unanimous among ALL the kids was a visit to "the ranch"

The ranch is in Circleville, Utah

about 30 minutes north of Panguitch (and I thought Panguitch was small)

Rob's cousin and husband own this parcel and have everything on it to make my kids feel like they are in heaven

The number one thing is horses

They inherited their Daddy's genes and love these beautiful, magnificent, powerful creatures

Straigh Arrow ranch was our longest stay on our driving trip 

It was wonderful to have some down time and just chill and relax for a few days

We took a break one afternoon and explored an old mining town 

After saying goodbye to Straight Arrow Ranch and our generous hosts

We drove about an hour to Cedar City, Utah

Cedar City is home to Southern Utah University, a school Sam wanted to explore

We also happened by complete chance to be staying at the 

same hotel as one of Rob's other sisters and her family

I took the bigs to a Shakespearean Play that evening

S living out her dream, got to go up in this beauty with one of the flight instructors of SUU

Living it up at Dairy Queen and introducing our girls to Blizzards

Beauty at Bryce

Bryce Canyon National Park (/braɪs/) is an American national park located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors.

Bryce was awesome to experience with our family

and even better to have Rob's sister and her family join us for this portion of our trip

Annie is an expert with all things Southern Utah so we followed her lead for hikes and things to do

Climbing up Lombard Street

Our second time seeing this street

Once in California and now in Utah

The teen cousins

Just amazing!!