While our Home Leave trip included a lot of awesome big things 

there were also lots of little things that we got caught up on 

Celebrating Independence Day in America!

M&S had gone to Utah in December to start their first portion of securing their drivers license

This was the second portion...driving 6 hours and observing 6 hours with their driving company

We managed to cram all those hours into 1 week

Celebrating Rob's Grandmother's 98th Birthday!!

Hanging out with cousins

Outfitting the whole family with new running shoes

The employees had no idea what they were getting into when our family walked into the store

Visiting some of our favorite food spots...

M, S & A had an awesome opportunity to attend Trek

Trek is a 4 day replica of what our pioneer ancestors endured to cross from the 

East Coast of the United States to settle in Utah

They were able to pull handcarts, sing songs, play games, square dance and interact with so many youth that are their same age

They left looking nice and clean and smiling

They returned home dirty, dusty and still smiling and so happy

I'm so glad they were able to experience this incredible event

Our family attended Music and the Spoken Word put on by the 

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

It was amazing!! We just happened to choose the perfect week to attend

There were 2 Broadway singers that had flown in for the Pioneer Day Program 

and they sang most of the songs that had been presented at the concerts earlier in the week

Making goodies with Nana

Jo didn't love the addition of the zucchini but sure enjoyed the bread when it was all done

Rounding out our college campus visits

Madison is really really happy with the U campus

Visits with family

So happy we were able to spend some time with my Grandma Meredith

Yahoo!!! All their hard work passed off and they 

are now official drivers for the state of Utah

Happy Birthday Little

This little girl was tickled pink to get to celebrate her birthday in Utah

with cousins and grandparents

Even better, my sister and her family joined us for the week flying in from Texas

We had the almost the whole crew there, just missing a sister and her family in Virginia

G has been lucky to celebrate her birthday away from home each year

#1 Acadia Maine

#2 Utah

#3 Amazon rainforest

#4 Utah

I'm starting to see a trend...

She was thrilled to have her very own Sky pinata

My sister in law was smart enough to point out that the strings at the bottom of the pinata are so you can pull the goodies out and not have to hit the thing with a bat

This was good news for us since Gwen was quite attached to this little dog Sky

Giving it a farewell kiss

Spoiled by everyone!

Sweet best friend cousins

Grandma and G

All she requested were pink cupcakes!

We sure love this little spitfire

She is so into Paw Patrol & Pepa the Pig right now

Favorite foods are mac & cheese, broccoli, bananas, mango, OATMEAL, 

toad in the hole eggs and chicken on the bone

She loves to color, write up lists and be read books

Her Portuguese is coming along amazingly well and she manages to attend 

an all Portuguese school each day

Yeehaw

Our family ventured to the Ogden Days of 47' Rodeo

Attending a rodeo was a fist for all of us city girls

Rob has attended and participated in his fair share

and at one point when he was just little he won the mutton busting contest 

This was due to the fact that his Dad tied his hands on so tight to the rope 

that he couldn't let go but he still won!

Watching the American Flag come into the stadium via parachutes

Hearing the National Anthem play while we were in the states this summer 

made me especially glad to be an American

America is truly a blessed country

Little watching everything through her "looking eyes"

Since our Amazon trip last summer where she had a pair around her next for the entire week 

she's been obsessed anytime she has a pair of binoculars

After witnessing the evening I realized a couple of things:

The rodeo is a great excuse to eat a TON of junk food just for fun

My girls are all really tender hearted when it comes to animals

They couldn't believe how mean the Bulls and sheep where being treated

And animals are a great what to talk about anatomy

when one of my girls exclaimed how big the Bulls utters were 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Pioneer Day

Pioneer Day is an official holiday celebrated on July 24 in the U.S. state of Utah, with some celebrations in regions of surrounding states originally settled by Mormon pioneers

For my family pioneer day means Bbq, ice cream and FIREWORKS

While we have not lived in Utah for almost 20 years

whenever we return we are always greeted by an awesome firework show put on by my brother

We also get to celebrate his wife's birthday 

Enjoying some pre-show entertainment

Lining up the goodies

Gwen wanted to be front and center for the show

Happy Birthday Utah!

Beauty in Alaska

After our grand family driving adventure

Rob and I were lucky enough to head out on our own adventure

Thanks to Grandparents & Aunts & Uncles!!

We flew to Spokane WA to visit our dear friends and see their new stomping grounds

from there we drove together to Seattle, WA to explore the city for 2 days

and then boarded a Princess Cruise line to take in the beauty of Alaska

It was an incredible 10 day vacation!

Exploring the blown glass and gardens @ Chihuly 

No stop in Seattle is complete without a trip to Pikes Place Market

A view of the city!!

Boarding our ship! This was a first for both Rob and I 

We had no idea what to expect 

The boat and accommodations were fabulous

Maybe we had been on the road for so long but our room was much larger than I anticipated

and for the first time in 3 weeks I unpacked all my stuff, hung my clothes in the closet and settled in

Our dear friends Paul and Lisa Hagedorn

We have followed each other around the country for the last 20 years

They are hoping for us to follow them up north after our Brasil tour...

First stop was Juneau

Took the great advice from my SIL to rent a car at this port

We hoped off the boat, ran to the car and had hiked 

Mendenhall Glacier before another tour bus arrived

Then onto a Costo

We are Costco geeks and thought the Alaskan one might have some fun souvenirs

No go there but they did have my favorite Coconut Chocolate Almonds

On the way back into town we spotted Bald Eagles just off the side of the road

20 eagles were diving into the water for fish

They were amazing to watch

Stopped at a Salmon Hatchery that is near the city center

Lineup of cruise ships at port for the day

After the Salmon Hatchery we took a tram to almost the top of Robert's Mountain

Had we planned a bit better or not stopped as Costco :) we could have had time to hike to the top

Beautiful views from where we made it

Next Port: Skagway

We boarded a train and explored the White Pass & Yukon Border

Beautiful views along the way

We made it back to the boat around lunch time and were in limbo at the point

A storm was pulling in and we had a 1:30 helicopter tour scheduled

Fingers were crossed that it would still happen

After some phone calls and emails we were disappointed to find that our flight had been grounded

It was onto plan two which was making arrangements for a adventure type park which included zip lines and climbing courses

We had about 2 hours to kill before the van would be there to pick us up

We buzzed back into town to explore the cute shops

The storm came rolling in, the wind picked up and by the time we were to leave for our rope course adventure we could hardly walk back to the boat

Made the walk back feeling like a kite in the wide and cancelled our rope course and enjoyed dry clothes and hot chocolate back on the boat

Next exploring day was on the boat cruising Glacier Bay

It was amazing to be so close to live active glaciers

Next port town was Ketchikan

A cute fishing and lumber town

Made up for our missed helicopter tour and went out on a small airplane

to explore Fjords and the area

I got to be co-pilot even though I didn't know what any of the controls were for

Our awesome pilot that transported each of us from the plane to shore so our shoes wouldn't get wet

Some close up beauty

After our incredible airplane ride we caught a taxi to the Totem Pole Park

Last port city: Victoria BC

We just had a few hours in this city

I would love to go back and spend a week exploring this area

We rented a 4 person bike taxi and he pedaled his way

through the city stopping and exploring the area

A cute little fairy garden I'd love to replicate for my girlies

Our final morning after disembarking and saying goodbye to our ship we spent a few hours back in Seattle

Went back to Pikes Places for breakfast and then spent some wonderful time in the Seattle temple

Then it was back to the airport and until next time Hagedorns!!