Mud Island

Moe and my Mom came out to visit Memphis this summer.  We love when they visit.  Moe was only here two days.  My mom stayed longer.

One of the days we visited Mud Island.  Mud Island is so fun.  We went all out with Moe and my Mom.  We rode the tram, played in the water, and went through the museum.  It was so hot.  The air conditioning in the museum felt so good.  Afterwards, we ate lunch at Tops BBQ.  I'm pretty much over BBQ.  I don't particularly like it.  Everyone that visits wants to try it and it seems like every hospital or residency function serves it.  I've had enough.  But I'm sure I'll eat it many more times since we have some time to go in good ol' Memphis.

on the tram...

 

 

 

Here are a few pictures from google that show the water.  There is a map of the Mississippi River done to scale with real water flowing through it.  It shows the cities, the bridges, and the flood planes.  The kids love to splash in it.  The adults love to walk along it and see the landmarks along the way.  The riverwalk is 2,000 feet long.

 

 

Utah - Part 2 - Richfield

We spent the rest of our trip in Richfield at Matt's parents' house.  They showed us a good time - like they always do.  

We  helped in the garden...

We were lucky enough to be there for the first raspberries of the season.  Willa loved them!  I'm not sure she picked one that ended up in the bucket though.  She couldn't resist eating them.  At one point she said to me, "Oh my gosh, I just can't stop!" as she was stuffing them in her mouth.  She makes me laugh.

We played with sparklers... 

until Willa burnt herself.  Ouch!  She was so good not to touch the flame, but I guess she didn't realize the stick would still be hot.

We relaxed and caught up on some reading...

We played in the mountains...

Stephen and Matt explored Fish Lake National Forest and found a formation called the Devil's Armchair.

We hiked...

Marcia took us hiking in Monroe canyon.

Clark loves being outside and loves being with his daddy.  He's 17 months as I type this (15 months in these pictures) and his only real word continues to be "da-da."

The highlight of the hike was the huge toad Matt found.

Willa kissed it... you never know.

Matt is such a fun daddy.  He carried Willa across the log to let the frog go.  Look at Clark holding on for dear life.

Clarky fell asleep.  I love that little boy!

We went on a date...

Matt and I went to the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti.  It was such a beautiful night and the temple grounds were beautiful.  

Clark took his first real steps and learned to walk across the room...

We fed Rich and Sheri's chickens...

We played on the playground (and swam at the city pool)...

It was a great week.  Until next time Wetzels.  Thanks for a fun trip!

Utah - Part 1 - Family Reunion

This past June we flew to Utah for a family reunion.  We camped at Palisade State Park near Manti and had such a good time.  Matt and I have been married almost ten years and this was the first time we've been able to go to the reunion.

My three favorite things were...

(1)  Watching Willa run around with all of her cousins and second cousins
The reunion was for Matt's mom's siblings and their families.  Matt is one of eight kids and Marcia is one of fourteen (I think).  So when everyone gets together, it's a big crowd.  I am from a very small family.  My parents each have one brother.  It was so fun to watch Willa discover she is part of such a big family.

(2) Meeting cousins that I've only known through the blogging world and catching up with some of Matt's Aunts that I hadn't seen in 8 years!  Loved that so much! (Why didn't I take any pictures of this! Oh, I know, because I never take pictures. I hate that about myself, but I just enjoy my time so much better when I don't have a camera around my neck.)

(3) Getting time with my own little family of 4!

Clark hadn't started walking yet so he got around on all fours...
He did crawl the "right" way on soft carpet, but on any other surface, he chose this method...

We spent our days enjoying the lake...

And we spent our meals and evenings visiting with family.

Sinika - I think this is one of your boys fishing. Cute!