Day 8...Logan Temple, Great Basin Nat'l Park and the Star Show

When we woke up, we loaded the van, went to Bob and Lorri's and then said goodbye to everyone. We were on our way to Great Basin National Park for our family camp-out of July. This camp-out was originally scheduled for the week after but, because of the side trip to Logan, we figured we could just hit Great Basin on our way home and it would make more sense. My parents, thankfully, were persuaded to go along with us and take their motor home.

Before we left Logan we drove to the Temple so the kids could walk around it. Ethan took the digital camera and started taking pictures. He is very good, actually. He took some quite nice shots of the Temple which I put into a collage.

We then took off and left Logan. We did take a little side trip to see the Heber City Temple under construction.



We were pretty happy when we finally got to Great Basin National Park. We found my parents, set up camp, ate dinner and then went to the Star Show at the Visitor's Center. Courtney got to help by being the Sun and Ethan got to help by being the Earth. The ranger who did the lecture did a great job getting us excited about the stars. At the end we got to look through a telescope at what he had been telling us about. It was great!

Day 7...Hiking and Swimming

Courtney had a rough night. I'm not sure if her allergies are flaring up again (she has been on medication since the Monday before we left to try and get them cleared up) or what, but she was coughing and not feeling well. She cuddled in our bed with us but soon Bryan had to get up and share a bed with Ethan because...well...Courtney is quite a bed hog!

We woke up, got ready and went to Bob and Lorri's house. They took a bunch of us on a hike in Logan Canyon to the Wind Caves. It wasn't a bad hike and Courtney did...okay. She was a bit crabby on the way up and Bryan had to take it really slow with her but she made it. Toward the end I began playing "I Spy" with her and Bryan let her use the GPS to keep us on track. We had forgotten that we have to distract her to keep her hiking but once we remembered that, she was good to go.

The cave was pretty cool. Ethan loved exploring. It wasn't really a cave like you normally think of them. It was just a hollowed out part of a rock that has bats in it at night.

On our hike down the mountain a man told us that there was a big rattlesnake by the side of the trail near the river. When we got to that place everyone slowed down and Ethan wanted to try and find the snake. I wasn't too excited about this and tried to get everyone to go faster. I have had my fill of rattlesnakes and didn't want to see another one!! It was gone and so we didn't see it. I wasn't too disappointed but others were.



That afternoon we loaded up and went back to the hotel to swim. Everyone came and it was fun to watch the kids play around. We were there for hours and it was great fun. I even got to practice my laps, although the pool was really small. It was fun to watch Carter (Lisa and Mike's little boy) jump into the pool to Uncle Andrew.

We went to bed very tired.

Day 6...Driving to Logan and Fireworks

We woke up Monday morning, packed the car, ate breakfast, cleaned the house and were off to Logan. It was an uneventful drive. We stopped when we needed to put gas in the vans and then we got lunch at Subway (did you know they sold pizza?!?).

When we got to Bob and Lorri's house we got to visit with everyone including Great Grandpa Pack (Bryan's grandpa) and Uncle Brent (Bryan's uncle). It was fun to see them and see what they have been up to.

After dinner we got a hotel room in downtown Logan and then visited until we were all too tired so we went to bed. The kids loved the hotel room and were excited to use the pool the next day!

Day 5...Andrew's Talk and Church

We woke up and went to Church to hear Andrew's talk. He did a great job and it was fun to see how he has changed. The kids loved hearing stories and actually sat still. I was starting to get my voice back a bit but was still really hoarse.

Courtney decided that she didn't want to go to Primary so we convinced her to go with Ethan to his class so she wouldn't be alone. He wasn't too excited about going either and wanted me to tell them not to sing to him in Singing Time. He hates having attention directed at him like that...but I forgot and they still sang to him. Ooops! He said he actually missed his Primary class at home.

During Relief Society I looked over and there was Courtney on Grandma Pack's lap! She hadn't wanted to go with Ethan to Singing Time and Julie had been passing by. So Julie brought her in to Relief Society and she got to hang out with us. Personally, I would have gone to Primary!

Then we had a great family dinner and played games. It was a relaxing day...except that we were all doing laundry and packing in preparation for our drive to Logan on Monday.

Day 4...Family Pictures and Swimming

We haven't had a family picture taken in over 2 years so it was time. There have been 3 new additions to the family since the last photo. We all got ready and went to a park. The photographer was really nice and made us all feel comfortable. We haven't seen the pictures yet, so we'll see how that goes, but he was a really nice man and the kids loved him. We all goofed around and tried to get kids/people to smile when it was time.

Ethan got to babysit (hold) Ally, who is only 6 weeks old. He was in heaven! And Courtney got to play with Brooke between pictures. There was a stream that the photographer used and so they got wet.



After photos and lunch, we went to the APEX Center to swim. The kiddie pool was closed for a bit but we played in the larger pool and went around the whirl pool. The kids loved playing with Uncle Andrew and Uncle David.

Day 3...Train Museum and Baseball Game

I had a horrible night!! When I woke up I didn't have a voice...at all!! And my throat and ear had been hurting. So I decided to run to the Urgent Care in Arvada. It didn't take very long and the doctor concluded that there wasn't anything wrong except that I had laryngitis. She said that my throat and ear didn't look very red and weren't infected, but she gave me a Z-Pack prescription anyway, just to make sure nothing would crop up. The doctor said that the sore throat may have been from the strain of trying to speak. I went to the store to fill my prescription and then got back to the house in time to go to the Railroad Museum with everyone.

We go to the Railroad Museum every time we go to Arvada and this time was no different. The kids had a lot of fun playing around the trains and my kids especially like seeing the model trains run around the track.

We didn't stay too long, because the kids were pretty tired, but we had fun while we were there.



Friday evening we all loaded up to go to a Rockies baseball game. We were going to sit in the Rock Pile (cheap seats) but they were sold out!! So we ended up getting some more expensive tickets. We were at the stadium pretty early so we had a picnic lunch on the lawn in front while listening to a band play. The kids had a great time playing dog pile on Ethan, tag and being twirled upside down by Uncle Mike.

When it was time to go in, Bryan took a bunch of stuff back to the van while the rest of us went in to find our seats. They were up high but not too bad. It threatened to rain on us, and even sprinkled a few times, but nothing major. We did have a great lightening storm.

I still didn't have a voice which was, by this time, pretty annoying to everyone. If I wanted a child's attention, I would have to get Bryan to yell at them for me. Ethan told me that he couldn't wait to have my voice back. He even said he missed my yelling. ;)

Day 2...Andrew's Home!

When we woke up on Thursday morning Ethan felt a lot better. His throat was still a bit sore but he felt okay. We got ready for the day, loaded the van, ate breakfast and got on the road to Denver.

I wanted to find out the results of Ethan's Rapid Strep Test from the night/morning before so I called the hospital to find out. Turns out that they won't tell me or Ethan the results because they can't verify who we are but "if you want to pull over and find a fax machine, I would be happy to fax you the results." I don't understand how they can verify who I am at a roadside fax machine when they can't over the phone, but I guess that's red tape. After yelling at a few people and loosing cell service in the canyon, I decided to give up. UGH!!!!

We got to Arvada in time to fill Ethan's prescription and then get back on the freeway to drive to the airport. Bryan's family members were already there waiting for Andrew's flight to come in so we met them there and the kids held up signs we made to welcome him home. He took FOREVER to deplane. But it was worth it to see his face when he saw all of us there to welcome him home. We took pictures and then loaded in the cars to go back to the house where we had a dinner and then got to hear all about Andrew's mission and see his pictures. It was so good to see him and the kids were so happy to see him home! What a great example he has been to them!!

On a side note: I lost my voice that afternoon. I felt just fine, didn't have a sore throat or anything, but I didn't have any voice. It usually happens a few times a year. I think it's Bryan's reward for his faithfulness. ;)