Prior to going on this trip back home, I felt like it was because we had moved that everything changed. And that if we were to move back home, my life would go back to exactly how it was before. I would see my friends all the time, and we would hang out and do things. We would all talk more often without the distance between us.
That people still met up and hung out and had fires and we would go down the street and visit our friends and family on the weekends again.
But those people who never call to see how you are- are not going to suddenly care because you live close. And the ones who do only call you when you're nearby- don't really care about you, they just need a tagalong.
Just because you care about and become invested in other people, doesn't make them invested in you.
Everyone got busy, moved away, and started to care about different things. And its not how I thought things were going to be. Turns out I don't want to move back to a place, I want to go back to a time- and thats not something I can do.
But luckily, as you lose friends and fall out of touch, you realize which ones are the true friends who are equally invested in you and willing to put in effort to keep in touch no matter how far or how long you are apart.
And for that I am thankful I have a true friend in this world.
He has been patiently waiting for over a year so that Michael and I could attend this special occasion.
I am so glad that we were able to be there!
Dylan was baptized by my moms father, Grandpa Perry. This is Dylan with him and the Bishop of our old ward- Bishop Dart. And their new Bishop- Bishop Justice.
Here is all of the family who attended. Except Uncle Dillion who is taking the picture.
He was confirmed the next day in Church, and afterwards we went to the Temple and took some photos in his Baptism suit.
And here he is with his Namesake Uncle Dillion.
We are so proud of this little guy and I can't believe how fast he is growing up! Little Dylan isn't so little anymore!
This is the first time in 5 years that my dads side of the family, and all 4 brothers, have all gotten together. The last time we were all at Grandmas we were still pretty young. And most of them still had never even met Michael, so it was nice for him to get to spend time with everyone.
It was also the first time we've seen Bannin since he was 3 days old! Its insane how fast they grow! He is the CUTEST kid ever!
Michael was a big fan of Bannin, and they were constantly together. lol It made him baby hungry for sure. He would constantly bring Bannin up to me and say "Look how cute he is! Don't you want one?"
Last time we were all at Grandmas, some of us kids went down to the Park and wrote our names up in the rafters of a pavilion. I was so excited to see that they were still there!
It says: River, Amber, Sammy, Kyle 2012
We spent the majority of our time down at the river, despite the on and off lightning storms. We all got a tan and I got lots of cute video. (Check our channel)
Of course Im the palest one because I live in the coldest state. haha
River befriended this random dog who just wanted to chill with us
Aunt Kelly Celebrated her birthday, and Norman told us the best stories.
And my Grandma somehow connected with a man in South Carolina who turns out to be a long lost relative. Apparently my Grandmas Mothers Brother ran away with a married woman, and noone ever heard from him again. Until this man (My Grandmas cousin) contacted her, and he had so many photos and stories to share!
And this is the recent Brother picture. (Im not sure why River and Michael aren't in it?)
We missed you! And We will see you all in another 5 years!
Oak Creek Colorado has been on my Visit Bucket List forever now. It is the tiny town (if it could be so classified) that my father grew up in. It is just outside of Steamboat Colorado, which is a large tourist attraction for all seasons of fun.
Since this years Family Reunion is in Colorado we decided why not take the extra little drive and finally go see it.
We stopped in Steamboat to play in the river and cool off. There were people floating down the stream on little rafts, and bicyclists everywhere. As soon as the kids were tired of swimming we continued our drive over to Oak Creek.
Oak Creek is the tiniest town I have seen! There isn't much there, just a quiet bunch of houses and worn out buildings. IWhat little there was of the "Town" was under road construction. But there was this adorable little restaurant at the top of the hill called "Kate's Cafe" so we stopped for lunch.
It was very cute inside. The kind of tiny restaurant shop old people in the community might hang out at to have coffee and visit each other. The food there is all made from scratch.
When our food was done we took it down to the city park and had a picnic as a family. We had the vegetarian pizza, which my parents adore. I wasn't a big fan of the pine nuts and peppers flavoring it, but it wasn't bad.
Someone who lives on Main Street painted this on the side wall of their house. And tourists stop to find inner peach and get a picture.
Harley is a Shakra hog.
But it made for some unique pictures...
And good snapchat stories.
On our way back through Steamboat we were almost T-boned at an intersection. We were at the light turning right. And a large truck was across from us signaling to turn left. So we were both headed for the same single lane. As we went to turn his light turned yellow so he rushed to make the turn before it was red and we were mid turn into that lane. Mike swerved up onto the sidewalk and the truck swerved the other way and passed us. Luckily we didn't get hit but when you suddenly jump a curb (especially in a low riding car) it doesn't go too well.
So before making our journey home we had to have the tires rotated so that the damaged one was on the back incase of a blow out. It didn't damage any of the wires inside, but just to be safe we didn't want it on the front.
To see all the video clips of our OakCreek Adventure check out our YouTube channel!
Yesterday we headed out on a loooooooong drive to see the family.
Nothing like 8 hours trapped in a car together for some quality bonding time.
We arrived in small town Custer South Dakota around 11pm. The rest of our family had arrived shortly before us. We had all made reservations for the same "Hotel" which turned out to actually be a Motel (gross) called the Dakota Cowboy Inn Just click the name if you want to see what it looked like. I wont go into a review of the place but if you want my recommendation I say be prepared to spend a pretty penny if you visit around here, because you get what you pay for... sometimes less.
But at least it was clean! And the staff was friendly. So it wasn't a horrible experience.
Today we got up around 8am. And headed out just before 10am. We made a pit stop in Rapid City before we headed to Keystone to see
There were SO many people there! I don't know if it was the time of day that we went, or that fact that it was just after Independence Day, but it was INSANE.
There were also an insane amount of Stairs...
Once you get past the first terrance there is a trail that goes around the park so that you can see the Monument from every angel. Its a cool hike and there are lots of places to stop and take pictures and info plaques everywhere. But for my wimpy chicken legs it was a work out! lol
After we had been around the whole park we stopped in the Gift Shop and Market and got ice cream, and I bought these two souvenir coins.
Then we left the monument and went and toured the little Keystone which is the coolest little town! You can ride in a helicopter tour past the monument for $50 (adding that to the bucket list)
Then we drove down the Rush Mountain Adventure Park and road the mountain coaster.
It costs $15 for the first person and $10 for the second passenger. The ride is cool, but only lasts about 2 maybe 3 minutes- so Im not sure if it was worth the $25 for the both of us.
I was disappointed that they said we could not have our phones out to record the ride, so I tried to anyways... and almost dropped it! So in the Vlog there is only a few seconds of the ride. It was fun, and goes way faster than you think it would. I honestly thought our cart was about to come off the track at one point.
Then we had dinner, and went back to the monument for a lighting ceremony. A storm started rolling in and I was already exhausted from our previous adventures so Michael and I headed out early. When the rest of the family got back from the show we all hung out in our Motel rooms until late.
This was such a fun adventure and I am really glad we were able to go! It was a nice reunion because we had not seen this side of our family in almost a year and a half because we live so far away.
If you want to watch the whole adventure check out our Vlog below:
