Burnin' up the road

This has been one crazy month! We were burnin' up the road from July 2nd to July 13th. We headed to Rigby for the 4th of July and were planning on going to Yellowstone on July 5th. On July 4th my Grandpa Merrill passed away. My parents had arrived in Rigby just one hour before my mom received word of his passing. Talk about timing! We decided to go to Yellowstone for only two nights instead of the four we were planning. We left Yellowstone on July 7th and were in Show Low, Arizona on July 9th. In three days we drove about 1035 miles and set foot in five states. Whew! The kids were glad to be home on the 13th and we've basically been enjoying the past hum-drum week...if there is such thing with a 4 year-old and 2 year-old! These are a few pics of the three major events. I felt that all three events (4th of July, Yellowstone, and Grandpa's funeral) were all blog-worthy. I just didn't want to do three separate posts so make yourself comfy...this is a looooong one!

In Idaho... We spent a day with Grandpa Hoffman and Beth and went to the Tautphaus Park Zoo. Axel really connected with the monkeys! Afterward the kids enjoyed ice cream and story-time with Grandpa Hoffman.










We had a most memorable 4th of July! We went to the parade in Rexburg with Grandma Hoffman, Shelby, Mayli, Jack, Jo, Kate, Fisher, and Merrill Jane. We got front row seats in front of a cop car and nearly roasted to death!














Luckily we were able to find a place to cool off afterward! Oh...and that same park had a refurbished Carousel that only cost $1 to ride. What a treat! No more Clark County Fair for us! (Just kidding mom!)










After some downtime we headed into Idaho Falls for the biggest fireworks show west of the Mississippi! It is estimated that over 140,000 people were in attendance (don't ask me how they get those estimates). It is the first year since we've been married that Perry and I weren't in the line of fire with shrapnel landing on our arms, smoke in our eyes, and having to cover our ears from the loud bangs. It was a different experience for us, but good, nontheless.










At Yellowstone...Lillie and I had such a great time camping with my mom and dad and my sister Jolynn and her family. Axel and Perry didn't join us because Perry had meetings to attend and business to take care of on the home-front. It was glorious (as sad as that sounds) to not have Axel with us! The experience would have been totally different if I had him to watch over also.










One of our favorite adventures was hiking down Uncle Tom's Trail to get a view of the Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The kids were such troopers and never complained...even when we were basically lost and ended up hiking for a mile more than we had planned. They were great!


We tried our best to enjoy the scenery...and rest often as the sign suggested.














The view of the waterfalls was worth the hike...though Kate doesn't look too thrilled. And finally...we made one stop in the Grand Teton National Park to take a picture. Then my parents kept on truckin' from Yellowstone to Logandale (about 740 miles) in one day!














Grandpa Merrill's funeral...As sad as we were to say good-bye to Grandpa Merrill we are so grateful that he has been released from this mortal state. For the past ten years we thought that every time we said good-bye it may be our last. He was a fighter until the end! We will miss us telling his stories of boxing and chasing us around the house with no teeth. We will miss him just being around. Most of all we will miss seeing him at my Grandma's side. They were married for 71 years and it just doesn't seem right to see Grandma without him tagging along.

Grandma and Grandpa Merrill on their 70th wedding anniversary.

We were glad for the opportunity to see many family members that we haven't seen in A LONG time. Perry was surprised by how many cousins I have as he has never seen them all in one place. Almost all of my grandparents posterity (37 grandchildren and 71 great-grandchildren) were in attendance. We especially loved being able to stay a few days with Grandma Merrill. She's such a beautiful, fun woman to be around!










On the journey home we had to stop to ride "The Jackrabbit" on Old Route 66 for a photo. It was one of my childhood stomping grounds and we couldn't pass it up. Memories...

And now that we're home we realize once again that "there's no place like home" and having our own bed to sleep in without a noisy Axel keeping us up ALL NIGHT.