Vacation Part 3: Salt Lake

We spent the last week of our vacation in Sandy because my dad was recovering from surgery (Don't worry... he's fine!) Please note: all of the following pictures contain food.


This is me in the cafeteria at the hospital eating a giant Rice Krispy Treat. I'd heard a lot about this cafeteria before we even got home. It was pretty good AND cheap (the best part).
Typical Dave.

Olive Garden for Krista's birthday.

Fun times, except mom and dad were still at the hospital. (But dinner was on them!)

We met a bunch of friends from USU (Continental Apartments to be exact) at Iggy's in Salt Lake.

And we met Heather and Andrew up the canyon for dinner and s'mores another night.

And on yet another eating occasion, we met Sam and Monica at Garcia's.

Basically, by the time we got to the end of our trip we were exhausted!
We put 1,318 miles on my parents' car (that doesn't include the miles we drove to Yellowstone, around Yellowstone, and down and back to Alton, UT.)
We ate at every single restaurant we like but don't have in Hawaii.
And we visited with 100 relatives.

It actually was kind of nice to get back on a island where you can only drive so far before you've made a complete circle and where you can only find so many relatives (0 in our case).

Vacation Part 2: Ferron

After Yellowstone, we went straight to a Larson Family Reunion in Ferron, UT. These reunions happen every 2 years in various locations. This time around, Dave's parents were in charge and they planned it in Ferron because that's where Great Grandma and Grandpa Larson lived.

First up, here's Dave with our nephew, Kolter. Isn't he cute?!

Next, I got my hair done while we were there thanks to Kailey. She did an awesome job and it kept us entertained while the adults were having their meeting.

One time, Dave left his house key in the house. So here he is breaking in to his own bedroom. He acted like he'd done it a million times... though I can't figure out why! Notice the 'Do Not Enter' sign in the corner.

Dave's dad was sort of our tour guide around Ferron on one of the mornings. Here he is talking to a group of family members about the sight that the old homestead sat on.

And here I am taking a nap at the homestead on a rock just like Great Grandma L. would have done! ;)

We also went on a "little" (but hot) hike to the Rochester Panel to look at some Native American writings. It was really cool because they seemed to be in great condition, considering how old they are.

What Family Reunion is complete without singing? (Besides Whitaker Family Reunions?) Here we are with Lori, Dave's sister. I didn't even recognize one single song that they sang! Guess I haven't been around long enough.

This is Dave playing volleyball with his cousins (actually, his cousins' kids). These girls LOVE Dave!

After the reunion was over we got to drive down and say hi to Dave's brother, who wasn't able to make it to the reunion, but his wife and baby came, which was so fun! Richard's grillin' us some steaks for dinner.

And here's everyone in the family who was able to be in town for at least parts of the reunion. Left to right: Dad, Mom, Kolter, Tyson & Lori, Britney, Wendy, Dave.

We did a few other things (like mowing the lawn and a Manti Temple trip for family names) while we were in Ferron but didn't get any pictures of those events. The time went so quickly and we wish we lived closer so we could see everybody more often!

Vacation Part I: Yellowstone

The first thing we did when we got to Utah a few weeks ago was drive up to Yellowstone to spend a week with my family. While there were thousands of pictures taken this year in Yellowstone, I have included just a few of the many highlights.

We'll start with the famous trash cans.
Next up, our Japanese Jumping Picture, featuring White Dome Geyser of the Lower Geyser Basin. Like 30 pictures were taken here; never were we all in the air at the same time. I'm pretty sure I was the one to get the least amount of air (in any of the poses!)
Matching Shirt Day. It only happens once a year in Yellowstone and we're always sure to get lots of pictures on that day.
Cindy, me and Krista getting warm under a blanket in Mom's and Dad's cabin. The weather was pretty cool and rainy for a lot of the time we were there.
The only bear we saw this year was wooden. Actually, I've been to Yellowstone every single year of my life and I've only see ONE live bear. It happened maybe 5 years ago.

This is Beehive Geyser, Dave's favorite geyser. We saw it 3 times this trip. It only erupts right now about once a day during daylight hours.
Us at Canyon-Lower Falls
Waiting for Grand Geyser with Jeff and Cindy (my brother and sister).
Another day. Waiting for Grand Geyser again. Eating lunch.

Snacks on the Knotty Pine Porch one evening. We also played Telephone here this night. It was HILARIOUS!!

My very first boat rowing experience!! It's so much harder than it looks! And it's definitely tons harder than those rowing machines at gyms. Jeff had to help me. And it kinda threw me off that you row backwards. We weren't out on the lake for more than 20 minutes because a thunder storm came our way, so our boat rental was free!

Another one from Green Shirt Day. This is all of us around a sign we found at our picnic spot telling us (and I'm pretty sure it was directed at OUR FAMILY specifically) NOT to build rock dams in the river. Last year we made a HUGE dam that stretched across the whole river... it may or may not have flooded onto the banks. Ooops.

Well, that's a quick summary of Yellowstone. If you didn't know, my family has been going to Yellowstone every year since before I was born. As you can see, we have so much fun there with each other. If you haven't ever been, you should take a trip... I can give you some pointer of how to make it a great trip!

Next I'll be posting about our Larson Family Reunion and some time in Salt Lake.