I’ve been meaning to blog about our trip to Utah since we got home from our travels this summer, but just never had the time with school preparations and the fact that we lost these pictures for a while when we got home.  Kudos to my computer genius husband who recovered them for me!

Our first stop in Utah was to visit the Utah Wesels; Derek, Penny and Lincoln and our wonderful Aunts who missed us so much, Alli and Sarin (an adopted Utah Wesel).
We went on a hike up to Stewart Falls, which was probably biting off more than we could chew with 6 little kids and a thunderstorm, but it made for some good memories! I ended up
carrying Levi for a good portion of the hike. 

Hiking buddies

I know, it’s pathetic how much taller she is than me.

And what trip would be complete without Levi falling flat on his face?  This is taken just after he fell.


We managed to finally reach the falls just as the rain started.  We spent a total of 1 minute “enjoying” the view before we had to run for cover.
We had a wonderful time visiting the Utah Wesel’s.   It was great to spend some time with Penny who we haven’t gotten to know much yet!  We sure love her.  And her husband is nice too.

We also spent some time with our good friends the Weiss family.  Wherever they move, we find them!  They can’t get rid of us, no matter how hard they try!

The Hymas and Weiss kids LOVE to tackle Rock.

And the Hymas and Weiss dads (and moms) LOVE to talk!

There’s never enough time with the Weiss’.  We love you guys!

While we were with the Weiss’ we went to visit Derek at the National Guard base where he was training to be deployed to the Middle East.  Der gave us an awesome tour of the Apache helicopter he flies.  The kids (and the dads) were in awe.

That’s a LOT of firepower!

Yeah, well, I’m still older, smarter AND better looking! So there.

I will admit that it was very cool to see how much my little brother knows about this massive amazing machine.   I was proud. 

Thank you for serving our country, Derek!  You are a great example to our boys.  We love you and admire your courage.

Stay tuned for Part II!