Jackson Hole 2011

Another September means another trip to Jackson Hole with the Hardcastles.  We missed the couple of years my grandparents were on a mission and I guess we missed last year for some reason, but other than that, we've been going up for at least 10 years now.

This year our little (big) family had a 5 bedroom house -which still seemed a little small with 2 little kids that normally have their own room.

Hyrum saw Elk, birds, a little snake and a black bear.  He told his uncles he was going to see monkey's and elephants as well, but I think they must have stayed away.  He had so much fun with all of his family and friends and was very disappointed when most of them left a day before us.  He loved all of the time outside and playing with the younger kids.  Naps were nearly non-existent and he went to bed late every night.  I never knew it could take ALL DAY LONG to get home from Jackson, but it sure took us all day on Monday to get home.

 Hiding in the bear cupboard.

 A boat Justin made for the kids.

 Breakfast of champions.

 The awesome little snake on our walk.  Hyrum followed it around trying to touch it for a while.

 Ringing a bell with Grandpa Hardcastle

Kate did much better on the nap front and loved being around her aunt and uncles that would always hold her when she wanted to.

 Kate listening to the Elk bugle.  We didn't hear it either, baby girl.

 Hyrum really wanted to go to a museum.  Lucky for us we found one.

For those of you who stuck through this entire post... here's a little 'treat' for you.  Can you believe someone would MOON our truck on the way up??? Crazy!

Stay-cation

This past weekend we spent some time in Park City with Justin's family.  Lisa and Dave treated all of the kids to a couple of nights in a hotel, fly-fishing for the boys, a couple of spa services for the girls and some delicious meals out.  Can you guess what my favorite was????

I was horrible at taking pictures, I only managed to get a few.

We had a really rough night the first night (Hyrum and I maybe got 4 or 5 hours of sleep, Justin might have had an hour more or so). Luckily, Kate was shut in the bathroom and slept like a champ.  The second night was a lot better.

We did a bit of shopping at the outlets, mostly playing on the playground for my kids.  I overspent on a few warm clothes for Kate since we were caught a little off guard with the cold weather.  I had a facial and an hour massage at the spa, which was awesome.  We had 2 yummy dinners and a couple of great breakfasts' too.

Thanks for a great weekend Lisa and Dave.

Ten years

I've written a few things on and about September 11th since the beginning of this blog. My personal experience was here and more thoughts about the date were here.

I've been thinking about the anniversary for a while now, but not for the typical reasons. I have been watching a tv series for years now, and they were airing the series finale (the end of the show) to coincide with the 10 year anniversary. Makes sense, since the show is about a bunch of NYC firefighters, many of which were there (fictionally) on that day.

I haven't managed to gather my thoughts into anything coherent, so here they are as they've come.

-One of our young women today wanted to find a scripture that kind of 'went with' September

11th for the opening exercises. I looked up liberty in the index, and we came up with 2nd Nephi 1:7

Wherefore, this ^aland is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of ^blibertyunto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound ^ccursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.

When you think about when and why this land was founded and the government (although not perfect by any stretch of the imagination) was established it's quite remarkable. I do have a

testimony that the Lord needed to establish a land that would be (somewhat) tolerable to new ideas and would be a place that the gospel could be restored.

-My heart doesn't break anymore for those who lost their lives in the September 11th attacks. It's for those people that are still here and are missing someone today. The people that lost their lives in the buildings and planes left behind loved ones that probably hurt a little more whenever we come up to the anniversary.

-It's struck me how quickly we can forget -as a nation. I don't think that's always such a bad

thing either. If all we did was remember, it would be difficult to 'get on with life'. Some of the young women in class today were as young as 2 years old when the attack happened. We can't expect them to feel an emotional attachment to the event. I think there are ways to remember and to rebuild and move on without forgetting. I hope that is something that I will be able to teach my children.

-The world is a different place. I don't think we could kid ourselves and believe that there was not terrorism and fanatics and lunatics in the world before 9/11. But, I think the average American (and English, Indian, Greek -just about every nationality we're not unique) is much more aware of the threats and harm that can come to us at anytime. I obviously did not grow up during the height of the Cold War, but I have to believe it was a bit easier to handle one, identifiable threat. The threat of a nuclear war was in the air, just as the threat of continued terrorist attacks are a constant threat in the back of our minds.

-One last thought. (As if any of you as still reading this). I left to serve a mission 3 weeks following 9/11. For those weeks I couldn't help but feel extremely patriotic and love for my country while American flags were hung from every spare space, marque's posted genuine sentiments for those that lost their lives, and schools and cities had services to remember those who died and honor those who were still working in the rubble. I spent two and a half weeks happily secluded in the MTC oblivious to the political saga that was unfolding. In New Zealand I was shocked to hear anti-American sentiments and criticism about the actions the government was taking in the Middle East. I'm not sure we responded correctly, and I'm not sure what we continue to do is helpful in the long run, but I don't think that changes how we feel about

September 11th. It might be strange to say this, but I am glad that I was old enough to know and remember what that day meant to me.

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Swiss Days

I have no pictures yet to add to this post, but they will be coming shortly. I figured since all 6 of us girls blog, and all 6 of us blog about Swiss Days and pretty much post the same pictures, I'd at least be the first to get the post up. (Jessica... I'm patiently waiting for our pictures to be emailed).

Our annual trip to Swiss Days, Park City, and Tanger Outlets at Kimball Junction was this past weekend. It got a little complicated for me this year. The other five girls (mom, aunt Karen, sister Jodi, sis-in-laws Jessica and Jenny) arrived Thursday evening to the condo. Justin has been gone (you may have noticed my previous posts) and wasn't scheduled to come up until Saturday morning at 1am. My mother in law was able to take the kids all day Friday, so I met them in Park City first thing Friday morning.

Swiss Days, in my opinion and a few other shop/booth keepers) didn't seem quite as crowded this year. I got Kate a cute Halloween costume, and wrapping paper. They have awesome (think, high quality, huge selection) wrapping paper up there every year, but we never want to wait in line or carry the paper around all day. This year I was up for it. We also got an awesome chocolate icy drink. It may have been the highlight of Jessica's entire weekend.

We shopped the outlets for a couple hours before dinner (which was a great Mexican Place -Baja Cantina) and then again on Saturday. My kids needed pj's so that's about all I got, plus a sweater for Justin and a couple cardigans for me.

Yet another fun girls weekend, thanks mom!

Oh -I almost forgot. We all have at least one pair of Toms shoes. Some of us (not me) have at least three pairs. This last bit will make a lot more sense once I post the pictures.