More Summer Vacation

We left Minnesota on Tuesday and drove to Waterloo, Iowa that night.  We had some time in the pool and then the next morning got up early to head to Maquoketa to visit my grandmother and my aunt and uncle.  I love being in Maquoketa.  It's where my dad grew up and where we spent some time living when I was in elementary school.  It's a small, quaint town and I always have the greatest time visiting when we are there.  There is so much Edwards family history in Iowa that I just want to soak it all in!  Grams and Bonnie and I can chat and visit and laugh.  They love being around the great-grandkids and always have yummy food and special gifts for them when we come.  We visited about the family and genealogy and politics.  Uncle Steve loves politics so we always have interesting discussions with him.  It was just the best visit and I was so sad to leave.  Grams is 88 years old now and she is as cute and spry as ever.  Bonnie and Steve take good care of her but it was hard to say goodbye.

On Thursday morning we drove to North Platte, NE to stay for the night.  There wasn't much excitement happening in Nebraska but on Friday morning we drove to Salt Lake City to visit with my sister Tracie.  She bought a new home last fall and we had yet to see it.  There were a lot of things that we wanted to do while we were there.  We arrived on Friday evening and had a great dinner with her and visited until bedtime.  Unfortunately, about 1:30am Samantha started vomiting. :(  She was hit pretty hard with the flu which was NOT good timing for us.  Mark went out in the middle of the night to find some medicine and some Sprite to help with the tummy ache.  We were hoping it would be a quick bug but she was still sick all day Saturday.  That meant that our plans had to change a bit.  Instead of all of us going out site seeing together, it was just Tracie, Emma and I going to see a couple of things.  We went to the Church History Museum to see the new children's exhibit and then walked through the new City Creek Mall by Temple Square.  It was gorgeous and there was lots to see.  Emma really liked the fountains that were there.

We stopped at the Deseret Book store and did some shopping.  So many things we would like to buy!!!  We also made a stop at the Disney store and bought Sam a special present since she wasn't able to join us.  Aunt Tracie was a good sport.  That evening she stayed back with Sam at the house and Mark and I and the other girls drove through Millcreek Canyon and over to Wheeler Farm.  Once upon a time Mark spent some time working there so we always try to make a visit when we are there.

Sunday morning was Father's Day and it was time for us to head home!  Tracie made a nice breakfast for us and then we hit the road.  We drove to Meridian, Idaho and stopped to visit with Mark's aunt Kathleen and his cousin Tim at his home.  Tim and Carol made a delicious dinner for us and it was great to spend some time catching up with them.  Kathleen is also so happy to see us and she loves to spend time with the girls, even in her 80's.  We said goodbye and within a couple of hours we were HOME!  Hallelujah!  It was wonderful to walk through our front door and straight to my bed.  Oh how I missed it! :)  We survived 18 days, drove through ten states, and put nearly 5,000 miles on our van.  Thanks to all of our family who helped make our trip memorable - we love you all!