Another Vacation

Jacob and all the Israelsen fellas had been wanting to do a boys trip for quite a while, so a few months ago they finally decided on booking a trip back to Madison, Wisconsin to go see the WORLD DAIRY EXPO.

Yeehaw!

They headed out the first week of October and were gone from early early Monday morning until late late Thursday night. From what I can gather they had a great time together and got to see some great things.

One of the highlights of the trip was watching Daniel's heifer in one of the shows where she took 3RD PLACE! Quite a prestigious honor for Sir Daniel, we were very proud of him. Here she is strutting her stuff:




And of course what else is there than checking out larger-than-life machinery? This little gadget is probably worth at least twice what our mortgage is:


Kinda makes you think of when you were a little kid on the playground. Can't you just hear some little farmboy saying, "Oh yeah? Well my dad's tractor is bigger than your dad's!" And, well, he'd probably be right.

When it was all said and done, I think they had a great trip together. They were bummed a few of the brothers couldn't make it due to other obligations, but I guess that means they'll just have to start planning another one.

I, on the other hand, took a little vacation of my own. Since I didn't want to spend nearly a whole week home alone being a single mom, we followed Jacob up to Cache Valley and stayed there for the first part of the week.

We had a nice Sunday evening out at the Israelsen's before the boys flew out the next morning. Uncle Benson, Uncle Ross, and Ty guy:


And of course Ty giving dad one last good love before he leaves. Must be a boy thing:


And while I'm sifting through my pictures here, I forgot to post some pictures from the weekend before when we were up for Grandpa's funeral. These are from out at the Israelsen's also. The girls and Ty were having an absolute blast playing out on the grass with their Uncles. Here they are trying to see if they can tackle Uncle Daniel:


Daniel would spin around with Ty and then put him down on the ground. We just laughed and laughed watching him while he was dizzy. As I write this, I sound like the meanest mom in the world to find humor at my son's expense! But really, Ty LOVED it. Then he would try to spin himself on the ground, it was absolutely hilarious:

Whilst Jacob watched cow shows, I thoroughly enjoyed a few days with my mom. She took a day off from being librarian to spend with me- what a treat! My sister was even able to come up for a night to hang out with the girls. We did lunch and just loved chatting with each other. My sister had to head back home for a shift at work, so we decided to keep Claire with us for the next few days at Grandma's. The the girls loved playing with each other, it was so fun they had some time together. It certainly doesn't happen often enough. I must have been on vacation from taking pictures, because I didn't end up with any of the girls.

The girls decided they wanted to be angels for Halloween. I wasn't sure how I was going to pull this one off, but many thanks to my talented mom, the girls now have some darling angel costumes to wear for Halloween. Here she is sewing away. I have to be perfectly honest here- my contribution was cutting strings. I am not a master sewer.


And here is Grandpa Kerry having some manly bonding with Ty:


"Ty, can you give Grandpa kisses?"
Aaah, so sweet!

We headed home so I could make it back to spend the day with a family in our ward who was going through the temple for the first time. It was such an AMAZING day. I was so glad I didn't miss it. I was able to join them when they were all sealed together as a family. Words don't describe the feeling in the room. Watching their three young children walk in the sealing room all dressed in white was a scene I will likely never forget. They truly looked like little angels. How amazing it is to be able to participate in ordinances that bind us together forever. The promises and blessings in the temple never cease to absolutely astound and amaze me. Thank goodness for opportunities to return and remember all the incredible things the Lord has in store for us. It reminds me of the picture of the Savior knocking at the door that has no handle. He has so much to offer, all we have to do is open the door.

The only down side of the day was Jacob wasn't by my side. He was pretty bummed he was out of town and missed it. Needless to say, we were all VERY glad when daddy came home.