Life After Sundance...

Once we left Sundance Laura and Robert went back to Robert's parents' house for the reunion with his family members. They were coming to town for his sister, Laura's, wedding on Friday. Robert has TEN living siblings and so that is a pretty large crowd to gather for various occasions. Almost everyone was able to make it so that was great.

Jen and Lowell went to their house, Jim's mom flew home and we stayed with Chris and Missy for a few days. One of the days we went up to Thanksgiving Point for lunch but stopped on the way at the Veteran's Memorial Park to visit the grave of our good friend, Garth, who passed away a few years back. He is the doctor I use to work for in Las Vegas, forty years ago and the person that introduced us to the Church and baptized us 33 years ago.

Our entire family holds him in very high esteem and so Jen and her kids and Chris and Missy's family and Jim and I all went to find his grave. Garth was from Idaho and spent many years in Las Vegas so he doesn't have a lot of friends in Utah. He had never married and a lot of his siblings have passed away now. I am imagining we were among the few visitors to the cemetery to pay tribute to this wonderful friend. His contributions to our lives cannot be measured, they are priceless.

The cemetery is very pretty but wouldn't you know the sprinklers were being repaired in this part and so his grave site was surrounded by dead grass. Hopefully they have fixed it by now!

We surrounded his grave and had a family prayer together and then decided a photo of our feet would be fun! Laura and Robert's family was sorry to miss this and Lowell was working. There was a sweet spirit there.' Uncle Buffalo' as we called him, is missed and loved by us all for sure.


We are rather weird family (no kidding, you say?) We all have the same Toyota Sienna from the same year, same color. Bizarre but it was a fluke...we didn't plan it or anything. And I think the only color they sold that year had to be silver. Seriously, I could not find it in a parking lot without the permanent roof rack. It is funny to see the line up when we all go someplace together!

When we arrived at Thanksgiving Point it was lunch time and the kids really enjoy the Deli there. They have good sandwiches and it is very 'kid friendly,' so that filled the bill for us!
Snapped a shot of their gigantic chandelier just for fun!

Here is a goofy photo of Anyslee and Me
that Missy sent over the other day!
Aynslee is so funny!
She loves posing for photos lately!

We strolled through the Emporium which is a huge, fancy, home shop and that took just a few minutes. You cannot even think about shopping with a group that large. But it was a fun walk through. The major things to see At Thanksgiving Point, as far as we were concerned, were the beautiful gardens.

They have a lot of acreage there and a big hotel and lots of events, like weddings and receptions that are held there each year. One year they held the county fair there when I was visiting. It was wonderful. Imagine a fair held on grass instead of dirt or gravel. It was really neat. At night we sat on the grass and watched the lighted Ferris Wheel spin. Having the grass made a world of difference to the carnival atmosphere. It took the hot and dusty feel right out of the equation. The best part was it was like going back in time about 25 years. You felt safe and your kids were safe. You didn't have to keep your eyes glued to them every second. It was a very nice family activity like in the olden days before people got scary. I love that about Utah!

It was a lovely day and the flowers were so gorgeous.

Scrumptious! It makes me feel so bad that we never did plant any annuals this year in our garden pots in the yard. We have been gone too much and I just couldn't see the point of spending the money and then having them all die while we were away so much.

So I am enjoying the flowers everywhere else instead.
Brilliant, huh? Not really...just lazy!

The trunk on this tree looks like it was
tied in a knot like a cherry stem.

Beautifully framed red tree
though the Gazebo window.

These poppies were so bright and cheery!

The water features and displays are so fantastic.
You feel like you are at a mountain stream.

Of course we had to stop at Cabella's for Grampa on the way back. That was fun if you are into outdoor sporting equipment...well, ah, not really, but it was fun to see him enjoy it so much. We enjoyed this lazy day very much and it was nice to have a little nap when we got back to Chris and Missy's house.

Take a Pretty Girl that Loves Horses...

Laura Ann

..And a Large Animal Veterinarian, that had searched the whole world over for his perfect woman....and it is time for a country wedding! This is one of Robert's seven beautiful sisters. I think I have shared before how much we love this family our Laura married into.

Laura and Seth were married while we were in Utah and we were so delighted to be invited to their reception up in the high country behind Heber City. We loved being with all of Robert's family and of course with Robert, Laura, Spencer and Ross for this fun event.

Laura Ann has been a single mom for about seven or eight years now and she has raised her two kids and gotten her degree and is now finishing nursing school. Very impressive accomplishments for a young mom. Her children were so happy to be getting this great new Dad and it felt like a family wedding. Both kids seemed so excited about the marriage and their little girl is 12 and cried tears of joy several times that day! That pretty much turned the water works on for me most of the evening.

This is a picture of a picture on the wall at the reception.

The reception was held in a gated community of large ranch estates, way up high in the sky in Utah. It was a very private and beautiful place! It was amazing country and terrain I had never seen before. The Reception was held in a big "barn!" Most people that own a barn should be so lucky! It was amazing.

The Barn!

We drove and drove for at least 45 minute behind the gates thinking we would never see it but then around the bend there it was! The dinner they served was really great, a real country barbeque with pork and chicken, corn on the cob, lots of salads and breads and baked beans. They served the dinner from a buffet and the plates were pie tins. It was really darling the way they did the whole thing. They had a great country band and dancing and this was the dessert table.

Home made pies, some of them by the bride herself!

A beautiful picture sitting on the gift table.
She is such a beauty and so elegant!

~And Laura and Seth~
May Your New Family Live Happily Forever After!

On Their Beautiful Wedding Day!

We felt so much joy and thought
our sunset photo captured it.
It would have been fitting to see them
gallop off into the sunset!
If I am not mistaken, Laura had on
her cowgirl boots under her bridal gown!