Great-Grandmothers

Our family has been blessed with an abundance of Grandparents.  Caleb still has 8 Great-Grandparents (we just aquired a new one) and 5 Grandparents.  All who love him dearly, are active in his life, and are the best Grandparents ever!!  He loves being with Grandparents.  Of course they are pretty good at spoiling him rotten!

This trip home we were able to see Brydon's Grandma for the first time in almost 2 years.  She is an ovarian cancer survivor and every day we have her with us is a blessing.  We were so glad we got to see her and spend a day at Reptile Gardens with her. 

Caleb and I also had the chance to head over to Huron and see my family and my grandma.  I hadn't seen her in quite a while either.  She had recently been in the hospital and gave us all quite a scare.  This woman has been be so healthy and hasn't been on any meds or had any major illnesses.  So we were surprised to get the phone call that she was in the hospital and not doing well.  It was such a blessing to get to see her back in her home and doing so well.  I am so glad she was able to make such a full recovery and that we got to see her. 

A Best Friend Reunion

One of my favorite traditions when we go home is to visit some of my best friends.  My first teaching position was in Rapid City at Knollwood Elementary and I got the chance to work with some wonderful women who have become dear friends.  I was a newly hired teacher along with 2 other wonderful women, Melissa and Amanda.  Cary was and still is a 1st grade teacher there.  They are amazing women that I truly admire and look up to.  They are strong, Christian women who are amazing mothers and the best of the best educators.  They juggle it all.  I love getting to be around them and have been so grateful for their friendship.  They always make me want to be a better person.  We don't get to chat all the time or hang out very often, but every time we do, it feels like we were never apart that long.  We love getting our kids together and Caleb refers to them all as his Rapid City Cousins.  We most definitely claim them as family now.  It is fun to see how our kids have grown and they are all turning out to be strong-willed, smarties!  That we all love dearly. 

This year we met at Melissa's house for our get together. We had started a tradition of a pool party, but unfortunately my in-laws had to bury their pool so Melissa was kind enough to host the water event this year :) Amanda got to join us and I was able to meet her little girl for the first time. We didn't get a picture of it though (sad). Or of them playing in the water. Guess that is what happens when you get talking too much! A few days later, Caleb and I went to Cary's house and after about an hour of lots of emotions, they finally ended the time together in a big heap. I think they like each other!

Mollie, Caleb, and Eli (2011)

Ethan, Anna, Mollie, Eli, and Caleb (2011)

Anna, Ethan, Caleb, and Eli (2011)

Anna, Eli, Caleb, Ethan, Noah, and Mollie (2010)

Caleb, Eli, Ethan, and Anna (2009)

Mollie, Caleb, and Ethan (2008)

Caleb and Mollie (2008)

Eli, Cary, Caleb, Jennifer, and Brydon (2008 when Eli came to visit us in Utah)

 On the left: Caleb, Cary, and Eli (2006)  On the right: Caleb and Eli (2008)

On the left: Caleb, Jennifer, Cary, and Eli (2008) On the right: Caleb and Ethan (2010)

Caleb and Ethan (2011)

Best Buddies and Now Big Kindergartners!!  Where did the time go!

The Mammoth Site

In Hot Springs, SD, not far from Rapid City, is the Mammoth Site.  Apparently back in prehistoric times, this area was a warm pool of water that attracted many animals, but due to the steep sides many Mammoths fell into the pool and couldn't get back out.  So far 55 Mammoths have been identified along with rare bears, camels, and wolves.  It is supposedly the only location that has found two types of Mammoths.  It is an active dig site and paleontologists are still working on excavation.  They believe there are still many treasures to find in this sink hole.  It is rare to find an actual dig site and Brydon had never been here before, so we made a last minute decision to go check it out.

Caleb got pretty excited when he saw these cool huge bones!

As we took the tour, you had to listen on the telephone set.  Caleb was quite the good listener.

This is the most complete Mammoth they have found so far.

Yep I think he is a stud no matter where he's at!  Check out the Mammoth head by his shoulder.

Showing off our super strength!

Caleb couldn't wait to show us this hut.  It is made completely out of bones and hides.  He thought is was way cool!!  He also wanted to make sure we got a good picture of what a Mammoth looked like with skin on.

Digging away with Grandma!!  I think they had a lot of fun together this trip!

Who knew there was so much to do in South Dakota!  It really is a great place to live and visit!

Rushmore Lighting Ceremony

We have been to Mt. Rushmore multiple times, and it never ceases to amaze. This year we decided to attend one of the nightly Lighting Ceremonies. I had only been a couple times at night and we really wanted Caleb to get to see it. It is a very patriotic event and tells the story behind each President represented.  If you do ever get to visit Mt. Rushmore the Lighting Ceremony is truly worth it. 

The traditional family photo at Mt. Rushmore.

Well all family vacations have a few glitches.  Unfortunately we didn't sit where he wanted to sit.  Still a cutie even with a "poo face"!

Almost added one more President :)

At the close of the ceremony, they ask all Veteran and Active Duty Military to come down and be honored for their service.  Brydon still isn't quite to used to this stuff but we make him do it anyways.  It was amazing how many veterans were there.  They then let them stand at attention as the colors are retreated.  It was a very proud moment.  We sure are proud of our soldier!

Mt. Rushmore is beautiful day or night and is a sight worth seeing!

Rapid City Fun!

One big reason Caleb wanted to visit his grandparents in Rapid City was to check out Grandpa's new toy.  For Christmas, Grandpa got a Ranger and Caleb was so excited to try it out.  He went on a fun outing with Grandpa in the Hills and climbed some steep slopes.  On our last day, he got to go on an outing with Grandma.  She wasn't quite as risky but could handle that Ranger like a pro!

Rapid City has a summer tradition downtown.  On Thursday's they close down Main Street and set up a stage, Beer Gardens, food stands, and a cute kid play area with free crafts and cheap fun.  Two days before this event, 3 Rapid City Police Officers had been shot and only 1 ended up surviving.  These were the first officers shot in the line of duty since 1916.  The community was deeply shocked and saddened and so dedicated this Thursday's Summer Nights to these men and their families.  Part of the proceeds and all the tips were to be donated to the families, and representatives from each family made an appearance on the stage.  It was a touching event and is one of the beautiful things about small towns who can pull together so quickly.  We had a great time at the event!

The Jumpy Houses

The Fun Train

Face Painting.  Caleb decided he need a Ladybug.

Members of Rapid City's Minor League Hockey team The Rush, shared some great hockey tips.  Caleb didn't do too bad.

Reptile Gardens

The Black Hills do not have a zoo but they do have Reptile Gardens, which is obviously devoted to our reptilian friends.  It isn't a huge place but does have some fun shows and is quite interactive.  We were excited to get to go with Grandma and Grandpa Manning and even Great-Grandma.  It was a beautiful day and as always, we had a great time!!

Have you ever noticed that parents become NOTHINGS when Grandparents are around?  Who needs parents when you can hang with awesome grandparents!  And Caleb has been blessed with the best!

During the snake show we got to see a variety of snakes and watch the snake handler work with many snakes including a rattle snake, the most poisonous snake, and of course a python.  Grandma made sure she stayed all the way in the back of the theater but Caleb thought it was fun to touch the snake.

I have always found the Prairie Dog exhibits funny.  These were some fat busy guys.

Lov'n the Snake!

It was fun to get Great Grandma in on the snake action!  Too Cute!

The Alligator Show is Reptile Garden's claim to fame.  During the show, the trainer wanders around the Alligator/Crocodile pen and eventually finds a Gator to wrestle.  He then drags the Gator to a fairly safe spot and proceeds to teach everyone how to wrestle a Gator.  It is really quite neat to see and always makes you a bit nervous.  Our trainer had a lot of fun feeding the Gators and had a couple aggressive big ones coming after him.  In the end Caleb got to touch a 2 year old American Alligator.

They have a cute little bird show that even featured a rare (simple) performance by a Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasant.

I remember these giant tortoises from when I was a little girl.   You could actually sit on them back then.  Caleb was surprisingly a bit nervous about touching them but eventually warmed up to them.

Inside the dome is a beautiful garden full of reptiles and birds.  The flowers and ponds are amazing!

Getting to touch a blue-tongued skink and then seeing one of the largest crocodiles ever.  This thing was a MONSTER!

We became a Criminal Family at the Gardens!!  You didn't know we could get so wild on our vacations, did you?

It was a great outing with the Grandparents!!