Another Trip to Utah with Ema This Time

Because of our impromptu trip in July, all of our other summer plans had to be reconsidered. Our attendance at the ward youth activities and whatever else required Gene taking time off work had to change. I was back to babysitting Parker, Julie and Dustin's baby full time so if I was going back to Utah for Kyle's wedding it would have to be a very short trip and without Gene. Originally we had planned to drive to Utah in August and Ema had asked if she could go with us. She always wants to go with us to see everyone there but because their Clear lake trip always conflicts with our trip at the beginning of July, she never gets to go. This time she was going to go with us. Long story, short, she was my traveling companion for this trip. It was so fun, to take her and show her off. She loves her Haws family relatives so much and was really anxious to go. We were able to fly, since our time was short and we didn't want to spend most of it driving there.

Such a beautiful girl, but better than that, she's even more beautiful inside! Just like the temple. I was so happy to take her to this sacred place so she could witness the love and joy of a temple wedding day.

During the wedding Ema watched Dylan, Adam and Wade. There were many other little cousins who waited outside the temple for the ceremony to be over. Here we are all gathering to welcome the newly married Kyle and Kimber Haws

We are getting better at making sure the brothersare included in our family photo shots Ah . . . The bride and groom, so happy

My beautiful Ema with her great grandparents, Wayne and Marjorie Haws, at the reception at the Pope Cabin in Hobble Creek Canyon.

I hope she got a very clear picture once again, (this is certainly not her first rodeo) of what a wonderful and special day a temple marriage is.

Our Un-planned but very Special Concert

When we heard that Carrie Underwood was the headliner at the "Stadium of Fire" this year, we really wanted to go see her, but our plans were already made for our trip to be in August. Once we were in Provo our desire to see the show grew by the day. On one of our stops at Del Taco we ran into a family there for the show. They had several sons and 3 or 4 of them were recent Eagle Scout rank achievers. They shared with us that that night at the "Stadium of Fire" there was going to be the world's largest Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Oh, man, that sealed the deal. Tickets were found and we decided that we had to go! That show did not disappoint!

Finding tickets on the day of a sold-out event isn't always easy but we really scored! This is where we sat, so close to the field and in seats with back rests, at the BYU football field those are wonderful seats.

Several hundred dancers had practiced many hours for their performance that night, it was beautiful.

Then out came the flags! Every unit of the military service, Army, Navy, Air Force and the Marines all had representatives in the ceremonies on the field and filling the stadium. Everyone present receiving their just love and respect!

The stage began filling with over 150 Boy Scouts who had recently qualified for the rank of Eagle Scout with their moms. The largest Eagle Scout Court of Honor was held. Can you say, AWESOME?! Then the National Anthem was sang by, the one and only Carrie Underwood!
Amazing chill and tear producing jets flew over head, directly above the stadium.

The Stadium's Big Screen showed a direct feed from the lead pilot who shared the fact that all of the pilots flying in the formation were indeed very honored to also be

Eagle Scouts. The Scout oath and the Eagle Charge was given by the oldest living Boy Scout who is 92 years old. He is also the founder of the Cub Scouts, so cute!Eagles in stadium - under all of the seats were programs that had the Eagle Scout Rank Emblem as the centerfold. If you were a Eagle Scout you were asked to stand and join in the largest "Eagle's Nest" ever assembled.
Again on the Big Screen we watched as the moms on stage pinned their son's new rank on their uniform. It was very sweet! And that was just the Opening of the show!

Along with some local artists who performed, the concert by Carrie Underwood was awesome and lasted at least ah hour. Then on to the "Stadium of Fire!" These pictures don't even begin to do justice to the fireworks that he event is named after.

We were so glad we continued our 4th of July tradition

and went again and enjoyed this fantastic show!

The main reason for going to Utah this time

Another Duclos wedding!

This is my beautiful sister Laurie and her wonderful husband Jerry. They have 6 boys, Kendall is number 4. All these years of adding boys to their family, now they have added 4 beautiful and sweet daughter-in-laws and 3 darling grand daughters. The girls actually out number the boys now in the Duclos household. Yea!

Newly returned, Chinese speaking missionary Kendall (Nov. 08)

and his darling bride Megan,

at the Timpanogos temple, aren't they are just beautiful!

More pictures from "Zion"

This deer was walking along side us for a long way on the "River Walk" trail. It took a while but I finally got a picture of him. When I was finally focusing on him, Gene said, "Holly go closer to him!" So of course I started walking closer and all these people who I hadn't noticed before moving toward the deer, yelled, "Mam, don't scare him away!!!" I was really embarrassed. But I got the picture.

Here's a cute pose of Greg and Jess.

Gene and I as we started out on our water trek, it was fun!

Trip to Utah

Last week we went to Utah for our annual Summer trip. Greg and Jessica meet us in St. George for two days. We went to Zion National Park and hiked in the narrows, and went to the Tuacahn Amphitheatre where we saw Footloose. We had a great time with them. Aren't they so cute. They left their kids in Provo so they could really enjoy the time together and with us hiking and just being grown-ups without the kiddies for a few days.
Here we are in the "Narrows", I had heard about it and always wanted to go and see the wondrous sights, but we were always in such a hurry to get up to see everyone in Provo we never stopped to enjoy the journey much.
Greg was so cute, offering to hold my hand while we walked along in the water. The water was pretty cold but worst of all there were grapefruit size and larger boulders all over the river bottom. The walking was really slippery and scary. While we were hiking to the river there were all these really pro-looking hikers with walking sticks and special shoes, and I kept thinking why would you need a walking stick? Well now I know, next time I will take or rent a walking stick. It would have really helped stabilize the experience. Instead this time I had my wonderful son, holding my hand. It was an awesome feeling, remembering and reflecting about when I held his hand and worried about keeping him safe when he was little. Now that he towers over me and is so strong he kept me safe and from falling down in that slippery cold river bottom. It was a really beautiful experience in so many ways.
So many beautiful sights and so many pictures of them, which ones to share?

Another Family Wedding

We go to Utah every chance we get so that we can keep up with these two little ones. They are growing up to fast and we don't want them to forget us. Dylan is three and he is the "Boss of the Barnyard" Filling that roll as the oldest in a way that makes his grandma Holly proud. He is so cute and so fun. You never know what he will say or do next.
Little Adam will be one year old in March. I can't believe his first year has gone by so fast. It seems that it takes the whole time we are with him for him to warm up to me. He's in that shy stage, but by the time each visit is over he's my buddy. He even cried when we got out of the car at the airport last night. He's so cute. One thing that is really great is that Greg and Jessica's boys LOVE Gene! Of all the grand kids, they really prefer Gene over me. Boo hoo! It's so good for Gene though, he loves it! Dylan and Adam just adore their grandpa Gene.

But besides going to see Greg and his family the main reason for our trip was to spend time with some more of our favorite people. Jerry and Laurie Duclos, my sister and her wonderful husband. They are the very proud parents of 6 awesome boys. Four of them are returned missionaries and they were in the temple with their oldest brother Nick, as he finally took the giant step of matrimony. He and his sweetheart Kadee were married in the SLC temple last Saturday. It was wonderful to be in the temple with them and all of my sisters, their husbands and my parents. Any chance to be in the temple with loved ones is worth the trip. As the happy couple emerged from the temple Nick embraced his younger two brothers with tears in his eyes, and shared a little of his overflowing spirit with them. It was very sweet to witness. Oh I needed my camera. They are one awesome family.

These are my best friends!

I love this picture, it's of all of my sisters and myself at the SLC temple on Greg and Jessica's wedding day, in 2001. We are seated in order of age, myself, Karie, Laurie, Connie and Krista. I sure love these ladies, and regret not being able to spend more time with them.