Utah's Pioneer Day Celebrations

On Thursday, July 22nd we headed out for Utah to join the family in the Pioneer Day celebrations. On the way there we stopped on in Price to visit Grandpa Garff who had a stroke mid-June (just one week after we stayed with them during our last visit to Utah). The above picture was taken in June when Ayla and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Garff.
As you can see, Grandpa's stroke has really changed him. I knew that he had a long ways to go in recovery, but I wasn't prepared for how much damage the stroke had done. Luckily, he is still quite alert and he still has his sense of humor.

After our visit in June Grandpa couldn't stop talking about how much he loved Ayla, especially her name. He was very happy to see that she had come to see him and couldn't stop telling her how special she was and how much he loved her. We asked Grandpa if he could give us any words of wisdom, of which he replied "Love one another!"

Grandpa has always been very vocal about how much he loves his family. A typical conversation with Grandpa has always been,

Grandpa: "You know I love you right?"

Me: "Yes, I do."

Grandpa: "Good, you had better not forget that because your Grandma and I really love you."

Me: "I've never doubted Grandpa, I love you too."

Grandpa: "Good, you better not forget it!"

We love you Grandpa! Thank you for all the kind words you've given to me and to my family.

Friday night we made our way to Fairview's Horse Parade. And if you are wondering why the chairs are all tied together that's what we have to do in Fairview in order to make sure we get a spot to view the parades!

This was our favorite zebra (I mean horse).

After the horse parade we headed onto the rodeo. Ayla had a lot of fun being passed around from person to person and seeing all the animals.

All the cousins LOVED playing together. I think Bennett's favorite part was sliding underneath the table!

Saturday was the official Pioneer Day, which began with the children's parade. Justin and Bram took Abram and Xander on the four wheelers. Xander was so excited afterwards, especially since his little brother Spencer was "waving" to him from the sidelines.

McKelle was part of the parade in representation of their Softball State Championship that they took this year.

Milton, Ayla, Xander, Justin and Grandma all front and center snatching up all the candy.

Even Kusko joined us for all the celebrations. He was sporting his spike collar while laying in the shade. He was quite the celebrity with people coming up to pet him and take his picture.

That afternoon we had a BBQ at Grandma's with Uncle Doug and Uncle Jeff's families. Grandma had all kinds of games for the kids, such as the sand pile with hidden treasures, fishing pond and a BB gun shoot out.

For the teens Grandma had Milton hide 3 $20s for them to find. This is the backyard that I grew up in, which definitely has lots of memories!

That night we headed over to the rodeo grounds again (which is in Grandma's backyard) to watch the Demolition Derby. This derby has been going on since the beginning of time for Fairview (or so it seems). People (including Grandma) had to campout just to buy tickets for this once a year event.

It was definitely worth it, cuz we all had a blast!

I don't know what came out worse, the cars or Ayla's post derby hair! After the derby we all headed back to Grandma's to sit out on the lawn and watch the fireworks.

Sunday afternoon Kat and I made cupcakes in celebration of Xander's, Abram's, Bennett's and Ayla's birthdays, which are all only 3 months apart.

We were pretty happy at how they turned out since we had to decorate them in a hurry.

Milton assisted Ayla in blowing out her candle.

Ayla and Bennett just stared at their cupcakes for a bit before they decided to dig in.

Ayla really didn't care much for the cupcake, but wanted the strawberry and blackberry toppings instead.

Post lunch pic of the babies. LOL!

For some reason I think most of the pictures of Ayla are when she's running around in her diaper, which I promise she does get dressed. She's just always in her diaper come time to eat or else she would ruin every outfit she has.

Sunday evening we went up to Great Grandma Anderson's to eat leftovers and hang out.

Monday morning we headed back home. On the way we met up with Ayla's Abuelos to pick up Abuelita who is coming to visit for the week. I am very excited to have her here since she hasn't been able to come visit in a long time and Ayla needs some time to get to know her and she'll be here for Ayla's first birthday party.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for making such a memorable week! It was a lot of fun and we can't wait to do it again next year!