Tuesday, June 23rd
Yesterday and today we mostly spent getting ready for our trip to Midway.
I did take a few pics of this 4th of July care package that we sent off today, for Elder Juarez.
The kids were the ones who decorated the box. I think they did a good job. Emily was so sweet. She wrote, “You shine like a firework!” and “You are a blast!” We filled the box with some of Carlos’ favorite treats….all 4th of July colors of course. Chips ahoy cookies, twinkies, nutter butters, oreos and hostess cupcakes. The kids put in some pictures that they had colored. Elder Juarez asked for me to print some pics of him and his district. I put those in and added a few of us too. He also asked for six 4×6 frames, which I included also.
Wednesday, June 24th
We headed out for our trip today. Here we are driving. The kids are comfy with lots of space. Here is David and Emily at lunchtime.
And finally, we made it to our cute little 2 bedroom villa in Midway. We met up with my Dad and Elena. Their villa was on the 2nd floor and we were on the 3rd. Since it was late we just talked for a bit. Here are the kids ready for bed and Carlos relaxing.
Thursday, June 26th
Since we were only in Utah for 3 full days, we jam packed our days with fun activities and family time. In the weeks prior to our trip, each member of our family picked an activity that they would like to do. Plus we added in a few extras too!
Tarahumara 
Heber Valley Artisan Cheese 
We took a train ride on the Heber Valley Railroad 
Elena & Emily 
Ashley & Grandpa 
Amazing view from the train
Everyone loved the train ride, especially David. He sat by the window and was so into the ride. It made my heart happy to see him enjoying it so much. After the ride we headed back to the villas to rest up a little and have dinner. After dinner all of my dad’s siblings and their spouses took a group picture. The bottom row is my dad and his siblings in birth order. My dad is the 3rd in line. I feel so grateful to be a part of this family!
Next we headed to the pool. Swimming was David’s activity of choice. They swam until the pool closed for the night. They loved it.
Friday, June 26th
We began our next day with mini golf. This was Emily’s 2nd activity of choice. She actually wanted to do the Alpine Slide, but it was still closed. Nonetheless, she was super happy to go mini golfing.
Next, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to our next activity….horseback riding! While we were out and about at lunch, we received this awesome picture of Elder Juarez & his crew. Comment below if you can read what they are signing! 😉
Horseback riding was the activity that both Carlos and Ashley wanted to do. Carlos loves horses and he was excited to get back in the saddle. He used to ride in Mexico, but has not ridden for a very long time. Ashley has only gone horseback riding once, but she is her daddy’s daughter and also shares a love for horses.
The trail ride was nice and the view was breathtaking! Thanks to Dad and Elena who hung out with David while we were out on the trail. David was too young to go.
On our way back to the villas we stopped at Memorial Hill. This also had very beautiful views and was a nice memorial to those who have served in any U.S. military conflict, who were from this area. My Aunt Kristine’s, (my dad’s sister), husband has relatives who were named at this memorial.
Back at the villas, it was another delicious dinner with the family. While having dessert, my Aunt Kristine opened a time capsule that the family had put together at our reunion in Steamboat Springs, 10 years ago.
Each person wrote two things on a slip of paper: 1. What was the best thing that has happened in 2010 so far? 2. Where or what will you be doing 10 years from now? Here were our responses:
Jose
1. Coming to the family reunion
2. I will be in college
Elder Juarez
1. Getting baptized and making it to all stars (baseball)
2. On a mission in ten years
Ashley was almost 3, so she colored a picture 😉
Kristin
1. When my husband was baptized
2. Full time job w/ school district & taking care of my family
Carlos
1. The opportunity to baptize my sons
2. In a new house, working, taking care of my family
To be honest, I didn’t even remember doing this 10 years ago. It was interesting to see that some of us were spot on for our predictions. Elder Juarez nailed his guess of what he would be doing in 10 years….serving a mission! My prediction came sooner then 10 years. I was actually hired full time less then 2 months after the reunion and worked for the school district for 4 years and then stayed home to care for Emily and David, after he was born. Carlos was spot on with his prediction too! Also, it was very sweet to look back upon these memories and see how far our family has come.
We ended our evening with swimming and family scripture study.
Saturday, June 27th
We started off the day by checking out of our villa and having lunch at Dairy Keen.
On our way back to my Grandma’s house, we stopped at the “This is the place monument” in Salt Lake. We didn’t have a lot of time, but we hope to come back to this place again and spend more time there.
Later that evening we would be going to my dear Grandma Evelyn’s 90th birthday party. The only problem, she wasn’t going to be there. She also wasn’t at our family reunion either. She had been having some medical issues going on and was admitted to the hospital earlier in the week. Now she is at Fairfield Rehabilitation and with Covid19, no one is able to go in and see her. While I am sad not to be able to give my grandma a hug and not be able to spend time with her. I am thankful she is getting the care that she needs. We were able to stop by the rehab center and stand outside of her window and talk to her over the phone. I stayed strong while I talked with her. All the kids, my dad & Elena and Carlos were able to say hi too. It brought me to tears once we said goodbye and walked away. I love her very much.
Dad & Elena 
Ash, Carlos and I with my cousin Zack
Grandma’s party turned out really nice, although we all missed her being there. My Aunt Kristine and the others who helped out did a nice job. The food was good too! It was really cool to see so many of the 2nd cousins (My grandma’s great grandkids) together at one time.
We went back to my grandma’s house where we said goodbye to my dad and Elena. It was nice to see them again. The kids just love them and of course I do too. After saying our goodbyes, we headed to my Aunt Becky’s house to spend the night before heading out in the morning.
This picture was taken by my Aunt Michelle during the train ride we all took a few days before. I don’t know why I didn’t think to take one with them while we were at there house. Anyway, once we got to their house at maybe 10 or 10:30 pm, we stayed up talking at the table past midnight! We feel right at home with them and they are so sweet to Carlos and I and our kids.
Sunday, June 28th
The next morning, Becky made an amazing breakfast and then we had sacrament meeting with them before we hit the road. The kids really loved playing downstairs with all the toys too. We love Aunt Becky and Uncle Chuck. They are so kind and all of their children (my cousins) are too.
Once we left Becky’s we made one little stop on our way out of town at the Brigham City Temple. I love visiting the temple grounds. So beautiful!
We stopped at a rest area for lunch and we ate dinner at the Boise Temple.
This was a short, but really nice trip. It was a great way to kick off the summer! We are thankful to have been able to make the trip and see many of our Anderson Family members. I hope my Grandma Evelyn knows and was able to feel how much she is loved by her family.