Annual Homecoming 2015

Jon wanted to be home for Canada Day, so our annual trip up north came about a month earlier than usual this year. We spent two nights at Annie’s place in Heber and one night at Sweetie’s house in SLC before caravanning up to Idaho (Three cars: us, Annie and Steve, and my mom + Corinne + niephew).

In Utah:

…Annie’s dressage student and family friend (and future para-Olympian) has BABY GOATS so Annie arranged for me to meet (AND HOLD!!!) them:

…Some of the BCC gang got together for lunch (I cannot believe it's been over a year since I've been blogging with them. And that they haven't kicked me out.):

…I got Steve Peck’s autograph!

…The next morning I had breakfast at Chez Steve Evans (BCC founder and fearless leader). I didn’t get a picture with him, or his gorgeous wife, or their adorable kids, or the huge breakfast smorgasbord, but I DID manage a blurry selfie with Shirley, the most appealing little dog I’ve ever met:

Food we ate in Utah: Raspberries from a produce stand, scones at The Hub, Tony’s Tacos, Summerhays, and Maddox on our way up to Idaho. (I met a blog friend of mine, Gina, in person in Brigham City! Then she very kindly watched Penny for us while we went to eat. The internet is so cool.)

Once we got to Idaho it was mostly sprinklers, squirt guns, swimming, popsicles, snow cones, Yellowstone, naps, horses, and ducklings from there on out. And it was glorious.

Look closely: Ada is forcing Joseph's hand into the cage.

Tetons on the way back from lunch in Driggs

Gunner + Joseph + Popsicle from Jessie Jensen on Vimeo.

Let's take a moment to fully appreciate this still frame:

These ones, too.

Dog in goggles (bison in the background)

Picnic in the park

Twinners

Jon spent the middle portion of the week in Southern Alberta and sent me pictures like this:

The night he got back (late), Joseph was having a hard time staying in bed. As a last resort, Corinne told him that Jon was going to be home when he woke up, "so you'd better go to sleep quick! The sooner you sleep, the sooner Jon will be here!" A look of pure joy crossed Joseph's face and he exclaimed "Okay!!", literally dropped everything he was holding (a sippy cup in one hand, a slap bracelet he'd gotten in Yellowstone in the other), sprinted down the hallway, and slammed his bedroom door.

Jon and Joseph being adorable on the short trail to Mesa Falls the next day

My mom, delighting us all: "What, do they think they can't go FIFTEEN MINUTES without drinking a gallon of water??"

We had to start our long drive back on Saturday, the 4th of July. Christa had been out of town when we passed through Utah on our way north, but we met up on our way back through:

Then Annie, Steve, Jon, and I rode bikes to dinner (Tarahumara) and then to the fireworks. The sprinklers came on in the park the moment the fireworks show began (10:00 sharp) so someone in Heber City Parks and Rec had a rough Monday...

Practicing our amazed faces pre-fireworks and laughing so hard it physically hurt:

Unpictured: Sandbar, lunch at the Hickory (after having been thwarted last year), making rice krispy treats with cookie butter on top (NOMG), watching Uncle Buck (totally holds up), and trekking outside late one night to view the alignment of Venus and Jupiter.

Relevant tweets:

Lying alone in a dark camper at the far end of my parents' property was probably not the best time to remember that Bigfoot is Cain.

— Jessie (@jessiejensen) June 30, 2015

"How do you play this one?" "You take the grams and put them into the shape of a banana." --Jon, not wanting to play a word game with a 5yo

— Jessie (@jessiejensen) June 30, 2015

The first best part of my day was when Jon asked our waitress at Winger's to change the TV channel from competitive eating to anything else.

— Jessie (@jessiejensen) July 4, 2015

The second best part of my day was when they were "out of spoons."

— Jessie (@jessiejensen) July 4, 2015

Other stuff:

Ada wanted to know who was going to die, and of what, and in what order. Jon obliged her: "Well, Gunner will be the first to go. He'll die of old age. Then Penny will be next, unless Charlie gets hit by a car..." 

Annie: Birds are my favorite animal. Except for, like...storks.

We were running low on bread for sandwiches for our picnic lunch in Yellowstone.

Mom: We could make one with a hamburger bun. Hamburger buns make yummy sandwiches.

Me: [suspiciously]..................................do they?

Steve: Jigga jigga what? [making fun of Annie trying and failing (over and over) to say "Did Julie get..."]

Corinne told us that when Ada's kindergarten ended, she asked "When am I going to be done with church, too?"  Corinne told her that church doesn't end like how school does, and Ada instantly started bawling. "But it's so boring!!"

It's over!