Monson Family Reunion

Last weekend we went up to Midway to spend some time with the whole Monson fam. It was a lot of fun. We don't really get to see them very often unless it's Christmas or some other special occasion.

Our trip began with an unforgettable stop on the freeway. No this was not on purpose! As we were leaving our home, Brian had asked me "When was the last time we filled up the gas tank?" Mind you, I have not driven the car in probably a week or so because Brian drives it to school and work. I couldn't remember when the last time we had filled up but I was pretty sure it was recent. I was feeding Tali in the back (solid foods. No I was not nursing her) because it would be a long drive and it was lunch time.

So we were off. We got about 3/4 of the way up Parley's canyon when.....put.put.put. The car stopped. Luckily we were in the right lane and were able to move over to the emergency lane. Brian announced "we're out of gas." I thought it was some cruel joke. No. He was dead serious! We have no cell phone so couldn't necessarily call anyone for help. There was no highway patrolmen in sight. So I did what any resourceful and desperate woman with a baby stranded on the highway would do.......I flashed the oncoming traffic.......Hahaha! Just kidding. I flagged someone down. I was so amazed that the first person I flagged down actually stopped. Brian went with the nice people to go get some gasoline for the car while Tali and I stayed behind.

While waiting for my Prince to return and rescue us, I was doing some serious praying. I was so scared we would get hit by one of the fast semis or other huge vehicles. To top it off, there was a man that was walking up and down the freeway that was making me EXTREMELY nervous! He just looked kind of shady. Luckily, shortly after the man passed my car a highway patrolman pulled up behind us. He came up to the car and scared the bajeezes out of me! He was very kind though. He asked if we were okay and I explained to him what had happened. He was so nice to let me use his cell phone to call my family and let them know why we were delayed. In all this craziness, I felt so blessed. I felt like someone was definitely looking out for us other than the highway patrolman. I noticed that he was just sitting in his car behind us for about five to ten minutes. I'm sure it was to make sure we were okay. It seemed as though as soon as he left, my Prince was back to rescue us.

Once we got there, it was nothing but fun! Tali was so excited to see her cousins.....with the exception of her cousin Trevor. For some reason she just freaked out anytime he got near her. She did however warm up to him by the end of the trip.

That night, we ended up going to the pool. It was a lot of fun! Tali was having a blast! Here are some of the photos.

Meet my nephew Nate. He is my little buddy! What a ham!

Of course I had to document Tali's first time in the pool. She really LOVED splashing in the pool!

Here are some of us that participated in pool time. And what would a vacation be without a late night trip to the store for ice cream??? Ahhh!

The next day, we went to look at a bunch of craters. It was pretty fascinating. We saw a really big one at the Homestead. I didn't get a picture of it, but it was really cool.

Here are some pictures of the whole Monson fam. The first is of all the Monson grand kids. The second picture is of the whole family.

We had so much fun! It was really nice to see all of the Monson's together.

Here are a couple of pictures I took of "Homestead Ice Mountain." This is what it looks like in the day and at night.

This place has significant meaning for Brian and me. Brian had purposed to me in front of it years ago.

It's about LOVE....

and FAMILY