The start of our Summer vacation and Martin's Cove

So, last year Tony's parents returned home from their mission in Africa. They had been gone for 18 months, and were anxious to plan the Black Family Reunion when they got home. They presented 4 different options of placed to go for the reunion, and were getting feedback from everyone as to where to go. The options were: 1.) Stay in Blanding and go up on the mountain. 2.) Go somewhere in Colorado, near Durango I think...but not sure.3.) Branson, MO. or 4.) San Diego. I was going for either San Diego or Branson, since I could see my family in SD as well, or Branson since it is only about 4 hours from us, and that way we wouldn't have to drive across the country like we do every year. This time the family could come out our way. We are the only ones in Tony's family not in Utah after all.

After having my grandma come stay with us back in November, I started reminiscing about the cabin we grew up going to every summer in Idaho for big family reunions on my moms side of the family. I absolutely LOVE that place, and hadn't been there for a few years. I then got to thinking that it would be a super great place for Tony's family to have a reunion, and I really wanted to be able to share that part of me with them. If they even loved it a small portion of how much I love it there, I knew they would have a good time. After talking to Tony about it, I brought up the idea with Tony's parents. Everyone agreed it sounded like a grand idea, so the plans were made. We planned the reunion for the first week of August,to allow the regular Avery and Wheeler reunions to take place in July like they do every year, and also to give me just enough time to recover from having a c-section when Levi was born.

Tony and I also decided it would be a great time to bless Levi, since all his family would be there, and all of mine could be there as well. The hardest part of living out in the middle of America, is not having family around for different events. None of my children have ever had any extended family or grandparents around for their birthdays, or soccer games, or school programs, or talks in church, etc. When I read family members blogs about their birthday get togethers with family, or other events where the family gets together for different things, I can't help but feel so alone, and left out. Almost like I am a stranger looking in on a family that I am not a part of. It makes me get really emotional, and yes I cry. Tony and I feel so strongly that we are supposed to be where we are right now, and I understand that is just part of the territory, but I can't help feeling emotional about missing out on family. Anyway...enough about that. On to our trip.

We left Wednesday morning, July 28th, and drove all day.The kids were so excited to go on our trip!
Here they are in the car! Traveling in style and comfort, with their sunglasses and neck pillows.


We stopped in Laramie, WY that night, where the kids got to go swimming at the hotel pool with daddy while baby and I hung out in the room.

The next morning, we decided to stop by Martin's Cove, since it was only about 15 miles out of our way. We didn't want to stay too ling, since we still had a good 6 hours of driving to go. I knew we would have to walk/hike out to the cove from the Visitor's Center, but I didn't know how far it really was. The missionaries offered to drive us out on a rover, and then came back to get us wher we were done, so we only had to walk maybe a mile down the trail. It was a bit warm out, and I was all set to carry Levi in the sling/wrap, but luckily, a sweet Sister missionary offered to keep Levi in the nice cool visitor's center with her while we went. It worked out really well for us, and I think that Sister Warr got her grandma fix too! I left Levi's hat at home anyway, so now I didn't have to worry about him getting too hot, or sunburned.

While we were there, there were a TON of church groups there doing the handcart trek. We really didn't have the time to spend to talk to the missionaries about the stories, or read the plaques along the trail that told about certain events that happened there. I would have liked to been able to hear some stories, but with all the trek people there too, it just felt a bit too crowded. I am glad we were able to go anyhow, and maybe someday we can go again and spend a bit more time, to really feel the spirit of that sacred place. What an amazing bunch of pioneers, to suffer through what they did. I doubt I could have done it...especially with small children. No way.I am so grateful for the blessings I have, and to live in this time.

We took some pictures of the kids at the cove, and some antelope as well.





This is a picture of the cove from the rover as we were driving along on our way back to the Visitor's Center.



This picture is from the top of the cove, looking down the path. Very pretty place, and quite peaceful. I can't imagine the suffering that occurred in this very spot over 150 years ago. If you want to read some stories about this, click here.



And more information HERE.