A Whirlwind of Activities

The week of July 25-30 was full of a plethora of activities. There was a little something for everyone. Valerie and her girls came up from California for a little visit. Jake stayed at home with his dad because he had football tryouts, much to the disappointment of Caleb and Jake. Although they didn't get to spend time with each other, both boys had a good week with Jake getting to spend quality time with his dad and Caleb having his days filled with other cousins.

Rachel, Emma, Sara and Sydney got to go to OYA (Outdoor Youth Adventures) in Idaho with each other. Rachel had gone two years ago and she wanted to share the experience with her sister and cousins. Those four girls have always been closer than sisters but after camp, they were even tighter. I knew they would have a good time, even if they did have to use an outhouse, sleep in a tepee and not shower the entire time they were there.

While they were in Idaho roughing it, I got to spend quality time with Valerie and Grace. Val and I were a little concerned with Caleb just being with Grace, we were afraid that they would be bored and complain, it turned out that our fears were unfounded. One afternoon, we went to Thanksgiving Point with Laura, Max and Ellie. I haven't been to the Dinosaur Museum in years and it brought back fond memories of me taking my little ones there (sigh).

Caleb and Max's weird sense of humor really suit each other. They are always making me laugh.

 

Valerie Triplett, best friend and good sport to excavate dinosaur bones in a sandbox with Grace.

Of course we had to go over to the Emporium and have ourselves a little treat. I think that ice cream cone is about as tall as Ellie's head. Ice cream headache!!



Thursday afternoon, Caleb, Brad and Grace went up to Lava Hot Springs with Derek's family. There they met up with Grammie, Grampa and Sam's Family. Valerie and I stayed home. Thanks to Aunt Rachel for taking the pictures (she's always been good at documenting good times, I however, often forget).

They spent hours tubing down the river

Grampa is always checking to see if everyone is having fun and being safe. We love him.

As you can see, everyone was enjoying the therapeutic qualities of the hot springs.

 On Friday, Valerie and I drove to Rexburg to pick up some tired and dirty girls who were dropped off at BYU-Idaho. On Saturday, we were going to have a memorial service in Kilgore Idaho for Pat Bennett, Susan's grandfather. So we drove to Idaho Falls and checked into a hotel.

The first things the girls did was shower.

The second was to fall asleep while watching TV.

Who knew Idaho Falls was such a nice place? After dinner, we went for a walk along the river front.

 The next morning we drove to Kilgore to the little cemetery there. Parley "Pat" Bennett was a police officer in Los Angeles in the 20s. He moved there with his little family to find a better job for them because they couldn't make a decent living in Idaho at the time. He was killed in the line of duty by a robber and he left behind his wife and two small children, Kenneth and Enid (Susan's mother). He was buried in Los Angeles and his wife, Elizabeth moved  back to Idaho with her 6 year old son and 3 year old daughter.

As an interesting aside, Brian (Valerie's husband) had a great grandfather that also served in the LAPD at the same time as Pat. Being such a small force, they undoubtedly knew each other. Small world, huh?

Susan and her brother and sisters have been discussing having a headstone in Kilgore next to Elizabeth. After many years of discussing, they were finally able to have a headstone made and placed in Idaho next to his wife. All of Susan's children and Susan's sisters came to have a memorial service. It is an exact replica of the headstone in Los Angeles.

As you can see, Kilgore is remote and not near anything in particular



Derek, Susan and Sam. Susan is holding a picture of Elizabeth and Sam is holding a picture of Grandpa Pat

 After the service was over, we drove into the hills and had a nice picnic. Then we all went our separate ways and went home.



The memorial service was perfect. One of the many things I admire about Susan is her love of family, not only for her posterity but for her ancestry. She has passed that love to her children and her children's children. I know that it meant a lot to Susan to have all of her children come to Idaho and share this moment with her.