Vacation Part I.

Although we have been back from our Utah vacation for about a week, I am just now getting to posting these photos because: 1- I have been suffering from a serious bout of jetlag (that two our time difference just kills me!) and 2- the thought of sorting through the 526 photos that I took during our trip (and that is after deleting MANY from my card in an effort to minimize the dreaded sorting!) is extremely daunting. Not to mention that perfectionist me can't seem to put up photos on the blog without editing them at least a little bit.

Anyways, we had such a great trip! We left the Richmond, VA airport at 5ish on Wednesday, June 11th. Here is a shot taken of Mr. E at the airport drop-off area while we waited for Tim and Jace to drop off our car. Forgive the motion blur of Mr. Bear...

The flight from Richmond to Minneapolis went really well, but when we got to Minneapolis we found out our plane was delayed because of weather issues. And the kids were very tired at this point, which does not bode well for a good second flight. And that is how it went- our second flight was a NIGHTMARE!!! We were stuck on the runway waiting for the go to take off for about 45 minutes and Ethan was very, very unhappy. He was beyond tired and I knew that the only thing that would make him stop crying was to fall asleep, but I also knew that he would not fall asleep until the plane started to move. So he and I spent those 45 minutes crying (No, I am not kidding: I was actually crying- though not quite as loudly as Ethan). Here is what Jace thought of that plane ride- I couldn't agree more, buddy!

But somehow, we survived. And the next morning we packed up and headed to my family's cabin in Central Utah. I was totally expecting it to be green and beautifully spring-like up there, but it looked like winter still. But we didn't mind- we don't get much snow out here so it was kind of fun to see a few patches of snow (by the way, I am surprised Jace is still alive after all the dirty, gritty snow he ate!). Here is Tim, Jace, my dad, Angie(my sis) and Mason getting ready for some fun on the four wheelers. Take a note of Tim: eating pistachio's- a Whitehouse family favorite. It is absolutely disgusting how many pistachios we ate during this trip! You know those huge bags you can get at Sam's? We downed that whole thing in less than 3 days... Can you say gull stones?

Despite the lack of greenery in the trees, the view up top was gorgeous! One of the things I love most about Utah- the wide open, blue skies. This shot makes me want to sing: "The hills are alive... With the sound of music...(Ahhh..ahahahhhhhhhh!)"

A fam shot (minus Ethan). Nice job, Ang! Good thing you can't zoom in because I look really gross in this photo!

Jace and his cousin Mason (who the entire time called Jace "Batman", much to Jace's delight I am sure!)

Jace looking an awful lot like Audrey Hepburn in Angie's sunglasses. Beautiful, Jace, beautiful!

One of the 70 shots I took of Tim rippin' it up on the four wheeler...

Tim and AudreyJace.

Later we headed down to the resevoir to do some fly-fishing. Tim is a bit mad at me for posting this picture and not posting the shot of me in my equally attractive get-up. But I think he is crazy- I am totally thinking he should become a model for Cabella's! While brousing my Cabella's catalog recently, I read that they were looking for tall, strong men who like to flex thier muscles and look great in neoprene. A love of outdoors and wearing Gap shirts are a plus. Don't you think Tim fits that description well?

Gearing up...

Zach(my bro) and Tim trying the inlet.




The inlet did not prove to be a great spot for the fish, but Tim managed to catch this water snake with his BARE HANDS!!! Pretty amazing, huh?! Just another thing to add on the resume for Cabella's.

Though Tim and Zach didn't catch any fish, guess who did? ME!! Well, with the help of my dad and Jace. My dad did the cast on this one (I have a problem getting tangled up in all the fishing line) then I stripped it in and hooked the fish. Jace then rilled it in so I could take a picture. Isn't she a beauty? Don't you worry, no animals were harmed in the making of these photos: we set her free. Though I do wonder if the two other fish we caught next were just her coming back for more...

And that's all for now. Vacation Part II. will be coming up soon- to see a sneak peek of our trip down to beautiful Blanding, check out the business blog!