Our Trip To Storybook Land

Summertime .......Aberdeen, SD........Storybook Land

We don't get back to Aberdeen, SD in the summer very often but when we do the kids always want to go visit Storybook Land.

It's located at Wylie Park and was inspired by well known nursery rhymes.

There is a miniature train you can ride and a carousel which the girls and I always ride.

Heather, Dani & Ben

Nancy, Vivian, Heather, Dani, Ben, Maggie and Dale ( DJ's brother and sister in law)

follow the yellow brick road

castle with a moat around it

sibling sandwich

Ben, Nancy, Dani, Heather, DJ

I'm not sure Ben ever does things the "normal" way :)

Dani attempting to leap over the candlestick

Ben leaping over the candlestick

Heather...well, she tried :)

Ben peeking out before going down the slide

Dani trying to follow Ben

 team effort

dad to the rescue

love this picture!

imitating the gingerbread man ~ oh, and Ben's trying to eat him

moving as one

the funny thing about this picture is that none of them like 
the movie "The Wizard of Oz"



We always enjoy walking around Storybook Land.  
This was one of the last fun things the kids did together before Dani moves out of state.

Holding on to each memory we build together as a family.
Looking forward to the many memories we will create in the years to come!

Celebrating 50 Years!

In today's world it seems rare that people last in a marriage more than 20 or 30 years.
 We were very happy to help DJ's mom and dad celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary last week in South Dakota!
They are a great example to us all and we love them :)

The kids all got together and bought a picture collage (you'll see below) and a scrapbook celebrating the last 50 years.

Vivian opening the scrapbook. She was happy.

My father in law, Dan, wearing the bow from the package. Looking sharp!

This is the picture collage we had made for them at the frame shop where I work.

Setting up for the reception. Nice face Dani!

The Vetter men ~ DJ, Dave, Dan, Dale & Shorty

That's a great group of guys right there.

Two sweet ladies ~ my sister in law, Nancy, and Vivian.

Mom, Dad & Kids

I love this picture! Vivian, the family matriarch, is organizing everyone for the big family photo.

This is the temporary picture of everyone together. 
Nancy is going to clean it up by getting rid of those big pictures on the wall 
and adding the grandkids that couldn't be there.

It was a busy but good day of celebrating. 

The Open House was from 2-4pm then we went to mass at 5pm.
Dinner was at 6:30pm and people hung around until 10pm or so.

There was a little over a 100 people for the reception and dinner I believe.

DJ and I are getting close to 25 years of marriage.
 Looking forward to celebrating 50! 

Congratulations Dan & Vivian!

A Little Get Away

DJ and I were able to get away for a couple of days this past weekend with our friends, Doug and Brenda. We took the ATV's up to the Uintahs. It was about a 2 hr. drive. There's no better get away than heading for the mountains!

We went through Evanston, WY then back into Utah towards Bear River Lodge. We've snowmobiled in that area before and it's beautiful.

pretty day

This wasn't far from our campsite. Utah is such a beautiful state. There's so much more to it than most people realize!

me

It was a bit windy.

me and my best friend :)

We both love the mountains and exploring them!

DJ riding through a creek.

Brenda

me

break time

love the color and texture in this picture

The Man

morning camp visitor

We went for a morning ride. You can't see it very well but this area had a flow of snow melt off  moving through. It was cold and windy up there. Elevation was close to 10,000 feet.

We went through a few mud puddles :)

We finally turned around before we ended up having to dig ourselves out of a cold, muddy mess.

We didn't go through this one.........not that it wouldn't have been fun!

heading back down from the big puddles

This area was a combination of dead trees and some areas where a fire went through.

What's not to love about this scenery?

more mud puddles

Hill AFB's Carter Creek Cabins

a pretty and peaceful setting ~ these cabins are available for military families to rent

a small cattle drive we encountered on our way back to Evanston

the cowboy way of life is still alive and well in Wyoming


School is out for the year. Ben is no longer a 10th grader. He's planning on graduating as a junior next year.  More on that later. 

This next year has a lot going on for our family ~ it's so wonderful watching the kids grow up but it sure has it's sad moments too!

Welcome Summer!