Utah for America's Birthday

After Merinda and the three "little dears" had their fun in Texas, I got to meet up with them for the trip to Utah.

We stayed up in a great place in Heber where we were treated to some variation on this every night:



There we set up shop with our dear expatriate parents from New Zealand and various relatives came to call, including Uncle K and Aunt J:



...and we went hiking to Bridal Veil Falls with all the brothers and sisters and cousins.

India might be one of the most interesting places on earth but to us America is still the best. Here's the moment that sealed the deal:

...on the 4th of July, getting ready for the fireworks, drinking root beer, and doing contra dancing. We all agreed it was the best 4th of July ever and that's not even a Funk superlative. It really was. Really.

And speaking of that, Grandma had a really amazing birthday party. She invited lots and lots of people and set up a "dress garden" with all the important dresses from milestones in her life set up around the backyard.


We also took the time to hang out with Uncle Lynn on his farm. Fighting hard against his better judgment, he let me take the tractor for a spin. Unlike many times back 20 years when I worked for him, this experience using his heavy machinery went off without incident.



One memorable feature of the trip was Uncle Ryan's sunburn. In order to look good for his wife on their upcoming cruise, he laid out in the sun for a while while the rest of us were swimming indoors. The plan backfired and instead he ended up waddling around the cabin without his shirt on waiting for the sunburn to heal. Here's nanna trying her best to help...


And finally, just an aesthetic view of me and Graham...