We had a great time in Burley this weekend celebrating the Memorial Day holiday.  We’re so grateful for all those who have given their lives in service of our country and in service of our family, and it was nice to be able to honor that this weekend.  Plus, we loved the time with Grandma Helen and some of our other Bowcut family!

Since Baby Boy is due any day,  we were back and forth on going but finally just decided to go and hope for the best.  We left Saturday evening, after a very busy day of family pictures and a Turley family going-away party for the Clarks.  The drive up was fairly uneventful — we made two stops for both food and diaper changes, but otherwise the babies did pretty good sitting in the car for nearly four hours (thanks in part to Cocomelon on the iPad!).  Plus, there was a beautiful sunset we were able to see!  Isaac especially was so excited to see Grandma Helen and Zoey was showing how she’s learning to walk.  We love being at grandma’s house!

Both babies slept great on Saturday night and we woke up to a “Burley breakfast” on Sunday morning — pancakes, eggs, sausage, the works!  Grandma always treats us so well when we’re in town!  After breakfast, we took a drive to the Pella church where Grandma and Grandpa Bowcut worked while Tom was growing up and where Tom and his brothers spent a lot of time.  It was fun for Tom to now be there with his kids!  Back in the day, he probably never thought about showing it to his kids someday, but here we are!  It’s fun to hear about his memories and to now be making new ones with our kids.  We then drove by the house where his dad grew up, not far from the church.  There definitely is a strong Bowcut family history in Burley!

In the afternoon while the babies napped, we did our worship services.  We went over to Aunt Vee’s and did the sacrament portion, and it was really special.  I kept thinking of what an amazing man Tom is to be serving his wife and mom and aunt, and I couldn’t help but feel his dad’s spirit there and how proud of a father he must be of his son.  It was a really special feeling and a really neat experience.  We were then able to speak with Pete and share our spiritual thoughts for the week.  This is definitely something we’ve come to enjoy and look forward to, and we hope to somehow keep it going even after everything gets back to “normal.”

In the early evening, we went on a walk outside — it was a beautiful day!  We walked around the new neighborhood going in behind grandma’s house, and then we walked over to Jenny and Lanny’s.   Lanny was at work, but we got to spend time with Jenny and Alyssa.  It was good to see them!   They also had six missionaries there, so we were able to meet and speak with them for a bit.  The babies loved their backyard playset and it made for a really nice evening outside!

The babies slept well again on Sunday night, which was definitely a blessing!  On Monday morning, we had breakfast and then played inside and outside for a bit.  Grandma’s yard is about as immaculate as they come and there is so much room for the kiddos to just run and play around — Isaac especially loved it!  About 11:30am, Connie and Shellie came over and then we went to the cemetery to put flowers on Grandpa Bowcut’s grave (along with a few others).  Tom’s niece Kelsey and her family met us there as well — turns out she is pregnant now too!  We then went to the other cemetery in Burley to put flowers on some other Bowcut family graves.  It was good to visit the cemeteries and I’m glad we were there to be with Tom’s mom.

After visiting the graves, we came home and had lunch outside.  We’d gotten pizza and Tom’s mom has made a bunch of salads, so it was a fun Memorial Day picnic lunch!  It was nice to be outside and visit and spend time with some of the family.  We ate and talked and played — it was a really nice afternoon.

We left about 3:00pm and the drive home was pretty uneventful.  Our van is incredibly comfortable and makes a great car to travel in!  We’d definitely say the inaugural road trip in it this weekend went very well. I t’s so spacious and nice and we’re loving it!  We did stop in Brigham City for a second on the drive home, to give this pregnant mama and two restless toddlers a break.  We then finished the drive home and got back about 7:00pm, just in time to have some dinner and get to bed at a decent time.

It was a wonderful weekend and we’re so grateful that things worked out for us to be able to go to Burley — especially that Baby Boy decided to hold off on his arrival! 🙂