Utah vacation, part 5

One of Jeff's aunts owns 20 acres. On it they have horses, chickens, Oreo cows, a beautiful little pond stocked with fish, a little greenhouse, an apple orchard, a gazebo, an amazing vegetable garden with miniature remote control trains going around and through it, and a lovely home with an incredible art studio.

A very memorable first for the kids while we were in Utah was riding a horse at Emily & Richards'. Actually Maya had ridden a horse a couple years ago on a field trip, but none of the others had, and they were all very excited! They all rode Little Red, who was a very gentle animal. Sebastian was not too sure what to think at first, but settled into it rather quickly. He was so cute up there riding around on that big horse.

 Maya was excited, but got nervous as we approached Little Red, who wasn't quite as little as the horse she rode before. I insisted she give it a try, and once she was on, she was all smiles! Jeff's other younger brother, Darin, is leading Little Red. He and his family live in Oregon. I don't think any of Jeff's brothers look like each other.

 

 Isabelle is being led by Aunt Emily.

 

 

 

 Playing with Cousin Cade.

 Sebastian and Millie playing in a cute little row boat sand pile.

On a Sunday after church we headed down to SLC to Skip & Leona's (Jeff's aunt and uncle) for another extended John gathering with Great Grandpa John. Jeff's Dad has 8 siblings, 5 of which live in Utah, so this was a very large gathering. One aunt and uncle were also in town, visiting from Dubai. They have lived there for about 10 years now and had some great stories to tell about life over there.

All these wonderful people get together often and are a lot of fun. Thirteen years ago when we lived in Utah too, I knew them all well, but now all the cousins have grown just a bit, and a ton of cousins-once-removed have joined the party.

Sebastian was very content having all the willing cousins and siblings around to give him rides while we visited with the adults.
 

Another day we headed to Provo to visit my Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Mick. They had a BBQ luncheon for us and my cousins Daniel and Anna and some of their family members came, as well as my Aunt Edith. I love these good people and it was so great to have some time to visit with them!