The Ackerman/Mejias Family est. 1991: Utah, part 2

We arrived in Syracuse, Utah, home to the wonderful Call family!

They allowed us to stay with them while we got Mercedes ready for Rexburg.

The photo below is one of many views from the Call's neighborhood.

Nicole reserved tickets at a theater in Murray, an old western town, to see a spoof of Les Miserable. We were very excited to see it since it is an absolute favorite of ours.

The Desert Star

I'm not sure if photos were okay, but I was able to take a couple without the flash as to not interrupt the show.

We laughed out loud and HARD!!!
So glad we went and even happier that it was a family friendly show so we could enjoy it together.

Nicole's brother-in-law owns the Prairie Schooner restaurant in Ogden.
The food was delicious and the atmosphere was fantastic!!

Loved the sign!

We stopped in at the Greenery Restaurant for their famous and scrumptious Mormon Muffins!!!!

Couldn' t leave Ogden without stopping at the temple

We drove into Logan to take a hike to the Wind Cave and was given a souvenir to take... a speeding ticket! Yikes. A hundred and fifteen souvenirs to be exact. The police officer was less than hospitable and I'm sure once he realized we were out of state, he was going to teach us a lesson. The sad part was that the speed limit had changed and since I was not familiar to the area and there was a lot of traffic, I didn't notice the signs. I didn't make excuses and took my medicine, as bitter as it was, like a big girl without protest. But dang, did it hurt! Boo!!!!!!!!!

After I was able to calm myself down, I did enjoy our hike. We didn't make it to the cave because Bobby was worried about it getting dark and late... We also still had a 4 hour trip to Rexburg, Idaho...

I wanted to take the kids zip lining in Salt Lake, but they didn't open til June:(
I was glad that we took this hike, though!!!!

The Rexburg Temple was the view that Bobby and I had from our hotel room!!!!
It really stands out being that it's in the middle of prairie and more prairie!! Can you tell I'm a city slicker and proud of it!

The hotel was very nice and modern. Unfortunately, the news was focused on the terrible bombing in Boston. We found out much later that we had friends at the Boston Marathon and thank heavens they were okay, although our hearts and prayers went out to all the families that were devastated by the effects of the thoughtless and senseless acts.

Mercedes new digs... apparently this is considered the low income housing section of Rexburg, or better known as ghetto housing. I truly despise that word paired with anything! It sounds ridiculous!

Good thing our kids know how to appreciate being humble:)

It wasn't bad at all!! Two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a full kitchen and internet. What more could you need? Oh yea, food:)

Eat in kitchen

Amanda was there to greet her buddy

Crystal was kind enough to meet us and take the whole fam on a tour of the campus.

I'm glad that Mercedes was able to accept the Ackerman Circus:)
The temple by day and right on the outskirts of campus

Clean campus

This beast of a car was our upgrade from the minivan that I originally reserved. When the clerk saw all of Mercedes' luggage, he recommended something a little more comfortable. I didn't like the price tag attached to the upgrade, but admit it was the best decision!! We were able to drive in comfort and peace:)

We took the kids here to eat and have our last meal with Mercy

It was a cute place with monster shakes and pretty decent food.
Leaving was very hard for me. Knowing that I could call and text when I wanted made it a little easier... actually a ton easier compared to leaving Gage at the MTC, but still hard. It's a very strange feeling to have your family splintered and have the pieces burrow so far from there place of origin. A bit corny, but it's the best way to describe how it felt for me to let my children go. And go they should, but it doesn't make it any less painful...

We stopped at a gas station on our way back to Utah and I couldn't believe the convenience store sold Yak meat. Okay, where exactly did we just leave our daughter... Yak meat, really??

We stopped right off the highway to check out these lava formations!! How cool, a field trip. I felt a bit like Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus:) "Seat belts everyone!"

We did end up doing the trail. I kept waiting for something to crawl out of the rocks or come running off the prairie! Oh yes, city slicker at heart:) I'm okay with it!

A very cool gnarly tree (or a yak if you squint;) )
It reminded me of some of the trees I saw after the tornado here in Springfield

The Call's suggested we have a open house instead of trying to visit people individually. We didn't get to see nearly everyone we would have liked to visit, but this was great!!!!!

Roci and Jordan together again!

Hey, we know those guys! It's Turner and Lawter, the dynamic duo!! We miss you guys:(

I felt a little guilty doing this without Mercedes, but she has since taken a motorcycle ride, go cart rides, fired rifles, and other cool college experiences! So many adventures, so it's okay!! Right??

We had a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 20 laps and I wasn't the last one, ha!

Courtney had her Junior Prom!!! She fell asleep on the couch waiting for us to come home. She's such a doll:) She was gorgeous:)

Oops:) I had to get a picture of the Winget family who wasn't able to make the open house, but did come by the next day for a wonderful visit!! They were expecting baby number 4!!

For our last evening, we had a talent show! I should say, the kids shared their talents:) That was very fun! I wish I had recorded it:( there was a lot of singing... I had no idea that Courtney and Kaitlyn sang! They were amazing!

Goodbye Call Family:( Hopefully we will get to see you very soon! Thanks for everything, we love you! Oh, and Gordon, thanks for the Krispy Cremes!! I couldn't leave Utah without stuffing my face with those yummy doughnuts...