It's Always Fun When Grammy Comes! (and Grandad too)

It's been about a year since my parents finished their mission in North Carolina. An amazing man that they taught was sealed to his wife so they flew out here for the sealing. They spent a few days with us, then spent a week traveling their mission and then finished with a few more days at our house. Now that Baylie is in school, I can't just take off and travel anymore and I really miss my family.

I loved watching my dad read to my children from the very same book he used to read to me. I love that my parents love my kids so much and my kids adore their grandparents. Baylie and my mom have a very special bond and Jalen loves nothing more than spending time with my dad. It fills my heart to watch them together.

With Grammy and Grandad sleeping in her bed, Baylie gets to sleep on our floor, which means that Jalen does too. They are wild little sleepers, so we never know what we'll find when we check on them.

While they were here, Baylie had an early release day from school so we went to Congaree National Park for a little hike.  

It's a little over two miles and a few months ago I wouldn't have been able to do it. This time I was able to do it fairly easily. I wasn't tired, but my hips and legs were very sore.

Congaree is actually a swamp (for history buffs, think of the Revolutionary War's Swamp Fox) with a boardwalk built through it. Last time we went there, the water was pretty high. This time there wasn't nearly as much water.

From Wikipedia: Congaree National Park preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. The lush trees growing in this floodplain forest are some of the tallest in the Eastern U.S., forming one of the highest temperate deciduous forest canopies remaining in the world.

These red spiders were EVERYWHERE.

You can't really see him, but there is a little snake poking his head out of the end of this fallen log.

I started our day at the park by locking the keys in the car. David had to come rescue us. I seem to have a gift for adding excitement to family activities. (By the way, we saw a deer in the park!)

The sealing was in Atlanta and we headed over there the day before. We decided to check out Stone Mountain. I had heard about it a long time ago and always wanted to see it, but when I started reading up on it, I discovered it was originally built by the Ku Klux Klan. I almost changed my mind about going, but it is now operated by the park service and I decided I could still teach my children important lessons by being there.

The largest bas relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving depicts three Confederate leaders of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (and their favorite horses, "Blackjack", "Traveller", and "Little Sorrel", respectively). The entire carved surface measures 3 acres, about the size of two and a quarter football fields. The carving of the three men towers 400 feet above the ground, measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The deepest point of the carving is at Lee's elbow, which is 12 feet to the mountain's surface.

We rode in a gondola to get to the top of the mountain. (Actually just a big hill.) It was the only thing open the day we were there. There are actually a ton of things to do at Stone Mountain, but they were all closed and all we wanted to see was the monument anyway.

Cable that pulls the gondola.

Mom and dad on the edge.

Our family at the top.

If you look closely at the left of Jalen, you can see words carved into the rock. There are several of these carvings in the rock. I have no idea what Jalen is doing.

These wild Stone Mountain yellow daisies or Confederate daisies are only found within a 60-mile radius of Stone Mountain. They are endangered.

Our family at the bottom.

At the base of the mountain are monuments to different confederate states. David took a moment to visit his favorite one.

This view gives a better idea of just how big it is.

Pouting. So unlike him. (NOT!)

When we finally got to the hotel, Jalen was pooped. The kids were super excited to stay in a hotel and to swim, but I didn't get any pictures. Lame.

I had been to the Atlanta temple once before, but it was several years ago. I didn't remember it at all. David and the kids waited outside while I went in to the sealing. Unfortunately, there was a complication and the wedding started almost two hours late. It was a bit crazy. David had a lot of time to take pictures.

 The Fradys - such a great couple. So beautiful to see them sealed.

We had such a great time with my parents. They headed up to North Carolina and we headed back to Columbia.

The kids fell asleep right away when we headed back for home.

After a week traveling around North Carolina, my parents came back to send a few days with us before flying back to Utah. It was such a great trip. My parents have always been very generous with us.

I am so homesick for my parents right now. No matter how old I get, I never outgrow them. I think the separation may be hardest on my dad though since for the past two weeks Jalen has been glued to his side saying things like, "I want what Grandad wants." "Where is Grandad?" "I want to sit by Grandad." and a personal favorite "Grandad knows EVERYTHING." It may be hard to get over losing such hero worship.