We really didn't do a formal summer vacation, because our whole summer felt like a vacation.  We were without a house for a month and half, from June 6-July 14 we were "homeless".  Most of our summer was spent in a hotel or in Utah with family.  We were able to spend lots of time with family, which helped make up for living so far away from them for awhile.

My brother and his family came to Utah for a visit.  It was a mini Overton reunion, with all of us kids in the same state at the same time.

 We took the kids up to Provo canyon and to Bridal veil falls for a picnic with my Brother.

The highlight seems to have been feeding the huge fish.

 I can't believe how close Anya is to passing me up...

We were going to hike up to the lower falls, but we had a hard time finding the trail head...it had been moved due to mud slides from when I was a kid.  By the time we found it, it was time to go.  So we just walked around in the water.

 Quinn giving Hannah a hard time...

Quinn went to the University of Utah and we are BYU fans, so it opens up a lot of fun dialogue.

 Our only cousin on the Overton side.

I can't believe how big my little nephew is getting.

 The girls loved to hold and spoil him.

 Right before Quinn left we got to go to the zoo all together.

 Grandma got to come.

 And Aunt Trudy got to come as well.

It was a fun day at the zoo.

 Because of our moving schedule, the girls got to go to Girls Camp with their cousins.

They had a great time, and are begging to go with them again next year.

 They were all braided and set to go.

 Bye girls, be your best.

They had a wonderful expereince.  I am grateful to girls who are willing to take in new girls and treat them as friends.  It makes the experience so much better.

 Horsing around with Uncles

 My Grandma Gale with all her "Overton" great-grand children.

The best part about summer is the watermelon!

It was a fun, but busy summer with our move, and 3 separate trips to Utah, unpacking a new house and getting to know a new area.  We are grateful for the time we got to spend together as a family!

Pit stop at Rushmore!

Our journey west had begun.

We had the lovely opportunity to experience Chicago's rush hour.  It was fabulous.  I don't think I have experienced a rush hour quite like it before.

We stopped in Wisconsin and bought some fabulous cheese.  We were lucky enough to pass this swiss cheese chalet right off the free way.  I thought it would be a tourist trap, but it was pretty legit and the cheese was fabulous!

The plains of the mid-west...not much to see.

Cora chose to ride with Dad the whole way.  She pretty much got to do what ever she wanted, no sharing movie picks or loud screaming boys.  She was pretty spoiled.

 We detoured up I-90 so we could stop and see this magnificence.

Mount Rushmore

 We are so excited!

 We watched the film, but we were sad because the sculptors studio was closed when we went.  However, the film did a great job describing what went into this monument.  It is a feat of vision that I can not even comprehend.

 My kids were a little tired of posing for photos...they have a bit of a crazy streak in them.

 The boys had these little mini rifles that they got in a Cracker Barrel.  Here they are taking aim.

Here is Jack's gun pose.

He had been doing it all day in other photo ops...I decided I needed one of just him.

 We stayed for the evening's lighting ceremony.  They do a brief program, show a historical film and then do a Soldier/veteran salute.  They lower the flag and then they light up the monuments.  It was a  pretty neat experience, very patriotic.  It was getting us ready for the 4th of July!

NY, NY

Our weekend saga continues...with New York City!

After a quick evening in Philly, We hope back into our giant, black, Ford Expedition and drove up to New York.  A few months back we had bought tickets to tour the Statue of Liberty and climb up to her crown.  We did our major NYC trip last October, but it so happened that our trip fell during the fiscal crisis, which shut down all National Park's.  Statue of Liberty just so happens to be a National Park...luckily we didn't buy our tickets in advance, so we didn't loose anything.  We almost lost out on this trip, with Wanda's car hiccup....but we were able to salvage most of our trip so far.  We only lost a day.  Which isn't so bad considering.

We got up super early to make the 8am ferry out to the Statue.

We only had 1 day (instead of the 2 we had originally planned) so we wanted to make the most of it!

Here is our Lady Liberty.

It was a beautiful day!

 On the Island, looking around before we started our climb up to the crown.

 Climbing up the stairs inside Lady Liberty.

 It was about 500 stairs, which is nothing to us after Europe!

 Lady Liberty's face from inside.

It was interesting to find out that the copper is as only as thick as a penny.  all the infrastructure and scaffolding inside is what gives her strength and stability...I feel an object lesson coming on.

 Here we all are, at the top of her crown. That's her hair above us.

Hunter is here, but he is behind the bar.  Sad we can't see him.

 Matt touching Liberty's hair.

 There's my Hunter.

Somewhere on this move, we lost that jacket.  It was a good jacket!

Anya wanted to touch her hair too.

 Looking down out one of the crown windows.

 We love New York!

 NYC skyline behind us.

After Liberty we took a quick tour of Ellis Island.

 Next, we really wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

My awesome Cousin and her hubby met us about half way across!

Then we went to Grimaldi's for some fabulous NY pizza for lunch.

We went to John's on Bleeker last time we met up with them.  Now we just need to go back and eat at Lombardi's and we will complete the NYC pizza trifecta!

 Here is my awesome Cousin!!

She just graduated from Columbia, she is so great with the kids, we just love her!

We were able to find some delicious ice cream.

 Here is my awesome cousin's husband...my cousin in law I guess.  We just love him to pieces too!  Riding the subway is so much more fun with locals!

 We stopped to see the Manhattan Temple.

It actually has a church building in the basement.  We got to go down and use the restrooms.  It was so cool.

 Our crazy crew, in front of the Temple.

 My cuz and I taking a selfie!

I was wearing Matt's space age sun glasses, because I had left mine in Wanda....in D.C.

 Group Hug!

Saying good bye!

 Love these guys!

 After parting ways with our cousins, we headed down to the Twin towers 9/11 memorial.

 We missed this last time we came to NYC.  I guess we weren't sure where to go, but we found it this time.  I am so glad we made the time to stop by.  It was so heart wrenching and sacred to see. I hope we always remember the sacrifices and courage these people represent, I hope we never forget as a country.

 Here is the one tower, kind of brings tears to my eyes to look at it.

We took the ferry back to New Jersey's Liberty Park, where we had parked our beast.

We were rewarded with this great view of the New York City skyline.

It was a fun day in NYC. 

I wish we could have stayed longer, caught a show or something...but we need to get back to D.C., pick up our vehicles and stuff and start driving West to our new home!