Vacation Time In The West: Grandma & Grandpa Jackson's

It has been 15 months since we have been back home to the West to see family and friends, and boy were we ready to come home. It is so nice to see mountains again. Aren't they beautiful? We flew into Albuquerque, New Mexico from Detroit. Surprisingly I don't' have a lot to tell about the plane ride other than the fact that it was uneventful. Taryn was an angel and Tyson has flown so much in his little life that it was nothing to him. When we arrived in ABQ Grandma Jackson was there to pick us up. All of Vaughn's brothers and sister were home for the 24th of July celebration, and since we were coming a day after the celebration they all decide to stay another couple of days for us to see everyone. I haven't seen my nieces and nephew since they were first born and they have changed so much.Here is Tyson, Jaelyn and Cole playing in the mountains at Platoro. (See the picture above) It was a little chilly but so enjoyable to be outside and see the beautiful mountains. The kids got to go fishing and played outside. This is Vaughn's brother Mark. He is just below Vaughn. He and his family were there to spend time with us. We are so glad they stayed to see us. Love you all.Taryn got to be reacquainted with her Papa Jackson. She was a bit nervous when we first arrived. She didn't know about all the new faces, but after a while she was better about letting someone else hold her as long as I was within seeing distance.
Tyson and his cousin Jaelyn are 1 week apart and they were like brother and sister the whole week. They would play and then fight and then two seconds later they were off playing again. I wish we lived closer so they could play every day.Here they are again. You would always find them together, in trouble or making trouble. HA HAGrandma Jackson was good at keeping Taryn's attention on something else other than me. It was nice to see them bond. It is so hard being so far away from family. The kids just grow up too fast.Taryn and my niece Grace Ann. Grace didn't quite know what to think when she first saw me. But after 5 minutes of me being at grandma's house she decided that I was ok and want to be everywhere I was. She could say "TYSON" but with a very long southern drawl. It was too funny. She called Taryn "Tyson" as well. I loved every minute of playing aunt to my nieces and nephew.Since we flew in on my birthday, my in laws threw me a birthday party and Grandma Karen made my favorite icing on the cake, her homemade icing. YUMMY! We also took lots of pictures of the cousins, since we are never all together.We tried many times to take pictures with all the kids, and with them all happy, but Taryn usually didn't like being happy at those points in time.We did manage to get all the kids together in a picture with Grandma and Grandpa Jackson and no one was crying....YET!I love this family picture we had taken. It is by one of Papa's tractors and in the high weeds. What could say "hometown" better than this shot.This shot is so gosh darn cute of my kiddos. Taryn was actually happy and Tyson always loves to take pictures. AHHH Love the green grass.Vaughn saddled up Buster for the kids to ride. They even had their own little saddle to ride on. Tyson had to be coaxed for about 30 minutes to get on the horse. He was afraid it was going to bite him, but after the 30 mins, he wanted to ride and then we couldn't get him off. He rode Buster all by himself. What a little cowboy.

We put Taryn on the horse with Tyson and you can see by the smile on her face she was so happy. She just giggled and laughed the whole time. I was for sure we were going to have a meltdown, but I was wrong. She loved it.Vaughn enjoying some time with the kids before he had to go back to work. Dad took us on a four wheeler ride down in the cotton woods by the ranch. Taryn giggled the whole time. She loved the ride and watching the dogs chase the wheeler. Tyson even got to drive the wheeler.(A river on the ranch.) My in laws have such a big, nice ranch to roam around on with the wheelers. We loved every minute of the week we got to spend there with family. On Saturday, Vaughn drove the kids and I to Grand Junction, CO and met up with my mom to take us to Circleville, Ut. Vaughn drove down to Albuquerque, NM on Sunday to start his Neuro Surgery rotation at their level one trauma hospital. The kids and I will spend 2 weeks in Utah and then 2 weeks in Colorado. I cannot wait to see all my family that I have missed so much. Thanks to the Jackson side of the family for all the fun times. I miss you all, already.