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We returned to Salt Lake yesterday after five days of fun in Roosevelt. The girls were NOT enthusiastic about leaving but they were both so completely exhausted that they couldn’t put up too much of a fight. They used up every ounce of reserve energy they had to obtain the promise of returning again soon, then succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep before we were out of the county.

I am pretty sure we took Kate with us to Roosevelt. I know I buckled her in the car when we left and I think I occasionally caught a glimpse of her in the kitchen at meal time or rummaging for a snack, but she was pretty much missing in action for the five days we were there. Once she ran inside and gave her cousins hugs she was off and running and rarely to be seen. She and Grace are the best of buddies. All they need is a little space, a few props for play, an occasional appearance of a sister to enhance their game, and they are completely content in their world of imagination.

We were all pretty much perfectly content to be honest. Roosevelt may not be in any guide books of places you must visit often, but Greg and Shannon’s home in Roosevelt should be. Open space, cute kids, lawn games, cycling trips, yummy food, good conversation, movie parties, outdoor projects--it is certainly a destination in our books. We had a wonderful time.

Like on all good Staker vacations we spent a lot of time exercising while we were in Roosevelt. Shannon and I are preparing for Little Red, a 100 mile ride, on June 5^th so we spent a lot of time on our bikes. Josh and Greg were able to join us for a couple of rides as well. It was beautiful to ride through green farm lands with the high Unitahs off in the distance. After one of our rides Shannon led me through some resistance training. Jane came in to help us with our exercises. We were doing the plank. For those of you not familiar with the plank it is 60 seconds of complete torture during which your muscles shake and scream and you think you will die at any moment. Jane came up and lay next to me after she watched our first rep. She said, “Jane do it too.” We pushed up again for our second dose of torture and I encouraged Jane to join us. She lifted up her neck slightly, turned her head to look at me, and while the rest of her body was flat on the ground said, “I up! I up!” It only took me a few more seconds to decide that her version was much preferable to Shannon’s.

The official title of our century ride next week is Little Red Riding Hood. It is an annual century ride just for women through Cache Valley. The logo for the race always has some female cyclist conquering the big bad wolf. The jerseys we have from last year have a picture of a girl with long red hair, a pink skirt, and flowers filled basket on her handle bars running over the top of the big bad wolf with her bike. My girls love that image. The evening we arrived in Roosevelt I was out in the garage changing the tire on my bike, or more precisely watching Greg while he changed the tire on my bike, when one of Kate’s cousins asked her where I was. She replied, as if it were completely obvious and logical, “She is out changing her tire on her bike because she ran over the big bad wolf.”

We celebrated Jane’s second birthday on Friday. Following the example of her sister, Jane’s birthday requests were “pink cupcakes and a balloon.” We had a fun little celebration with her six Roosevelt cousins. It was minimal, but she was happy. We gave her a “scooter just Jane’s size” that she can ride on while Kate is riding her skuut. Jane’s sweet cousin, Claire, wrapped up a pink ice cream cone, part of their pretend food that Jane had been playing with for two days, and gave it to her as a gift. She knew just what Jane would love. She also made her a doll house out of cardboard, completely decorated and furnished with the help of her sisters. So sweet.

So my little Janeguar is two! I love that little girl. I love her opinions. I love her determination. I love to see her follow the example of her sister but find her own strengths as well. I love to see her run her crazy off balance two-year-old run. I love to see her jump with both feet. I love to catch her singing to herself and dancing to music. I love to see her dress up with five necklaces, a frilly skirt, high heels, and fairy wings. I love to hold her in my lap and read her stories and then hear her ask for “more stories please.” I love to scoop her up in my arms when she is crying and watch her try to control her emotions while she says, “Happy Jane. Happy Jane.” I love to kiss her owies. When I miss the exact spot she says, “No, not there here,” and I have to try again until I get the exact spot. Then she immediately stops crying and says, “Thank you.” I love to hear her laugh. Jane’s laugh comes from her soul. When she thinks something is funny she laughs with her whole heart and you cannot resist joining her. Happy Birthday, Little One! We love you.

Now back to our vacation. My brother is the branch president of the Spanish branch in Roosevelt. Saturday night they had a branch activity at their house which involved a whole lot of tasty Mexican food, a whole lot of hispanic people, and a whole lot of Spanish conversations. It was fun to watch Josh. I know for a fact that he went back through the food line at least five times! I saw him talking in Spanish to as many people as he could. He just had a glow about him all evening. The next morning he spoke in their sacrament meeting. I didn’t understand it at all, which is probably a good sign, but it was fun to see Josh back in missionary mode. The smile on his face when he sat down was priceless. There is something very special about those mission years--a love for a people, a culture, and the gospel that is so intense--and the chance to re-experience those feelings, even briefly, is rejuvenating.

The girls on the other hand were not huge fans of the four and a half hour church block . I usually feel like I deserve an award getting our girls through three hours of church. This time after regular church we headed back into the chapel for Spanish sacrament meeting. Jane had had it. She was wiggling all over the place and choosing not to understand our pleas to “whisper, whisper like a beautiful fly.” Josh bent down and whispered in her ear that she needed to sit still and not wiggle. She immediately started kicking her legs with great force and said in a nice, clear loud voice, “Wiggle like this!” When the sacrament trays had passed us she looked at me and said, “more sandwich.” When I put my finger to my lips to tell her to be quiet she repeated it over and over again louder each time, “more sandwich, More Sandwich, MORE SANDWICH!” When I tried to tell her a Jesus story she said, “No. My Jesus Story. Once upon a time...Jesus...Jane...” It was cute, but it was not particularly reverent. Abby saved the day by drawing princess pictures through the rest of the meeting.

As a grand conclusion to our adventures in Roosevelt we went to a nearby farm to catch frogs. We went with plastic cups in hand expecting to scoop up little froggies, but found a pond full of four inch frogs which were much faster at moving through the water than we were. Greg went back for a net and we went to look at the horses, calves, and baby pigeons. Oncer properly equipped, Greg, Josh, Abby and Brynn were successful in catching a frog and a toad. Kate, whose idea it was to catch frogs in the first place, would have nothing to do with them! Jane, on the other hand, was fascinated and pet both of them without the least sign of fear.

Anyone looking for a great vacation? We recommend Roosevelt, Utah. Be sure to take your bike, your fishing net, your imagination, and your Spanish dictionary. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.