Cousins!

One of the best things about our trip to Utah was playing with our cousins, especially the ones we've never met before. First there was Aveleen, Kelly and Jared's little girl, who is two years old and so extremely cute! After getting home from Bear Lake on Saturday we headed down to visit with them at their home and the kids just adored her. (They also loved playing with Izzy, Kelly's dog - she's cute too!)

We spent Sunday evening with the Mason family, as well as the Bullocks, up in Bountiful. Savannah is the only one who remembers some of her Mason cousins but my kids had never met the youngest three. We had a blast talking, playing games, running around outside, planning ways to send Darby to dog heaven peacefully, and enjoying the delicious dinner that Mark and Tricia prepared for all of us.

One of the funniest moments was when Michaela and Hannah mentioned how Uncle Jared looks like Thor so all the kids started talking about how lucky they are to have Thor as their uncle and they all wanted a picture with him. Jared was definitely a good sport about it, posing with all the kids for multiple pictures.

We love our Mason cousins!

Funny faces!

We definitely hope that we will get to spend more time with Aveleen, Michaela, Hannah, Brandon, Kate, Sarah, Lexie, and Sophie in the future.

Bear Lake

It has been 7 years since the whole family has been to Utah; Noah has never even been so we were all so excited when we had the chance to go visit this summer. We arrived on a Wednesday evening and headed up to Bear Lake Thursday morning for a few days of fun and relaxation.

We stayed in a condo while we were there and enjoyed sitting out on the back patio looking at the beautiful turquoise water of the lake, checking out all the birds flying around the place, playing games, and talking. Noah was especially excited when this seagull came for a visit. Of course Noah had to feed him which kept the seagull hangin' around even longer.

The first evening we found a beautiful spot to walk along the lake, looking for seashells as well as rocks to skip.

Teaching Xander the fine art of skipping rocks; David's record ended up being 7 skips.

If it hadn't been for the mosquitoes and the cold we might have stayed a little longer. It was such a pleasant evening! We finished it off with yummy shakes.

While we were there, hanging out at the condo, we read, talked, and played lots and lots of games. Xander was the Yahtzee king and all the kids really enjoyed the monkey game.

Friday we spent at the lake. Unfortunately I was suffering from a little stomach bug so wasn't too keen about riding the wave runners but the kids absolutely LOVED it! They had a blast!

Savannah was so disappointed that she couldn't swim in the water due to her knee injury but she found other ways to get out and enjoy the water.

Noah loved being in the water! The freezing cold water didn't seem to bother him a bit!  He would jump off the wave runner as they were coming in to switch turns and would then swim to shore.

What a fun vacation within a vacation.

One Last Fishing Trip

Our best friends the Crowes recently moved (and yes, I am still bitter and struggling with it) but before they left we did several fun things together including one last fishing adventure.

Okay, so maybe not really an adventure. Fishing does get to be a tad boring when you don't get ANY bites! Savannah's expression says it all!

But we always have fun together, no matter what, and that's the important thing.

Plus it was a really pretty spot.

The men decided that the fish just didn't like what we had on our hooks so Josh went into the woods and dug up a worm. Guess what? It worked! (I love Savannah's facial expressions in these next two pictures.)

So the fish was tiny, so what? We actually caught something.

And then tragedy struck. Due to the boredom of not catching anything the kids decided to play Temple Run, a popular game the kids play on my IPad. They were running back and forth on the cement walkway and jumping over the hole in the middle. Well, the adults got a little nervous about the little ones making the jump so we told the kids to stop. Trying to stop too quickly made Savannah trip and she tore up her knee pretty bad. But our little Savannah is one tough girl and hardly cried, plus she walked all the way back to the Crowes house with a torn knee and blood dripping all the way down to her shoe. Just as we got to the Crowes house their neighbor pulled up who just happens to be a nurse. She cleaned it up and then Lenae did some pulling together of skin and taping it together.

Poor thing, right before her first travel soccer team practice and right before our trip to Utah. She couldn't bend her knee for about a week in order for the skin to mend back together.

Although it had a tough ending we still had a great evening with our friends.

Time Flies

The old saying is so true - time DOES fly when you're having fun. Something you've been planning for months and are so looking forward to and then, in the blink of an eye, it's happened and is over. I always feel that way when my family comes to visit. We always have the best time with them and are so sad when it's time for them to go home. Some small moment highlights from this past visit:

• We saw Madagascar 3 which was hilarious and had us all humming and singing, "Afro circus, afro circus, polka dot, polka dot, polka dot, afro!" the entire week!
• Xander reading to Ashlyn...so cute, at least to me!

• We were so lucky to spend another Father's Day with my dad.  The kids put on the cutest program for their dads and grandpa which included a survey they had each taken, filling out facts about their dad.  They also drew pictures and sang songs.

Love this picture!

• The kids always love listening to Grandpa's stories!

• Shopping with Grandma
• Swimming and "surfing" with Grandma and Grandpa in the hotel swimming pool

Hammerman

Our last day together was spent at Hammerman Beach. What a blistering, hot day! The cool water felt wonderful despite the fact that all I can bear to put in are my feet because the water is so disgustingly foul. Never stops the kids from going in though!

Building fun sand castles with Grandma and Grandpa.

And they're off, Xander, and Grandpa, in search of truly interesting things...

and they come back with a dead fish. Nice. What is it with us and dead fish at this place?