We made it back!!

We got back on Saturday night from Utah - we had a FANTASTIC time!!! Just a little recap of what we did.......

My little brother Ben picked us up from the airport and we stayed at his house in Logan for the first few nights. He and his wife and girls live in Logan. My youngest sister Sheena lives there as well. We were looking forward to seeing her too. It has been years since I have been to Logan and I had forgotten how beautiful it is there. We went to the Zoo and a great pizza joint to eat, up by the College. The kids had fun spending time with Ben's kids. They have a little girl named Haedyn and a new baby Tylee! They are such cuties! It always makes me happy when I can see my kids spend time with cousin's. They only get to do that about once a year. The downside of living far from family. Thanks Ben and Jen for letting us stay! We had alot of fun with you all!

Wednesday we left Logan and headed to Lagoon to meet the rest of the family! Lagoon was a huge hit! I have not been there for at least 12 years. There are new things and things that haven't changed a bit. The kids loved it and I loved every minute of it too! Jackson will have to grow a few inches to make it onto some of the rides the next time. He had to sit out a few because of height - poor guy! I got a little irked but rules are rules! We are going to make this a yearly thing when I get out for a visit. So fun!! My whole family was there all except Britt. Wish I had some pictures from Lagoon.

We headed down to Manti to stay for the rest of time. We went to the Manti pool one day and the kids had a ball. This is a new pool for Manti and I thought it was great! This is one of the pics from the pool. It is Rylie, Jackson, Teggan, Bam, and Ashton.

We also went up the mountain one day with my dad and sister Sheena. We took the jeep and that is always loads of fun! We bounce all over and take some steep roads to get to the top. Kids love it! We took some great pictures! Boy, do I miss the mountains! They are so beautiful! We looked for some snow but it was gone. We always like to do that since we never really get to see snow. While we were up the mountain I thought it woud be a great idea to carve our names in a tree. My name is all over up Manti canyon (a favorite thing I used to do growing up) so why not get my kids names everywhere too! Well, a ranger caught us and the fine is pretty steep. Just kidding! But don't anyone tell on us. Here is a pic of my dads handy work....On another day we went to see my grandparents, the Stewart's. My kids have not been able to get to know them like I would like them to. So I am glad we got to go and spend a little time with them. They are wonderful people and great examples for our family. My grandpa took the kids to see his garden he planted and also his rock collection. They each came home with a rock from great grandpa's collection. They loved it!One of the favorite things we like to do when we are out there is ride the 4-wheelers. The kids just eat it up! My sister Katy, husband Brian and boys are quite the daredevils and each have their own 4-wheelers. They have two little boys Ashton (7yrs) and Bam (Landon) (3yrs). Ashton also has a motorcycle which he rides really well too! They have this empty lot next to their house where they have made a great trail to ride on. They are always so nice to let us come and ride their bikes everytime we come. Thanks Brian and Katy!On the last day before we came home my mom and dad broke out the slip and slide and waterguns in the backyard. The kids had a ball slippin and sliddin! We got some great pictures of them but I will only post a few....Before I end this post of our trip I really need to write about a great friendship that developed while we were out there. Ashton and Jackson really hit it off. They had quite the time together! They kept us HIGHLY ENTERTAINED with their dancing skills, wrestling with each other and play station battles. On the 24th we went to Katy and Brian's for a bbq and fireworks and this is what they entertained us with that night.... don't they look awesome in those hats?

On another day they wrestled out on my parents lawn for about a half hour while we all watched and laughed. It was quite funny!
they were still great buddies in the end.....




We had a fun fun fun time! Thanks mom and dad for letting us stay so long this time. We already miss you all and can't wait for our trip next year. Who's ready to play games??

Utah for the next two weeks?

Yes, the kids and I off to Utah to visit my family. We will be out there for two weeks and we are quite excited! We are not to excited to leave Britt behind though. I am sure we will have lots of great adventures to share when we get back.

Family Sleepovers (with the dog)

Every once in a while we let the kids sleep in the game room on the floor for a fun sleepover. Well, last night Rugby decided to join the kids and sleep right in the middle of them. I was just getting ready to throw a blanket on the top of them and she came right over and plopped down right in the middle of them. Rylie and Jackson got a kick out it and laughed for 10 minutes. We couldn't get Rugby to budge from that spot so I threw the blanket on the 3 of them. This is how they looked when I had put the blanket on top of them. (still awake)

This is how they looked after lights out and about 20 minutes later....

New Hair for Rylie

FINALLY!! We were able to talk Rylie into cutting off some of her long hair! I have been trying to get her to cut it for the past year, but I gave up because of the tears. She just really wanted to keep it long. Apparently, all I needed to do was to have her brother ask her to cut it! One time from Jackson and she was ok with it! Now how easy was that? I couldn't get her to go up to her shoulders but we cut off about 5 inches (it's a start). Her dad is out of town for the week so I hope he approves when he gets back. He has no idea and she is so excited to surprise him. I thought I would post some before and after photos. So enjoy! It turned out to look really cute and took me 15 minutes to dry it instead of 25 to 30. That girl has some hair I tell ya!

Trip to Mexico

We have just returned from our first trip to Mexico! I am glad we had the opportunity to go and to take the kids with us. We had a great time but also had our eyes opened to a lot. We stayed at a great Resort called the Barcelo Caribe and Beach Resort. It is just outside Playa Del Carmen. It was just beautiful and the beach was so nice. Lots of white sand and blue blue water. While we were there we were able to take a few trips away from the resort for some fun. We went snorkeling, went tubing down a canal into the ocean, jumped from a rope swing into the ocean (kids did it to) and went on a bike ride through the jungle or at least it looked like a jungle. We had a few wrecks on the bike ride when monkeys and Iguana's would cross the path in front of us. Scared us to death! Quite fun and I am sure we were quite the spectacle! We also went into the city one day and that is when I saw things that made me so grateful for what we have and where we live. I am glad that Rylie and Jackson were able to see how others live and how great we really do have it here in the US. We are really blessed!!

Britt and I in front of the resort

Floating in the Ocean

Scary Mayan we found out on the street - eek!!

Britt, Rylie and Jackson

Our first Blog!!!!

I can't believe we are doing this. I feel like we are to old to have a blog. I am still trying to figure out how this works. I am not very computer savy! So if anyone has any info on where I can get some good instructions, I would love to know. Thanks! Hopefully I can figure out how to post a picture or two to our page.