Salt Lake City

We were able to take a trip out to Utah this summer. It was a family reunion of sorts for us. It had been eight years since my siblings, our spouses and children had all been together! And five years for Ryan's side. It was SO good to see everyone, watch the kids play with their cousins, and meet some nieces and nephews for the first time.

Our first Monday there we visited Temple Square.

The first stop was at the Conference Center

Next was lunch and we got to see the cubicles my parents work in for their part time mission.

At lunch we ran into one of our favorite Sister Missionaries. She is serving on temple square but was able to come out our way for a while and serve at the sites next to us.

Then we went to see the temple up close

These girls cracked me up! They wanted pictures of "just" them, everywhere! I didn't post all of them though

Can you find the hiding, pouting boy?

The last stop was the Church History Museum

There was a wonderful exhibit geared towards the kids. They had fun trying to lift the gold plates.

Dancing! They could have done this all day!

There were a bunch of other centers which is didn't get pictures of. If we lived closer I think we would definitely spend more time there.

The exhibit next to the children's one had quilts! Of course I had to stop and look at these.

Underwear Rocks!

I can officially say that everyone in our house is potty trained! After 11 years with no breaks in between of having at least one kid in diapers sometimes two.

Lincoln is potty trained!!

To celebrate this momentous occasion Ryan bought me a new (smaller) purse!

Going to the Zoo

I have to pinch myself sometimes! I am really so blessed to have Rochelle and her family in my life. They surprised us with a family pass to our local zoo! I was speechless when she emailed me to let me know about the surprise. I still am. I just feel so blessed to have such an amazing friend! It is more than just a zoo pass. She is an amazing friend and I won't get all mushy on the blog, but you get the idea :)

A trip to the zoo together seemed perfect! There is a new Elephant exhibit at our zoo that is huge. The zoo really did a fantastic job if I say so myself.

My husband's a podiatrist, so I had to take a picture of the elephant's foot bone.

Crazy best friends

I don't take enough pictures of this beautiful girl! I love her so much! She is growing up way too fast.

I love watching them together. They are such good friends.

This bear was just hanging out. He was so cute! Grace took one look at this bear folding his arms and said, "Look the bear is praying". I love kids, they see the world in such a wonderful way.

The zoo has a neat butterfly exhibit. I was lucky enough to have a little visitor.

I hope we can go together many more times this year!

Summer Days

I have to give a shout out to my kids. They have been wonderful this summer. We have been stuck at home A LOT because I have been babysitting so much. I feel bad that we haven't been to the pool more or doing other fun things but they really have been great sports about it. I love them so much. We are going to Utah next week! I am SO excited to be with family and also to have a little break! It will be wonderful!

The kidos decided to randomly have horse races! I love it when they all play together.

July 4th

To top off the fourth we had a BBQ with some games and then headed out to see some fireworks.

Ryan missed the BBQ part but was able to join us for the fireworks. People need to stop fracturing their ankles on the fourth :)

We had a shoe flinging contest.

A watermelon seed spitting contest

A human pyramid

I don't have pictures but we played water balloon volleyball too

The kids getting all comfortable while they wait for the fireworks to begin. This is what trucks are made for (at least in my opinion). We had quite the crowd this year! It was so fun to be surrounded by good company! The best fourth! I can't wait for next year!!

Our Hike on the 4th

Our wonderful friends the Wilde's invited us to go on a hike on their favorite trail. Hiking has to be one of my most favorite things to do, it is so relaxing! This was a great way to start off our fourth of July celebrations. We packed a lunch and ate next to a stream. Here are a bunch of pictures I stole from their blog. (since I forgot my camera) Ryan had to work unfortunately hopefully next year He'll be able to join us in the fun.

It was fun to see Reuben climb on this tree. It reminded me of playing in the woods behind our house while I was young. There were several trees like this one that I loved to climb on.

Here's the whole gang of kids! I love them all! I feel blessed to be able to have them all in my life.

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