Home Sweet Home

We made it. We had such a wonderful trip and we'll miss our special Utah people, but it is oh, so nice to be home. Here's the last from our trip, our really LONG trip home, and the new green friends we found when we got here...

Holden, Drew, and Brent at the Gines Family Reunion making airplanes.

Cousins

Kaylie and Brie have so much fun together.

Enjoying some sun at the Gines Reunion

We were able to spend some time with the King Family while we were in Salt Lake. Joel and I met this family in our first ward after we got married, it's a friendship that's lasted for about 14 years. They've been through a lot with us.

We were lucky enough to be in Utah for Luke Olsen's baptism. Luke is the son of my good friend Julie, a kindred spirit of mine. Another friendship that goes way back, and we're planning the marriage of our eldest children, so hopefully we'll be family someday :)

Drew got stung by a wasp while we were visiting the Kings. This picture was taken the next day, he was swollen and red for four days. Poor kid.

The day before we left, by dad and brother managed to put together one last fishing trip for the kids. The went up to Strawberry and had a very successful trip. Fishing is one of the highlights for my boys, they love it.

Our flight in Utah was delayed two hours, so we also missed our connection in Washington D.C. As a result, we had a FIVE hour layover there...ugh. The boys made the most of it though, this is Max and Drew enjoying the train ride to our terminal.

While waiting for our flight, we watched movies, and...

took advantage of the Duncan Donuts in the airport. Yum!

These are our new friends. We kept hearing the strangest noises out our windows one night, and this is what we found. Super tiny, and there were six others.

And this dandy was the one making all the noise.

I made this salad with lettuce from my garden when I got back (I won't tell you I threw it out because it was YUCKY, so bitter). I don't know what we did wrong, but it sure was fun to pick it out of my own backyard :) We'll try again next year.

The only requests I had for George to have done when we got home, was a clean house, and a weeks worth of groceries. The house was very clean, and there were so many groceries, I couldn't even walk in to my pantry.

I think he's worried about some sort of disaster, so he's getting prepared. I should send him shopping all the time, we're set for weeks! He's such a good man.

The bugs are awful right now...welcome to summers in the South. Mitchell has been eaten alive by mosquitoes, and scratches so badly, he bloodies himself up and they get ginormous. So, tonight we wrapped him all up in hopes he will leave them alone. Unfortunately, there are about five others we can't wrap because they are in odd places. He must be mighty tasty.

Wrapping It Up...

We only have 4.5 days left here in Utah, and we're trying to pack everything in those few days. We're heading to Mapleton for a Gines Family Reunion, so here's a quick post of the last few days.

Helping Grandpa irrigate.

Mud. So much mud.

Drew in Grandpa's work boots. Max swimming in their new homemade pool.

Cambrie and Tanzynn making pancakes out of mud.

My favorite.

Fourth of July. We went to breakfast with my family, then had a BBQ with the Gines', followed by a nap, a block party with our old ward family, and then a trip to my sister's house to watch the Quail Fire burn (more about that later, we've had some behind the scenes experiences and have been able to see the fire up close and personal. Tragic, but it was fascinating to watch...way better than any firework show).

Lunch with good friends, who have very specific opinions about the food they will and will not eat :)

Utah - Weeks 2 & 3

 Motorcycle rides with grandma (George cringes when we call my mom's scooter a "motorcycle," but that's what the kids call it).

My dad's friend rescued this fawn because it's mother got hit by a car. They have been bottle feeding it, and my dad took the kids down to see it. Cutest little thing.

More rides on Grandma's "motorcycle."

Mitchell having an identity crisis.

We just spent a week in St. George...I love Southern Utah!

Emma and Mitchell swimming.

Drew swimming with my brother, Dustin.

A trip to the St. George Temple with Cambrie, Cortney, Liz, Gabi, and Tanz. We did baptisms with the girls this day, it was so much fun to do temple work with them.

My parents and all their grandchildren.

Tanz, Cambrie, Mitchell, and Gabi.

Max, Ty, Drew, Liz, and Ben, enjoying the hot tub. It was 105 degrees outside, but they couldn't stay away from the hot tub...go figure?!?

My dad and mom, I adore them.

My little family (minus my hubby) at the pool.

We swam so much, and Drew plays so hard in the pool. He rubbed his toes raw and they bled like crazy. My mom and Dustin are the medical people in the fam, so they fixed him up nicely. Poor kid had to wear his five finger shoes the rest of the trip.

Pedicures for the girls.

Fourth of July toes.

Gabi and Brie didn't want to ruin their freshly painted toes, so they swam in socks the last two days :)

And of course, there have been a lot of movies and popcorn.

Drew and Max got to spend some time with the Sorenson's while we were in St. George too. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of that soon (no pressure Ty :)). They always have so much fun with Nana and Papa, and can't wait to get there. They went to Anti Gravity, had pizza, played at Grandma Dayna's, went to basketball games, the movies,  4-wheeling, swimming in the lake, played video games, etc... They loved it!

Also not posted because of a lack of pictures: A girls day out to the movies with all the Gines' while all the Gines boys played at Grandpa's. This included Max getting bucked off of Ms. Kitty (but he handled it well). Cambrie also got to go spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa Gines all by herself, and then we also went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo with the Gines family. Whew, I think that's it.

Now we're back in American Fork, and we have just over a week left of our SUPER long vacation :)