Playing Catch Up

The current state of my blog reminds me of when I used to keep a written journal. I would let so much time go by, that then I would be overwhelmed with trying to catch up. We have had a busy couple of weeks.

We had planned a trip to Utah and decided to go by way of my sister Tiffani's home in Las Vegas. We got there the last day of school. My sister has an annual tradition to host a pool party at her house on the last day of the year. Her twins and Baylie made a big sign that said "Summer Starts Here." My kids - well, mostly Baylie, were so excited to swim. 

Clara, Baylie and Lauryn

The next day we headed for Utah. It felt good to be in my parent's house again. Even though they weren't there, it was still good just to be there.

Team huddle (that's what they called it)

My brother Erik had two boys with big events. His oldest was being ordained a deacon and his second to youngest was being baptized. The ordination was first. My nephew, Parker, has changed so much in the past year. He has grown tall and slender. He's more confident and mature. He's taller than me now! I am impressed with the young man he is becoming.

Next was Camden's baptism. Camden has always held a special place in my heart. Before I had kids, he would call me "the other mommy" and I treasured that. He is still a sensitive soul and a joy to be around.

Shanelle, Camden, Erik

During the baptism, all the cousins sang (except for the one playing the piano). It was a great moment to see all these little children together. I love these kids!

Cameron, Lauryn, Jalen, Clara, Molly, Lily, Hailey, Baylie, Jonny, Camden, Ava, Kolton, Parker, Riley (seated Asher and  Nixon, Ashley on the piano)

Afterwards, we took the traditional family photo. Everyone in our family was here except for my parents, my husband and my brother in law.

Back: Tiffani, Riley, Ashley, Clark, Dianne, Asher, Shanelle, Erik, Parker, Kristin, Scott, Nixon
Front: Cameron, Hailey, Jonny, Molly, Lily, Camden, Baylie, Jalen, Kolton, Clara, Ava, Bethany
(Hey! Where's Lauryn? Whoops, she's behind Baylie.)

Erik grilled up some hot dogs and braughts. He used the famous JDawgs sauce, which was awesome.

One thing my family does well, is eat!

We took advantage of being together to work in my parent's yard and get it ready for their return. We had planned for some time to plan a small garden for them. They always do a big, beautiful garden. This garden is not as big as their norm, but hopefully it will keep them busy and give them some good veggies.

Everyone worked together.

And played together.

Results of our labor.

Additional results.

After the yard work, we went to my sister in law's childhood home for some swimming. It was a great way to clean up!

On Monday, we headed to the Hogle Zoo.

One of our favorite things was the polar bear since we don't have one of those at our zoo. He put on quite a show.

 We also liked the baby elephant, who had grown a lot since we saw him last, but was still nursing.

We don't have rhinos at our zoo either.

Or sea lions.

It was a great visit, especially since next time we go to Utah, my parents will be there!

The trip home was semi-disastrous. We went through Vegas again were lucky to catch a flight that had been added to the schedule and was wide open. Unfortunately, in Chicago, the gate agent got flustered and sent the airplane out with empty seats, forgetting to board the stand by passengers. This is a cardinal sin in non-revenue travel and resulted in our having to spend a night in Chicago. Adding insult to injury was the fact that when boarding the shuttle to the hotel, I fell backwards out of the shuttle straight onto my tailbone.

I'm still hurting pretty badly from that one, and I broke all my fingernails! I think it'll be a long recovery. What a bummer (literally).

We got home Friday night and Saturday was mine and David's 11th anniversary. I'm quite amazed to think that we've been married that long. The time has flown by, and I still feel like we're figuring things out. It's especially odd to think that David has spent 1/3 of his life with me! (Poor guy.) 

Announcement picture

Five year anniversary cruise

We celebrated by seeing Star Trek - loved it.

Sunday was Father's Day. David got some help opening his presents.

New Primary music bag

Favorite present - new shoes!

So there you have it, our last few weeks in a nutshell. It's been a great summer so far - and it's only just begun!