Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Cabin

The cabin was the real reunion. We spent Wednesday through Saturday up in the mountains near Heber, just enjoying one another's company and the beautiful surrounding area. 
My Mom set up a spider web for the kids. They each
found a prize at the end of their strings. 

My sister Miriam was nice enough to let us piggyback onto
Johnny's first birthday party with a little celebration for
Nora as well. Johnny did a smashing job with his cake
(pun intended), as did Miriam.
Nora didn't cooperate any better the second time around-
she never even touched hers.  I think Benjamin was trying
to help by holding her next to the cake with her arms down...
But when she opened another pink doll, she was in heaven.

The salt lick just outside brought lots of beautiful visitors. 
Benjamin wanted to play horseshoes with whoever would join him.
He was right at home at the cabin, and even took a seven or eight
mile hike with all the big people without any trouble until the end. 
Benjamin, Nathan and Isaac.
It was SOOO good to see my sisters again. I've missed them! 
Benjamin really hit it off with his cousins Natalie and Lucy.
They were always off somewhere playing together.
Another shot of the 2010 babies.
Miriam with Johnny, Me with Nora, and Bryan with Isaac. 
Jon torturing Benjamin. 
On our way out, Peter wanted to go give
Lucy a hug. She happily obliged. :) 

Pine View


Since my Mom and Dad moved to Utah, taking day trips to Pine View has become sort of a tradition. With all the rain that Utah's had this year, it was hard to find any beach! 
Nora loved sitting in the tiny chair that was just her size. 
Benjamin and Sarah
My Mom and I took the paddle boat out for a turn. 
The kids having fun decorating Grandpa with sand.
Anna, Benjamin and Peter.

Centerville and Park City

Alright, I promise I'm almost through. I know almost none of you have any interest in the endless posts and pictures from our trip. I'm trying to chug through the last of these so I can be done and move on to current life. It really was a fantastic (and long) vacation. On our way home, Paul and I both admitted that we really didn't want to go home, and fantasized for a bit about how we could just abandon our real lives, quit the job, and find a fresh start in Utah. Something about the ignoring our mortgage just didn't sit right with us though. Anyways. We had a great time, and now it actually is good to be back. Even if Paul did just leave me again for a business trip through Thursday night. Boo.
So here's the Centerville portion. For whatever reason, I don't have as many pictures of this chunk of time. It may have been the extra busy-ness and chaos of having more people around. In any case, you're welcome. :)
Up by the falls near my parents house with my Mom,
my brother Bryan and his wife Jeni and their family.

Our kids' ages are all in sync. Sarah is Benjamin's age,
Bonnie is just a couple months older than Peter,
and Nora is just a couple months older than Isaac.
The kids had a blast playing together during our
time there!
The kids loved playing in the backyard, sliding down this
giant slide into the wading pool. It was fast!
There's my wonderful Mom and Jeni by the pool. 
Sarah was so sweet with Nora! It was fun to see them interact.
The three 2010 babies- Isaac, Johnny and Nora. Miriam, Jeni
and I stole some time away from our babies to go look for fabric.
Miriam found some classy floral to go in her kitchen, and I
found some gorgeous fabric that I'm currently turning into a skirt.
We also got to have a temple trip with Bryan and Jeni, and Miriam and Marc.  
My Dad took some time off work to hang out with us.
 It was special to be together!
On our way to the playground. 
Peter loves Grandpa!
More of Sarah being sweet with Nora, lifting her up
so she could play with this.
These two had a great time together! I loved having the cousins together.
I got to see my sister Jeannine and my brother Nathan too. 
The boys love Uncle Jon. He put up with a lot!
We spent one afternoon in Park City, which was fun. Here's
Nathan carrying Nora, Jeni, Sarah, Bryan carrying Isaac, and Michelle.
Jon wasn't too happy about Jeannine's other suitor. 
We just hopped in an out of shops, including this Native
American one. Nora loved all the shiny animal figurines.
Jeni, Bonnie, Sarah, Jon, Jeannine, Bryan and Isaac walking down Main.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Visits

We managed to squeeze in a few visits while we were in Utah to see grandparents, cousins and friends. Some were documented, others were not. It was great to get together with some of Paul's friends, who are all married now. I think that was the first of these get-togethers didn't last through mid night hours.
We had a few days with Paul's grandma, which was wonderful.
She is a remarkable woman. Here she is with us at the parade.
I made sure to go see my friend Stacy, who was was my neighbor
in the freshmen dorms. We recently got reacquainted through our
blogs, and I'm so glad we have. She's awesome!
I'm pretty sure we're the only two people from our dorm
with three kids. Her girls are adorable!
We also visited my Granda (Dad's side), and were lucky to
have my Aunt Kathy's visit coincide. 
This house has wonderful memories for me. 
I'm pretty sure I know where I got my short genes from!
These women are incredible!
We also visited my other grandparents (mom's side). My
Grandpa has always been so fun with kids!
They were excited to get acquainted with Nora. 
I'm starting to recognize more and more of my Grandma in me,
which has been fun. She has recently taken up oil painting,
and has a LOT to show for it! I really admire her.
Here's Benjamin on their rope swing. I remember playing
in their back yard as  a kid and how fun it was. I'm glad to
be able to share these memories now with my own kids! 

Josh and Anne

We had a few days to catch up with Paul's brother Josh
and his family, which was fun!
The boys had a blast playing with their cousin Adrian.
We went up to the Kennecott Copper Mines with them.
Nora and Josephine, just a few months apart, looked eerily similar.
Hmm...you think they're related?
Riding the bus up to the mines.
Looking out over the giant pit.
I still don't think I understand how huge those trucks down
there were. This was one of the wheels.
Josh works up in Salt Lake now, so we met him for
lunch on our way up north to my parent's house.