Brigham's Vacation in Peoria

The kids have been asking to see them again for months since they moved earlier this year- both for them to come over or to go see them in their new house (Michigan).  So were the Brigham kids, so they vacationed here!  Much to the delight of our kids and theirs!

 In their honor we had a family hot dog roast with smores

 and an outdoor movie night!

 the kids loved having a partner equal to them - for obvious reasons!

 These two are a couple weeks apart in age.....

 These two are a couple weeks apart in age.....

 These two are two and a half years apart in age, but certainly didn't hinder their friendship, they're both the oldest and girls!

And the babies of our families are 9 months apart - a nearly perfect fit for us!  Don't come across that too often! We miss you guys!!!!

Journey 2012

So how does one summarize a 3.5 week trip covering over 40k miles and seeing so many family members kids have never met......  a slideshow of course!  Apologies for the number of photos and lack of chronology, (due to dropping camera in ocean & file naming - and can't seem to center the slideshow.....?) but then how do you condense a packed journey as described above?..... 

The journey started in IL, drove to UT (staying the night in NE), rested a couple days, then on to N CA for a week (caravaned with Powell's), back to UT for family gatherings of the Weight's and Johnson's and the 4th of July, then back to IL (again staying a night in NE).  Daddy was well missed and kids were super good, J actually wants to do it again!  Thanks to G-pa Lewis for accompanying J on the UT-IL drives!

First beach, and time in CA, A learned how to swim, many cousins met and counted as dear, Great Grandma Warren got to have all 6 great-grandkids together for an afternoon, and so much fun in between. Any questions on details can be directed to J.  =)

Enjoy!

Utah_CA_2012_show - slideshow dvd

Click here to link to the slideshow - hopefully you'll be able to view it full

Buhler's Come to Visit!

Our "friends from Virginia" are frequently talked about - we've loved meeting up with them and were super excited to hear they'd be coming to stay with us for a few days! Nothing big, just some fun playtime together and catching up.

 enjoying the tire swing, barely clearing the ground..... Brandon was the favorite "swinger"

 some wagon rides - and later a trip to Safety Town too

 hot dog dinner with smores - yum!

 Amanda and baby Ari

 playing "animals" was the favorite - so many and still hard to share at times. 

Anxious for dark.........outdoor movie night exclusive

"we can see the movie.....at least a little bit"

 

new swing trick by B

 Even baby J....

and baby Ari!

Marching, ever marching

and outside.....

Thanksgiving in Virginia

Road trip to Virginia to be with the Buhler's! 13 hour drive + stops. J printed off maps of the US for the kids to track the journey" and now know a bit of geography and reading maps.  =) They loved saying Ohio, and now can point to Utah, Illinois, Ohio and Virginia!

 On the road!

 J made pilgrim hats for all the kids - some were more amused than others

 Baby J & Ari are only a couple weeks apart, though Ari is already crawling!

 Ready to eat!

Needless to say the time away was well cherished, especially to be with great company! The kids all had fun though didn't do much playing "together." T & Brandon got to work on a storage shed and J & Amanda got some visiting in amidst kids. Once kids were in bed the adults got to play games, watch movies and reminisce the "good ol days."  Friday J came down with a sinus headache and on the drive home B got a fever. But if that's the cost for a wonderful time, it was worth it!

Buhler's!

T & J's friends from college came through with their family. While it was a very short stay it made them yearn for the good 'ol days of BYU and the wonderful amazing time it was. But alas, both families are 4 children strong and despite the lack of frequency or duration of visits, it was just like yesterday since the last time they were together (even though back then there were only 2 kids!). Okay, so after all 8 kids were in bed it was just like yesterday.

 frisbee time

 relaxing by the fire

And best of all.....smores!