UTAH!

We had a wild and very fun trip to Utah for July and part of August. I missed Dan a lot and learned a thing or two. For example, I do not want a huge house, I can't handle sick and cranky kids without Dan, but turns out I really can get them all to bed at night, and the Utah heat doesn't really bother me since I basically stay inside. My mom pretty much put her life on hold for a whole month to play and help me with the kids. I'm sure we wore her and my dad right out! Not to mention taking over their nice house... Max is still very sorry about the curio cabinet. :( But the boys and Cali had so much fun with their cousins and grandparents and I'm glad we could spend the time there before school starts up again.

Meanwhile... you don't even want to hear what Dan was doing while we were gone... working around the clock! He stayed in his lab 24/7 taking naps when he got tired and only going home on Sundays. He was able to squeeze in a trip to the temple, a good experience serving at the Berkeley Men's Shelter, and replacing our car's starter with a friend to save us some cash. We're so proud of him! He got months of work done and it was critical if he wants to be done this December... we'll still have to see how that goes!

Here are probably way too many pictures from our trip. I just can't get up the energy to figure out something new like collages or slideshows... oh well.

The Gateway Museum in SL with the Thurgoods and Tasha.

My mom and dad took the kids to the Ogden Nature Center. Birdhouses, a good walk out to a cool treehouse and then McDonalds Playplace afterwards... the kids had a blast.

My dad and mom took just Max and Kaden to a SL Buzz baseball game. They're making some pretty weird faces, but they loved it!

Another fun (hot) day my mom took the kids to a fun thing going on at a nearby park with the Cheshire cousins.

The kids couldn't get enough of the Clearfield Aquatic Center. Here is Max coming down the huge slide with Grandpa.

And Cali loved the little slide. I'd send her down from the top and Heidi would catch her... over and over again!

My mom took the kids on a great big outing in Salt Lake with Tasha one day. They first played at Tasha's, then ate at of course a McDonalds Playplace, and to top it off went to a big fun center. Here is a picture of Max and Tasha at the fun center.

We went to a new family fun center in Syracuse with the Briggs that the kids loved. Doman and Max liked the minature golf...

And Cali first went bowling, but really loved the little carousel.

The Ogden Raptors baseball game with Grandma and Grandpa and the Cheshires.

The boys enjoying the farm. The best thing about visiting in the summer is the boys get tractor rides, which they love. What we don't realize is how busy the farm keeps the whole family, so the kids only got to play with them for a couple days. Good thing we usually make winter visits. Here are all the boys getting their ride on the tractors.

Max with his cousin Kassidy in swim lessons for the first time. To say he loved it would be an understatement. I just wish he didn't think he could swim from taking only 8 lessons.

And just some random pictures with their cousins... their favorite part of Utah.