Family fun

We enjoyed our chance to stay and play with the awesome Chase families of Utah and Idaho. We had sushi with Grandma and Grandpa and Brent and Lori, and crashed Kevin and Becky’s house. The kids absolutely adored hanging out with their cousins, playing in the pool, tinkering with trains, and enjoying the green yard. Thanks for putting up with us, guys! It was so fun to be with you! I didn’t get my camera out much, but here is McKay enjoying his first corn on the cob (raw).

And, as a testament to how much fun Logan had, he didn’t even make it ten minutes in the car before this:

McKay, of course, the little turkey, was a bit more perky.

All in all, a great trip, a nice escape from the heat. Happy times with loved ones!

We love weddings

The real purpose of our Utah visit, to see our friend Betsy get married, was amazing. I only cried a little. But, it was her wedding and not ours, so here are just a few pictures.

We love you, Betsy!

It has been almost 8 years since we got married here. Aww.

BYU Cougars!

I had worked with the kids all week, teaching them the BYU fight song so that they would be prepared for our visit. It was so fun to see everyone, have some J-Dawgs, eat some fudge, and enjoy the beauty of Provo. We stayed with my awesome former boss Duane, who graciously put up with our shenanigans. I didn’t get any great shots on campus, but I got some adorable ones at Betsy’s reception that evening.

What happens in Vegas…is pretty tame, actually

We decided to not push our luck, and broke up our Utah trip into two parts. We did this at the last possible minute, booking a hotel the day we left. Loren’s brilliant idea? Circus Circus in Vegas, baby! Actually, this was a fabulous idea. The only problem was that we got in at 11 at night, and had to stand in line for an hour! What a ridiculous city! I could not believe there was such a line at that hour of night. The kids were a little unsure of the situation, so I did what any good mom would… changed them while we stood in line and then plied them with Fruit Roll Ups. What? It was midnight and they had been in the car for five hours. Don’t judge me.

After a nice rousing rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Bob the Builder” at 4 am (courtesy of McKay, who sings himself to sleep) we all woke up at a nice leisurely 9 am. Heaven. We decided to get the wiggles out before driving another 5 hours, so we took them on a few rides…

And then got $5 worth of tickets and let them play a few games. You can tell Logan/Daddy had some good times. The kitties they won are named “Lightning McQueen” and “Racecar.” After a manager saw the boys fighting over Racecar, he gave a kitty to McKay as well.

Just look at the joy.

We got a great big convoy…

Now if only we could avoid the car ride.

Getting out of the heat!

One Friday we decided to get out of the heat and head up to Flagstaff. We went ninety minutes north and went from 110 to 82. Ahhh....

One of the activities we tried was the lava tubes. Perhaps a better idea in concept than reality. I think the kids will really like the caves when they are a few years older, but it was cold and wet and they had to climb down a bunch of boulders. Logan wanted to get out right away. It is kind of strange when you think of it, he wants to climb all over everything until he has permission...

We also stopped by the Pioneer Museum so the boys could see the trains. They loved it, of course. They were sad they couldn't go in the trains, but we got plenty of smiles just for getting up close.

McKay kept asking where Thomas the Train was.
Logan picked up this little passport booklet at the visitor center--a former train station. He carried it around everywhere, and when I was reading in the hotel that night he decided he wanted to read his book as well.

It was too cloudy to go to the observatory, but we had fun going to a small Greek restaurant and checking out the shops. Loren grew up in Flagstaff so we saw his old house, elementary school and playing fields.

August has just started so I wouldn't be surprised if we had to go back!