Utah Trip: Part I

We've now been home for about a week and a half from our Utah vacation and I feel like it's taken about that long to get readjusted back to real life. What can I say? I'm a slow mover these days.

It was so very nice to spend time with family and I can't deny that it did feel splendid to enjoy wide open spaces, driving that made sense, beautiful mountain scenery, nice, calm people and all my favorite options when it comes to shopping and dining.

 We stayed the first week with my parents where we got to see my brother and sister and their families. All of us drove to Downey to meet my brother and Co. at my grandparents' house. The cousin count is now 9 strong! Soon to be rounded out to a nice 10:)

 Haha....oh man...

 Cuties

 It's been awhile since we've got a picture of this!

Love them. 

We also got to have the our first ever cousin sleepover! A day I've been excited for since they were all newborns. Our picture taking was limited because they kept telling us to get out and close the door.

We then took a little drive to Autumn's neck of the woods to check out where they'll be building their new home and check out some other model homes while we were there. Afterwhich we went to her house for a little BBQ and play.

And of course, relaxed in my parent's beautiful home while enjoying my dad's delicious meals and nice long chats with my mom...ahhh, so rejuventating for me.

Any guesses as to why we took over a dozen photos of my parents' street sign (formerly my street sign)??? 

If your asnwer is that it's because it's what I really, really want to name our little baby girl, but my husband can't decide if that really what he wants to name our baby girl, than you answered correctly! 

Only time will tell!

Memorial Day Weekend

Holy Moley we've been having quite a bit of fun. We went from our packed Memorial Day weekend right into packing and making preparations for our Utah trip, which is why this is post is a little delayed.  

The weekend started with our ward's father/son campout. This is Ryder's second campout and he gets soooo excited (mostly, because I know Phil makes it something to be very excited about). It's becoming a very special tradition that Phil and his boy get to share together. Pen and I also enjoyed a leisurely girls night at home. 

Saturday, we joined some friends and the Jones Beach Airshow on Long Beach--with the Blue Angels. We had a terribly fun time playing on the beach while the coolest entertainment flew over our heads. Kids and adults alike had a blast.  So much fun, in fact, it was so much fun that I'm going to spare you the details about our  hideous drive home that involved getting stuck in the middle of Manhattan during rush hour. Where a regularly 1 1/2 hour drive turned into a 3 1/2 hour drive. I know everyone who ever has anything to do with NYC just thinks it the bomb-diggity-bomb, but as I was sitting there staring at it for 2 hours, overrated kept coming to mind. Sometimes I think its just a giant black hole for lost souls. I'm sure my current circumstance had nothing to do with my opinion at that time. I have a complicated love/hate relationship with that city...anyway! Back to the airshow:

 Us with our friends, the Robinsons

 Yay for the Blue Angels!

All my cute people...plus a couple of random people watching the air show :) (for the life of me I tried to photoshop them out, but couldn't figure out how if the person I wanted gone overlapped onto the people I wanted there...do any of you know how?)

 Becky Becks and me:)

 Ryder and Mariah

 What our backseat looked like before we even pulled out of our parking space.

On Monday, we went to our wards annual Memorial Day BBQ and good times were had by all.

However, it was a little hot 

 Whoosh!

 Luckily, there was ice...

...and a lot of baked goods.

It's been so great to kickstart our summer off with so many fun things. Which is good because after we get home from Utah and I start to enter my final 6 weeks of pregnancy, things will start getting a bit more laid back...like all we do is "sit in front of an air conditioner" type of laid back. Hooray for summer!