YAY!!!
He is home!
We all went to the airport to celebrate his homecoming in true Denison style.
Or should we call it Jake style!
We brought a bunch of signage.
Navy personally spent an hour on her very own sign.
This happened to be everyone’s favorite.
Bella was in all her glory while we waited!
Then his flight landed, and Megan and Bryan were so excited looking for their boy.
And then he came!
We were ALL so excited to have him home again.
Probably because he is the most amazing cousin ever!
He said when he saw the Pips, “I have been waiting to hold a baby my whole mission!”
Then we headed home, where things were back to normal.
And we have about 6 months before Cade makes everything “un-normal” again.
But this kind of un normal is awesome!
We are so proud of you Jake.
You were a great, hard-working, kind, happy and honorable missionary.
I can only hope that my kids are as awesome as you are.
One last shout out to the two cutest red-heads I know.
After our weekend away for our 20th reunion, we drove home along the coast, stopped on Balboa Island and made a day of it.
First stop…boat ride where I manned the wheel.
And then we stopped off to make Tristen a thank you treat.
I made her a personally scented shampoo, while Micah made the conditioner.
His picks.
My picks.
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The winner…
in her exact words…
“By a landslide…the winner is…This one!”
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(Note: she was holding up my shampoo!)
Bella offered to let me fly home from Utah while she hung with my kids for a few days and then drove them back for me.
Uh…OK!
Bonus: She talked Megan into letting Chloe and Trey head up for a few days and they road tripped it also!
And talk about a road trip!
She made the whole thing so fun!
They stopped in St. George for food galore and a hotel stay.
And then headed to Vegas where they did whatever they wanted.
Including photo shoots, good food, the Las Vegas sign, and checking out the planes as they took off and landed.
Awesome sister.
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The kids have informed that Bella is WAY MORE FUN on a road trip than I am.
And I will admit, it is probably true.
But I will add, that she is WAY dirtier also!
I had the road-trip vehicle to prove it!
(But apparently Chloe was in charge of the back, so she is to blame!)
I literally can not believe that Micah and I went back to DHHS for our 20 year reunion.
It seems like just yesterday…
Night one at a local eatery.
Night two at the Newport Hyatt.
It was surprisingly a really fun weekend.
I am so glad we went!
Bella was watching my kids as I came back to attend my 20 yr. reunion.
So in a weak attempt to say Thank You/Happy Birthday, I had the best cookie joint in town deliver a few dozen her way.
Meanwhile, Navy was excited to make her day special as well, so offered up a foot rub.
Cookies and a foot rub — pretty sweet gig.
But the better gig….being kid free for five days!
Chloe and Trey came up for the tail end of the Utah trip to hang with Bella and my kids. We all wanted to go to a water park, but the only day we could all go together was the day the forecast said rain and thunderstorms. We were so bummed, and almost went anyway. But for fear of being booted, we stayed away. But by 1:00pm, the rain was really light, and we decided to pack up and give it a try. Well, let me tell you…..it was the best decision EVER! The place was completely empty! We had it all to ourselves. They warmed the water to around 85 degrees, and it was perfect. The rain didn’t come the whole time we were there. Because we were only there the last haof of the day, we were able to get a four hour pass that was significantly cheaper. The lazy river had double tubes galore (which I guess is a hard thing to come by usually). And when Scout was defending his cousin who was getting made fun of, by jumping on the back of a 14 year old and punching him a bit, I was easily able to find him for Scout to apologize.
Even Brett, who is not nearly as into adventures of these types, thought it was a slam dunk day.
And Ashley, who has season passes to Cowabunga Bay, said, “It is never like this. This is as good as I have ever seen it!”
Obviously, we hit the jackpot.
And the best part?
After we left, we ran over to the mall around the corner to get Hot Dog on a Stick. And before we left, the biggest, most intense, torrential downpour took place that I have maybe ever seen!
Word had it that there was a little local fair near Midway.
So at about 9:00pm, long after my kids were showered and clean for bed, Britni said she was going.
So obviously I joined in on the fun.
Needless to say, the kids were pumped about the fun night.
Unfortunately, Brit, J and I decided to join them on a ride.
I don’t know what it was about ten years ago, but that ride made me SO sick to my stomach, I couldn’t believe it.
But as sick as I was, I had a teeny smile on my face as I could hear J yelling out, “Stop the ride….No, I am serious….this is torture!”
Good local fair times!
It was our semi-annual Hike to the “Y” attempt.
This time, I was solo with the kids.
And I am proud to report that we got to the second switchback before Dash melted down.
And I MEAN MELTED DOWN!
Poor Scout wanted to make it up so badly!
At least he had a good time running down the hill.
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I guess there is always next year!
When in Midway, scratch the lemonade stand.
These kids were making money of tiny bundles of wild flowers.
And when I say tiny….I mean teeny teeny tiny, all for the bargain price of $5.00.
Good thing there were some kind neighbors who drove by!
Nothing like getting buried up to your neck in mulch.
Scout may have just lived my nightmare.
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