End of our Utah visit

Jackie told us all about a lake in Pleasant Grove, so we decided to take the kids over for the day. It was so fun, and not too hot.

Kiersten had fun showing off her swimming skills.

cute lil buddies.

Kiersten really had fun playing with Kyrie, and they slept by each other almost  every night we were there.

Perfect day for some swimming.

That beach ball sure caused a lot of excitement. It kept floating away, and everyone had a turn to have to swim after it. I was pretty sure Angie was going to drown when she swam out to get it.

I was super happy to get to eat at Pier 49 while we were there. It was our favorite pizza place when we lived in Salt Lake. We always went there with Ben's grandparents.

We also had a day at the park. It was another hot one, but not too terrible. The kids sure had a chance to burn off energy every day we were out there.

Kiersten got car sick on the way to the park. Fortunately, we were planning to camp in my parents yard that night, so I had a clean outfit for her in the car with us. She was pretty upset about the whole ordeal.

She cheered up before too long, and had a great time with her cousins.

She fell and hit her tooth, and was later kicked in the mouth by Evie. (on accident). So her loose tooth ended up getting really wiggly. By the time we got to my parent's house, it had fallen out.

We set up the tents, and the kids had a great time in the yard. One of the tents flooded, so they all ended up crowded into one tent, and a few of us ended up sleeping indoors. Kiersten was particularly worried about sleeping outside, but she ended up doing it. The tooth fairy even managed to find her out there, so that was exciting for all.

The next day, we took the kids to a splash pad. Boy was I surprised when I spotted this ballerina walking over. And even more surprised when I saw that it was my nephew, Zack! He wanted to surprise me, and it worked out that I was the first one to see him, so it was a pretty funny few minutes.

Cuddle time! He said lots of people stopped him on his way there to take his picture. He had skateboarded over with his ninja friend.

Later that evening, we had a little pre-birthday party for Evie. She kept saying it was her fake birthday.

I was glad we got to see my parents a bit. They are doing a stay-home mission, so I didn't want to interfere or interrupt them in that, but they had some free time in the evenings that they were able to spend with us, so I was happy about that.

We had such a fun and busy visit. We got to see everyone lots, and the kids just had such a blast! My sisters and I are already talking about the next visit, hope it's soon :)

At the Hogle zoo

Shelly, Angie, Jackie, and I took all of our kids and also Jayden to Hogle zoo. It was super fun, even at 104. I definitely am not used to the dry dry Utah heat!

We brought sandwiches for everyone, and had the kids eat when we first got there.

It was fun, but crazy following 17 kids around the zoo.

Aren't they all just so sweet?

Kara and Laynee loved hanging out. It's sad that they don't get to see each other more.

The splash pad was a welcome relief. Some of the kids were completely drenched.

Not sure if you can see the Eagle's nest, but that's what they are all on.

Evie kept calling Jayden "boyfriend". He was nice about it, though.

Kara was pleased to be the same height as a female gorilla.

The kids all had tons of fun, and it is so different than I remember. I was there about 3 or 4 years ago, and it seemed like everything was changed.

Utah visit

After a week in Idaho, we drove down to Utah to visit my family. The girls were super excited to get to see all of their cousins. Kara especially loved having girls her age to pal around with.

Ben had to go back home for work, but the girls and I had such a fun visit. On Monday, we all went to Jackie's house for the kids to play in the backyard.

It was such a nice, sunny day.

Poor baby Korver still had his cast on his foot and couldn't get wet. He seemed to feel pretty left out.

Cute Kyrie on the slip n slide.

I was thrilled to finally get to meet this sweet little guy. He's one of those happy babies you just love to be around.

We grilled hot dogs and burgers for dinner. It is kinda chaotic getting all those kids fed. I was slightly overwhelmed. There were 17 kids there between us 5 sisters.

Kara really liked playing with Addyson. She kept telling me that she is a tween, which is apparently a super impressive thing to be.

The girls were also excited to see Uncle Nic. He's one of our family members that they talk about a lot. And he was very sweet with them, as always. (even when Evie stabbed him in the crotch with a sword as hard as she could)

It was crazy with so many people, but tons of fun, and we had lots of laughs. I love laughing with my family, and of course every time I see them, it feels like no time has passed since the last time. (other than their kids getting huge!)