Were Back!

Our trip to Salt Lake was great! We were able to see a lot of family and do a lot of visiting and relaxing...well as much as possible w/ 3 little ones. The kids were actually very good! Ansley had a few moments of being over tired/over stimulated, but for the most part she was great!
My parents were able to use some of their timeshare points and get us a 2 bedroom condo at the Cliff Lodge in Snowbird, Utah. The picture above is a shot I took from the parking lot. It was awesome to be surrounded by a bunch of white mountains and not even need a jacket! The kids even had an opportunity to swim in the heated pool outside w/ James, Bryson, my dad, and Joe. They are all suffering sunburned shoulders!

Our time with James was really nice! He took full advantage of the time he had w/ us and the kids! James and my dad took AJ rock climbing on Saturday, which AJ loved! He made it all the way to the top...40 ft. up! It was perfect to be able to have all of us stay in one place so it felt more like a family vacation.


Friday and Sunday we spent w/ my dad's side of the family where the kids had an absolute blast w/ their cousins, Raigan, Rylee, and Aviry. Unfortunatly we only had Friday to see Scott, Melissa, and Aviry because they left for Disneyland on Saturday. Aleigh and Aviry had a great time together on Friday afternoon and again on Friday night with their other cousin's, Raigan and Rylee. Aviry even told her mom (Melissa) that she wanted Aleigh to go to Disneyland with her! Such a sweet little girl, that Aviry! AJ and Raigan hit it off really well! AJ even kept coming into my Aunt Terri's house asking for Dr. Pepper and Pizza for him and his cousin Raigan, he wouldn't even let us help him carry it out to the table where she was waiting to be waited on! It was too cute! It was so fun to see what a character little Rylee is! We have heard so many funny stories about how outgoing she is, and wow! She is a cutie and it's a damn good thing her mom and dad won't ever have to worry about here! She can hold her own! My cousin
TJ says he worries more about getting a phone call telling him that Rylee has beat up a boy! Hahaha! Those girls are beautiful, and so much fun!


TJ and Kollett were kind enough to open their home on Sunday for a family get together. They just purchased their new home a month ago and you would never know it! Everything is in place and looks awesome! It is a very nice house in a historical part of their town. They really love it and we are so happy for them! They have a park across the street where all of the kids and the guys spent most of the time on Sunday. It is so neat to see how the guys are all so amazing with the kids! We had a great time! You can see in the pictures of Aleigh and Rylee, and AJ and Raigan, that they really hit it off and had a great time! Unfortunatly I don't have any copies of them with Aviry from Friday night, but when I get them I will post them as well!

Saturday we were able to spend the day with my mom's side of the family at my Uncle Gerri and Aunt Cheri's house. It was awesome to see a lot of my cousins... the ones who weren't there were missed! From the top left is my cousin Kristi (Aunt Leanna's youngest of 5), me, my cousin Jeffrey (Uncle Grayson's oldest of 4), my cousin Nicholas (Aunt Cheri's son), my cousin Jake (Aunt Duenna's youngest of 2), James, and my cousin Johnathon (Uncle Grayson's youngest of 4), Middle row; my cousin Ferin (Uncle Gerri's second to youngest of 4), my cousinJena (Aunt Leanna's middle of 5), my cousin Andrea (Uncle Grayson's second oldest of 4), Bottom Row; my cousin Mercedes (Uncle Gerri's youngest of 4), and Bryson! There were quite a few missing! It was great to see all of them! Jena is the one we have gone the longest w/out seeing! We were able to get an updated picture of the three J's! James, Jefferey, and Jena were all born in 1976 and our parents used to put them together for photos all the time when they were little! I will have to get my mom to send me an old photo of the three of them when they were little.


It was great to catch up and reminisce with Jena! I had a great time visiting w/ all of my cousins! Kristi just had a baby in January so her and I actually bonded over breastfeeding...a place I would have never seen us in 10 years ago! LOL! It's really cool to be around my cousins and see them with their kids! Jena's kids couldn't make it, but it would have been really neat to meet them! We will have a chance to meet them next time we fly out to Salt Lake which I hope will be sooner than later! We didn't have the opportunity to get together for a second visit with anyone from my mom's side of the family but they all understood that we needed to take advantage of the time w/ had with James as a family before he leaves for Baghdad.

This is a photo of my mom w/ her sibilings and then one w/ their spouses! These are only a couple of many photos! Some were just way to funny to share!

This is a great shot of mine and my cousins kids having fun and being silly! They all got along so so well! AJ, Kyler (the blond in the back w/ glasses) and Brock (the one in the front w/ the baseball shirt) hit it off really well and ran around the whole night! They didn't want to part ways at the end of the night! Kyler even asked his mom if they could go to Georgia to see AJ! I love it! The little blond behind Aleigh is my cousin Brandi's daughter. Brandi couldn't make it, but Aleigh and Rylee (another Rylee) hit it off really well and stuck togther! We really need to make it out to Utah more often! The kids were so well behaved because they never got bored and had an absolute blast w/ all of their cousins!

We stayed until Tuesday, but James left on Monday night. We went to the Clark Planitarium, a place James and I used to go for field trips when it was called the Hansen Planitarium. We got to see a show in the Dome about our Universe. It was really cool! We then had a nice lunch and then visited for a little bit at my Aunt Terri's before my parents took James to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye, but it always is. Aleigh wouldn't let go of his leg! She just loves her uncle James! That of course didn't help when trying to fight back tears. I take comfort in knowing that James will only be gone for 6 months. With raising 3 kids, that time should go by rather quickly! We will pray for him and stay in touch w/ him in any way that we can! We are so greatful for being able to take this trip to spend w/ James and family! It was all well worth it!