Part 2 UTAH: Petersboro Perfection

After spending two glorious weeks in Mapleton, we headed north to Petersboro.  How lucky was I to grow up in this beautiful valley?  These pictures are literally taken out my parents' front door.  Growing up I never knew how lucky I was . . .

(thanks to my sister-in-law Deanna for taking the above shots!)

My whole family celebrated togetherness time with a trip to a Bees game.  Just as we walked in our crew of kids (13 boys and 2 girls) were asked to be part of the games/entertainment in between innings.  The kids gladly accepted the challenge and after liability forms were signed the kids were off and competing.

We also celebrated Independence Day, which at this point Nate had to head home -- somebody's gotta make the money while the rest of us enjoy the summer.

We had lots and LOTS of cousin time, something my kids never tire of.

The boys also did their annual swim lessons with Mark and did a great job.  They're quite the little fish.

Merrill's Bear Lake cabin is always a big highlight of every trip.  This year we ended our time in Utah with a three night stay there.

I was also able to go on runs with my sister Michelle.  This was a beginning and ending point for us during one of our practice runs leading up to the 15k that we ran.  Such a beautiful sight!

Here we are after 4 weeks of being in Utah.  You might not be able to tell from this picture, but our stomachs all feel a little sick knowing that in the morning we have to say our "goodbye's" and face a 36 hour drive back home without dad.

I bet you can hardly wait to see how that went.  Stay tuned to Part 3 UTAH.

UTAH, Part 1: Mapleton Days

On June 8th, which was the last day of school and Beckam's birthday (nothing like adding one more thing to an already busy day) we headed off on our annual journey.  Just like years past, the kids did great traveling the 35 hours, but unlike other years, we spread it out over 4 days instead of 3, including a stop in our old stomping grounds of Denver to reunite with the Dart family.

The reason we went to UT earlier this year was to celebrate Nate's littlest brother, Skyler get married to darling Mandy.  We were SO happy to be there and witness such a great couple be united forever.

If Sky wouldn't have snatched Mandy up, I'm pretty sure Jaxton would have.

She just melts my heart.  Enough said.

BFF's!

Sky and Mandy with all the nieces and nephews.  Good lookin' crew, eh?

Cuteness at it's finest.

These 4 fella's clean up pretty nice.

All three of them hold my heart in their hands.

My #1 girl.

And we still love each other.

He's not too bad on the eyes plus he's got skills on the b-ball court.  I think I'll keep him.

I like to title this one "Passion" -- we look so intense.

After the wedding was over we filled the next 1 1/2 weeks in Mapleton living it up.  We hiked the "Y," the older boys went to a BYU basketball camp where Jaxton's moves were described as "impressive" and where Mac earned the Cougar Award for his age group,

went to an insanely crowded and uber hot chalk festival,

visited the awesome Spanish Fork splash pad and park,

learned stuff at the Life Science museum,

ate out at about every restaurant in Utah county and just hung out with family.  Good times!

And maybe the most exciting thing was that Nate and I spent our first night away together since our 1st anniversary.  We headed to Park City and did more in about 18 hours with just us two then we could have done in a week with our whole brood.

Stay tuned for UTAH, Part 2: Petersboro

Feels Good to be FIVE

FIVE years of wonderfulness . . . where has the time gone?

Beckam has managed to become the cutest, sweetest, kindest, cuddliest, smartest, most imaginative, tech savvy, ball playing five year old around!

And what better present for a five year old than sticking him in a van with 5 other people for 4 days while we travel 2200 miles? Did I mention he's quite the trooper?
He makes me one happy momma! Love you forever big guy! 5 year stats: 42 lbs. and 45 1/4 inches tall