Summer Vacations, Baby Milestones, & Busy-ness!

So after Julie went home, we packed up and drove to Utah! The kids were a-MAZ-ing and we had a pleasant and uneventful drive to Gallup, New Mexico. We stopped for dinner in Albuquerque and just happened to find a restaurant in Old Town and it was fabulous ambience and really good Mexican food. Yay! My favorite! We got to our hotel that evening and it smelled like smoke. UGH! Oh well, we were too tired to complain. Ben took the girls swimming. I got Lucas and myself ready but when we go to the pool, Ben & the girls said it was FREEZING. So I opted to just feed Lucas a bottle. :) They had fun swimming and the next morning we had breakfast and left that yucky place vowing to never return. :) Then we had an UGLY and BORING drive through New Mexico's reservations and THEN we entered beautiful Colorado. Loved it! Then we entered Utah and stopped for lunch in Monticello at the cutest little place called The Peace Tree Juice Cafe. It had healthy food and we were tired of junk food after the day before of McDonald's (yuck) and we got wraps and blue tortilla chips and fresh squeezed lemonade. Yum! It was the cutest place and I wish I had taken a picture! We ate outside on a little deck on multicolored chairs and tables and had a view of gorgeous mountains. I said, “I think this is the prettiest place I've ever eaten a meal!” Natalie said, “Yeah, and there's a car wash!” Hmm, ok. :) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

Then we made our way to Moab (Ben's dream place to live) and went to Arches National Park. By this time it was 103 and the kids made it to a viewing area of Delicate Arch and were done. Ben & I walked around Balancing Rock while the kids watched a movie in the van (we could see them the whole time, of course). They didn't want to get out again!

Next we drove to Provo and showed our kiddos where we met (The Colony Apartments – woot woot!) and had dinner at one of our favorite places – Stans! I had my banana cream pie shake and BLT and it was heavenly! We saw my cousin Emily for a few minutes (she lives near there and dropped by to say hi) and then headed to Kaysville where we stayed with my Aunt Connie. My kids LOVED her and I think they were happy to have her as a Grandma substitute (she is my mom's sister). She totally spoiled us and fed us great food and played with the kids. Uncle Ferren told the kids stories and they kept asking him to repeat them. We played with her grandkids (and I hung out with her daughter who is my closest cousin, Gini). Actually when we left to go home, Jill & Miranda said, "Bye Aunt Connie!" but Natalie said, "Bye Grandma!" Connie thought that was pretty special and so did I. :)

We visited my grandparents' and cousin's grave in Bountiful which is close to the temple where we were married, so we walked around the temple grounds and took pictures of the kids there. Then we went to West Jordan to visit Ben's aunt and uncle who just came home from their mission to Korea and his parents were there too (also visiting from Texas). The kids had fun with their grandparents and Ben's aunt & uncle who are also like grandparents.

The next day we went to Temple Square in SLC with my cousin Gini and her kids. We rode the Frontrunner train down to SLC, which was so nice and so fun! Unfortunately the weather stunk. I had packed one pair of jeans and light jackets for the girls but not for me! So I was shivery as we walked around Temple Square. When we got back to the train parking lot, it was 49 degrees and pouring rain! At least we did our touring around before the rain hit! The rest of the trip was unseasonably cold and wet. YUCK! No zoo or swimming like we had planned. On Saturday, Connie & Ferren had a barbecue for us and the kids “burned marshmallows” according to Natalie. Ben went to see a UFC fight on base with Gini's husband, Matt, and they had a great time as well.

On Sunday, we went to Ben's aunt and uncle's ward to hear them report about their mission and then went back to their house for lunch and visiting most of his wonderful cousins. We saw so much family on this trip but still missed a bunch too! Off and on Jill wasn't feeling well (actually threw up a few times one night) and this day Miranda got a fever and didn't feel well.

We packed up to head home on Monday morning and Natalie promptly threw up, I cleaned it up, then Lucas threw up a whole bottle. LOVELY! We packed up and left knowing we'd be stopping a lot. We went a different way this time to see some more of the country and went through Wyoming and Colorado. The kids did need extra potty breaks but no throwing up. Yay! We got to Colorado Springs and stayed in an AWESOME hotel for less than the nasty place in Gallup! Ben & the girls swam again and enjoyed it more this time. We ordered Pizza Hut into our room and had a great night. Woke up to head home and everyone ate a great breakfast and we got started. Less than 40 minutes later, Jill was throwing up. Again? Seriousy? So we stopped in Pueblo for a potty break and cleaned up a bit (luckily we had a plastic bucket that Jill threw up in, so no mess in the car!). While there, Ben noticed a low tire. It only had 18 lbs in it and he suspected a nail. So we drove to the Discount Tire down the road and got it patched (for free!). We were feeling grumpy but also blessed because that was the last city for a LONG time where we could have gotten that tire repaired. We drove and drove and drove that day and finally got home late that evening. I vowed to never travel again. Ha ha!

A week later I took the kids to Dallas while Ben went to Scout High Adventure Camp! I had a fabulous time catching up with my dear friend, Natalie, who up and moved to Dallas last year. Sad! :( But we had fun at the Fort Worth Zoo and swimming in her backyard and staying up 'til 3 to talk. Seriously! We also had another great reason for being in Dallas. Ben's sister, Jocelyn, brought her family from Minnesota to Texas for a visit with her parents. We were able to let cousins play and catch up at a Splash Park, a Jumping Land, and at the house. I sure love my family!

So, that's our summer in a nutshell. It sure seems like we've done a ton!

Lucas just had his 6 month appointment yesterday (he was 6 months on the 18th but the dr's office is busy!) and he is doing everything wonderfully, of course. He is 19 lbs. 12 oz. (75th percentile), 28 in. long (90th percentile), and his beautiful head is perfectly in the 90th percentile. :) The dr asked if he'd gotten any teeth yet and I said no because the upper canine ones he got a few months ago kind of worked their way back up into his gums (exactly the same ones that Miranda did that with) and today at lunch I noticed... HE HAS HIS FIRST TOOTH! It's one of the bottom middle ones just like you are supposed to get first! He rolled from front to back on June 4th, back to front on June 11th, and starting sitting up on July 1st. He also started eating solids when we got back from our Utah vacation, around the 16th. He is growing up so fast and is just so adorable! Check out the pic of him wearing his first tie! :)

Ben is busy at work and as Bishop and takes off time here or there to help other people but hasn't had a lot of RELAX time. Luckily (I guess) there was a furlough day on July 2 (unpaid time off due to budget issues) and he had the 5th off too for the holiday, so he had a really nice lazy weekend and it was so fun to have him home! He played with the girls and Lucas (he's finally old enough for Ben to find him fun!), I won some fireworks (my name was accidentally drawn from the wrong raffle box I guess and I got $150 of fireworks that I didn't even sign up to win!), we set some off with some friends on Sunday (& had birthday cake too since their son turned 4!), set off fireworks with other friends the next day (& I brought a red, white, and blue trifle!-yum!), and we went to Family Storytime at the library last night. The kids and I also caught a puppet show at the library earlier in the day. Summer time is awesome! :)

Last week my dishwasher quit draining, washer quit agitating, and dryer quit heating. SERIOUSLY! So after a trip to Best Buy for a new dishwasher and a service call for an appliance repairman, we are poorer but back in business! Hooray! Never a dull moment around here.

Life isn't perfect but it's really good! :)