Utah time

The kids and I flew from Oakland to Provo for some family time before going back to Arizona. The flight was a little crazy- everything possible went wrong and we BARELY made it to our flight, but the kids did really well and I was grateful for that. We loved our time in Utah spending time with so many family members- both Bishops and Rumseys. 

The kids had such a great time with the cousins- it was hard to say goodbye after seeing how close they got in just a few days. Lyla and Kaitlyn are best buds- the loved dressing up together, swimming, dancing, playing Elsa together. Such sweet girls. They helped with Allison's baby shower and were so excited to be allowed to stay with the women. Alyssa did their hair and they loved their matching dresses.

Madison & Trevor roaring at the dinosaur museum. This boy only knows how to be loud- nothing quiet about our family these days.

For a few hours, all of my siblings were there together. It was so fun to spend time with each one, miss you all!

Perfect chaos with 8 young children running around all week...

These were their Elsa dresses. Luckily Nana had two of them. And sweet Madison somehow didn't get sad not to have one.

Of course our favorite part of the visit was swimming together for hours each day. I love this pool and my dream in life is to have one like it someday.  My happy place is to be enjoying the warm water and beautiful landscape with people I love. Nothing better!

It was quite an effort to take a pic of all the grandkids with Nana and Papa. Half of them were crying the whole time and it's already outdated since baby Dallin was born a month later.

A big part of the trip was celebrating the new babies who were about to join the family. We had fun putting on a shower for Allison. 

Then we went out to lunch to celebrate Alisha's twin girls. So fun to be together and to talk about sweet babies. I love how the family is growing and it's so fun to help each other through these times. Poor Alisha was sick during her lunch, which was the start of a week of throwing up that passed through the whole house. It definitely put a damper on the fun because we were all terrified of getting sick, or dealing with sick kids, or sick ourselves. Everyone got the bug in some form except for Allison, Abigail, and Nana. We've already decide that next time we're all getting together, we will avoid nursery and any other germ-spreading place for weeks before. 

We spent an afternoon boating. Half of us were sick so it wasn't the most lively trip, but it was still fun. Trevor and Kaylie didn't love wearing life jackets.

We spent a day at the new Museum of Curiosity which the kids loved, and then Nana bought them ice cream- such a rare treat for them! So fun.

My Tinkerbell

The timing of the trip was perfect because we were able to spend some time with Ben before he left on his mission as well as Sue, Jared and the Petersons.  The kids loved an afternoon of playing and eating and soaking up all the attention. And then Lyla and I went to lunch right before Ben went to the MTC.  We miss you Ben- the people of Merida,  Mexico are lucky to have you!

 So sweet!

 Lyla loved being thrown back and forth by uncle Jared and Grandma. Too fun!