West Reunion in Washington D.C.

We have been looking forward to this trip for 2 years! We've all been so excited and it was SO fun! Sometimes you look forward to something for awhile and then it doesn't live up to the hype, but this trip lived up to it! And more! We left Clark with mom and flew out of Vegas with the big kids. They loved the plane ride! Especially the take off and landings. It was fun to watch them so excited. Everything's more fun with kids! Susie and Braden had a back pack of activities and treats to have on the plane. We played tic-tac-toe while in the air and got Auntie Ann's pretzels in the airport. 

Our first day in D.C. we walked the National Mall. We parked at Arlington and walked the mile or so to the monuments. We visited Eleanor at the Franklin Roosevelt monument. We also loved the WWII memorial. We walked and walked and it was hot and humid! It was great having 2 strollers. Sometimes the kids would get out and walk with cousins and sometimes they rode. We also went to the Natural History museum which is my favorite! It was so fun showing the kids all our favorite exhibits at the museum. 

We got to go to the Butterfly Pavilion in the Natural History museum. Susie was really hoping a butterfly would land on her, but she didn't get her wish :( I had a few land on me. We got a picture of one before Braden blew it away, what a stinker. 

The next day we decided to do something more kid friendly. The vote was for bounce-house play. The kids loved it. And of course Paul and his brother had to join in the fun. 

Later that day we drove to Jon and Kylee's house in Virginia, about an hour away. They had a great party planned! We had a giant slip-n-slide, snow-cones, a zip line, face painting, treats and food galore, face painting, and surprises for all the kids before we left. It was an event long to be remembered. I loved watching all the cousins play together and build those relationships. 

Aunt Jessica did Susie's face paint and I did Braden's, if you can't tell!

I got to snuggle with this cute little girl. She is so adorable! I found myself wishing she were mine! 

Our last day we went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I was so excited, I love aquariums! This one was the best I've ever been to. It was so nice not to have to worry about Clark and naps and a cranky baby. We really bonded with Susie and Braden and I'm so glad my mom took such good care of Clark while we were gone. 

This aquarium had sharks and jelly fish you could touch and a dolphin show and so much more. 

We met at a park later that day and they had Chick-Fil-A catered. Yum! We made memories that will last a life time! The kids loved spending time with their cousins. We are so grateful for family. 

A Visit to Grandma Suzy's

The kids and I drove down to Cedar City to spend a little time with our family there. Unfortunately Aunt Tiffany was working and Uncle Logan was out of town :( We didnt plan it very well I guess. We   had fun with Ty and Grandma Suzy and Grandpa though. 

We went to some of the Shakespeare festival fun in the park. We walked around and let the kids pick out one fun thing to buy. Braden picked a sword and Susie picked a fan. We shared a scone.  We tried to get Grandma to do some belly dancing with the performers on stage but she got camera shy! 

 We went to this Pop and Sweet shop for a pretzel and Subzero for ice cream. The kids thought the liquid nitrogen was cool! (no pun intended)

We've been looking forward to going to the Canyon park all year! We love this park with the stream running through it, it's so fun! Clark really wanted to get in and explore on his own. I had to keep a close eye on him! 

We went to the park and drove past the beautiful temple. It will be dedicated later this year. We played with Grandma's toys and went down the slide to the basement over and over. By the end of our trip even Clark loved the slide! It's pretty cool. My kids loved playing with Grandma's dog Morrey, too.

We got a babysitter and Mom and I got to go on a fun girls night. We got pedicures and dinner and a movie. It was the best! We also stopped and took a look at the house Grandpa is building before heading out of town. It was a great visit. 

4th of July fun

Grandma Suzy came and stayed with us during the 4th of July. We loved having her here! We had so much fun, especially on the 4th. First we went to the West Point parade. I've been going to that parade ever since I was a kid and we would come to Utah and visit in the summer. I love small town parades and my kids love them too! They collected tons of salt water taffy and other candy, yum! 

Grandma surprised us with a trampoline! We have been wanting one and the kids were so excited! Paul worked outside in the heat to get it up. Then we got out the water to cool off. Sprinklers, our little pool, and water balloons. A few neighborhood kids found there way over and had fun with us too. We had some family over for a BBQ. We grilled hot dogs and chicken and had tons of watermelon and pasta salad. I attempted homemade root beer and failed miserably. Apparently I got the wrong root beer extract :( We made red and blue jello cake and rice crispy treats for dessert. 

We bought a few fireworks to try out in the road. They were so fun! We lit sparklers too. We didn't need to go anywhere for fireworks because there are so many good ones in our neighborhood. It's the best! 

 Mom and I got to go on a fun date. We went out to breakfast at my favorite place in SLC, the Park Cafe. Then we went to Station Park (her favorite) and shopped around. We have way to much fun when we're together. I just love spending time with my mama! 

While mom was here we took advantage of the free babysitting and took a day date to celebrate our 9th anniversary. We rented mountain bikes at the U and drove up to Park City. They have so many trails. Mountain biking is fun but it's hard! We went on some pretty steep trails, hard to go up, and scary to go down! I crashed a few times... Paul kept telling me I needed to stop braking because it was making my bike skid and me fall, but who goes down those hills without using brakes??! Not me. So yeah, I'm not great at mountain biking. We also hung out at Olympic Park which is a really cool place. We rode the chair lift up the mountain and did a little obstacle adventure course. They have extreme tubing and zip lining and lots of fun stuff up there. We walked around Park City and got some ice cream. We finished the day with In N Out and a movie. It was a great day. It's such a blessing to be married to your best friend. I love that guy!