I hate goodbyes!

Matt had a busy week so we didn't get to see him as much as we would like, so we were really excited that he was home all day Saturday and most of Sunday before we left. 

They made us pina coladas and they were so good!  Now that is the life, drinking pina coladas in the pool!

Elena took a diving class before we came so she was teaching Caitlyn how to dive.  Caitlyn loved it, but she was getting frustrated that she couldn't figure it out immediately.

Wyatt loved to jump into the pool.

Wyatt had so much fun.  He kept saying he didn't want to go home. 

Hallee and Wyatt had fun going down this slide.  Hallee loved it, but she was scared at the same time.

Caitlyn and Elena spent the day making potions.  Lori is such a nice mom, I always say no to things when I know they are going to be messy.  I need to do better at that.

They boys had fun racing cars and monster trucks.

I just love that little face!

Cody and Elena were both so sweet with Wyatt and Hallee.  I know they drove them crazy sometimes, but they were always patient with them.  For some reason Hallee liked the food on Elena's plate much better than the food on her plate. 

Sunday was my birthday.  They all spoiled me. I got fun presents and Matt and Lori made some hilarious jib jab videos for me.  It was a great way to spend the day!

We were all sad about packing up Sunday night.  Even after ten days we weren't ready to come home.  We decided to try a different route home.  We haven't done it since Wyatt was one-year-old and he got car sick so we haven't tried it since.  Now I know we will never do it again.  It has a lot of winding roads and sure enough Wyatt got sick again.  He threw up and then Jonah threw up because he was grossed out by Wyatt.  Luckily there was a rest stop up the road not too far where we could get out and clean up.  Yuck!  After that he was fine and the rest of the trip was long, but we made it!  We were all so happy to be out of the car.  You can tell Hallee is happy to be home.  Everyone slept in the next morning and Hallee had this huge smile when I went in her room and said, "aahh bed."   We had so much fun.  It was so great to have 10 days with Keith not working and enjoy spending time with the people we love!  Thanks for another great trip Matt and Lori!

Organ Stop Pizza

One night we went to Organ Stop Pizza.  We loved it.  This man at the organ controlled all sorts of instruments that were all over the restaurant and every song he played sounded amazing.  You could request songs and Jonah was thrilled that he played the Star Wars song that he requested.  Caitlyn and Elena along with every other girl in the place requested "Let it go," which he also played.

We all had fun listening to the music.  Hallee was a little nervous at first, but she loved it after a few minutes.

Matt and Lori are such great hosts! They are so generous and easy going.  I know having our family there is not easy, but they act like it is.  I tried to help out by buying some groceries and cooking some meals and helping with others, but I never feel like I do enough.  Matt and Lori went to girls camp Friday afternoon so we got the kids to help us clean the house to surprise them.  I was really surprised at how much all of the kids helped.  Unfortunately, we were still there for a few more days so we had plenty of time to mess it back up!

After pizza we got ice cream.  The kids were thrilled because their cones were huge! Next time I know not to get all of the kids one, it was way too much ice cream for them.

I took Hallee and Wyatt downstairs because I had to change Hallee's diaper.  They both started dancing to the music, it was really cute. 

One day Keith and I took the kids to a bounce house place while Lori stayed home with Hallee while she was napping.  It was fun to play with the older kids and not worry about keeping track of Hallee.

Keith is always so good at getting in and playing with the kids.  He was a saint and took all of the kids to a movie one day while Lori and I stayed home and relaxed while Hallee napped.  We thought about locking them out and leaving them money on the porch to go somewhere else, but we decided that Keith might need a break!

One night we went up and saw the Gilbert Temple.  It is gorgeous.  Keith and I were going to try and do a session there, but we forgot our clothes and my recommend, so we just went and looked at it instead.

The kids had fun walking around and looking at everything. 

This girl cracks me up!

She's kind of my aunt, like half aunt, half friend

The Beck's were visiting Emilee's parents while we were in town.  They only live about 15 minutes away from Matt and Lori.  We went over Monday morning to swim and play with them.  The kids were excited to play with their friends.

When we got back to Matt's house Jonah was showing Cody a picture of Emilee taking him for a ride on the scooter.  He called her his aunt and then said, "well she's kind of my aunt, like half aunt, half friend."  It was funny.

Jonah was the only one that wanted to go on a scooter ride.  He loved it! 

Caitlyn and Jonah were exited to jump off the diving board.  I love watching Jonah do tricks.  I'm such a scaredy cat, so I love to watch him be so fearless.

We had fun swimming, eating lunch and visiting.  After lunch, Hallee was more than ready for a nap so we headed back to Matt and Lori's.  I'm sure Lori and the kids enjoyed a quiet house for a few hours!

We spent a lot of time swimming.  Caitlyn and Elena could swim forever.  Jonah and Cody never lasted as long.  I'm surprised at what a difference the weather was in June compared to August, when we have gone the past few years.  I just figured it was miserable hot all summer long.  It wasn't nearly as hot and the biggest difference was it still cooled off at night.  June was a great time to go!

Matt and Lori got a hot tub and I thought they were crazy.  I couldn't imagine getting in a hot tub in Arizona, but I did over and over and I loved it!  It was great to go back and forth between the hot tub and the pool.

I love this picture of Wyatt.  He sure is a cute kid!

Jonah and Cody loved to rough house in the pool.  They would go back and forth between Matt and Keith.

I had fun playing with them too.  They have so much energy! 

This is the best Arizona ever!

Wyatt told us that this was the best Arizona ever!  These kids sure looked cute for church.  We went to church twice with them.  Hallee went to nursery the first week, but wouldn't go the second week.  Wyatt loved primary both weeks.  I'm sure he was thrilled to have some kids in there with him.

We made Matt and Keith eggs benedict for Father's Day dinner.  They were both very happy! 

They kids did a program for Matt and Keith.  They wrote it themselves and it was so cute!  They talked about what they liked about their dads.  They had it all written down so they would pass the paper back and forth.  They also sang a few songs. They did a great job.

Wyatt kept bringing Keith random presents from around the house.  It was really cute.

I thought the kids looked cute when they all sat down to color.

All of the kids were excited to see Ruby. Ruby is a great sport with all of the kids. Hallee loved to chase Ruby around and pet her.  It was so cute to listen to Hallee talk to Ruby.  She would say things like, "Ruby come, you want to come, yeah, yeah." 

The kids had fun going for a ride in Matt's truck one night.

Wyatt wanted to ride in the front with me and Matt. 

Wyatt loves Ruby.  He was excited that she came on the ride with us.  This picture almost makes me want to get my kids a dog.  After a while Wyatt decided that he wanted to ride in the back of the truck with the other kids. 

Keith talked me into splurging for my birthday.  I got my first pedicure.  It was wonderful!  I needed it so bad.  I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I'm glad Lori was there to help me because I had no idea what I was doing.

Lori and I decided to take the girls along.  They loved it!  I could have sat in that massaging chair for hours.  It was definitely a great way to relax.

Vacation!!

We were all so excited for our vacation to Arizona.  We were going to leave Friday morning and drive the whole way, but at the last minute we decided to leave Thursday evening and stay over in St. George.  It was so funny to watch Wyatt in the car.  He was falling asleep, but he would wake up enough to put a cracker in his mouth and then he would fall back to sleep.  It was hilarious!

We checked into our motel about 10:00 PM.  The kids were so excited.  The motel wasn't very nice, but they thought it was great.  Jonah and Caitlyn were especially excited to stay in a hotel.  The kids had fun looking at everything and jumping on the bed before we got them ready for bed.  We figured it would be a rough night and we were right!  We slept three to a bed.  We played musical beds for a while, but it ended up with me, Hallee and Jonah in one bed and Keith, Wyatt and Caitlyn in the other.  We found out that Wyatt and Hallee are wild sleepers.  They both laid sideways and kicked all of us.  Wyatt kicked Caitlyn right out of the bed at one point. 

I didn't sleep well at all.  I think I got a little over three hours of sleep.  Hallee woke up at 4:30 AM and I knew she would wake everyone up if I didn't get her out of there.  I grabbed a few things and took Hallee and we went to McDonalds.  They probably thought I had to flee with her in the middle of the night because I didn't get ready at all and Hallee was still in her pajamas.  We just sat there and ate breakfast and she played on the playground for a while.  After that we went back and they were still asleep so we walked up and down St. George Blvd for a while.  Finally around 7:30 AM they woke up and we were able to go inside.  We ate breakfast and headed out.  It was great to split up the drive.  Hallee slept for most of the way that day.  I'm sure it helped that she didn't hardly sleep that night.

Friday was Keith's birthday.  I told him that his present was me taking Hallee to McDonalds at 5 AM!  We were all so happy to get to Matt and Lori's.  Keith and Wyatt went to the car wash.  Wyatt loved it because he got to squirt the cars and got a huge balloon.

We were all so hot and couldn't wait to get in the pool.  These kids were so excited to see each other.

I was glad that Keith was able to relax and enjoy his birthday now that we were out of the car.

Wyatt was really good about staying on the stairs.  He is a very cautious child so we didn't have to worry about him too much.  He had fun playing with all of the toys.

Hallee had a lot of fun playing in the pool.  She liked to get in and out and play with all of the water toys.

When Wyatt is having fun or really happy he will just hug me and say, "I love you." 

We were all excited when Matt got home and came out and swam with us.  The boys loved jumping all over him.

We went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes at Keith's request and then Lori had a cheesecake waiting for him.  We stayed in Arizona for ten days.  It was so much fun!  I can't believe how fast time flies while we are down there.  I have a ton of pictures so it is going to take a few posts!