hello from vacation!

We're 2 1/2 weeks into our three week vacation and I have to say that I'm loving it! We've been enjoying family gatherings, mountains, the candy counter at BYU, a pedicure with my sister, a perfect evening with cousins playing in the yard eating cookies and fresh veggies from the garden, visiting old friends, and popsicles every night with Mom and Dad C. In a few days it will be back to reality, back to Michigan, and most importantly, back with our daddy! We sure miss him and can't wait to see him soon! Until then, we'll enjoy the pool, more cousin time, and more popsicles! Pics to come...

We love Papa!

You know the song Something Good from The Sound of Music? It says,

Nothing comes from nothing

Nothing ever could

Somewhere in my youth or childhood

I must have done something good

For some reason I kept singing these words the whole week my dad was visiting! I felt like somewhere in life I had done something good to have him come visit for a week while my mom went to Trinidad to pick her sister up from her mission. It was such a treat to have him! Unfortunately, I didn't pick up my camera much so we don't have many pics, but we had such a wonderful time!
When Papa saw our backyard he said we definitely need a live trap so the boys could catch little animals. Within an hour of baiting our trap with an apple and peanut butter we had a chipmunk! The boys had fun getting an up close look at him and then we let him go. Classic Papa!During the week we had a big Midwest storm and one of our trees came down in our backyard. Fortunately, we have plenty of trees. We had a fun evening chopping up the tree and dragging it into the woods behind us. The boys had fun on their "spaceship" while waiting for daddy to chop it up.

We took the kids to a lake nearby and had a great afternoon playing in the water, we hit the Air Zoo, library, and just had fun hanging out. We sent Papa home with 10 lbs. of Michigan blueberries, which put a big smile on his face! We loved our time with the Silver Fox and only wish he could pop in for an afternoon more often.

Visitors!

We can hardly believe that we have had visitors already! My sister, Sarah, and her four kids made the trip from Virginia and spent a week with us. Sarah is amazing and made the drive by herself since Jarin is on assignment and can't leave home.

We had a great time swimming, picking berries, playing dress up in the basement, making homemade ice cream, playing games, etc.





We celebrated Pioneer Day by making handcarts, dressing like pioneers, and talking about our ancestors and what it was like to be a pioneer. I think the kids thought it was pretty great.

We were so happy to have cousins come visit and so sad to see them go! I loved having my sister come visit and wish we lived closer!