Florida! Part 1

(originally published January 6, 2016)

On the Fourth of July we drove from Atlanta to Tallahassee - about a 4.5 hour drive.  We first drove to the house of Ben's best friend, Tim, where we had dinner with his family and hung out for a little while.  Their kids are almost exactly the same ages as our kids and they all love being together.  Cat spent the night there to have more time with Lana (our rule is that sleepovers are only allowed with family or those-we've-known-as-long-as-family and Ben and Tim have been best friends long enough to qualify) and Jack and Madi decided that they are going to get married (Jack still acknowledges this eventuality and they've already exchanged love notes via snail mail).

We then headed to Mema and Papa's house and were so excited to be there and see them!  We had fun watching the fireworks show put on by the Baptist church across the street from Ben's parents' neighborhood.  It was a treat to visit with old friends in Mema and Papa's ward the next day, since it's the same ward Ben grew up in, the ward I was born into, and the same ward we lived in for the first year and a half we were married, and many of the same people are still there.  And to make the day even better, we had a HUGE downpour during church.  This picture doesn't even do it justice.  Oh, it was awesome.

That afternoon we all got together for Cat's final birthday celebration, with lovely presents and a cake courtesy of Mema.  Then it was time to drive to St. George Island so the reunion could officially begin.

First order of business: family pictures on the beach.  Our kids were SO anxious to get in the water after being beach deprived for 2 years that we couldn't keep them dry while we waited for the other families to get their pictures done, so we told them they could put their feet in.  Next thing we knew...

So they were pretty soaked (from the shoulders down) for the rest of the photo session, but we got some good ones anyway.  Here's my favorite of our little clan, and the entire group.

Over the next several days we had lots of fun on the beach and in the water.  Uncle John brought his kayak and Uncle Mike rented a jet ski and let everyone have turns.  Awesome!  We got a kick out of spotting dolpins, too.  That never gets old.

When we needed a break from the sun (imagine that!) we came in to the house for games or movie time.  And in the evenings, each family took a turn planning an activity for the group.  We celebrated Mema and Papa's anniversary one night with dinner and a family trivia game.  We sang silly songs and played group games led by John and Sarah's family.  We had an awesome treasure hunt that Mike and Keturah put together, culminating in finding a treasure chest with pirate booty buried on the beach.  And at the end of the week Mema and Papa put all of the fish everyone caught to good use by having a fish fry.  Mmmmm.

Stay tuned for more of our Florida Reunion Adventures.

Take Me Home, To the Place I Belong

(originally published January 3rd, 2016)

(Yes, I know it's not Thursday, but using that label makes it so much easier to keep track of these flashback posts, so please forgive me...)

Over the summer we were able to make a much-needed and even-more-loved trip back East.  What a wonderful trip it was.

We started really early in the morning, but in spite of that the kids were great travelers.  It was nice that they each had a personal TV to watch on the plane, and it was really great that we just had a direct flight from SLC to Atlanta.  Those things definitely helped.

From the parking lot to the airport in SLC.

Yeah for going home!

As we were traveling on July 3rd, we were only a little surprised to see these
guys in the rental car waiting area in Atlanta.

Even though we've never lived in Atlanta, we felt like we were home as soon as we arrived.  The trees, the humidity, the Southernness, it was just good for my soul to be back.

Once we got the rental car - which seemed to take forever, especially after traveling all day, but at least the process involved a ride on the airport monorail, so that was cool - we headed to Dad's house.  As soon as we arrived, we were told to change into swim suits and then went to a neighborhood pool nearby.  Nobody else was there and it was fun to just play and splash around for a while.

After dinner that night the kids played with sparklers and then we had an early birthday celebration for Cat, with bonus surprises for the other kids as well.  Drew was hanging out with Pops & Kelly at the time so we enjoyed some extra time with her too.  Very fun.

Dad made his signature breakfast the following morning, and we all enjoyed French Toast a la Pops.  Then it was time to pack up and head to Florida for the next leg of the journey.

America's Freedom Festival

(originally published December 3rd, 2015)

Provo and the surrounding area hosts "America's Freedom Festival" each year.  The festival plans events throughout the year, but the most popular events take place during the week or so leading up to the Fourth of July.

Two of the things I love about the Freedom Festival are the Balloon Festival and Colonial Fest.  Because we started our trip home on July 3rd, we decided to squeeze in both events on July 2nd.  Why not?

The Bigs and I got up early so that we could attend the Balloon Festival in Provo, while Luke slept at home and Ben got ready for work.  It's just so cool to be in the middle of all of those big hot air balloons!  What a sight.

See the piggy bank balloon near the top?  Well, this may be a picture of the incident
that caused the piggy bank balloon to crash 5 or so minutes later.  Apparently the basket of
the Wyoming Cowboy balloon tore a hole in the pig balloon.  When I was visiting my
Dad in Georgia a couple days later, he had actually seen this on the news, haha.  Read the AP story HERE.
The pictures in the story show where the balloon crashed, which was very close to where we parked.

Kids showing off their Smokey the Bear discs, with Yoda and Darth looking on.

After spending some time at the Balloon Festival, we picked up some doughnuts and went home to get Luke.  We saw Ben off to work, and soon after we left again to go to the Colonial Fest at the Scera Park in Orem.  Oh, how I love this event.  I was so glad when I found out that we'd be able to go before our trip!

Luke decided to join the minutemen.
It was challenging for him to carry that gun during the
march to the battleground, but so cute.

Eliza was more interested in fashion than politics.

School.

We met up with cousins and they had fun trying out some of the children's chores of the time.

They also played some Colonial games.

Getting ready for the Redcoats to fire their cannon.

It was a full, fun day for sure, and we loved it!