Manti Pageant

On Tuesday we went to the Manti pageant with Joe and Melanie and their kids and my mom and dad.

The drive down was pretty uneventful. We passed a really pretty lavender field...but obviously I was driving so I didn't get a picture of it.

When we arrived we went to get some dinner at a place called Dirk's Farmhouse Restaurant.

The food was good, my only complaint about the place was that they kept it soooo cold inside!

Then it was time to get our seats and wait for the sun to go down so the pageant would start.

While we waited we walked around the temple, checked out the dugout replica, played games, talked, ate snacks, and just enjoyed being together.

 Noah took a few minutes to try and teach me the right way to take selfies...

so I would stop taking them like an old person :) (his words)
He totally snatched my sunglasses for this selfie :)

We enjoyed the pageant...mostly :)

I think there were some excellent parts, and I felt the Spirit...but I also think that some of it is super cheesy and is in desperate need of being updated.

Thankfully the drive home seemed shorter than the drive there, an answer to my prayers because I was pretty tired! All in all, I'm glad the we made the trip. 

Springtime Snowfall

Snowfall in April?

I guess that's normal in Utah :)

 Sasha liked it

 I'm not sure my tulips did :)

First Snowy Morning

On October 4th we had our first snowy morning since moving to Utah.

The kids were excited to wake up to beautiful snow on the mountains

and even a little on the grass.

...but they quickly found out that it's different here than in Maryland...

they still had to go to school!

My Trip to Utah - The rest of the story

I don't really know how to capture the rest of my trip.

We celebrated Easter

we stayed up late talking and reminiscing

we sang together

we played games

watched movies

ate yummy food

celebrated Mom's birthday

There was so much laughter and love!

I guess I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures :)

I love my sisters!

My sisters are all so amazing.

I wish Dresden could have been with us too...

I think we all need to do a sisters trip!

 My brothers have all grown into such great men

...but they still know how to be silly :)

It was fun to get to spend time with my nieces and nephews too.

Holden was so excited to take some pictures with my camera

 Oh, on one day we ate lunch at Cravings Bistro and it was so so good!

We had to try the fried Twinkies - they were on their last box and then no more Twinkies. They were pretty good, I think they would've been better with dark chocolate instead of milk, but that's just me :)

After lunch Mom and I went over to Cravings cupcake shop.

They won Cupcake Wars and since me and the kids like to watch that show I thought it would be fun to go there. 

The owner was actually there and was super nice.

and the cupcakes were delicious!

I guess that wraps up my trip.

I had a great time and I'm so thankful that I was able to go.

My Trip to Utah - Dad Turns 70!

I got to go out to Utah for my Dad's 70th birthday party. My parents didn't know that all of the kids were coming so it was fun to surprise them. It was the first time in 6 years that we had all been together...if you ask me (and nobody did) that is way too long!

Anyway, I had such a great time and loved every minute of my time there with my family. 

The day I got there we just spent some time visiting and my mom had arranged for some family pictures to be taken...she was so happy that the pictures would now include all of her kids! 
Here is one of the pics from dav.d photography

The morning of my Dad's birthday (after breakfast at IHOP) some of us went to a shooting range. This was a new experience for me. I shot a 9mm, a .22 and a .45...at least I'm pretty sure that's what we shot. One of the targets we shot at was Osombie...I think we killed him...well Shell and I scared him and Jonas probably killed him :)

After we got home we helped get things ready for the party. I got to fix my grandma's hair.

If only my daughters would sit as still as she did...

Then we went over to Joe and Melanie's for the party. 
It was nice to see a lot of my aunts and uncles some cousins and friends too.

I even won a prize for getting the most answers right on a quiz about my dad. This duck carved by my dad was my prize. 

The theme of my Dad's party was "I Wanna Be Like You" 
When we were little we used to lip sync a lot and one time we put together a lip sync for my parents of "I Wanna Be Like You" from the jungle book. My mom requested that we perform this for my Dad, so we decided that we would make fools of ourselves for his (and everyone else's) entertainment.
Here's a little part of our stellar performance :)


I also had made a slideshow of my Dad's life that we showed. I think everyone liked it. I measured the success of it by the fact that it made several people cry.

Anyway, I think Dad really enjoyed the afternoon.

I love this picture of my Dad, I just love his smile and his laugh!

He is such a great man.

I'm so thankful that I have the privilege of being his daughter!

I love you Dad! 

Lagoon and Coming Home

We got to go to Lagoon while we were in Utah. It was great! Grace loved it because at Lagoon you only have to be 46 inches to ride a lot of the big rides, at Kings Dominion you have to be 48...she was in heaven! Take a look at the Wicked coaster below...it was awesome.

We took a small break from riding rides to go to Carol Thomas' home nearby for a cook out and swimming. She was so gracious to host us and it was a nice break from the crowded park!

We had another long layover in Denver, it turned into an even longer one when our flight was delayed. The kids did great with the wait, thanks to DS's, DVD players, happy meal toys, moving sidewalks and each other. About 2 minutes before they called us to board the plane Anna laid down on the ground and fell asleep. She fell asleep again soon after we took off.

We had a wonderful vacation visiting Utah. We wish Dad could've come with us, but hopefully next time he'll be able to. We made some great memories and we hope it won't be another 3 years before we get out there again!

Timpanogos Cave and Bush Family Reunion

On Saturday morning 21 of us made the hike up to Timpanogos Cave. We had beautiful weather and I was very proud of all the kids for making it up there and back with minimal complaining.

After we finished up at the cave, there was just enough time to freshen up and head off to the Bush Family Reunion. It was nice to see relatives we hadn't seen for a while. I even won a blanket made by my Dad's sister Nona. The favorite part of the reunion for the kids was the candy/money dig. I remember that always being my favorite part too.

Great Grandma, Star Wars and Princesses

We got a chance to visit with my Grandma. She is 93 years old and still going strong. Noah and Dallin were hoping to reach the milestone of being as tall as her...looks like they still have some growing to do.She agreed to do a funny face picture with the kids...after the picture she just laughed and asked me why I would want a picture like that.My mom and my grandma and all my sisters...I sure do love them! On Thursday night the girl cousins had a princess party, check out their beautiful jewelry.

The boy cousins had a Star Wars party. Check out their Jedi and Sith poses.