Last summer hurrah

was spent in Utah. I really love to go there since all my siblings are there and Travis was so kind to drive us out even though he had to fly home the next day for work. I owe him! Our first Sunday there we all hung out together and enjoyed a barbecue in Amy's backyard. It was truly the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The boys always seem to make up some funny game and the kids had a good time trying to get the ball back without getting nailed in the face.

Steve is always doing some crazy physical stunt with Quinn and she's so used to it nothing scares her. In fact, she usually thinks she's capable of doing whatever trick he's come up with. She's already really coordinated and strong like her dad.

All the cousins and two on the way not pictured. :)

Luke is the cutest and sweetest little guy, I have a hard time not squeezing him too hard. He reminds us a lot of Carson as a baby; a big, gentle kid.

The truth comes out, Steve really wishes he would have been on the cheerleading team in college instead of the volleyball team. :)

The weather was nice while we were there and the kids loved getting out the slip n' slide.

Kennecott Copper Mine
Amy lives just a few miles from this mine, which happens to be the largest copper mine in the world. We decided one of our activities would be a tour of the place. The boys thought it was SOO cool, which it was. I've never seen so many dump trucks in my life and they were enormous, the tires were almost as tall as a house. I took a picture of one of them, but of course, thanks to my lovely camera, I can't find it.

The only thing that wasn't so cool were these weird tiny gnats that kept landing on us and making us itch.

The boys. Isn't this such a cute picture?! Luke fits right in.

We went to this fun pizza and game family center and the kids had a blast. The older kids played lasertag, miniature golf and lots of video games. The little kids loved the rides.

Luke's first time on a carousel and Stella and Lucy cruising together.

Holden was seriously obsessed with this car, he rode it so many times!

We went on a walk to get an ice cream cone at McDonald's.

We went to Holladay to drive by papa and doni's old house and to visit their graves. Hard to believe they've been gone as long as they have and driving by their house brought back so many great memories.

We went to Amy's in-law's house several times to let the kids swim. It became their favorite thing to do while we were there. I couldn't believe how brave the kids have become with their swimming. Both boys are now jumping off the diving board and going down the slide. It's been really fun to watch their confidence grow.

We took the kids to see Mary Poppins in Salt Lake. I really wanted to see this and I was hoping they would too, but they didn't quite appreciate it. :) I loved it though, really well done.

Amy and I are trying to train our kids young that they want to go to BYU. I haven't been back there in a long time, and it too brought back so many memories. It's weird because it doesn't seem like it's been 13 years since I went to school there. It's one of those things where I was only there for two years, but it was still a significant life experience. We took the kids to the BYU bookstore to get some souvenirs, walked around the campus, and went to the library which was being constructed while I was there and I'd never seen finished. We took the kids by our old dorms and to the BYU creamery. I would've liked to have walked around longer, but the kids didn't appreciate it as much as Amy and I did and we were now the old ladies with five crazy kids creating chaos on the campus.

Holden really likes his "B-I-U" hat. This picture was on the drive home, after he randomly told me when he grows up he's going to play baseball for BIY. I've tried explaining to him that it's BYU, but he can't seem to remember that and BIU has grown on me. :)