Utah trip 2013 (Part 1 of 2)

It had been too long since our last trip out west; we hadn't been on a plane since Christmas 2009!  Exactly two months ago, we arrived in Utah and the kids and I stayed for two weeks and Dan was able to come for the first week.  We had a great time and hope to be able to go back soon!  We got to visit with Dan's parents (awesome hosts) and also got to spend time with each of his siblings and some nieces and nephews.  It was an awesome trip!  Here are some of the highlights of week 1:

How fun is this backyard for little kids?  There's a huge sand box, a trampoline, a tire swing, and a little tractor! I can't believe I don't have a picture of him (this week at least), but Zach -who is a high school senior- was so sweet to take lots of time on the weekends to play with his little cousins.

Dan's sister Kathie asked me what the kids favorite colors and characters were a couple months ago. I promptly forgot about it and we were super surprised when she showed us what she (and her niece) had made for our kids!  They are the cutest, and softest blankets ever!  So much amazing detail too.

 Kylie, Celisa, and Ally.  Two nieces and a great niece. :)  Aren't they beautiful?  They were so sweet and patient with the little ones.

We visited my brother Adam in Provo. We met up with him at the BYU Creamery, where he works as a cheese guy.  We had an awesome behind-the-scenes tour and free ice cream.  Yum!

Chillin' with Cosmo! This picture turned out really cute, but not quite Christmas-card-quality.  That would have been awesome!

 We had a great morning at a huge park with Abuelita.  It was a nice walk there and back and the kids napped very well that day.  We enjoyed eating apples off a tree on the way home.

 We went to the Ancient Life Museum which had a ton of great dinosaur fossils.  We had a great time there and we ate a yummy lunch at a cafe next door.  We were able to meet up with some family members that we hadn't seen yet on this trip: Kevin, Barbie, Caitlin and Ben.  Also pictured are Amy and Abuelita.

My sister (in-law) Barbie and (Dan's) Mom working together to build a circuit at Thanksgiving Point.

This giant sandtable is also at Thanksgiving Point.

 

Everyone was waiting so patiently while the little ones had a dinosaur dig in the sand room.

The next day we went on a hike with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Barbie (Dan's sister and brother-in-law).  Jonah has a new "cheese" face now. His natural smile is replaced by this lovely grin whenever he sees a camera.

   Thanks to the slope, I look like a giant. :)

Awe, cute: Mother, son, and grandson.

My brown-eyed babies

Ally does a fantastic Miranda Sings impression.  We hadn't heard about her before, but apparently she's big with the teens in Utah.  We watched a few of Miranda's youtube videos of Miranda Sings and there's no doubt about it, Ally does an awesome job.

Jesse's photobombing.

Abuelita, Caitlin, and Amy relaxing after a big, family dinner.  Caitlin had her baby about 3 days after this. :)

You'd never know by this picture how much these brothers love each other.  Silly boys.

This is the best picture that we got of all 4 siblings apparently.  I wasn't there to take a picture or else I would have tortured them and made them all stand around longer until I got one with all their eyes open. They're all very funny as I'm sure you can imagine if you know Dan.

This was Kevin's first sleepover.  He's on the floor and Jesse's on the couch.  Cute cousins.

We had such a beautiful day at Sundance!  We took the ski lift up...

enjoyed the views...

and went on a hike.

Kevin and Kevin led the way on the hike and later little Kevin hid behind his uncle.  Such a tricky boy. :)

On our way back down, we saw our future house (lol)...

and Kevin and Jonah dealt with their exhaustion in two totally different ways.

After the little boys had a very quick nap in the car, we all went to a park in Provo Canyon and enjoyed a picnic lunch.  It was such a wonderful afternoon.  So many Dison grandchildren (young and old) hanging out together.  It was pretty cool.  I truly, truly love being a part of this family.

Dan and Jonah's circus act

This picture was actually taken the next day.  Elena had her cousins do her hair and makeup.  They were so sweet.  They even used the makeup to draw pictures on her hands.  She loves to be "fancy".

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Here are 3 pictures for you to look at until I get around to posting about our 2 week vacation in Utah.  Isn't this little 18 month old amazingly cute?!  At Temple Square:

Elena got her ears pierced with the support of her awesome cousins:

My four year old little monkey at The Hogle Zoo. This is made of Legos.

Summer Fun

It has been a busy and blessed summer. Details would take forever, so here are some pictures of the fun that we've had.  I hope that you are all enjoying your summer too!

4th of July with Granny and Grandad

  Park

  Elena's friend Anais had a fun birthday party

 

Busch Gardens on a very hot day!  Jonah was easy to get pictures of since he doesn't run as fast.

On the way home from Busch Gardens.  It was late.  We had to stay for the fireworks.

Cotton candy faces at Water Country

Beach with the Jacobs' family

Aquarium

Swimming lessons for all the kids.  Elena too but she's not pictured here.

Park

On a boat and Kevin's Birthday

Last month, we enjoyed the annual pediatric residency get-together on the American Rover sailboat for the 3rd (and final) time.  This time next year, Dan will have graduated from the program and we'll be who-knows-where. We had a great time even if there was an unpredictable storm close by. It never hit us, but it did prevent our cautious captain from leaving port. Luckily, we are easy to please and happy to just be on a boat and hanging out with a great group of people.  Apparently, I didn't take any pictures of Dan's coworkers, but we do love them, honest. :)

Elena with her friend Ainsley.  Elena has a great memory and had been looking forward to the pre-sliced watermelon that she knew they would have.  I was looking forward to the barbeque and the super fudgey brownies.  I could go for one of those brownies right now...

Jonah loved checking out the other boats that passed.  He's such a fun age: just excited about everything.

Usually we don't get back until long after dark, but since we stayed connected to the pier this time, we were able to leave at dusk and the kids had a blast playing in the fountain at the park that adjoins the pier.

Always so careful, Elena tried in vain to keep her clothes dry.  She eventually gave up when I told her that I had some extra clothes in the car. 

Kevin, of course, didn't mind getting a little wet.  He's such a crazy, funny, carefree kid.

My sweet baby!  Isn't he fun?

Big Brother is 4!
The day after the boat trip was Kevin's birthday.  He wanted (just like Elena) to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese.  So, we bought 10 or 20 bucks worth of tokens and set up our little family party in front right next to the people that paid to have their parties there.  Now I know that a lot of people don't like Chuck E Cheese and are worried about the germs, etc.  We only go there a couple times a year, but the kids always have fun and they love buying (with tickets) their own trinkets at the end.  We usually don't buy food and just go play the games.  One token per game/ride is the best deal you can find around here. :)

Kevin wanted a Lightning McQueen cake just like last year, but I talked him into having a "95" cake (which is McQueen's number).  Crisis averted. Last year, we lived with my parents and my awesome mom traced the shape of the car into the cake so that I could make it. It was pushing my artistic skills to write two numbers and get the colors right.

 

Just because it's not impressive, doesn't mean that I'm not still proud. :)

Dan grabbed the camera from me and took a picture of me with Kevin. I thought it was really sweet of him to make sure that I got to be with the birthday boy in a photo.  Kevin's holding up little finger flashlights he got from Abuelo.

More present opening fun

Jonah enjoyed all the rides.  Several times each.

Bethany and Elena playing air hockey

Me and my honey

Aw, poor Dan, as I was just about to push publish (11 pm), I hear his pager go off and he gets unexpectedly called into work.  We sure are thankful for all that he does at home and at the hospital!