I seriously think I would crash blogger if I tried to do it all at once. How did I leave for a month without catching up first? Ha! Wow. And since Marcus is at a baseball game for work tonight, I have a few hours. So he we go. (Jeffy)
First off. How cute is this? They sleep the same. I am in love. Little booties up in the air.
We poured a pad for extra car/boat parking. As Marcus was so sweet to remind me, we will have a driver in a year. PUKE! She’ll get her permit at 15 in a few weeks. GASP! I am so not ready for this. Seriously. But the extra area has been super nice. I love that the kids put their prints in it. Makes me smile.
Marissa made me this awesome bracelet at her friends house. I love it. Wommy. So sweet.
This little punk turned 11. Where has the time gone? Seriously. He is spunky. Sarcastic. Witty. Busy. Such a pain because he is such a planner. Always has to know what we are doing and when. Makes me bonkers. Loves WVU and the Steelers. Is super sweet to his baby brother. Not so much to his sisters. Ha! Loves the lake and wakeboarding. Not so much tubing. He is such a goober. He LOVES soccer. So much that we gave him soccer tickets to go see the Columbus Crew. He was THRILLED! He is a great kid. Really.
I forgot candles, so he just got to blow out the lighter 11 times. He thought that was pretty cool anyways….
We also lucked into some youth golf clubs on craigslist. He is in heaven.
Just a few short days later we have little miss things birthday. Sheesh. Two birthdays in 4 days kills me. And I worry one will always get the shaft. But so far so good. We went out to Coopers Rock for a BBQ. Met a few of the neighbors out there and had a great time. Love this little face. At 9, Marissa is still totally into baby dolls. She is super sweet and sensitive. Quite the cuddle bug. But can be a sasser frass too. She loves to help with her baby brother. Rissy is completely girly. Loves gymnastics and her friends. We love her to pieces..
Little Miss got her American Girl Doll. Named her Sophia. She was so excited.
My family. And a bear made out of sticks…
Coopers Outlook.. Our neighbors Mike, Veronica and Maddie.
Jess and I ..Photo bomb by Lilli.
Cheat Lake. I seriously LOVE it here.
Some awesome boating on Memorial Day. It was a whopping 54 degrees outside. FREEZING. But it was Memorial Day. Boating is tradition. So we went. Adam and Lindsey in tow. They are troopers.
And off to Columbus OH to spend the weekend and see the Columbus Crew. We spend the day at a Family Fun Center. Mini Golf, arcades and go karts. We had a great time.
We also went to a Botanical Garden where we found a few geocaches. It was a pretty cool garden. Reminded me of Edward Scissorhands. We also had a nice little present on our car when we got back. Our meter ran out and had a $25 ticket!! $25!!! That is insane! I swear that parking cop was waiting next to car. Live and learn, right….
Columbus Crew. It was a lot of fun. We had amazing 2nd row seats. Soccer fans are seriously INSANE! I’ve never seen anything like them. Wow. Would go again in a heartbeat. Was a great time.
Sean is such a little helper.
And is such a daddy's boy.
And our girls are crazy.
Here we go. June 6th. The beginning.
We picked up my dad from the airport at 11 pm. I jumped in the back, he jumped in the front and off we went. Driving. Across County. With a 2 year old.
This was not the original plan. We were going to drive out for a family reunion in St George with my parents and siblings. Then we got the call. Marcus’ sister was getting married. YAY! But the weekend before the reunion. What?! Not enough time to come home and go back, so our new plan was born. Me driving with grampy and the kids and Marcus flying back and forth. Was gonna be crazy. And I would have Sean… the 2 year old. But actually, he did awesome.
We drove and drove and drove. I started driving at about 9 am and drove til about 2 pm. Stopping for caching along the way. Dad drove again til about 4, when Sean was done. He had had it and was ready for a break. So we got a hotel in Nebraska somewhere. (I still hate Nebraska). Dad slept for about 5 hours while the kids went swimming and out for ice cream. We loaded back into the car around 9 pm and dad drove to Wyo. Yay! We had made it. I don’t think it could have gone any better.
Hanging out with grandma and grampy’s pups and meeting their new cousin, Logan. He was about 5 weeks old. So stinking sweet.
Jeffy and Breezy’s pup Tiny. Sean wasn’t too sure about him at first….
And our Julz. Miss her face. Brady misses Matthew. They were peas in a pod…
The kids and I loaded up and headed to Logan UT to see Grandma and Grandpa in the Blue House. We stayed from Sunday to Wednesday. It was a wonderful time. Got to see several of my cousins with their kiddies. My friend Tina came with her kids, Bill and Cailey from Idaho. It was great seeing them. Marissa and Cailey were inseparable in preschool and kindergarten. They still facetime. They are super sweet.
I love visiting them. I love that our kids get to make some of the same memories that I have. They are amazing people. I am truly blessed to have them. Cant wait to see them again.
We left Wednesday the 12th. Made a quick stop in Beaver UT to pick up my nephews. Hadn't seen them in a few years! They are the sweetest boys. It was a wonderful few days spent with them. Busted to Las Vegas where I got to pick up my Marcus from the airport. I took Sean with me. He was so sweet when he saw his dad. I tell ya, daddy’s boy thru and thru. I loved that I got to see him as well. One thing about us, we don’t do well apart. I get all whiney. Its crazy. But I kinda like him….
We got to stay at Aunt Cheryl and Uncle George’s. They were somewhere in the middle of the country in their RV. Was wonderful having the pool and visiting with Aunt Jan and Sammy. I miss them. I was SO hoping and praying that Sam would have that baby while I was there. He is a stubborn little cuss tho.
We had lots of jobs to do to get ready for the “Big Day”. Dipping cake pops was probably the most time consuming thing ever. And I don’t really even like cake pops. Hahaha! That’s how much I love Missy Moo. It is so good to see her so happy. Love her guts.
I have no idea where the rest of the Temple pictures went. Maybe an update later with the professional ones…. But here is Marcus’ side of the family…..
And the Carriers… Chris, Sam and a stubborn baby Christian.
The Fish side of the family….
Marissa got to be a flower girl for the ring ceremony. Sean and B were ring boys. Of course, Sean wanted nothing to do with it once the time actually came. Little stink.
Missy Moo and Junior.
I love her. I am so glad she is happy. Now, if she could only get him to come and visit us… That would be great.
We had some more visitor while we were there. Our friends Mike and Michelle Bonomo came in from Lancaster Cali to see us. It was so good to see them! We did some swimming and got to go to Blue Man Group and it was so awesome. The kids loved it.
I love instagram. I #bluemangroup before I even knew you were supposed to and ended up on the big screen walking into the theater. Yeah, I'm famous. But Actually I am. According to the pre-show, I finished 3rd place in the synchronized swimming in the Olympics about a decade ago. I had to stand in the crowd and show my awesome swimming skills while the crowd all told me that I was only “loser-ISH” since getting a medal. Hahaha. Was pretty funny.
The Bonomos. Jahil, Darien, Kalie, Blue Man, Michelle and Mike.
The Blue Man is kinda creepy, isn't he…. Always watching…
Right after the show, we had to take Marcus back to the airport. Sniff. I hate that.
When Marcus was almost home, he was on the phone with me and said, “Babe, I'm going to have to call you back. There was a really bad wreck right in front of me.” I told him to be careful and call 911. They believe the girl in the northbound lane had a tire blow out and it caused her to cross the median and hit another car head on. The car that was right in front of Marcus. Scary. He stopped and helped where he could. He said that he developed a whole new respect for our brother in law Chris who is a paramedic in Las Vegas. For all emergency workers. Cant imagine seeing and dealing with that on a regular basis. Life is fragile….
Original plan was for me to leave the next day for Wyoming. But since we were going to see Wyoming family in a week, for a week, I changed my mind. Decided to stay in Las Vegas. Had a house with a pool to ourselves. Marcus’ sisters were there. I was REALLY hoping baby Christian would decided to come. Plus it was 20 extra hours in the car I really didn’t want to do. So we stayed. And hung out. And swam with Uncle Chris. Was actually a lot of fun and nice to have some down time in between all the craziness…
On Friday the 21st, I picked up my love from the airport. It was time for our original vacation/reunion with my brothers and parents. In beautiful St George UT! But before we left the house on Saturday, we had a situation. Sean had taken off the hair trap in the shower and put a bobby pin, travel sized shampoo, a binki and…something we couldn’t reach but that was completely plugging the drain. Ugh!! We called a plumber. And realized that it was probably the top to Marcus’ shaving cream. Was the perfect size to block the pipe. A plumber call, 3 hours and $200 later, we were on the road to St George.
We got to meet Allie. Jed and Chelsea's youngest who is 18 months. This is when it is sucky to live so far away. She is a doll face tho. Damien is a firecracker. Man, he is funny. And so THREE. I forget that after the 2’s they turn 3, which is equally as fun. Ha!
There was a bird with 2 eggs in a nest off the back deck. Damien and Sean would sit and watch over it. Was crazy being able to be that close. I was a little worried a few times when that wind would pick up! But the little eggs hung in there.
The St George Temple at night is absolutely beautiful.
Jeffy never had a 16th birthday party or cake. So we had a belated party for him. Complete with all the things that were so awesome when he was 16. Legos. The Backstreet Boys. Bones Thugs and Harmony. Yeah, he got them all, cuz we are cool like that. Would you burn some of them for me? Ha!
One day 2 of the vacation, little Allie started puking. Day 3 Damien and Chelsea. Then we started dropping like flies. Jed, Rachel, Sean, Marissa and Brady. Was ugly. I got it, so did grampy and grandma. Kenna, Jeff, Breezy, Teresa and her friend Hannah were the only ones that didn’t get it. Was seriously a plague. Eh, something to talk about and laugh about one day….
Those that weren't sick went out to Zion's. Marcus, Brady, Sean and I made it as far as lunch at the visitors center before headed back to the house. Brady had the flu the day before and still wasn’t feeling that hot. Hiking in 110 degree weather, was probably not the best idea for him….Jeff and Breezy were in charge of the rest of the crew. They had a good time. Even if they did lose 11 lbs of water weight.
Smoking hot. Seriously. But I like it. I love the heat and summer.
Oh. Look at that. Marcus was working…. Always have to have a “working” shot of him on our vacation. The only time it hasn’t happened in the last 8 years was when we were in Cancun and out of cell service….
Lots of fun in the pool. Sean ended up becoming quite the little fish (hahaha) by the time we were done. He was fearless!
McKenna made up this game when she was on the bus headed to DC for school. It is the dumbest game in the history of ever, but hysterical. One person says “Pterodactyl” the other says “Merrrr”, but you cant show your teeth. We like to play it at the table at Cheesecake Factory while waiting for our food. Cuz that’s how we roll. Brady is no fun to play with cuz he always wins. But even Sean will do the “merrr” part. Its awesome.
The Super Moon.
We did some more hiking at Snow Canyon. It was toasty. And beautiful. It was amazing how much cooler the creepy caves were.
Also spent some time at City Center where they have this water area. Was pretty cool. Except Sean doesn’t ever keep his shoes on and would walk away from the water area. I am surprised the kid didn’t burn his feet off.
There was a carousel at City Center as well. Sean liked it. And about that binki. We had it down to just nap and bed time before we left. Then he got sick. Then we realized that we were going to be in the car with him for over 100 hours. Probably not the best time to take it away. Ha! But now he is more attached than ever before. Usually has one in each hand plus the one in his mouth. He knows that it is going to disappear soon. And it is going to be ugly….
Some fun with poppers in the drive way…
And hiking at Pioneer Park, or the “crack” as my cousin Bryan called it.
Since we couldn’t get enough of hiking in 110 degree weather or hearing Kenna complain about it, we went out to Leeds. It was awesome. It was the morning we were supposed to leave St George and I am so glad we took the time to go out there. Those red rocks are amazing. Thanks to Uncle Brad and Aunt Lynda for not only letting us crash in your awesome home, but showing us some of the great things St George has to offer. We had a wonderful time!
Seany hanging out in grampy’s jeep.
Ugh…..
We started our journey home. We headed to Wyo so Marcus could see Coltin, Holly and the new baby. Made a pit stop in Taylorsville UT where we lived for about 3 years. Kinda crazy to go back. When we left there, we had just had Brady. He was just a few weeks old… Now look at us!
Cotton Candy skies in Wyoming…. I can see for miles and miles and miles…
Coltin and baby Logan.
Walking down to the awesome park that is by mom and dads…
Seany sharing his pizza with Tiny.
Goodbyes suck.
Left at 4:00 am and hit the road. Nebraska is officially the worst state ever to drive thru. It takes a million years. But we broke it up by caching, napping and playing Pterodactyl.
Stopped for the night in Iowa somewhere. Got up early and made it home by 6 pm. Sean did awesome. I was quite shocked. With as busy as he is, I didn’t expect that. Little monkey. But I don’t think we will be doing it again any time soon.
I really love it here.
So. Come see us. Really.
