.summer vacation- utah part 1.

.we woke up early and drove the 12 hours to utah. 

.i have to say right now, my kids were AWESOME. we made ONE stop for them (lunch, were we took about an hour to let them play and eat)...otherwise all other stops were for gpa needing to pee, he is worse than the pregnant lady.

.otherwise the kids were happy, and there was no crying/whining/fighting. it was great. i was SUPER happy with their behavior, and it gave me hope for our trip in 2015 when we will have to drive 2 full days just to get to utah, and another day for washington. (and i may be doing it alone). 

.when we got to utah, we emptied cars, started laundry, debbie and roger made dinner and dealt with the kids while andrew and i vacuumed out my parents car and took it down and washed it by hand, as well as ran it through a carwash. 

.thursday- i dont remember exactly what we did. i think we hung around the house, ran some errands and just took a day to gather again, and not be in a car. 

.friday- marked 5 years since andrew proposed to me. we headed up to roger and debbie's cabin. i cannot believe the transformation they have done since i was last there. i should of took more pictures. we had an absolute blast. roger had rented a 4 seater--plus they have 2 four-wheelers up there. the boys had left early in the morning to drive to heber and pick up the 4 seater at 8am. debbie and i left at 8am with the kids and headed up, grabbing breakfast on the way up. roger and debbie took the kids right when we got there. their carseats strap right in the seat. the kids LOVED it, exact getting dust in their eyes....i swore i packed their sunglasses, apparently not.

.once they got back, they watched the kids, and me and the boys went out. it was fun, however, the bumpiness and the seatbelt constantly tightening on my pregnant belly wasnt extremely comfortable. at one point we were going down with a drop off on one side...and of course it was my side...derek got close just to piss me off (he was driving at the time)...andrew said, "you dont have to drive so close to the edge" derek responded with "im letting you get a close look" where i chimed in and said, "i can give you a close look of my middle finger" as i proceeded to flip him off. yes- for those of you who dont know me well, this is SO me. especially when i am looking down at a 40 feet drop off just because derek is in control and making me antsy. gah. 

.we got back and ate some lunch and hung out. the boys took off again in the 4 seater, and i took the chance to take my kids on the four-wheelers. i would leave one at the cabin with debbie, and take the other on the four wheeler. we would drive down to the bridge and look at the water, and see the cows. the kids loved it. it really is beautiful where there cabin is. i took the kids 3 times each. once we got back, for our last ride, it was time to start packing up, and get the 4 seater back by 4. it was a fast trip, but really fun and enjoyable. once back home, we showered, and took off to my aunts house. i havent seen my aunt sandy for almost 3 years. andrew worked on her computer and got it working for her, as well as her wii for her grand-daughter. andrew took the kids home and i went with my mom to pick up my dad. it was nice to spend a little time with my mom. 

.saturday- was my sister(s) baby shower at my aunt's house. that morning i quickly put together their presents from my mom, made some banners, picked up gift cards for our "winners" for the baby shower games, and grabbed lunch with my baby sister. (she was staying at andrew's parents house as well--forever grateful for debbie always being willing to open her home to my family/friends). i hurried home, got ready and took off picking up my other sister and my mom and headed to bountiful to my aunts house to help get everything ready before the shower. my awesome mother in law watched my kids (again) and brought them up with her when she came for the shower. i had set up for all the guys to go golfing together. andrew, my dad, my 2 brother in laws, andrew's dad, andrew's brother and andrew's cousin. they had a blast while us ladies all were at the shower. we got back late, tired. we headed to bed.

The super cute present I put together (one for each sister) from my mom and I)

(I got the cute idea from a girl in my ward)

.sunday- we had church. it was good to not have a super early session, because i was SUPER tired from the busy weekend already. we enjoyed church, as always, and came home to another delicious meal that debbie prepared. we hung out at the house, lily and heather and kevin came over and the cousins went wild, playing together. 

.monday was our last day with daddy before he flew home to san antonio to start working again. debbie and heather, being the sweet people they are, insisted that andrew and i just get away for the day...and they would watch my kids (again). They had planned to take the kids on the "train" (tram) downtown, play in the water, get some ice cream and come back. The kids had a total blast! They still talk about this "train" everyday. Andrew and I headed down to provo area. We were planning to "recreate" some memories of our wedding day/ and the day he proposed to me. we went to macaroni grill. this was a resturant we really love. (sadly, it has changed a lot and wasnt the same)...but this resturant is where we had our luncheon after we got sealed in the temple. debbie wanted it to be a place that was "us" and since we loved this place and went often when we were dating...that is where it was. than we headed to sundance. where andrew proposed to me. we bought tickets to ride the ski lift up the hill to the "run" that andrew proposed to me....called wedding ring. we walked up to load on the lift, just as they shut the gate and said it was temporary shut down due to weather conditions. we walked around, and than decided to get refunded for our tickets because the weather was just getting worse. i was feeling awful. the mixture of the cream on my pasta, and my pregnancy was NOT mixing well. we headed back to the quiet house, and took a nap. let me tell you. it was blissful. to just cuddle with andrew and sleep with no yelling. we had made plans to go to dinner with debbie, heather, kevin, tyler, and the kids. we tried a new place and it was really good. i was craving zupas, so i had a few bites of andrew's dinner, but got zupas afterwards. we ran a few errands before heading home. 

(Waiting for aunt heather and lily to show up before heading with them and gma to ride the train!)

.tuesday morning i woke up early and took andrew to the airport. 

(Daddy kidding the kids goodbye before heading to the airport)

.part 2 of our utah trip coming soon. stay tuned. 

.summer vacation- oregon.

.we arrived at uncle dave and aunt lisa's beautiful home 4.5 hours later on saturday. 

.the kids were beyond excited to get out of the car, and see gma, gpa, lily and aunt lisa's pool.

.we were greeted by lily and grandma, who were playing out on the front porch as we pulled up.

.we unloaded the car, got rid of the trash, and ate dinner. we were starving and food made my either debbie or lisa is absolutely fabulous. 

.the kids were SO eager to get in the pool. so so excited. so into bathing suits...and out to the pool. it was funny to watch everyone's reaction with my fearless kids. they went down the slide multiple times, but their favorite was jumping off the diving board. poor texas babies are spoiled and the 85 degree pool and 90 degree day just wasnt warm enough for them, so they were wrapped in towels sitting watching others swim for most of the time. it was still a blast, and we were looking forward to spending the next few days in oregon.

.sunday we went to church. b was BEYOND tired. she was SO grumpy that morning, and just being rude to everyone. i had enough. we went home after sacrament meeting and made her lay down for a nap. she cried and cried for about 10 minutes and than was out cold. it was exactly what she needed because she woke up happy. we than drove to gpa jim's house (roger's dad) and visited with him and some of roger's brothers and their children. this is the FIRST TIME i had EVER met grandpa jim. almost being married 5 years and i FINALLY got to meet grandpa jim. he is the sweetest man, and he and andrew have the SAME build. SO thin. he was so sweet and pulled out pictures and such to show us. we had a great time and of course....i had to get some pictures. 

(this is b sunday morning...GRUMPY...throwing a fit over sharing)

(roger- bottom left)

 (gpa jim with 3 of his sons)

.once we got back from grandpa jim's, andrew and i and our kids and tyler headed down to see grandma and grandpa muir (debbie's parents) who live just down the street from lisa and dave. aunt lisa has a golf cart, and we took that down to their house. the kids loved it. grandpa david told us so many awesome stories from the war, and when him and lois were first married. we stayed until it was SO dark. luckily, when the sun was just starting to set.. aunt heather came down with lily and took the kids for rides on the golf cart and than back to lisa's house until we got back. we really enjoyed catching up with david and lois and hearing stories. it was a great day to be able to see gpa jim, and also david and lois. 

 (this is on gpa jim's front door)

 (this is in gpa jims front window....he LOVES golf and horseshoes)

 (the house roger grew up in)

 (golf cart ride)

 (gpa david and gma lois--Brooklynns great grandma and grandpa)

(this is their silly faces)

.monday some of the boys went golfing in the morning (this is a MUST when uncle dave and roger are together...this was NOT the first golfing trip...i think it was more like the 2nd or 3rd (they got there saturday early afternoon)...they got back just as we were about to load up and head to this children's works museum aunt lisa told us about they her grandkids LOVE and beg to go to every time they come to visit. it was a lot of fun. we all went together and had a blast. we packed a picnic lunch and afterwards headed to Lithia Park in Ashland area of Oregon. The kids played on the swings, and than Lily and Brooklynn went to Tyler and Andrew and went upstream. It was the same little stream that we have video of Tyler and Andrew playing in when they were younger. its fun to watch next to each other. when we got home, of course, we had to go swimming again at aunt lisa's pool. 

 (the boys had a race to see whos would make it down the water the quickest)

 (inside a bubble)

 (inside the bubble)

 .bubbles.

 .such a cute picture of tyler and b.

 .so much happiness in these pictures (top and bottom)

.great picture of the brothers.,,,just missing evan.

 .3 generations....roger, andrew and parker.

 .adore this picture of ty and b.

.tuesday the boys went golfing (see, told ya) with gpa jim and a few uncles and cousins. while they were gone, the girls got everything packed and ready to go to head up to the campsite all the westensee brothers (well most of them) were camping at. (something they do every year). we just planned to just got up for a few hours and let the kids play and get dirty and have lunch up there. one thing the westensee family does is horse shoes. it was fun to sit back and watch all of them. we had a delicious lunch (thanks debbie) and the kids got dirty and LOVED this cool "game" grandma westensee came up with....to fill a pop bottle with the little acorns on the ground. it kept the kids busy for AT LEAST an hour. we left earlier than planned when a thunderstorm came over and just started down-pouring. we all just yelled good-bye, no hugs as we were all running for cover (us, getting the kids in the car and all the food to head home).....when we got home, we headed down to see great grandma lela (this is brooklynn and parkers great-great grandma)....heather wanted a generation picture, and we hadnt visited with her yet. we had a great visit. she is a sweet little lady, who is still going strong. afterwards, we went across the street to say good-bye to david and lois and visit with them for a little bit....we got back to lisa's and headed to the pool. one last swim before the LONG drive home the next morning. 

.adore this picture of b and gpa jim...this is right before he took out his teeth and freaked her out.

 .great grandma lela and grandma lois---great great grandma lela and great grandma lois to brooklynn and parker.

 .checking out grandpa david's berries.

 .right after andrew dunked me.

.andrew did successfully do a backflip.

.we loved our visits oregon. we miss you so much. we hope it will work into our vacation plans in 2015. thank you dave and lisa for allowing all of us to stay at your home, to use your bedrooms, your bathrooms, your towels, your toys, your food, your pool, your golf cart, and for reading to my kids a bedtime story at night (lisa). until next time oregon.

.stay tuned for summer vacation- utah part 1...coming soon.