.the westensee family.

.tuesday morning i took andrew to the airport early in the morning to head home and work while the kids and i stayed back for an extra 3 days to spend time with family. when we say early...i mean early. his flight left at 6am....so i had him there around 4:30. i came home and slept a little longer, than got up and got me and the kids ready to head to my sister's house to spend the day. (thanks debbie for always letting us use your pilot).

.tuesday was the ONLY day that worked best for me, older sister- ronnie, my mom, and my little sister-bre to drive an 1.5 hours south to brigham city and go to maddox for lunch. OH.MY.GOODNESS. maddox is a MUST and SO delicious. the rolls, the steak, the mashed potatoes...its all absolutely delicious. We loaded the car with 4 adults and 4 kids and drove south. it was a sight. on the way south, we stopped in roy to get ice cream at Burger Bar and drive past my mom's childhood home and stop at the cemetery and see my grandparents grave sight. it was a total blast. we order rolls to go, and spent the rest of the day hanging out at ronnie house. we didnt stay too late because i had to take bre, lehi and maverick back with me so they could pack and i could take THEM to the airport EARLY wednesday morning.

.full car- (front) bre and me.

.(middle) maverick (bres baby), dallin (ronnies baby) and Ronnie.

.(back)-parker, grandma, brooklynn.

.enjoying rolls with raspberry butter.

.wednesday morning- i drove to the airport again (again, thank you debbie for letting us always use your car)...came home, slept a little longer. got ready to head to my sister's house again to hang out. i knew i wouldnt be seeing my mom for another 6 months and my sister even longer...so we spend most of the remaining time at my sister's house. we went shopping, we ate at zupas (YUM!) we went to the park, we played with chalk outside, we swung in the hammock, just enjoyed being together.

.ronnie taught brooklynn how to roll down the hill last year.

.my mom is down this HUGE hill with b, kicking the soccer ball.

.my cute mom standing in line at costco blending in with the other kids, getting a sample for my kids.

.bubbles at aunt ronnies house.

.swinging in the hammock with mom, parker, brooklynn, and me.

.thursday- we spent the morning with debbie and cousin lily. we took the kids down to the splashpad, than they played with play-doh outside with debbie, they played in the grass, they played with their spray bottles, they had lunch outside, rode bikes, etc. They just had a lot of fun with grandma and lily.

.later that night, we went to my sister's to say good-bye. we had zupas for dinner (yes, im obsessed, and yes, i had it probably 3-4 times while i was there). of course i had to send a picture to andrew to tease him (nuts about berries, and Wisconsin cauliflower soup.) we went back to ronnie for a bit. i, cried when i had to say bye. my mom cried, and b cried ALL the way home because "she wanted grandma to come to our house" and she "didnt want grandma to be sad". we got home and i finished packing, and loading it up in the car. gpa got home from his work trip, and the kids stayed up late playing with him.

.friday- we got up early (like 3am) and left the house around 3:30. I was nervous to deal with the kids on my own, and also deal with a layover. but i was thankful for the kids, they were great and slept the entire second flight, and was quiet and good the first. we grabbed jamba at our layover, walked to the opposite end of the of airport (where our connecting flight was)... i fell in love again with my phil and teds stroller, and was SO thankful we bought it.

.our trip overall was LONG. we were gone for a month (me and the kiddos)...but we had a complete blast. we have realized we live a really far away from family, so our trips will probably be LONG every time we visit to make it worth it (to spend time with family, and to make it worth it financially). we also realize we will probably be driving in the future. flights are SO nice, but SO spendy when you have to buy 4 plane tickets. but we LOVED our time with family. we miss them dearly, but when we do get to see them, it makes it the time very very special. we are excited to see family in just 9 weeks and 6 days....when baby brother comes.

.thanks summer vacation 2014. you were pretty great to us.

.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!)