Hello from Utah!

We have now been in Utah for a little over 2 weeks. The drive up was not as bad as I had expected! We left early Friday morning & made it by 8pm Saturday night. My dad flew down to TX & then drove back to Utah with me. He pretty much drove the entire time except for maybe 3-4 hours of it. Thanks Dad! We went stayed the night in Pagosa Springs, CO where my aunt & uncle live. It was 1 1/2 hours out of our way, but well worth it! I told Kiley that I wouldn't mind living there when all is said in done! It was so beautiful & quaint! Loved it! My Aunt Mary & Uncle Butch have done a lot with their yard. It was quite the garden!

We left the next day & made the 7 1/2 hour trek to my parents house. Surprisingly the kids did great. There were a few times Livy needed to just get out of her car seat & roam the car & the boys did need to be bonked on the head a couple of times, but other than that, it was great. I would definitely do the long drive again!

We have had so much fun & have LOVED the weather. Yes, it does get hot during the day, but their is no humidity & the evenings are amazing! We spent the first week playing with cousins & having sleepovers, too. Teagen & Brayden were having a conversation in the car the other day & I was eaves dropping. This is what was said:

Teagen: I like Utah the best.

Brayden: Me too. We have lots of cousins & friends to play with here!

Teagen: I wish we lived here.

Brayden: Me too!

That made me so sad for them! It is a lot more fun being around family-but I have got to make Texas a little more exciting for them so that they love it there, too. The first week here we had lots of fun playing with cousins & having sleepovers! I don't normally let my kids have sleepovers, only if it is with cousins. They had fun swimming in the "recycling" can-don't ask! Fun running races in grandma & grandpa's big back yard.

Kiley got here a week after we had been here. We went up to his sisters house in Rexburg, ID for a few days. That was AMAZING! The weather was perfect. Teagen & his cousin Brady rode their bikes all over & we didn't have to worry about them getting hit by cars etc! Brayden & his cousin Spencer played so well together & enjoyed helping Uncle Rich on the farm! They swam & played literally all day long! Teagen loved the 4 wheeler & Kiley even taught him how to drive. They boys loved going for rides on it! I did get sick with some nasty stomach bug & spent a lot of time in the bathroom. Unfortunately, this was just days before the big Marathon-I will post more about that later! The pool, 4 wheelin, good food, riding the motorcycle, watching the crop duster, getting blasted at 3 in the morning with the pivot, a night out at the movies, Cold Stone, & good company=PRICELESS! Thank you Blasers for such a fun few days! We love you guys!

The 24th of July was a blast, except for I was barely able to walk! We had a little BBQ at my parents with all of my siblings & kiddos. The kids had a good time on the slip n slide! It was a LONG day, but one full of great memories! Liv has absolutely adored her Uncle Shawn & her Grandpa Tom. She has a thing for men & won't give women the time of day, except for her mommy, of course!

We spent a day with Kiley's sister & her family, The Conrad's. It was fun to have dinner with them & let the kids run wild! They had these things called Kinder Eggs or something like like (German made) & the kids (adults, too) had lots of fun opening them & putting them together!

We had a fun family BBQ on Saturday with several of his sisters & their families & a couple of our nephews whose families live out of state & then of coarse a few of my siblings & my parents & some of our friends stopped by, too! It was a lot of fun! The kids had a blast playing on the slip & slide & swimming in the kiddie pool! Kiley left on Sunday. We were so sad to see him have to get back to work & leave us for a long 2 weeks!