Part 3 of 4

After our time in Utah we drove down to Newport Beach, CA to spend some time relaxing with just our little family. The boys absolutely loved the beach.

When we go to Cali we stay at Quality Suites. Dave's family stayed there when they would go down and we have stayed there every year we go too. They have a yummy cooked to order breakfast, and a great pool that is almost always empty. This trip Taylor and Austin learned to jump into the pool by themselves.

Newport pier always has tons of fisherman on it. The boys love to go walk the pier and see the "dead fish." On Sunday we went up to the Newport temple.

We checked out of Quality and headed south to San Diego so we could go to Sea World. Austin and Taylor were tall enough to ride Atlantis with a parent. They didn't love it, but were brave and went on it with us. Sea World has a new Sesame Street area. They boys don't watch Sesame Street but they had a great time on the rides. WARNING!! The last picture in the set is Austin looking like he is flipping you off, in reality he had just hurt his finger and was showing us where it hurt. We thought is was funny, is that bad?

When Dave was little he remembers going to stay at a beach house in Mission Bay. We were able to find the exact beach house (sorry no pictures of it) Then we went over to a carnival type place that Dave had fun memories of. The boys played at the arcade, rode a couple rides and ate cotton candy. After that fun we went to Gina's pizza, which is arguably the best pizza out there. Then it was time to head home. What a fabulous vacation and fun family time.

Even though our "vacation" has come to an end we still had 2 1/2 weeks of break, so stay tuned for the rest of our adventures (probably in the next day or two).

Part 2 of 4

Ok, ready for some more? Great!! Our next adventure was going to Dinosaur Land in Ogden. Most of you know the boys LOVE dinosaurs. We had a great time.

On one of the last days of our stay in Park City we went to Jordanelle and went boating on Cannon's boat. The water was WAY to cold to get in and be happy about it but we all had fun hanging out eating treats and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. At one point Eric and Dave dared each other to jump in and swim around the boat. They both did it but were pretty cold. Even Kerrie hung off the ladder and got up to her waist wet. We also had a little accident when some harmless playing ended up with Caden in the water...oops!! He got out and said, "I didn't love that!"

Next was one of the main reasons for going to Utah, a family reunion, two really, a one day event with the Felt's (thanks Eric and Joyce) and a 2 1/2 day event with the Rigby's. The land that used to be owned by Grandpa Rigby is being hauled over to make it ready for houses. There was a huge sand hill that the kids got to play on, they had such a fun time. We also went to temple square for a family activity.

The next leg of our trip was a stay at my sister's house in Provo. It was so nice to get to stay there with them and visit. While in Provo my best girl friends from high school and I went out to dinner. We had a great time!

On the last day of our Utah time we went up to Snowbird and took the tram to the top of the mountain. It was pretty funny to be playing in snow with flip flops on.

Well, did you make it? This is the end of part 2. It is safe to say that Our time in Utah was more than expected. It was fabulous.

OK, here it goes...

So I think I might have to make this post a series of posts. I went through ALL our pictures last night and I narrowed it down to 91 pictures. Yes that is narrowed down, a lot! I do this not only for family and friends to see but for my own journal records. If you want to read than read, if you want to look than look, if not I won't know so I won't be offended. Fair enough? Here we go. On June 3rd (my birthday, I turned 29) I was busy packing and getting ready for our departure the next day. The boys were being less than helpful so Dave decided to make paper boats and sail them in the creek in our back yard.

After a nice plane ride we landed in LA, stayed the night and headed up to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Stratosphere and got to go up to the very top.

We had a nice visit with Dave's brother Jake and then headed towards Utah. On our way, driving through no mans land, Caden needed to go potty. I was so excited!! This was going to be our first outdoor peeing experience. I know, I am a little weird, so weird in fact that I took pictures. I love the expression on his face in the second one, kinda like "you took a picture of that?" Yes I did, and I might use it for bribery some time in the future!!

We arrived safely in Park City where we would be staying for the next week. We got a steal on a villa at Mountainside Resort. Dave's mom was there (from Hawaii) and Dave's sister Andrea was there with her family (Eric, Sterling and Kerrie Ann). The place was so nice and we all fit with room to play. It wasn't very warm in Park City, but we couldn't let a perfectly good pool go to waste.

We also took the boys on the Alpine slide. It was fun, but they have slowed it WAY down. It was a little disappointing, but probably best with the kids.

One of our days we went to see Horton Hears a Who and feed the ducks at Sugarhouse Park, Caden sat right in fresh goose poop.

Another day we all went to a bounce house. We had taken the boys to this same place before but it was too hard for them to climb up to the top. This time they had no problem. It was just another reminder of how much they have and are still overcoming. We had a blast. As you can see Caden was a little hesitant to leave. On the way to go bouncing we stopped and got a shave ice at our favorite shave ice stand. It was a pretty cold day, but we had to get one!!

Ok, that is enough for the first part. Stay tuned, I will try and have the next episode up in a couple of days.

HI!

I have had a few people ask me when I am going to update again. See the thing is that we have had such a fantastic summer vacation that there are way too many pictures to show and things to say. Honestly, it is a little overwhelming. I am going to do it though...soon, I hope! Thanks for being interested!! I'll be back.

A Few Random Happenings

There has not been a whole lot of exciting things going on around our house lately. Life is pretty much crazy but enjoyable. On the 18th Austin went in to get Botox injections in his left leg and a cast put on. He is such a trooper, they gave him Versed (sp) this time so that he wouldn't remember getting the injections, they give it to kids through their nose, kinda weird, but he didn't seem to care. Then he quickly got extremely relaxed and they did the procedure. Guess what? He really doesn't remember the shots. He remembers the "drips" in his nose and getting the cast on, pretty cool. The Botox is given to decrease muscle spasms and tightness and increase his range of motion. The cast is placed to help position the joints, stretch tight muscles and decrease muscle tone. Austin had this same procedure done last year with minimal results. The physical therapist thought he could really benefit form it again so we went for it. His first cast was on for a week (he choose bright orange...like the cones you see on the side of the freeway). The therapist took it off on Thursday and said that his range was already looking a little better, but next week she would know if the Botox is working. This time he choose a bright green cast...bright neon green!! It will stay on for a week, then he will get another one on and keep it on for 2 weeks. The cast really doesn't bother him, actually he tells me how much he likes it and how he likes walking in it. I'm sure it gives him some stability that he isn't used to having. Pretty great, we are very hopeful that this will help him greatly!

Austin and Taylor's school did spring pictures, not normal pictures though. They reminded me of Senior pictures in High School. We didn't order any but here are the proofs.

Let's see what else...Oh! The other day I went to Costco with a friend. When we got home I went upstairs to put some things away, Caden was downstairs doing a puzzle. I was probably upstairs for 10 min, when I came down, he was zonked out on the floor in front of the door. Caden has not taken a nap in months, I was shocked. He slept there for a good hour!

And last but not least, here is a picture of Dave's parents restaurant in Molokai...looks good hua? We are so excited to go over and have some fries and a shake! Good work Rod and Kerrie, it's is beautiful!!

Ba deep Ba deep Ba deep...that's all folks!!