Trip to the west side!

Ut & Co. IT was so fun to see everyone! We started our two day drive ( with a minor detour thru Des moines. sorry sweetheart!) to see my family in Ut. The kids had so much fun playing with the cousins, Uncles and grandma & grandpa... Zoey .. gave grandpa a bit more attitude. poor guy. Roasted hot dogs and made s'mores around the fire pit. they took the kids fishing. Jameson loved it.. .Ethan claims he is not scared of the fish.. and proved it. buy trash talking them 50 yrds away... we finally convinced him to reel a couple in. but as soon as they got close to the bank he would run away!!! But they were all proud of their catches! Grandpa and the uncles were great sports to help out.

My parents were kind enough to help celebrate Paul's big 30!! By taking us to a movie ( kung fu panda ... two thumbs up! freaking hilarious) and dinner at Copper mill. He loved it! Kids loved it. I was grateful that he was able to choose what he wanted to do for his birthday celebration.

We got to spend some extra time with Hailey, Braydon & Kallee. ( Heidi's kids) It was good cousin bonding time... I still can't believe how much they have grown. and now I'm thinking I need to buy Corey a big stick to ward off any and all boys that start hitting on Hailey! she is so pretty! Braydon showed Jameson how to catch bugs, butterfly's ( although that award should go to Corey. Way to swing that net!) and any other bug that they could find! Kallee and Ethan were content to play whatever. And Zoey would attach to anyone she could boss around!

I also had a chance to catch up with Lou! when I called her mom to get her number she told me she was in a golf tournament.! ( I wondered if I had the wrong person or something. lou? golf? since when?)But she assured me It was true... and I must admit I was impressed!go Lou.

We went for a walk and did our usual chatter. It was so awesome to see her again. not much has changed really. We still manage to bring each others CRAZY side out. And I totally miss her already! Simon was so cute! and hung out to play with my kids and mom.

It was fun to see everyone and play some good games of oh'puckey. .and become a rock star with rock band! turns out my future is with the bass guitar! Loved my bonding time with my mom! turns out she is my good luck charm for shopping!



Round Two. we then went off to Sagauche(?), CO. to See Paul's parents Queenie & G'pa.

we tons of people there and people Paul or I have seen in a really long time. we had Paul's Auntie Lata ( Queenie's older sis.) and Uncle Nupi( Q's younger bro) which in and of itself is a rare treat to get this many sibling together. We had Paul's cousin Phylis and all her kids plus some extras there. Cousin Vuki and his family. And of course Paul's sisters Rie and Muffin( Rena) and there kids were there. SO needless to say it was a house full of people~ I do have to give snaps to Queenie she pulled it off. and everyone had a great time. Plenty of food , places to sleep. My hat goes of to her. ( pre freeze meals. and helping hands from the ward. great idea!)

Phyllis and her family were doing some poly dancing for the town on sat. and it turns out Queenie had planned for her family to do a few numbers as well. So I got to see my husband do the Ha'ka, and another dance.. He even could do poi balls( who knew!) I got to try my hand at them too.( not so good at poi balls.) Queenie does them very well and her and her sister did a dance together. they still got the moves woo-hoo! It was fun to watch them all practice!

our first day was to the hot springs. ( 45 min drive, but that is normal if you plan on going anywhere in Saguache. middle of no where !) I don't think I have ever been to a natural hot springs area. the pool was so warm! Kids had a blast swimming. Jameson took on the diving boards! We had a western ho-down with her Branch ( again another 30-45 min drive just to get there!) I think that is the largest amount of numbers they have every had. It was fun. we were more then happy to boost the numbers!

Later that evening was the performance for town hall, It was so neat! Phylis's kids have done these dances since they were very small. and perform all over including the aloha festivals. They are nothing short of amazing. they do the fire dance. and have the costumes. I love watching them. It never got old! It was fun to see every one come together and do the dances. etc. Even the grand kids learned a few things! It was a rare occasion and really neat to see family perform together. I loved watching it! I loved watching my husband do these things as well. I had no idea he even knew them! It was hot!

UNFORTUNATELY.. I left my camera charger and my parents house. and of course My battery died right after the pool party. So I missed so many great pictures. . . this makes me soo sad.



But we had a great time and loved seeing everyone. The kids had a fun bonding with there cousins Jayden and Janessa. and even took a liking to the big kids. Who were so great at letting them play with them. and drag them around!



and then we were off for another two day track home... We are glad to be out of the car!!!!

A big thank you to Both families for having us out! We had a great time and miss everyone! Hopefully next time we can get the whole family together! We missed you Jay and Dustin!