Family Summer Vacation Re-cap

Well we survived our trip back home! Luckily it was only 17.5 hours instead of the 20+ that it took to get to Utah. The ride home was a whole lot more pleasant for everyone and I think that had a lot to do with the fact that we were in our new van! I never in a million years thought that I would be so excited to drive a mini-van- but it is the best! It is SO much easier getting the kids in and out- and then all the room! We were lucky enough to find one that is super nice with all that we would ever need and then some. And to boot we were even able lower our monthly payments! The only downer to the trip back was the fact that during a potty break on the side of the road- I was attacked by stupid mosquito's and I have 17 bites on my left leg and 8 on my right with several on my arms!
We had a great vacation and a wonderful time with our families. It is nice to be home and get back into a routine- it's weird to be back - it feels a little like last year at this time- except this time I'm not crying everyday (ok so it wasn't that bad)- and this time I've got great friends to be with- so it's no longer scary- plus I now know to expect with Mike being gone so much. Now we wait until October to see where we go next year!
We were able to do so much- I forgot what it was like to live in a place where there are so many options! I guess with our limited budget it works out better to be in a place where there are not so many temptations!
Here is a quick look at all the fun that we had- (just as a warning there will be a lot of pictures! )


We spent time SWIMMING.........

"Gra" just has a little whale pool in her back yard that the kids had so much fun with. We also went a couple times to Ryan and Kathryn's pool. While we were in Centerville Grandma Taylor took us to the rec center which was a blast! Collin was not a big fan of the bigger pools but as you can tell - he loved the whale pool!

We went to THANKSGIVING POINT PETTING ZOO.....

Gra took all the grandkids to Thanksgiving Point- all the kids except Collin got to ride on horses- all three girls loved it!

Played at the PARK.......

We went to GATEWAY DISCOVERY.......

Gra and Aunt Steph went with us to Gateway Discovery- both kids had so much fun- Collin LOVED the police car and the balls. Samantha loved everything!

STADIUM OF FIRE...... Hannah Montana!!

Now this was Samantha's favorite part! She loves Hannah Montana and couldn't wait to see her on the "big" stage. Unfortunately now that Miley Cyrus is trying to separate herself from Hannah Montana- she sang all new songs- except one- so Samantha couldn't sing along like she was hoping. -but it was still really neat to be there. The whole night was pretty impressive- we had great seats-Thanks Papa for getting the tickets!

Stevens Fun Family Pictures

While we've been in Utah we had a weekend when everyone was in town- the first time in 2 1/2 years! So of course mom wanted to get pictures taken. Who would have thought it would be SO difficult?! Of course we didn't go into it thinking that it would be cake walk- but sheesh- out of 300 pictures there was barely one that would work! One of my favorites is when there is utter chaos going on in the background and Mike is looking straight at the camera with his hand like a gun pointed in his mouth (he HATES pictures). Well at least we have the memories!!