Summer Utah Trip

The kids and I were lucky enough to have a 3 week trip to Utah over the summer. One of my best friends from St. Louis (Syleisa) and her three kids joined us the drive out (Mike had to work). 6 kids under the age of 7 and 2 LONG days of driving made for an interesting but fun experience, and it was worth it to be able to be with family.

We had a curve ball thrown at us while we were there. I was pregnant- roughly 10 1/2 weeks and ended up miscarrying a week or so after we got there. It was a HUGE disappointment, like any miscarriage but thankfully I had family support and some terrific friends who stopped by to show their love. It really was a blessing to be in Utah when it happened, Mike is in a busy time of residency, so it was so nice to have my kids entertained and be able to go through it as easily as possible. And in the end were able to make the most of the trip and still made some great memories.

These pictures aren't in chronological order, it was too much of a pain to get them on here organized. But these are the highlights of our trip.

We visited my dad's grave and had a chance to share and talk about favorite memories.....

My mom organized a FUN Scavenger hunt with treats and prizes galore......

goofy girls///

We had dinner in the mountains and the kids got filthy and had a blast......

Went to the West Jordan 4th of July parade (a HUGE bust)

Grandpa Hales took us all to Leatherby's--- a family favorite

4th of July fun and fireworks

We went to Planet Pizza(?)

All the girls (including the littles) had pedicures

Rode TRAX downtown to City Creek (SWEET face)

Papa squirting the kids (they LOVED it)

 We were also able to spend fun time with Grandpa and Grandma Taylor but I continually forgot my camera (all the above pics were given to me from Bree). 

The BIG 5

We have decided to let the kids have friend parties on their 5th,8th and 12th birthdays. It just makes things easier and more affordable! So this was Collin's first friend party.

All 3 of the kids have always loved Star Wars (I think it's in their DNA). Collin loves to play Lego Star Wars on the Wii-- so that is what he chose for his party.

My mom made these invites

We had the kids do Jedi training course so that they could be true Jedi's.  Mike was SO helpful, I think it helps to have the theme be something that he knows a lot about :)

He put together the course--- using the movie for ideas. I tried to make the basement look like the swamp where Luke received his Jedi training from Yoda

They had to climb a rope....

Jump and swing on the swing

Stack the 3 rocks....

and then do a one-handed hand stand (didn't get pictures of that)

After completing the course they were officially Jedi knights and awarded their Light-Saber 

After everyone passed their Jedi test-- they were ready to defeat the Death Star

Presents!

Pizza and playing legos

Collin's cake that Mike made. 

Seriously, if I was the one to make the cake, I would have been stressed about it for WEEKS. But not Mike. Nope, he wasn't worried in the least (unlike myself) The night before he got to work, carved it and frosted it without a hitch. The frosting came out a funky color- but it still worked-- and most important Collin LOVED it. I was impressed.

Collin is an amazing little boy. He has the most tender heart and is so thoughtful of others. We are so blessed to have him in our family.