Summer Vacation

We just got back from a great vacation. My brother, Kris, got married on July 31 and we all headed up to Utah for the wedding. Since Boise is only a few hours away, I decided it would be fun to see Brent's family so I went ahead and made the drive all the way up to Idaho. I packed the kids up and we headed out for a 3 day drive on the open road. They did great and we had an uneventful drive through 5 states and back. On our way up, we stopped and saw Zane and Bridget and their kids. Since they moved back to Utah, we don't get to see them very much so it was fun to spend some time with them.
Then it was on to Boise where Ami so graciously hosted 15 people at her house, (20 including her own family). We had 8 adults and 12 kids and we had a blast! The first night we were there, the kids slept on the trampoline under the stars. I was surprised both my kids wanted to and lasted all night but they loved it. Uncle Quinn was a trooper to stay out there with them, especially since Avery talked his ear off most of the night!We did lots of fun things while we were in Boise: the Boise music festival, the bounce house, the sand dunes, shopping, the water park. It was H-O-T but it was fun. The kids love getting to play with their cousins and I love that they are getting to know the family members we don't get to see as often as we like. All in all, we had a great time and I'm so glad everyone was able to make it! I was sad to leave.
Oooh, what I wouldn't give to have one of these velcro walls in my house. The ultimate time out!

But that wasn't the end of our fun. Our next stop was Salt Lake City for my brother's wedding. It was freaking H-O-T once again and I thought I was going to melt right out of my girdle but the celebrations were fun and we are so glad we got to go. Ashley looked beautiful and Kris was just beaming from ear to ear with his new bride. I didn't really take many pictures because there were a million people with cameras so I put mine away and figured I could get copies of pics later. So I don't have any close ups of the happy couple but there are some on their blog with more to come. We are so happy for them and love them so much.
Brent was able to fly up to Utah and drive home with us after the wedding so it was nice to have that time with him. We are all back to the grind today and life is unfortunately back to normal. I loved the time away and the chance to spend time with our family. Looking forward to the next get-together!

These are all the cousins minus one on Brent's side.
These are all the cousins on my side.