Spring Break - Utah

Our trip to Utah was my reward for surviving the last four months of our lives.  I needed something to get me through the long days, short nights, cleaning, de-cluttering, shoveling snow, and doing the single parent thing while Randy flew to Seattle seeing all my friends who I miss terribly, while I shoveled the snow and brought in firewood when the furnace broke.  Don't get me wrong, Randy needs a vacation too but his vacation was a break from me and the boys for five days!  He's back in sunny and warm Seattle right now {for an endo convention, hopefully finding us a house, and solidifying job plans} so it's just me and the boys again but at least winter is over so my coping skills are much better.
Our Utah trip was too short.  I planned out just about every morning and afternoon to maximize our time, which of course included a trip to the dentist.  {The Navy doesn't allow Randy to treat family members so our next best option is Nick - best friend from Okinawa and an excellent dentist.}  I'm happy to report we are all cavity free and the boys' chipped teeth are all repaired and met Randy's high standards of dentistry.  Hooray!
My younger sister April lives a mile down the street from my dad and she let us crash at her place.  She and Toby were great hosts, meaning they didn't bat an eye when my boys brought their Nerf guns to the dinner table while boasting about who can do the loudest burp.
This trip was all about seeing family.  I got to meet my new nephews and my niece who was only a week old.  It's so great seeing my brother and sister become parents and my sister-in-law who had her first baby after adopting four others.  Heaven is close when you're holding a newborn.

This is what my boys did pretty much all day every day when we were at my sister's

This noisy gun was the favorite.  Somehow Parker lucked out with it for a few minutes

My dad and Kathy took a day off work and came over to make us breakfast

Landon eating one of Grandpa's famous pancakes.  "It's bigger than my head!"

After breakfast it was off to mini-golf with the grandparents

cousins and best buds

Parker in heaven when he found a toy no one else wanted to play with

Holding Greg's Sofia Lu

Holding Alicia's Owen

Rock climbing with Randy's family

Landon conquered his fear and climbed higher than ever

Playing "Octopus 8" with the Balls.  I took this picture while holding miracle baby Eli but didn't get a picture of him.  Trust me, he's adorable!

We had Sunday dinner with the Spjute Family!  It was unforgettable and the highlight of the trip so these next pictures are the best but also the saddest.  The best because this was the first time in three years {three years, people} since all my siblings have been together.  In fact, the only person missing was Randy.  It felt so good to see everyone and just bask in family togetherness.  But sad because my heart aches that Mom and Linz weren't there.  I'm sure they were there in spirit but it still makes me want to cry.  How they would've loved to be there and so sad there are even more babies my mom will never hold.  The afternoon was a whirlwind of good food, laughter, chaos, and reconnecting.

Parker devouring my latest favorite key lime cheesecake I created.  Check out the recipe here.  It will change your life.

Reuniting for the last time at Crown Burger for lunch with my Dad.  Love this tradition and glad I could join in this time.

cramming in one more fun activity - an indoor trampoline park with far fewer rules than the one in RI

Biking out to the bird refuge with my boys while singing Sound of Music songs at the top of our lungs

I absolutely love going on adventures with these boys

Our traditional trip for ice cream followed by a stop at the cemetery

our first summer BBQ and last night before we left

We left for the airport at 6am so we had breakfast to go.

If you made it through all those pictures then you are a true friend!  Believe it or not but I actually left out a lot of pictures.  I'm so glad I could catch up with so many friends and family on this quick trip, especially spur-of-the-moment visits with high school and Oki friends.  As we drove to the airport squished in our tiny rental car, my boys asked "Why can't we move to Utah?"  I tried to convince them living in UT isn't as fun as visiting but now I'm not so sure.  Coming back to RI was like the day after Christmas - a complete let down after so much fun, but that's the sign of a great vacation.