Utah!

I finally got to be with my family again and it was great!  The week flew by, cramming in as much fun as possible.  For me, the highlight of the trip was going out to lunch with my three best friends from high school and seeing some of my Spjute family relatives that I rarely get to see.
I drove with the boys down to UT and stopped near Boise on the way there.  Most of my relatives were meeting at a pond to swim and it was like a mini family reunion.  The pond was in the middle of nowhere and a ton of fun with no lifeguards which meant no rules (hooray!) so the water slide, zip line, and high dive were fun for all.  I was too busy talking to take many pictures but trust me, it was epic.

Marcus and Bean about to go down the zip line together

My Grandma is the Best!  Seriously such an amazing woman.

This is what I drove past to get to the pond....seriously in the middle of nothing but fields

We arrived in UT safe and sound and somehow the stars aligned and I met my 3 friends for lunch.  It's been years since I've seen them so this gathering was long overdue.  We couldn't talk fast enough!  We discussed everything under the sun and I learned so much from them as we shared our struggles and successes.  I had no idea when I met these 3 girls my junior year of high school that our bond would be so strong all these years later or what amazing women they would all grow up to be but I am truly grateful.

Emily, me, Mollie, and Sarah

OK, so back to the vacation stuff...My sisters and I took our kids to Lagoon on a blistering hot day.  It was almost 100 degrees!  The tweens did their own thing, going on as many big rides as possible while my sisters and I hung out on the kiddie rides with the littles.  After baking in the sun all day we went to Swig's where I finally got to eat my first Swig cookie.  The soda was good too but that much sugar was a major insulin rush and just thinking about it makes my stomach groan.  Oh, and let's not forget about Ethan's awesome Lagoon experience.  He rode the giant, scary roller coaster Cannibal two times and then went on little, wimpy Tilt-a-Whirl and got sick.  His face was literally green.  He laid down on a bench for a good hour drinking a little bit of water and trying to get his stomach back to normal so he could go on rides.  While we were waiting in a line he suddenly started throwing up.  Poor kid and poor people in line around him!  It was embarrassing to say the least and I'm sure I'll be teasing him about this for years to come.

Sunday dinner at Grandpa's

Reunited with the Johnson's once again.  These boys are too cute when they're together

We were finally able to be there in person for the monthly FHE instead of calling in on conference call like we usually do

Lagoon!

Parker riding his first roller coaster.  He loved it!  Landon was a puddle of tears and drama the whole time. 

Cooling off on Rattle Snake Rapids

Swig!

The Cannibal coaster (my boys are pretending to be cannibals)

These boys are Nerf gun obsessed

We squeezed in a visit to the cemetery before camping

 A couple days later we headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon to camp for three days with my family and Randy was able to join us for that.  It was a beautiful campground with lots of trees and a big stream running through it which made for heavenly sleeping at night.  Camping so close to home meant the husbands could come and go as work required and we could still all be together which was the first time the entire family has been together in almost five years.  Five years!  That's a long time.  We hiked, ate good food, relaxed, ate good food, played games and made countless friendship bracelets, ate good food, and went to the aquarium where we ate good food.

decorating cupcakes for Sage's birthday

Campfire fun each night ended with glow sticks but those pics never turn out.  The adults have as much fun watching the kids run around with them as the kids do wearing them

The aquarium

Sharks!

The playground was fun for all

Nerds going to the 4-D movie

Someone woke up extra early to catch a flight to Utah

These huge rocks at our campsite were a favorite pastime for the boys

Falling asleep to the sound of this water each night was heavenly

Another pirate adventure in the books!

Hiking to Cecret Lake

hiking with hungry kids is soooo fun...

Max is a hula hooping machine

An epic water balloon fight with colored water balloons

We rock climbed at Lisa Falls.  Our kids climbed all over it and luckily none were hurt.  The following morning a little boy fell and died here.

Randy hiked up to the top with the boys

We came home dirty and tired but pulled ourselves together for a quick swim in the Farmington pool so Landon could show Randy his new accomplishment of jumping off the high dive.  We made it home in record time the next day, not stopping for anything but gas and food per Randy's request and now we are back to the busy end-of-summer schedules with sports starting up, and school preparations.  Life is good!