My Relatives!

I just had to include this picture on my blog because I love the family connection.  Erin (the one by me) moved into our ward in Omaha and one day we were chatting at the zoo and realized (from her mentioning a Peterson family reunion in Canada) that we are related!!!  Her Great grandma is my grandma Fay's sister.  In this picture is Erin, her mom and her grandma who was my grandmas neice.  Cool.  These were some neat ladies that I am proud to be related to.

So glad when Daddy comes home

Kevin's been living in Texas while we are here in Papillion and its been sad to be apart.  He flew home for the weekend and we went to the airport to pick him up.  On the car ride home Emmitt said:
"Dad, I thought you was at Texas but you were at the airport!"

We all had a good laugh at that and a great weekend with our beloved daddy.

Utah Family Reunion

So amidst the business of selling our house and moving, along came our family reunion in Utah.  I knew we could not miss it despite our move because its just so important for the kids to spend time with their cousins, so with Kevin off to start his new job in Texas, I loaded up the kids and drove to Utah.  The trip went really well.  My kids were great.  They are all at such a great stage now that things like this are possible.
We stayed at a lodge called the Cliff at Snowbird.  It was really nice.  The only sad part was that Scott and Jeff and Jenn and Co. were not able to make it.  But it was just a beautiful location and we had lots of rooms all next to each other so my kids just had a great time visiting with their cousins and I had a great time with the Grigors and my parents.

Heres some pictures of a hike we "attempted"  It was primarily unsuccessful because of Emmitt.  He wanted to throw rocks, not walk, so it was a very short hike.

We spent a fun day at Trafalga (or Seven Peaks Fun Center as they now call it)

For the July 4th weekend Kevin flew out.  We spent that special day at the resort enjoying the cool activities there.  We did the gondola, rode the mountain coaster, the alpine slide, the mountain flyer, the ropes course, the rockwall, and rode the chair lifts.  It was a fun day!

When we got to the top of the mountain on the chairlift, we found snow.  How often do you get to play in the snow on the fourth of July!  There was snowball fights and the older boys even slid down the hill on their stomachs.  The snow was a hit!

And we celebrated Kevins birthday with some cupcakes.  Emmitt and Sadie were loving putting the candles in.

We had the special opportunity to take Brayden to do baptisms at the temple for the first time.  It was great for him to be there with both his parents and his cousins.  We were at the Oquirrh Mountain temple which and it was lovely.

On Sunday, the crew went to Temple Square and took this beautiful picture that I love.  (I was sick so I didnt make it there) Notice how cute Emmitt and Sadie are looking at each other.  Those two had a good time together.

 

Sunday afternoon Grandpa organized a "Chopped" cooking competition for the grandkids.  They were divided into three teams -Makenna & Daniel, Brayden & Lucas, and Ben & Brielle.  They each had their own kitchens and were given the same mystery ingredients to concoct a special dish with.  Then the judges chose a winner.  The kids really got into it and we were so impressed with what cool kitchen creations they came up with.

And no trip to Utah would be complete without a trip to BYU.  The kids (and Kevin) raided the bookstore and then we went to eat at the creamery.  This was all after a day at seven peaks waterpark in Provo.  So we partied hard and lived it up.  We just love Utah/ Provo/ and BYU.

 On our very last day, we were visited by Ginger and Amy & co.  We had dinner and went for a swim.  Its always so fun to get together.  Im grateful for cousins!

After about 10 days of family togetherness, we had to make the drive back home.  We were having such a good time, the kids did not want to leave.  But luckily while we away, our house sold so the day after we got back, I left for house hunting in Texas.   And so our adventure continues...

Riding Bikes

The kids are having a lot of fun with their bikes this year.  Emmitt prefers to zoom around on his balance bike (with no wheels) but he also does pretty well on the bike with training wheels too.

Working away...

So Kevin started at Dr Pepper Snapple on June 30.  We thought it was pretty cool that they used this picture to introduce him.  Apparently its famous now around the office.

A Farewell Party

The Tolman family was kind enough to throw us a goodbye gathering with all our dear friends from the ward and the stake.  It was a very nice evening and a great chance to say goodbye to the great people we have known while we were here.

For Sale

It's been sad every time Ive put a house up for sale.  We spent longer here than anywhere yet in our married life so its especially hard to let go of this house.  So many great memories...