Home Again! Home Again!

I flew home on Monday, the 14th.  Steve had arrived back from Alaska and Jen, Taylor, Will & June arrived from Shanghai a few hours before me.  I was happy that they waited to say "hello" before they drove up to CV.  Steve was off again so in the middle of the week I took a day from catching up and drove up to CV since Tay's family and Tif and Abigail were all hanging out there.

We decided to take a morning hike in the canyon nearby.  It was so great to just enjoy nature including it's insects, rocks and all.  Hilary and her kids joined us.  That seemed to make it even more fun to throw rocks into the small canyon stream.

After lunch, Will, Abigail, Jenna and Korinne volunteered to do some special errands with Tiffany and me.  Our first stop was Pepperidge Farm.  The kids loved the samples.  Our second stop was The Fat Boy ice-cream shop.  Everyone had their favorite ice cream bar.  We didn't buy any seconds to take home.  Freezer is too full.

In between, the kids were having a ball running around and playing together.  Ah, Cousins!

That evening there was a BBQ and free swim sponsored by Britton's  soccer league.  Everyone seemed to enjoy this evening.  The aquatic center is huge with a very large area that is less than 3 ft deep.  There are also some really big slides which Will went down right away without any assistance.

Later that week, Tay and Jen drove down for a friend's son's birthday party.  Afterr having dinner with Jen's folks, they stopped by to visit.  The kids played with bubbles and ran through the sprinklers.  Each little opportunity strengthens our bonds with the little ones.

Friday afternoon on the 18th we drove to Provo to have dinner with our long time friends, Dick & Kathi after they finished a week of instruction at the MTC.  They will serve a year long mission in Louisiana managing a Bishop's Storehouse.  They have been serving a few days a week in their local storehouse.  How comfortable to serve much of your mission in jeans.  It was so amazing to visit with them and catch up.  It's been years since we've seen them and it seemed just like yesterday.  They certainly don't look like "Sr." missionaries. Dick & Kathi are such dear friends.  We love having them still be our "brothers" in the gospel.

We drove up to CV that evening.  They next morning we spent with the kids and then I drove back to SL for lunch with some of my Jr high school friends.  We really enjoyed our visit.  I haven't seen these friends since college over thirty years ago.  What a weekend of connecting with long time friends!

Left to right are Pat H, Carolyn S., Kristen K, Tawnya R, and Becky P.   Becky was my college roomie for two years.  I promptly drove back to CV to spend more time with the kids.  Saturday evening we attended the stake 24th of July Pioneer celebration. Tif and Abigail, Jen, Taylor, Will, and June and Hilary's family all participated. It was definitely a jam packed weekend.  What else is new?

On Monday, Steve flew to Hawaii and Jackie drove down from ID.  Tay &;Jen drove up to ID to visit Heather's family.  Tiff and Abigail joined me so Tif could work on my endless client files.  We managed to slip in a pedicure and a trip to Jana's salon  It's been months since I had the thick, rough skin removed from my feet.  I love pedicures!

Abigail got a perm from our favorite stylist, Jana.  She was very good to endure so much sitting still.

This was the dinner I fixed the first night Jackie visited.  It was interesting to cook with Tif on a low-carb eating plan and Jackie on a high-carb plan.  I fixed chicken and lots of veggies and salad.

Tif, Abigail and I pose with our new hairdos.  Jana makes us look pretty spiffy!

The real reason for Jackie's visit was to attend a birthday lunch for my brother, Greg on the 23rd.  Our waitress was kind enough to take the picture.  Too bad you can barely see my brothers, Greg and Steve.

When Jackie departed for ID, Tif, Abigail and I left for CV.  We decided to spend the 24th in CV.

Here we are at the local parade.  Once again, there was a lot of candy so the kids thought it was marvelous.

We went to the local park for a few activities afterward.  Face painting was one that Abigail enjoyed. The playground was nearby so we hung out there for a bit too.  Everyone watched fireworks from our deck except me.  I watched them explode all along the freeway most of the way back to SL.  I had work to do the next day.

Here are Korinne, Jenna and Abigail practicing their princess parade waves in the back of the pickup.  They played this for quite awhile.  It was hysterical.

One of the things Will really wanted to do at Grandpa and Grandma's was to shave the grass with grandpa.  That is how he described mowing the lawn.

Saturday morning, Hilary, Jen and Taylor participated in a 66 mile bicycle ride.  We were watching the kids so we decided to take them to the local Farmer's Market.  As I was looking for a parking space, the kids started yelling, "Mom, Dad,".  The finish line was at the pavilion across the parking lot from the farm market.  I had no idea.  It turned out to be a fun reunion of sorts.  Once again, the kids got to play at the park while the adults ate and visited after their ride.

That afternoon, Tif, Abigail and I, drove back to SL for a mini reunion with the K/T clan and Great Grandma Ann at Raylene's pool.  Taylor and Jen stopped by too on their way to PC.  It was fun to catch up with some of those siblings and cousins.