...But keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold

One of my favorite things during our trip to Utah was the chance to catch up with some old friends. One of my favorite people is my old roommate Carol. We roomed together in Fugal hall her freshman year (my sophomore when I was an RA). That was a fabulous year, so many good times! Here is us so long ago. Carol is in on the bottom left.

We are ever so much older and wiser now. She got married two years ago to a very nice, very fun guy named Mike and they have a beautiful baby girl, Ellie. I went to visit them and it was so much fun to catch up.

Me with Ellie. She liked me lots, really! I even got her to sleep.

8 years later and still friends.

Later we drove out to Eagle Mountain to see our friends Blaine and Heather-they moved away from VA at the exact same time we did. We were super close with them in Virginia. We did tons together, but somehow that didn't translate into pictures though because I had a hard time finding them amongst my photos. Heather is the one second from the far right (sorry Blaine.)

They have a beautiful house and an even more beautiful baby boy, Will. He was brand new and I got to hold him the whole time we were there. We also had the chance to hear their wonderful and miraculous adoption story. It was wonderful.

Samantha was taking the photo so it wasn't great quality. But we are all together again. Each with a new baby (but mine was almost 2) since the last time we saw each other.

It really makes me miss old times, but I'm glad that we are still friends!

Oh what do you do in the Summertime....when all the world is green

One of my favorite parts of leaving Arizona and taking off for huge amounts of time in the summer is that it is cool and other places are much more green! I love Utah summers because of the mild nights and general weather. We enjoyed our time there immensely. Here are a few pictures of things we did in between the two tail ends of family reunions.

My family was up there before my mom's family reunion so I got to see them even though I was in the wrong state for it. Here we are at Bridal Veil falls in Provo Canyon. We had fun splashing in the water.

My mom took us to this fun place called Pirate Island in Orem. It's like a slightly more upscale Chuck E. Cheeses.

Look at my mean sister abusing me with that pirate sword.

Argh and ahoy mateys.

Maria (Tom's sister) and her family were up there as well. I got to meet sweet, darling little Juliet who was just 1 month old. They had her blessing day while we were there.

Generally my kids just had the time of their lives with their cousins.

Other things not pictured were lots of eating, lots of shopping, sewing (even me!), Parade of Homes and oh yeah-getting the stomach flu first things upon arriving (I blame the church nursery) and passing it around to absolutely everyone we came in contact with. I'm sure they were really pleased with us!

Sure grown out of her baby ways....happy birthday to you!

Eliza is two! I can't get enough of this girl, really. She is the typical laid-back, easy-going third child. She is so fun! It was hard having her so close to Tommy but now I really love how close in age they are and how much fun they have together.

Her birthday was extremely low-key. In fact, we didn't even celebrate on her birthday because I had church responsibilities and Tom ended up having to work until really late that evening. She didn't care or notice. She got cake and presents the next day and loved it. She has been bringing me candles every day and asking me to sing her happy birthday. So cute!

And now a tribute in pictures to my little Eliza Delee:

The Whole Fam Damily

Back in the middle of July we left for a super long 3 week vacation to Utah. Actually, the first part of trip was in Albion ID for Tom's family reunion. It was seriously an awesome reunion. I loved the location, the weather, the fun things the committee planned. The kids had a fabulous time. I felt like it was perfect. There are so many pictures that I will tell as I go:

Because it was further away than usual not as many young marrieds came. There were only 8 great-grandchildren there for most of the week, three of which were my children. The older cousins were SO NICE to them and played and interacted with them a ton. I loved it-and so did they!

These bikes were part of the package of the place we were staying. They were a huge hit-tricky to get the hang of for a minute or two and then so much fun. Called banana bikes I guess?

Eliza's blankie obsession didn't stop just because we were in another state.

Grandpa playing catch with his grandkids that attended.

This picture is precious to me. Since living in AZ Tom's grandmother has really done so much and connected so well with my kids. I'm grateful we live close to her.

While we were there Daniel (closest AZ cousin to us) got his mission call. He was called to serve in Uruguay. We were excited for him! Daniel is the one in the middle.

There was also an inflatable slide that the kids loved (with water and without).

I'm trying to kiss attack Eliza. Look at her face :)

We went to a nearby lake way, WAY up in the mountains. We puttered around in a motorboat and even more fun-threw rocks into the river!!

Part of the family olympics the next day. Cool action shot right?

And the shirts!

We went to a nearby place (the only attraction in Albion, ID) called City of Rocks. It's a lot like what the name implies. Samantha was nervous but Tommy had the time of his life climbing up on all the high rocks.

An example-but there were things like this for miles and miles. We just climbed on a few.

I got a huge kick out of this-Tommy was obsessed with these fake binoculars. I don't even think they are turned the right way but it's the thought that counts.

Cousins!!

Look at Eliza trying to kick the ball-I love that girl!!

There was a family talent show and our specific family had Emma and Samantha represent us. They did Miley Cyrus Hoedown throw down. Everyone joined in, super cute.

I know that not everyone feels this way but I love family reunions-they are one of my favorite summer activities!