The wrap up...for now.

As I sit here in the early A.M.,  I thought I would finish off (in no particular order) our Utah trip in pictures. With some tag line stories to accompany them. Because who wants to look at a picture of people and not know what the heck is going on in the photo? Not me, that's for sure!

On with the show.

Ever since I can remember, I've been telling our children about this magical place called Lagoon. It was a place that my parents would take my sibs and I when we were younger to get the thrill of our lives. And in my teens, it was a place to go and hang out with my friends and get boys' phone numbers. It was magical and thrilling, I tell you. We had decided that this would be the year to take our own children there and take them we did. Of course, I had to lay the law down about gathering phone numbers. They were only allowed to get one each. And only if the person they were getting digits from was older than 79. And that 79 year old had better only be giving my children their phone number because they ordered a woolen hat and footies from said 79 year old and the reason for the phone number would be so my children could collect their woolly goods. There was, however, no limit on the thrill factor. Thrill it up, I say.

Now. Laynee is the one that I was worried about when it came to being thrilled. She does not like to be surprised; she does not like to venture from her routine; she is not happy when she does scary new things. But it must have been the happiness she saw on the faces of her older bro and sis that changed all that for her because she could not get enough of the kiddie rides! At one point I thought she would call it quits because I couldn't go on a ride with her, what with my ginormous size and all, but when I suggested she ride with the little girl in line behind her, she was all, "And who are you, lady? Mom? I don't need a mom. I'm all big 'n stuff now."

I know. You hardly recognize her with her hair all done cute. She refuses to let me touch it or do anything with it, but when it comes to her Aunt Tamara doing her hair, she turns into a salon beauty.

Cass and Corrine riding some eggshell ride.

Poor Corrinnee girl. She got a mosquito bite on her cheek the day before and it swelled  up so badly that the whole left side of her face was puffy. Her left eye was swollen shut. But she's a trooper and with a little Benadryl, she was a happy camper nevertheless.

Now. Not only did Laynee become Miss Venture-Outside-My-Comfort-Zone that day, she rode her favorite rides over and over and over. And over again. And everyone in our little group rode Laynee's favorite rides with her at least twice. Sometimes more. She was one happy 4 year old, I tell you what.

Wow. I never realized that Hunter looks like me. Kind of a lot. At least that's my opinion.

Swiiiiiings!

There is a reason this picture is larger than the rest. See that yellow boat thing right under the waterfall? That boat holds Tamara, Hunter, Corrine and Cass. Tamara is the one who looks like she's puking off the side. Haha!

Soaked.

Still soaked. But happy.

Peek-a-boo Laynee Loo!

Hi Tammy Poo!

Don't I have the most beautiful family?

Seriously. When I was telling some of our friends before we left for Utah, that we had 2 babies born, one on each side of the family, and that that would be the main reason for our travel plans, she responded like so: "Well I'm glad it's you guys reproducing. I've seen pictures of your families and all of them are beautiful people."

I couldn't agree more.

Oh my goodness. This picture makes me laugh. So hard.

Since we all got soaked to the bone on Rattlesnake Rapids, the girls wanted to change. We weren't near a restroom so we found this little alcove in Frontiervilleland, or something, and we made a wall so the girls could change. Cass was a quick change artist and finished first. Then it was Corrine's turn, and when some passersby came along, we all just stared off into space and did not crack a smile. The mom of the passersby group said, "You guys should take a picture!" She had no idea what we were doing but she played along and took our picture for us. I promise, we all laughed so hard afterward!

Hunter, the awesome big brother that he is, took The Bug on the Carousel like, 9 times in a row.

While they were carousel-ing, Cass and Roo went on the Roller Coaster like, 9 times in a row.

Swan Lake-ah!

Winding down time. We were getting tired. But we were still smiling. Mainly because I love Tam. And she loves me. And we are a happy fam-i-ly.

S-T-R-E-T-C-H. Ahhhhhh. Felt so good.

Back at Tamarita's house we broke out the instruments and jammed a little. Hunter had been working on a song for Grandma for her birthday and he played it for her and did an ah-MAZING job at it. That boy has musical skills that wow me everyday. All our kids do, actually. And Dave. Dude can pick up any instrument and make it sing. This night it was the ukulele. A treat, it was, to hear them play.

Folks. This is my Auntie Lulu. She resides in beautiful St. George. I went with my mama down there for her work retreat, (which, by the way, was SO. MUCH. FUN. and relaxing. No kids. Just me and Mom.) we made a quick stop at her office. You guys, I had not seen my Aunt Linda since my grandma died. Ten years ago. TEN YEARS. Not cool. Not cool at all. I love her! And when I was looking at this picture in the car just after leaving her office, I got all teary eyed thinking about how long it would be before we would see each other again.

But do you notice something? I never realized how much we look alike! It's...uncanny.

And baby Lincoln. Mmmmmm. I miss this little man. More than words.

All the boys in mi familia.

Of course we must minus my main squeeze and Manda Panda's as well. But didn't I tell you he was there in spirit? Remember my Michael shirt?

Baby Tay isn't a baby anymore. At least not in the technical sense. We still call her Baby Tay, though. She is the yummiest!

We attended a BBQ in honor of my Uncle Glen's birthday. This photo is of his sweet wifey Diana, and little Jack. He is my cousin Val's little man. And boy is he smart! My kids still talk about it.

"Jack! What's 8 x 8?"

"64."

"Jack! What's 1087 + 13?"

"1100."

I promise. He really is that smart. And he's only 5. (I think!)

Look at these handsome men. I bet you're jealous that they don't belong to you.

L to R: Uncle Ron, My Pa, Uncle Glen.

My dad is the oldest, then Ron, then Glen. There are a few more brothers and two more sisters thrown in there somewhere, too.

Hey look. It's all of my siblings. I must agree with my friend. We are a good looking bunch, aren't we? Well...that chick in the grey shirt on the far right just over Scotty's shoulder is a little...let's just say she's got a sweet spirit.

I'm so glad we got to visit with Michael's grandpa, Tata, on this trip. He is always so sweet and fun to visit. Laynee loves saying his name. She asks me all the time when we will get to see her Tata again. Awwww.

I smoosh her.

Bicky became an instant playground and Laynee's favorite non-Lagoon ride.

Me and Tam jamming on our banjos. Bile 'em Cabbage Down chicas!

And how awesome is this?

 I knew that my own grandparents were buried in the same cemetery, and in sort of the same general vicinity as Michael's grandma; I just didn't know exactly where. So when we went to visit Nani's grave, I thought it would be nice to try to find their headstone. I looked and looked, but couldn't find it. I gave up and thought, "Oh, I'll just try to come back with Mom sometime."

Well...Ana Mom went back to the car to get her camera and as she is doing so, she casually glances down at the headstones around her and lo and behold, she found my Oma and Opa's headstone. Not even 20 feet from where we parked. And I was right; they are buried very close to Nani. It was so special to be able to visit ALL of our loved ones while in Utah. I didn't get to visit with my friends as much as I wanted to. Some I even missed out on completely (so sorry Brenda) but our time just went so quickly and before I knew it we were on the road home.

Next trip, I'll try to plan a little better so that there is more time. (Psh. If there is such a thing!)

We are so blessed to be counted as part of not only one, but two loving and beautiful and pretty amazing families. It was sad to leave, but it just makes our next visit that much more exciting to look forward to.