Bring on the Summer Vacay!!!

Can you think of a better way to start your vacation than with an abscess in your kids' mouth?  I can!  But, too bad, that's how we started our vacation!  We got up early and were loading up the car when Conner said, "Mom?  You know that bump in my mouth?  Well it is really big and hurts really bad!"  I looked in his mouth and this is what I saw!!! YIKES!

So, I shot a quick text to our friend/neighbor who is a dentist.  He said meet me at my office in 20 mins. and we'll see what we can do!  Yes folks, our dentist came at 7 am on a Saturday morning to take care of our kid.  He is pretty awesome.

We took an X-ray and saw we probably need to pull that tooth.  However, that would take some work.  So, he decided to just lance the bubble - and I got to be his assistant!!  It was soooo cool!  I decided if I ever need a job I want to be a professional abscess cleaner outer!

So, we got on our way finally a couple hours later and headed up to Bountiful.  But not before we had to take the detour over this bridge and stop for a picture!

We finally got to mom and dads that night, and had to continue tradition with a walk around the Bountiful temple on Sunday night!  I love the beautiful temple that you can see right from their front yard!

Then Monday, we took a "hike" up Mueller Park Canyon and had a cookout with Kyle and his family, and Jill came with the kids because Kelson was out of town.  My mom truly is a "mother nature" kinda lady.  She loves to look at rocks and plants and birds, etc.  I always hated that as a kid!  Too funny.  I sure appreciate that she likes to take her grandkids in nature and spend time with them though!  And honestly, my kids just loved being with their Forsgren cousins.  I feel bad we don't see them very much.  It is all Cook cousins here in AZ.  But, when we get together with the Forsgrens, it's like they've never been apart!  I wish I had more cousin interaction when I was young!  Oh well.

Lauren, Cassidy, Savannah, Conner, Matthew and Addi in front

A couple days later, we went with Kyle and Angi and their girls up to Snowbird resort and had a great time!  It is a winter ski resort, but in the summer they have fun things to go do as well! 

 

We rode on the Mountain Flyer - which is like a seated zip line which was super fun. 
We rode down their Alpine Slide several times which was super fun.

The kids jumped on the trampolines attached to ropes to do flips and stuff, also super fun!

Then we rode the tram to the top and had an amazing 360 degree view of the world.  Absolutely beautiful!

Then, I had some crazy, fun meetings happen while we were there!

I was at my favorite - Nielsen's Frozen Custard with my sweet little friend Jana.  And you can see, I mean little!!

 

All of a sudden, up walks my friend Karen!  Karen and I are friends from Mesa, but she moved to Texas like 5 years ago and I haven't kept up with her since!  But, here she was in Bountiful Utah at Nielsen's!  She just happened to be visiting and stopped in!  CRAZY!  How fun it was to run into her and get caught of up on her girls and their life!

 

THEN,  two days later we are at the "This is the Place" monument and park with our kids.  We walk up to the entrance, and I happen to see a guy who looks familiar and I can't place why!  Then, it hits me - that is Brent!  My good friend Jana's husband!  Then I look over, and there is my dear friend from college standing right there!!!  We keep up with Christmas cards and talk every 2-3 years, but I haven't seen her in a long time!!  They live in Michigan, and happened to be in town at the same place at the same time as me!!  I was freaking out!  It was soooo good to see them!

Nothing like running into good friends out of the blue!!

And we ran into yet another surprise when we were walking through the Wilkinson Center at BYU and Savannah saw her cousin Tanner sitting there eating with friends!  Wow! We are running into people everywhere!

It was a great trip home.  Next year I hope to actually meet up with some of my high school friends that I didn't have time to see this year dangit!  Or, I just may need that ski trip home this winter!

A little T-Swift!!

Alright, I can't help it, I really do love her!  Does that mean I'm still a teenager at heart?  I don't think so..... I just think I still remember teenage thoughts and feelings, and boy does she nail them on the head with her songs!!  I mean, who doesn't fall madly in love with someone who likes someone else and doesn't see you for the perfect girl for him that you are! ha!  Teenage angst - she spells it out so beautifully!

Kayla and I went to Taylor Swift 18 months ago.  Savannah had an absolute cow about how unfair it was that we were going and she didn't get to go.  I promised her the next time she came, I would take her.  I certainly didn't think she would be coming around again only 18 months later!! Geez!

True to my word, I got tix for us, and for my sister Kaelyn for her 40th birthday.  Then, the day before the concert, we found a ticket for her daughter Rachel, bought it for half of what I paid for ours, and had her just squeeze in with us at the concert. 

We had such a great time!!!

The girls before the show

Cute cousins!

Mothers of the year! :)

T-Swift RED concert

So, thank you Taylor Swift for telling stories and writing songs that take me back to the glorious teenage years that I would never want to live again, but wish I could so I could know then what I know now, you know???

A Wedding Fairy Tale ...

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Garrett Smith, who fell in love with a girl named Briana McClosky.  Somehow, some way, he got her to fall in love with him back, and they made the decision to get married for time and all eternity!.

But FIRST!  They had to have the family dinner at the beach the night before.  

The family had to brave the cold, and Briana had to brave:

The AUNTS and MOTHER IN LAW!!

The dreaded Uncle Lane and cousin Kayla!

   

The wedding day dawned bright and beautiful and actually quite perfect!  Everyone made it to the temple in time.... even early enough to snap a picture before we went in!

Then, after a long and somewhat, um..... boring and long.... sermon about ladders and who knows what, Garrett and Briana were able to say YES and get married for all eternity!

Then, after an eternity of waiting .... here came the happy and beautiful couple!!  (Quite frankly I think it is disgusting how beautiful these two are!!! ha!)
So, the princess and the prince will live happily ever after! 

The guests were asked to please wear black and white.  I was happy to oblige and go to Black House/White Market and get me something to wear! :)



Later that evening, we made the trek through the hills of Encinitas, CA to the top of a small mountian, where we found the most amazing and beautiful home with an amazing and beautiful backyard which overlooked the whole valley.  Oh boy Garrett - is this what you are marrying?  No, the house was simply owned by some friends of the family.  Yikes!! (One of whom happened to have the last name of Marriott if that rings a bell for anyone!)

I made Kayla pose for a picture with the beautiful backdrop behind!  Wow - what a place!

Beautiful back of the house

A full sit-down dinner, a fun program with some very sweet toasts and tributes, and then a fun night of dancing to finish the night!  We had a great time, and I hope they have a very happy and perfect life together with not a single trouble or problem!  ha!!!  Ahhh... young love ... so full of promise and hope.  May it never die for them.

Dance party!

Disney Princess dreams fulfilled!

 "Mommy am I a princess?  Mommy can I be a real princess?  Mommy, is she a real princess?"

Yes, it is the magical age of Disney Princesses for our sweet Addi.  What better time to take her to Disneyland then now? 

After quizzing me 100 times, and me subsequently lying to her 100 times, Addi was assured that these are the REAL princesses and they live there and talked to her!  (I will be forgiven later, right?)

Cinderella

Sleeping Beauty

Ariel

Yes, we finally took Addi to Disneyland for her first time!  I love experiencing it all through our children's eyes!  It is such a magical time and feeling for them.  Why do we have to grow up????

Getting ready for It's a Small World!

A fun trip with our cousins!!!!

Conner showing his boy power among all the Princesses!

We had a great and magical day - hitting all the rides we wanted to, some of them twice - spending wayyyy too much money on food and snacks - and pretending like we don't have a care in the world!

Graduations Galore!!

Wow, wow, wow. 

From the moment you give birth to your first precious child, you know some day they will grow up, graduate and move on to create their own wonderful life.  That's if you've done your job right and they've made good choices! :)

Well, this last week it was my turn to say, "Where did the time go?  Is this really my little girl?  How can it be that she is all grown up?"  Even as I type this, tears are starting down my face!!

I couldn't be prouder of her though.  Wednesday night we attended her Seminary Graduation where 2 of her favorite Seminary teachers were there, and then they all sang her favorite song ever - the EFY medley of As Sisters in Zion and Army of Helaman.   Kayla's good friend Abby was one of the speakers that night.  She spoke about how Seminary has helped her in her life and through her trials.

The spirit there was so great!  What a great group of kids!

Then, Thursday night we attended her High School Graduation.  She was 1 of over 600 graduates, 30% of whom graduated with Honors!  Kayla was one of them!!! :)

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Kayla and Chloe Richardson, her good friend, and future roommate up in Utah.  And of course, the awesome moms who raised them! :) 

After graduation, we drove through Arby's and grabbed her some dinner because it was 10:30 at night and nothing else was open!  She then took off with her friends to the all-night Grad party at the Bowling Alley.  There was food, dancing and raffle prizes.  They were just about to leave the party around 2 am, but they were doing the drawings for the "big" prizes, so they decided to stay and see who won those.  Good thing they did, because Kayla came home with a 32" flat screen TV!!!  Holy cow!!!  She will love having that at her apartment up at UVU!  I am so very excited for her future and what a beautiful young lady she has grown into.  She is talented, smart and really has her head on straight!  I love her so much!!

Speaking of loving so much, and graduations, we also celebrated my baby's graduation from Kindergarten on the same Thursday!!  Addi was so dang cute I could have eaten her up!  As they read each kid's name and had them come get their diploma, they told what the child wants to be when they grow up.  Addi said..... ROCK STAR!  Too funny!

Addi rocking the Laffy Taffy tassel!

So proud of our little Graduate! :)

Addi loved her teacher Mrs. Margerum

A very eventful few days.  So glad it is all over, but now the craziness of summer begins!  Heaven help me!!!