Silver Lake

Last Sunday a bunch of friends in our neighborhood thought it would be fun to head up to Silver Lake for a picnic and a little hike. It really was so much fun!  We got up there around 1:30 and ate lunch. 

Then the kids started to wander around and found a huge pile of snow to play in!  Luckily it was pretty warm outside even though there were still random piles of snow everywhere.

We started walking on the path around the lake.  There were quite a few of us!

 Leila liked her spot on Daddy's shoulders.

The kids spotted a chipmunk up in the tree!

Uh oh, snow on the path!  The kids loved it!  The people with strollers...not so much!

Here is a picture of all the kids.  I accidentally cut Austin out though!  He's in the stroller on the left!

And we had to get one with our cute family.  The lake was beautiful!

The kids saw lots of holes in the ground, and thought they were snake holes!  Then they started seeing little animals they wanted to chase up the hill.

We stopped for a minute to enjoy the view.

 Here are all the ladies who came.  The men wouldn't pose for a picture :(

Michelle, Erin, Lynette, Me, Lyndsey, Heather, and Jessi

 Iza and Leila enjoying their free ride around the lake. 

When we finished the "hike" we sat around and chatted for a while, then the ladies played spoons until we had to leave.  The kids played, and the hubbies sat around acting like they were watching the kids!  Except for Brock and Todd who were actually up playing with them!  JK.  Spoons was fun, but we agreed that next time it will be full contact spoons!  This was such a good idea, and such a fun way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 

Jace Gets the Game Ball!

At the end of each game, the coaches pick someone to give the game ball to.  Jace did so good at one of his last games that they decided to give it to him!  He had two great stops at pitcher, some plays at 3rd, and had two awesome hits!  It has really been so much fun to watch him get better at baseball each game this season.  Congratulations Jace!

Green Giants

Nixon played with the Green Giants for soccer again this season.  He had lots of fun running around chasing the kids, and the ball, and even kicking it every once in a while!  He was lots of fun to watch.  His last game was the day we left for Hawaii and I brought my camera to document, but it was totally dead.  My friend Jessi got some great pictures of him for me though. 

Next season starts all boys.  We're so sad these cute girls won't be on his team anymore! 

Mother's Day

We got home from Maui on Mother's Day around 11:00am.  We came home and all slept for about 3 and a half hours!  Perfect!  Then we went to Brenda and Steve's house for a delicious dinner and dessert.  I am so grateful to be a mother.  These three kids (and Brock) give me more joy than I ever thought I could imagine.  They make me so happy.  I am also so grateful for my mother.  She is the perfect example of what a mother should be.  And I just so happen to have the greatest mother in law ever!  She is one of the kindest people I know, and she loves my kids like I do!  I am so lucky!

Maui: Day 8, Our Last Day

On Saturday, our last day, we spent the morning packing and getting ready for 10:00 check out.  The hotel held our bags for us, so we were able to get one more full day of swimming and playing in.  I wanted a picture of us on our balcony, so Jace took one of me and Brock.  It's just a little dark :)

The kids loved playing on this playground all week.  They would swim until they got cold, and then play here until they got hot, and then swim, and then play.  It was so nice to have the playground right next to the pool.

After our morning swim at the pool with the slide, we all went to get some lunch at a Mexican place called Cilantros.  Then we headed back to the hotel for some more swimming.  Someone left this fun blow up alligator, and our kids had so much fun on it!

Those who had had enough of the sun and water hung around in the shade.

Dane and Annie had brought cute outfuts and wanted some pictures taken.  Again, I took about a million and tried to just pick a few.  I failed, there are a ton.

 

Leah

Bella

 Giada

 Aria

 Then Leah wanted me to take a picture of her in the middle of a cartwheel.

And Bella wanted me to take a picture of her hula dancing.  It's a little harder to capture!

When we had all had our fill of swimming and it was time to get ready to go, we all went to the hotel lounge and locker room.  They had showers and a big vanity to get ready, and the lounge had a tv and couches.  It was so nice not to have to get on the plane all gross!  As we were walking on the hotel grounds on our way out for the last time, Jace asked me to take a picture of him on the playground so that he would remember it.  He is so funny!

We left the hotel around 5:00, and headed to the airport to drop Nolan's family off.  Their flight left a couple of hours before ours did.  Then we went to dinner at Da Kitchen in Kahului, just a few minutes from the airport.  They had HUGE portions!  I got the fish and chips, and they were so so good!  I was so happy to finally have gotten my wish for delicious fish and chips!  There were three HUGE pieces of fish, and I had to stuff myself silly just to get two down!  So good though. 
We then headed to the airport where Julia found out that her 10:40pm flight had been changed to 9:40pm! She had to run to catch her flight!  Good thing we were early enough!  Not only that though, she was supposed to have a 45 minute layover in LAX and get in to SLC at 10:15am the next day, but they re routed her through Denver where she had a 3 hour layover, and didn't get in until 12:30pm!  Our flight left on time, and we got home around 10:30 on Sunday, Mother's Day.  I didn't get any pictures on the plane on our outbound flight, so I took a few on the return flight. I got to sit by Jace and Nixon, and Jace was asleep before the plane even took off. 

 Leila was lucky and got to sit between Justin and Daddy.

 The kids did really well.  Leila slept the whole way.  Jace tossed a little bit, but mostly slept.  Nixon had the hardest time getting and staying comfortable in his middle seat, but he mostly slept.  Leila was still asleep through the landing and deplaning.

 We had about an hour and a half in LAX before our next flight.  We tried to eat a little.  Here is everyone hanging out.

On the small plane to SLC we all sat right next to each other. 

 Leila thought it was fun to play with Granny.

 Jace liked sitting next to Grandpa.

 And I got to sit by Nixon again.

What a wonderful experience this was.  It is always so much fun to be with my family.  I love hanging out, talking, laughing, playing games, and just being with them.  We may never do this again on such a grand scale, but as long as we keep getting together, it won't matter where we are. As long as we're all together it will be a great time!