Summer Vacation
Warning: This Is Long! Just skip to the pictures if you like (:
Wow, where has my summer gone. Man, it's been a whirl wind.
Well, I won't kill anyone (or myself) by explaining every detail, but
hopefully I can summarize a lot of it without overwhelming.
It was a rough start to summer for our family. I couple days into it, I was running and had a huge biff on some gravel and sprained my ankle. It looked like a tennis ball and was so painful. I was pretty bummed out since I know how long sprains take to heal, and I had some fun summer plans ahead. Argh! I have sprained my ankle before many times, but I don't remembering going through something like this before. Could it be that I am just getting older? Hmm... I don't know, but my leg ached (especially at night for weeks.) After about six weeks it finally stopped making my leg ache, and now after nine weeks, I feel much much better, although it's still a little sore.
Well, then we had our water pipe break. Luckily, we didn't have water damage, but it cost us a pretty penny to get fixed. Then two days before we left to Utah, our red Mitsubishi broke down. We had to get it towed to a near by auto shop and prayed it wasn't the transmission.
Despite all of our set backs, we hopped on a plane to Utah. Brian with Tera, Shay and Ashtyn on one plane and Raegan and I on another plane (we only had four sky mile tickets, so Raeg and I bought the cheapest we could). The plane was great. Raegan was an angel and despite all our many delays (huge storms in the regions), we all made it safe and sound and crashed at 3:00 a.m.
Utah was awesome. I have forgotten how much I love it. It always makes me a little homesick to think of those big beautiful mountains, but I had also forgotten how dry it is everywhere. Was it really this yellow and dry before? I guess I've gotten used to the green. But, oh it felt good to be back. I have to say my heart is torn in two places now. Utah and Maryland will always be home to me.
First we stayed a few days with Brian's parents. Then we headed on up to Idaho to have a family reunion with my family in Emmett. It was themed the "Incredibles" and we even had matching shirts. Talk about a reunion though, it was amazing! We went white water rafting (where I flew off the raft into the rapids and literally thought I was going to die), some of us went on a three day hike, we went wave running at a nearby reservoir, had an awesome girls night out at a Thai restaurant, had some trivia games, guess who the person is games, and even did a fun craft where we sewed hand towels. It couldn't have been more fun and my kids were so excited to sleep in a tent with their cousins. We were all exhausted by the end.
All the Ashby cousins, don't they look Incredible??
So the next two weeks we spent at Brian's family's house. We had a great time. We hiked to Ensign peak one night, roasted smores, went the temple square to show our kids and just enjoyed talking and reacquainting with cousins.
Ensign Peak
Raegan was miserable though. She spent all of these two weeks getting over a nasty virus that she had caught. The last three days that we were there, she threw up for three days straight! We couldn't keep anything down her. When we finally were able to get some Pediatlite in her, she started to improve.
Brian had to go back to Maryland to work for a couple of weeks. We stayed with the Whipples for a couple more days and then headed down to my parent's house in Tooele. The girls were in heaven with their own bunk beds and room. They made us feel so welcome. We had a lot of fun. Hmmm.... let me think, this is what we did...
Played games. Yes, we played a lot of games, and my girls were loving that their grandma and grandpa would play with them.
Went fishing- Grandpa and Brian (when he returned) took the girls fishing one morning. Shay caught three fish, Tera one, and Ashtyn had a few nibbles.
Swimming- we went one afternoon swimming with my sister Erin and her cute kids. It was a blast and I was shocked that my girls went down the slide on their own!!!
Canyon- One evening we went and roasted hot dogs for dinner in the canyon. The kids weren't thrilled about all the bees around though.
Ammon and Liz's house- We went up to Ammon and Liz's new town house in Spanish Fork
Dawn and Ray's house- We also went to South Jordan to see my sister and her fiance's new house.
Thanksgiving Point- My parent's have a pass at the dinosaur museum. We had a great time trying to find our kids in the millions of other kids that were there that day (:
The Sandy Aquarium- where we saw an octopus, sea horses, lots of snakes, etc. etc..
Hale Theatre- We went with all my siblings and their spouses to the Curious Savage. This was where we first met Ray (my new bro. in law), then we went to Leatherbys afterward.
The day before my sister's wedding I took my girls to Tamara and Steve's (Brian's sister) house in Salt Lake so they could watch our kids while we went to the wedding for my sister the next day. I was supposed to pick Brian up at 10:30 that night, but it turned out his flight was delayed and he didn't get in until 3:30 the next morning. Ahh!! We were so tired, but so relieved that he made it since he had both of our temple recommends in his back pocket.
The next day we all (except the kids) headed up to the Manti temple and watched my sweet sister and her husband get sealed. It was very sweet and the spirit was strong. It was so wonderful to see all us (six kids) together with our spouses in the temple. Never before had this happened. I was so glad to be there.
My cute sisters, sister in laws, and mom
OH, I forgot to say, we even got to eat at Fat Jacks before the wedding. Fat Jacks is an awesome pizza place in Ephraim. We grew to love it when Bri and I went to Snow College years ago. Then, after all the pictures and the wedding luncheon, we headed on over to Snow college to take a look around. We had a good time reminiscing. Yes, this is where we first met (not first started dating mind you).
The reception was the next day and it was beautiful! It was held in a reception center in South Jordan. We spent the first part of the afternoon getting family pictures, and then changed and got wedding pictures. It was so good to be with my family again! It's been two years since we have been home and oh have I felt it!! The wedding and reception was perfect and I am so happy for my cute sister!!
Oh, and one of my favorite things that we got to do in Utah was when we got to see our good friends the Joni and Jeff and your cute kids, Julie and your family, and Lani and your family. We just wished we had more time (and better transportation) to see more people. Thanks guys for coming to see us, we sure miss you!
Okay, this is longer than I meant it to be. Well, we are now home and after a red eye flight for Bri and my girls. It's amazing how quickly we all recovered (oh except Brian has a major ear infection that just won't go away). We are slowly getting back into our routine and although I was happy to return to my home and things, I miss my family already. I guess that's when you know you had a good time...
Wow, where has my summer gone. Man, it's been a whirl wind.
Well, I won't kill anyone (or myself) by explaining every detail, but
hopefully I can summarize a lot of it without overwhelming.
It was a rough start to summer for our family. I couple days into it, I was running and had a huge biff on some gravel and sprained my ankle. It looked like a tennis ball and was so painful. I was pretty bummed out since I know how long sprains take to heal, and I had some fun summer plans ahead. Argh! I have sprained my ankle before many times, but I don't remembering going through something like this before. Could it be that I am just getting older? Hmm... I don't know, but my leg ached (especially at night for weeks.) After about six weeks it finally stopped making my leg ache, and now after nine weeks, I feel much much better, although it's still a little sore.
Well, then we had our water pipe break. Luckily, we didn't have water damage, but it cost us a pretty penny to get fixed. Then two days before we left to Utah, our red Mitsubishi broke down. We had to get it towed to a near by auto shop and prayed it wasn't the transmission.
Despite all of our set backs, we hopped on a plane to Utah. Brian with Tera, Shay and Ashtyn on one plane and Raegan and I on another plane (we only had four sky mile tickets, so Raeg and I bought the cheapest we could). The plane was great. Raegan was an angel and despite all our many delays (huge storms in the regions), we all made it safe and sound and crashed at 3:00 a.m.
Utah was awesome. I have forgotten how much I love it. It always makes me a little homesick to think of those big beautiful mountains, but I had also forgotten how dry it is everywhere. Was it really this yellow and dry before? I guess I've gotten used to the green. But, oh it felt good to be back. I have to say my heart is torn in two places now. Utah and Maryland will always be home to me.
First we stayed a few days with Brian's parents. Then we headed on up to Idaho to have a family reunion with my family in Emmett. It was themed the "Incredibles" and we even had matching shirts. Talk about a reunion though, it was amazing! We went white water rafting (where I flew off the raft into the rapids and literally thought I was going to die), some of us went on a three day hike, we went wave running at a nearby reservoir, had an awesome girls night out at a Thai restaurant, had some trivia games, guess who the person is games, and even did a fun craft where we sewed hand towels. It couldn't have been more fun and my kids were so excited to sleep in a tent with their cousins. We were all exhausted by the end.
All the Ashby cousins, don't they look Incredible??
So the next two weeks we spent at Brian's family's house. We had a great time. We hiked to Ensign peak one night, roasted smores, went the temple square to show our kids and just enjoyed talking and reacquainting with cousins.
Ensign Peak
Raegan was miserable though. She spent all of these two weeks getting over a nasty virus that she had caught. The last three days that we were there, she threw up for three days straight! We couldn't keep anything down her. When we finally were able to get some Pediatlite in her, she started to improve.
Brian had to go back to Maryland to work for a couple of weeks. We stayed with the Whipples for a couple more days and then headed down to my parent's house in Tooele. The girls were in heaven with their own bunk beds and room. They made us feel so welcome. We had a lot of fun. Hmmm.... let me think, this is what we did...
Played games. Yes, we played a lot of games, and my girls were loving that their grandma and grandpa would play with them.
Went fishing- Grandpa and Brian (when he returned) took the girls fishing one morning. Shay caught three fish, Tera one, and Ashtyn had a few nibbles.
Swimming- we went one afternoon swimming with my sister Erin and her cute kids. It was a blast and I was shocked that my girls went down the slide on their own!!!
Canyon- One evening we went and roasted hot dogs for dinner in the canyon. The kids weren't thrilled about all the bees around though.
Ammon and Liz's house- We went up to Ammon and Liz's new town house in Spanish Fork
Dawn and Ray's house- We also went to South Jordan to see my sister and her fiance's new house.
Thanksgiving Point- My parent's have a pass at the dinosaur museum. We had a great time trying to find our kids in the millions of other kids that were there that day (:
The Sandy Aquarium- where we saw an octopus, sea horses, lots of snakes, etc. etc..
Hale Theatre- We went with all my siblings and their spouses to the Curious Savage. This was where we first met Ray (my new bro. in law), then we went to Leatherbys afterward.
The day before my sister's wedding I took my girls to Tamara and Steve's (Brian's sister) house in Salt Lake so they could watch our kids while we went to the wedding for my sister the next day. I was supposed to pick Brian up at 10:30 that night, but it turned out his flight was delayed and he didn't get in until 3:30 the next morning. Ahh!! We were so tired, but so relieved that he made it since he had both of our temple recommends in his back pocket.
The next day we all (except the kids) headed up to the Manti temple and watched my sweet sister and her husband get sealed. It was very sweet and the spirit was strong. It was so wonderful to see all us (six kids) together with our spouses in the temple. Never before had this happened. I was so glad to be there.
My cute sisters, sister in laws, and mom
OH, I forgot to say, we even got to eat at Fat Jacks before the wedding. Fat Jacks is an awesome pizza place in Ephraim. We grew to love it when Bri and I went to Snow College years ago. Then, after all the pictures and the wedding luncheon, we headed on over to Snow college to take a look around. We had a good time reminiscing. Yes, this is where we first met (not first started dating mind you).
The reception was the next day and it was beautiful! It was held in a reception center in South Jordan. We spent the first part of the afternoon getting family pictures, and then changed and got wedding pictures. It was so good to be with my family again! It's been two years since we have been home and oh have I felt it!! The wedding and reception was perfect and I am so happy for my cute sister!!
Oh, and one of my favorite things that we got to do in Utah was when we got to see our good friends the Joni and Jeff and your cute kids, Julie and your family, and Lani and your family. We just wished we had more time (and better transportation) to see more people. Thanks guys for coming to see us, we sure miss you!
Okay, this is longer than I meant it to be. Well, we are now home and after a red eye flight for Bri and my girls. It's amazing how quickly we all recovered (oh except Brian has a major ear infection that just won't go away). We are slowly getting back into our routine and although I was happy to return to my home and things, I miss my family already. I guess that's when you know you had a good time...
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