Home again!

After spending three weeks out west we have returned and are trying to get back into our routine. The time difference has made it a bit of a challenge to get everybody back on schedule but we seem to be adjusting. Jeremiah cleaned and painted our room before the kids and I came back and we are still trying to decide the best placement for the furniture. Because our bedroom serves as a bedroom/office we have quite a bit of stuff to squeeze in it but I think we finally have a plan that will help us feel like we have more space.

All day yesterday was spend unpacking, reorganizing, cleaning, and packing once again. Michaela left this morning for girls camp after being home only two days from our trip. She was so excited this morning when I dropped her off at the church. Jeremiah and I are both a little nervous about having our oldest away from home. This will be the first time she has been away from us (other than being at grandparents houses).

Since being home several of the kids have told me how nice it is to be back home but at the same time they are sad they had to leave. We had a wonderful trip and got to see all of my family and almost all of Jeremiah's family. We missed seeing Ben, Jen, and Drew and hope we will get to see them next time we are out west.

I've tried to think of the best way to recap the last three weeks without it being a huge undertaking for me to keep up with. I think for memory sake I will just list some of the fun things we did and maybe throw in a few pictures too. As I'm sure you know, we came home with tons of photos on our camera and even more memories! We also came home with a few scars that will hopefully go away with time. Trevor and Abigail seem to get the award for the most interesting injuries and they both happened on the same day. I kept telling my kids that they must be having fun because every time I turned around somebody had fallen down and needed a band aid. I think Grandma's band aid supply is all gone!


Our first week out we spent with Jeremiah's family. Some of the things we enjoyed were:

Swimming--Lehi city pool is awesome. My kids call it the bucket pool.
Hanging out at Grammy and Grandpa Christensen's house

Grandma made molasses taffy

Grandpa made fudge

Fun times with cousins

Learning to play marbles

Picnics at various parks

I love it when my kids get along so well!

Exploring the Bean Museum

I don't think Emersynne was very impressed!

Trevor's favorite animal in the whole museum

Abigail liked looking at all the animals but she wasn't so sure about the bears.

Having Hula Hoop contests (Yes, I can still hula hoop!)
Going to the American Fork Temple with Grammy, Grandpa, Mom, and cousins

Hiking up to Timpanogos Cave

This was Natalie's first time and she was a trooper!

Going to the American Fork Steel Days Carnival

Abigail loved going on the little rides!

The twins Aaron and Trevor

Anthony and Chandler

And spending time as a family. We missed Ben, Jen, and Drew!