Fun with the Fisher's

We have some friends we met in Oceanside that were in our neighborhood who come to Park City every summer for 2 weeks.  They do lots of fun activities and we usually join them on a a couple of their outings.  The funny thing is that I met the parents right before we moved, so we've actually spent more time with them while we've been in Utah than we ever did when we lived in Oceanside.  They have two sons the same age as Brynn and Abby and a daughter the same age as Aaron.  I think they would love to have our girls marry their boys.  It's hilarious because every time we get together, the kids are as shy as can be and then once they warm up, they have so much fun together.  It should get interesting in the next few years to get together as they get older.  Haha!  They get a kick when they come to Utah County, they can't believe how young some of the mom's are and how many kids they haul around with them.  I think Park City feels more at home for them, but Utah County is a whole different world.

Park City with the Fisher's and Johnson's

We joined up with the Fisher's again and this time the Johnson twins, Alexus and Jordan were there with their mom. We spent the whole day at Park City Mountain Resort playing on the Alpine Slide, Coaster, miniature golfing and doing all of the fun activities there. When the activities closed at 8 p.m. we took the bus to main street to have pizza at the Red Banjo. Afterward, we went out for ice cream and missed the last bus back to the resort. We had to find taxi's for 14 of us. It made for a late night getting home, but the kids loved being with their friends again.

Isaac loved the slide, Aaron was pretty cautious about it, and kept telling Lisa to go slower, but Isaac kept telling me, "Go faster! Go faster!"

Thanksgiving Point with the Fisher's and Gibson's

Some of our neighborhood friends from Arrowood come to Park City for 2 weeks every summer. We met up with them on a few days of their trip. On the first day we met at Thanksgiving Point. We started out at the Children's Gardens, then headed to Farm Country, had lunch at the deli, hit the Dinosaur Museum and then finished off the day with ice cream. It was a fun-filled day for everyone. We had 11 kids, 2 dads, 3 moms and 1 nanny to help keep track of all of them. Everyone was constantly counting to make sure we had everyone. It was great to be with everyone.

Annie's Surprise

One of Brynn's best friends from Woodland happened to be passing through Utah on her way home from a cross-country road trip. Annie's mom didn't tell her that we were going to meet each other. The look on Annie's face when Brynn walked into the ice cream shop was priceless! It was so much fun catching up with the Koontz family.

Summer Utah Trip: Friends

A few years ago, while Joseph was studying for the Utah Bar and then while he was doing his AIT training, we lived with my parents in Utah. Joseph had just finished law school, I had just given birth to my third baby, we had moved a couple of states away and my husband was gone alot preparing for the bar. It was a huge transition time for me. I was leaving friends, activities and independence that I loved in Spokane and moving into my parent's home and ward with few young families.

Laura was my life-saver. She lives in my parent's ward and at that time she had also just had her 3rd baby. We planned playdates a few times a week and had lots of fun visiting with each other. Laura has been such a great friend and example to me. She is an awesome wife and mom to her now four boys and one of the best people I have ever met. She is so down to earth, genuine and good. We always try to get the kids together when we visit Utah. They always pick up just where they left off. We're still waiting for that awkward opposite gender stuff to happen with our four oldest, but so far, the kids just have fun.

Hello Summer!

Our neighbors/friends in the culdesac a few houses up the street invited us for a school's out bash. We're looking forward to spending some beach days with them each week this summer too. Everyone had a great time. Their culdesac bought a bounce house when they all moved in to share between all of them and they've put it to great use. The kids danced, bounced, sang, rode scooters, ate dinner, dessert, and played some more. We started partying at 4:30 and about 9:30 we had to drag our kids home while things were still going strong. They were filthy, but so happy.

On Saturday night after our trip to Costco we stopped at the beach to eat pizza and let Brynn and Abby try out their new boogie boards. It was so fun to watch them ride the waves. We're excited for a fun summer!

Isaac and Mom's footprints. :)

Sisters

Things are more smooth sailing now. No more hives...the new routine is becoming second nature. We even talked Brynn into eating school lunch this week. Abby, on the other hand, thinks school lunch is the greatest thing since headbands. This week while I was doing the girls' hair, the conversation went like this...

Brynn: I'm just nervous to eat school lunch because I don't have a card and I don't know my number.

Abby: Oh, Brynn it's easy, you just walk up to the lunch lady and say, "Hi, I'm new and I don't have a card, my name is Brynn Lee." Got it Brynn, okay let's practice....

After about 20 minutes of walking her through it, Abby had successfully calmed the nerves of her older sister.

The best part was in the car after school. The second Brynn got in the car, Abby said, "Brynn, how did it go with the lunch lady today?"

I love that that they genuinely care about each other. (It makes up for the fighting that also occurs.) Having these two girls so close together has been such a gift. Especially because moving and change have been a part of our lives so far and probably will continue to be for the next few years. I am so grateful that when they were sent to our family a built-in best friend was part of the deal.

The Farewell Tour ~ FACES of Woodland (some of them)

Our last week in Woodland, we were able to say good-bye to many of the faces we love. So many people were so kind to help out with caring for our kids and visiting us right up until we left. It was so nice to connect with everyone before we left. I knew saying good-bye to Great Day would be hard. The women there are angels. I am so grateful for our experience there.

I took Brynn and a couple of her school friends out for ice cream after school. We will miss them.

Nikki watched the boys one day and Abby protested that she didn't get to go, so Nikki agreed to take Abby and Aaron a second day. It was great for the kids to be able to have one last play date.

M&M came to say good-bye to us at the hotel the night before we pulled out. The girls loved sharing a cookie from the lobby and showing them our room. I loved visiting with Jen. She lived right up the street from us and has been a great friend to me since we moved to Woodland. I also served as her first counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. We will really miss their family.