Summer Vacation - Utah

Warning: this post contains a mountain of pictures 

(and it seriously doesn't even cover all the great stuff we did 

while in Utah with my fam)

Grandma was granted her fondest birthday wish -
to have ALL her family gathered together

Girl outing to see a children's production of "Cinderella" at Hale Center Theater

My sister Linda's wedding was the driving force behind our trip.
Off to the temple!

Adam (my brother) and his son, Rafe. Handsome as can be.

Waiting for the Bride & Groom

The happy couple - Linda & Jared!

Another happy couple - Nate (my bro) and Kristine

Sisters

Wedding luncheon at . . . um . . . some nice restaurant I can't remember the name of.

 Wedding Reception

Lovely location - the kids ran around together all night long and had a ball

New children's museum at Thanksgiving Point
(too crowded for me, but the kiddos had fun)

Picnic at the park with the extended Walton family

On the way up to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon

Playing at the Falls - the kids hiked up really far

Family Night at Nate & Kristine's house

Got to visit with dear friends (and their chickens) from Delaware
who have recently moved to Utah

Ashlyn did preschool with these kids when they were all 3 years old

Open House for the Ogden Temple

Swimming at the Provo Rec Center -
seriously a good thing that we had a 6 to 10 adult to child ratio
(thanks for coming, Linda & Jared!)

Opening the Wedding Gifts (can't you just feel Jared's excitement?!)

Adam's kids were so exhausted they both fell asleep
during a 3 minute drive from Grandma's house to the park

Bocce Ball

Grillin' and Chillin'

Following around a random man with a metal detector
was the cousin's favorite activity at the park

Newly Remodeled Bean Museum at BYU
(not pictured here, but they Boyd K. Packer room is really cool,
if you get a chance to visit)

Still to come, pictures from our awesome "Despicable Me" movie party. :)
We LOVE vacation!!!

Summer Vacation - Oregon

FINALLY time to leave for vacation! We took an evening flight out of Austin, so the girls woke up and had to wait nearly all day before we could leave. 

Enjoying Austin crackers in Austin. :)

The plane is here! (By the way, it is a VERY bad idea to take McKell on an evening flight - unless you enjoy wrestling a crying, writhing, uncontrollable toddler in a confined space at midnight while seated next to a complete stranger.)

Huge bonus of our Oregon visit this year was the blessing of seeing Russ's aunt and uncle from Tennessee. We went to their home for Thanksgiving each of the 6 years we were in Delaware, but haven't seen them since we moved to Texas. We love you, Janet & Allen!!!

The reason they were in Oregon the same time we were was not a happy one - Russ's grandpa passed away a few weeks before our trip. We were very sad we didn't get to see him one last time, but grateful that his passing meant we did get to see all our family on the Burnett side.

A few of the many things we enjoyed about our visit to Oregon . . .

Playing the Piano

Discovering a Shared Love of Pottermore

Being Rewarded with Ice Cream after the Family Photo Shoot

The Tire Swing

The Hammock

Picking (and Eating) Blueberries

Family Dance Party

McKell Re-Discovered her Deep Love for her Papa

The Rocking Horse

Picking (and Eating) Peaches

Playing in the Water

and . . . Being Together with People we Adore  :)

Walton Cousins

It's only fair to do a post about the cousins on my side of the family now, right? (and then I'll finish up our summer vacation, then I'll post about McKell's birthday, and back to school, and by then it will probably be Halloween or something - good thing the kids are back in school now so I can catch up!)

After spending a week in Oregon, we went to Utah, where we got to see EVERYONE in my family, including the 6 cousins - Rebecca, Zach, Audrey, Eleanor, Lydia, and Rafe.

Here are some fun pics:

We had SO much fun with all our families - 

we wish we didn't live so far away. :(

TWO

   

And here are my other girls at 2 years old.

Who do you think McKell most resembles now?

Upgrade

Old

Purchased for us as a wedding gift from my parents in 2004.

New!!!

I'm so happy to finally have enough MATCHING seats 

at the dining table for our whole family.

The girls love our new table, too. :)