.back up (finale)

We went to the Tracy Aviary with my sisters Elisa and Heather (and her 3 boys Cayden, Sam and Max)

Those little boys are so funny! Sam insisted on pushing Max in the stroller the whole time until I took him out of to carry him and let him walk around. Then he lost interest.

It was a beautiful day to look at the birds!

It looks like Heather and me were both on the phone, but I was just playing with my ear or something? Max is pointing at the pink flamingos

Family party on Mothers Day

My Mom’s favorite flowers in the world are lilacs. Always have been. Whenever I see lilacs I think of her.

It was so awesome to finally be with her on Mother’s Day again…

Oh, and the men cooked the meal. Air made stuffed potatoes!

*Gabe and Sam were playing a little game called “this ball is my baby”

On our last day there we went back down to Provo to visit Jesse and Lauren again and meet newborn Claire!

We all ate the best breakfast ever at Joe’s Cafe in Orem!

Joe wanted to get a picture for the collection on his wall.

*Air’s holding something called “Slap Ya Mama”--Joe’s secret ingredient?

Jesse and Lauren are adorable with their two little girls.

Good luck in Seattle you guys!

And then we drove back to Canada in one day. Whoa, that was one long day!

We saw this craziness:

There are still so many more things we did but didn’t take pictures of… We spent a lot of time with Nichole and Joel, visited my Ellis cousins, went to my nephew Gordon's Mario birthday party, saw some movies, and hung out with my brother Seth and his wife Linda... Boy, we were so busy!

I just want to say how happy I was to hear that you guys all read my blog. I love to keep in touch with the people I love, and ever since I moved to Chicago five years ago I've wondered if anyone back home cares that I'm gone or misses me as much as I miss them. So, thanks for caring guys! I care about you too. A lot.

Oh, ...I also discovered that a few of my own siblings haven't even glanced at my blog! Disowned!

Alright, not really. I can't help but love them anyway.

.back up (part 2)

*Gwen, Jason and baby Ian standing on their land

We were invited to go to FHE at my sister Gwen’s house. I just had one request: that they take us to see their recently purchased land in Lake Point next to my brother Tyler’s land.

That’s right. My brother's and sister’s families are going to be building houses next door to each other!

How cool is that??
I think I can safely say that their kids are ecstatic! And sooo cute.

We spent a lot of time with my friends Nichole and Niki while we were down there. Niki just had a baby a few months ago. She is just so beautiful!

Hogle Zoo was on the schedule the next day! I hadn’t been there in so long… To be honest, it’s not as great of a zoo as I remembered it being when I was younger… strange.

We still had a lot of fun though! We got to go with Niki’s family, my sister Linda and two of my cute little nephews, Ellis and Gordon!

We went rollerblading with my sister Elisa. We love rollerblading. It was a little cold that day so we didn’t get too far, sadly.

And after looking at these pictures I’m coming to terms with the fact that I look pretty terrible when I’m squinting in sunlight. Gotta stop doing that! haha

more to come…

.back up

We've been parking right here for the past two weeks. In front of my parent’s home in Utah.

But now we're back in Canada. Weird. Sometimes it feels so strange to suddenly be so far away from those people and places again. And then to go so long before seeing them all. I guess its all part of moving away. Every time I go back it seems like more and more people I love have left too. And I get to see less and less of you guys.

Why can't we all just live in one little neighborhood together?


Here's the first installment of our adventures there:

We drove down. We always do. It only takes 16 hours or so… no big deal right? Besides, it's a beautiful drive!



We made it there just in time for my Mom’s birthday! We got to go out for lunch to her favorite restaurant, Souper Salad. One of Air's new faves too.


…later that night we went to our favorite restaurant with some friends in Provo. Sushi Ya!

After sushi we went home with Jesse, Lauren and their little girl Abby to hang out.
That's Lauren sitting to the right, just days before she had a cute little baby girl!

After church on Sunday we went to visit all of my grandparents at their homes.

First we ate dinner at my Ellis grandparent’s. My Grandma Ellis is probably THE best cook in the world by the way.

Look at how awesome they are!

And then we went up to Salt Lake to my Grandma Leary’s house.

My Grandma Leary is so cute.

This was Air’s first time there (crazy) so I took him on a ‘tour’ of her awesome home. A home that I’ve always been very fond of.



My Grandma told us something that I didn't really know. Apparently my Grandpa Leary (who passed away about 7 years ago) built their home with his own hands when they were young and raising their kids. My Dad grew up in this home too.
Boy, they don't make houses like they used to. I sure do love little old quirky houses! So much!


Woah, this is only covering the first four days of our trip! Can you believe it!

More to come...

.Mother’s Day Post

I would like to take a break from my vacation for this Mother’s Day in the year of our Lord 2010, to show off some of my blessings.

My amazing Mother

My beautiful Mother-in-law

My lovely Father’s Mother and Mother’s Mother

And the sweet Mother of my Mother-in-law

How blessed I am for having so many Mothers!

I love them all so much.

And I know they love me too because they’ve all taken such good care of me.

…where would I be…

Seriously though. Where?

.