Home to Utah!
We headed to my home to spend time with my family. My sister drove with her family from Mississippi and my other sister Kristin and I came from California. We celebrated the 4th of July together. We also took advantage of being together to celebrate my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary. We made a movie of the grandkids answering questions about grandma and grandpa. It was fun to make but it was even more fun to watch the kids watch themselves. After the holiday, Scott flew home to go to Girls Camp for the week and I stayed to play with the kids. He flew back the following Friday for a weekend and then we drove back home. We had such a great time. I always love going home. Thanks mom and dad for letting us invade your now quiet and clean home for a few weeks of noise and messes. It was all worth it.
Brooklyn decided to become a walker while in Utah. Apparently there are too many breakables at Grandma and Grandpa's that needed to be picked up and explored. During our time there she went from just a few steps back and forth between people to walking and exploring the whole house. We are now in full baby proof mode!
Grandpa Pete and Brookie.
Josh's favorite spot was Grandpa Pete's chair.
(Don't let Grandma CoCo see you sitting like that).
The 4th of July Parade...
One of the things I told Scott when we moved away was that I had to come home for the 4th of July. Nobody celebrates it like they do in Provo, Utah. It's the best! It could also be that I have strong childhood memories celebrating this day with my Peterson cousins. This is truly one of my favorite holidays! We start with the parade. After the parade we used to go to my Grandma Peterson's house, but we now head to my Aunt Colleen's house who is all too gracious to host a million Peterson's at one time, with water activities and horse rides and great food. In the evening we go to Stadium of Fire and enjoy a great show.
Haavard, Brandon, Brian and Kristin
Kaylynne, Afton, Michelle and Brooklyn (surrounded by Peterson family)
Stadium of Fire, Duh Duh!...
We all got rested and ready to go to Stadium of Fire. This is one of my favorite things to go to. This year was especially fun with Blue Man Group performing (makes Scott happy) and Miley Cyrus performing (makes Meg happy), fly-by planes and parachuters (makes Josh happy), and military families getting recognized (makes me cry - a happy cry). And Brookie was happy to dance through the entire night.
Grandma and Grandpa with 16 of the 18 grandchildren.
We missed you Addie and Olivia!
We had shirts made for all the grandkids. Red for the girls, blue for the boys. The back of the shirts said: I saw Miley Cyrus in concert at Stadium of Fire on the 4th of July. They turned out really cute.
Our little gang getting ready for the show to begin.
Brookie with Grandma CoCo.
And of course, the star of the night: Miley Cyrus!
Megan danced and screamed and sang the whole time. It was scary to look down at my six year old singing all the words with Miley Cyrus. At one point she was pretending to sing into a microphone. She's growing up WAY too fast.
Believe it or not, Josh actually slept through Miley Cyrus (and all the girls around him screaming). He woke up again for the fireworks. Brookie was awake and dancing the whole time and finally decide to fall asleep during the last five minutes of fireworks.
Josh wasn't a huge fan of the fireworks (at least the noise - put the bang and the music together and it does get quite loud). I on the other hand couldn't get enough. I loved it and I loved how long the fireworks show lasted.
Let them eat...
When we are home we have to go to our favorite restaurants: Brick Oven (twice), Training Table, Cafe Rio, the Italian Place (twice), Wings at Wingers, and Los Hermanos. We were so loud at Brick Oven that we ended up with the room to ourselves. Didn't bother us any.
Our "room" at Brick Oven.
Taking over an entire section at The Training Table.
On Saturday, the guys took off early to golf. That morning the kids were playing so nicely together in the backyard. Usually the girls are off doing their thing and the boys take advantage of the big backyard and play sports. When I saw them, I stepped out on the deck and snapped a picture of them...only to find out later that they are now kissing cousins. Apparently the boys were daring the girls to kiss them. We decided to blame this on the dads because they were golfing. It was the easiest thing to do.
On Sunday we went to my Uncle David's house for a BBQ. They recently built this home and it was our first time to see it. It was absolutely beautiful, hidden in the mountains. The food was great and the company was even better. We always laugh a lot with my mom's brothers and sisters.
Meg and Skylar. The kids took full advantage of Aunt Sydney's dance studio.
Uncle Drew at his finest...making the kids laugh.
Brooklyn and Aunt Brooke hanging out together.
Meg and Abi...
It was so fun for Megan to spend some cousin time with Abigail. It's been three years since they have been together. I don't think they spent any time apart during our vacation. They loved each other. I think the only time I saw them was when they would ask me to do their hair the same way.
After the Crowd Left...
Kristin and Haavard headed back to California early so Brandon could finish Baseball All-Stars. Sheri and Rob left four days after them. It was nice to have a few days with just Grandma and Grandpa.
Meg and Josh enjoyed the luxury of a TV in the bedroom they stayed in. I told them to take advantage because they won't get this in their own home. As you can tell, Josh took advantage. There were some nights I had to turn the movie off so he'd go to sleep.
the Naked (Johnson) Brothers Band.
The favorite activity always requested is bowling at BYU. Meg turned out a pretty good game in the second half. And who can beat $2.95 bowling. Of course this activity is followed by going to the Bookstore and spending a small fortune on BYU attire (and a little bit of fudge!). Next time the alumni calls for donations, I'll let them know I wrote my check out to the bookstore.
Keeping Grandpa Pete company while he stains the deck.
Back to California...
Rob and Sheri decided to come and spend some time in California (what's one more days drive from Mississippi). When we came back from Utah, we were able to get in four more days of fun together. Of course most of that time was spent in Kristin's pool and on the boat.
Meg and Abi jumping in the pool.
Megan tried wakeboarding for the first time. Michelle got in the lake with her to help her out. Although it didn't last long, I'm impressed for a first attempt. She told me next time she's going to try to hang on longer and do a jump. We'll have her doing flips by next summer. Way to go Meg!
3 comments:
What an awesome trip!!! I love going home and hitting all your favorite spots. Mmmm Brick Oven and Training Table - I'm jealous. Curtis liked seeing Megan's pics and videos. He sure misses her.
Wow! I didn't know you were in town! I'm sad I missed ya! Looks like you guys had a blast! What a fun family trip! Great job on the blog! I really felt apart of the whole vacation! I missed Uncle David's house becuse I had girls camp that next day with TONS to do before it. =(
Like Shane and Myra, I am sad to have missed you guys too! Debbie, I want to tell you I really enjoy reading you blog. You have a special talent for writing and keep me interested the entire time I am reading. Thank you for such a quality job. You guys look like you have so much fun, especially with all the fun things you do with the kids. Anniversary interviews, Stadium of Fire with T-shirts, Parades... what more could a little kid ask for?
Extend Meg my congratulations for her courageous attempt at wake boarding. I don't know if you know, but Weston Hume and family are avid wakeboarders. Whenever I would go out with them, I would attempt to wake board as well... I never got as far as Meg did. Go Meg! Oh, and go BYU! (I'm still in dream land after last years win over Utah.)
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