Friday, December 20, 2013

July in December: Utah Trip Part 1

We have all heard of Christmas in July... so how about July in December?  For some reason, I never blogged about our annual trip to Utah.  I have blogged about it every year since I have been blogging, including the trip where the bounce house blew over, and of course the trip when Ryder was born 8 weeks early!  I am about to get the last year of my blog printed...so here ya go, some July in December


We started off the trip running-- literally while Raelynn (Eric's older sister) entertained the kids with freeze tag, Red Rover and duck duck goose.  I tagged along and took pictures of course.
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Kids at this age playing duck duck goose are quite obnoxious funny, saying all sorts of random things and going around and around the circle before finally picking someone.
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Ryder is absent from the group shots as he got upset about not winning tired of playing and went back inside.

The kids really did have so much fun together.  I love that the cousins are so close in age.  Lucas is the oldest (was 8 at the time, down to Cooper who was not yet one).  There literally is at least one kid every year.  The older two boys would play together, while the girls would make "Girls Only Clubs" and the Ryder and Quinn were best buds always playing together.  Poor little Cooper was just too young to really get in on the fun yet.
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But that's okay as I had fun playing with Cooper
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Rachel turned 30 this year, and in this side of the family that means the 30th Birthday video, which have gotten bigger and better every year.  Rachel's was a musical, as she is definitely the singer of the family.  The video is all about the fact that she is "losing her youth" and we are all searching for it, trying to help her stay young.  We had all been working on this video for the past year and this week got to all watch it together. 

Sunday night we also had a talent show:
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Lucas was the MC, Ryder told jokes, Quinn recited a poem, my FIL juggled, Ethan played a piano duet with his mom then a solo, Kate played some piano solos, Alex showed off her artwork and Madeline danced.

On Monday we swam at the Rec Center; the oldest ones went down the water slide almost the entire time.  We had Pizza the The Pie and had family home evening and a donut bar (decorate your own donut) for dessert. 
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We really do pack the activities in.  Next week I will tell you about Tuesday & Wednesday, and then conclude with Thursday-Saturday of the trip.

Speaking of remembering, don't forget to link up with week 3 of the Review Extravaganza!

12 comments:

  1. That picture of you and Cooper is super cute. Mmmmmmm......donuts.

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    1. He is a cute little guy. We always have to have donuts at some point during our trip.

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  2. I loved remembering all this. I miss you guys. XO.

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  3. DONUTS!!! You know I love my donuts! :o)

    I loved seeing all these bright, colorful photos! It reminds me that one day it WILL be warm again! ;o)

    I'm curious - you mentioned getting your blog printed. Do you mean like a book?

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    1. Yep, I use blurb (there is also blog2print) and every year get it printed into a book. That way if heaven forbid something happened I would always have it still. I actually really like going back and reading old posts in the book form.

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  4. So fun! It makes me sad that my boy doesn't have any cousins his age (my stepsister has two boys who are 16 and 13 years older than my boy.) It doesn't appear he'll have any additional cousins, either.

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    1. Yea, on my mom’s side most of my cousins are really close to my mom’s age (her sister is 16 years older than she is)- in fact I am closer in age to my cousin’s kids then my cousins, so never really had any cousins to play with growing up.

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  5. Man, it's amazing how fast the time goes. This seems like yesterday and yet, Cooper has changed so much! Crazy!! Fun to remember...and in that much time again, we'll be together again! yay!

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    1. Yes, though we will have to see how this upcoming year's trip works out with my family's trip to Yellowstone... gotta figure it out though as we have to see everyone!

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  6. That looks like a such a great start to your trip! I love how many cousins there are. I grew up around my cousins who were all close in age and it was like having extra siblings. So much fun!

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  7. You guys always cram tons of things in. So much fun! I want to come to one of your reunions!

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