Birthdays and SLC!

This week we had the opportunity to travel to Salt Lake City and visit with family and friends for mine and Avery's birthday. It was such a wonderful week, but it went so quickly!

The kids were so great on the flight. It also helped that we met with Nana and Papa during the layovers.

One of our first outings was to the Hogle Zoo. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of any zoo and my kids (and Aaron) seemed to be on the same page. You can see from the picture that even Ryen and Ali weren't having the best time. But, it was worth a shot. :)

Our next activity was to Murray Park's Pool on Avery's birthday. I must say it was a hit! Evan loved the slide and went down a million times with Daddy and Aunt Brandi. Avery even had a chance to slide. We were also happy to spend the day with Brandi, Ryen, Ali, Travis, Sabrina, Dalon, Paula and Kira!

On July 3rd (my birthday), we had a ladybug BBQ for Avery's birthday. We were so happy to share the day with friends and family. We had great food and the kids all had a great time playing with balls, running through the sprinklers and playing with the bubble blowers that Amy brought for everyone. I know it won't be a surprise to anyone but Avery loved the cake frosting. :)

She was a little shy as we were singing Happy Birthday and I had to blow her candle out for her before she reached out and grabbed the fire. She was able to finish all of the frosting on her cupcake (with a lot of help from Ryen!). Rye Rye was Avery's favorite throughout the entire trip. She would walk down the hall looking for her and even let her put her to sleep. She was a great babysitter too! I think that Emmett won the award for Evan's favorite because every time he said the word "spoon" he would crack up laughing. This was the first time the whole family has been together since Aaron and I got married. It was a birthday miracle and the best gift I could have ever been given!

The next day (July4th) we went to Travis' house to have dinner and play in the yard. We all had a wonderful time. I think the older kids and the guys had the most fun with the water balloon war. Poor Aaron got the worst of it because according to Ryen "he's the new dude". :)

Aaron and I really enjoyed hanging out with all of our friends and I was so grateful for some grown up time. We were able to go out for a friends dinner and finally introduced Aaron to garlic burgers. We also went to the Planetarium for a laser light show. I won't forget how grateful I was to spend so much time with Amy and that Robert was able to make it home from Europe in time to see us and to take pictures of the kiddos. I can't wait to see them and will post them as soon as I can.

Evan had the most fun playing on the stairs at Grandma's and had mastered getting in and out of all the doors so we had to employ the locks often. Avery also mastered going up the stairs, and it true Avery fashion decided she was as big as Evan and could go down on her feet...not so much. The backyard was our favorite place to play. It is always so beautiful with all of the trees and flowers. We often turned the sprinklers on and let Evan run in the "rain". He loved it. He would put his face right in and giggle about it.

This is one of the toughest blogs I have had to write because we had so many great memories and I have about 400 pictures that we took to try to get posted on one page...so tough. I miss everyone so much already. Now that the horrible memory of the final flight (and the diversion to Birmingham, Alabama) is a few days in the past, I am ready to start planning our next trip to SLC! :)