Utah Trip- Luke's Blessing

One of the highlights of our trip was the opportunity to have Luke's baby blessing while we were there.  We decided to have him blessed in the Bountiful 14th ward, which is the church congregation our family attended for the first 25 years of my life.  It is home....one of the best places in the world...a place full of people we love and people who love my family.  So many memories of time spent there...so many of my mom's best friends still there....such a comforting place.  Every time I go there, I am struck by the influence that so many of those people have had on my life...they taught me as a young child...shaped me as a teenager...and supported me as a young adult.  Oh, it is hard to even put into words how much I love them.  This was a very special day for our family.  I will never forget it and will enjoy the memories for years to come.

We started that day by meeting Katy and her family at Nick's parents' home for brunch.  It was delicious and we love Mike and Elaine so much!  They have always been so kind to Tod and me.  Plus, their home and yard are absolutely gorgeous places!  Their back yard feels like a private paradise.
More cousins meeting for the first time- Stella and Luke:

A beautiful start to the day:

We headed on to church and enjoyed our time to see everyone.  Tod gave Luke a very beautiful blessing full of wonderful promises and advice.  How thankful we are to have this baby boy in our family.  He has completed us. I am so thankful that we got to welcome this last baby into our lives.  What a sweet tender mercy to have him.  We both commented that this was our last baby blessing....and just as beautiful as the first, second, third and fourth!
Afterwards, we gathered outside for lots of pictures.  I wanted Luke to have a record of all the people who came to surround him with love (around 50!)  I think I got pictures of almost everyone except the Day family and the Castillons.
And then there were five.....(seriously, look at Cole's face!)

With Tricia and her boys (we missed Uncle Nate):

My brother Chris and his family:

My sister Melissa and her family:

Katy and her family:

Grandpa Kirk and Grandma Patsy:

Most of the group:

My friend Becca:

Cousin Savannah who took such good care of baby Luke all vacation:

Our baby boy:  (he was done with pictures)

We did really miss Tod's family as well as our Iowa friends.
Cole was a very proud big brother and insisted on a picture with his baby:

My siblings...oh how I love them and miss them greatly...they are amazing people...I am so proud of them.

When it was finally time to head back to Bountiful, I requested that we drive by my childhood home...such a sweet and sacred place to me...somethings were different about it but some were just the same (the address plate, basketball hoop, front porch, vinyl fence).  I had such a longing to go inside and say, "Mom, I'm home."  But I had to brush my tears away and turn my attention to the hungry, tired kids in the car!  Life goes on and oh, it is so very grand!!!

Utah Trip- Week Two

The girls and I had been wanting to hike to the Y, and Wednesday morning was the perfect opportunity.  Grandma and Grandpa joined us for a beautiful morning climb.  It was wonderful weather and the views were stunning.

Later that day, we went swiming at the SCERA- Luke stayed with grandparents and so we were really able to enjoy our older children which is such a treat.  That night we had to venture to the fairy house (a little secret place in Dad and Pat's backyard).  The little girls danced with the fairies and we all sampled fairy food.  Very magical!

By now, our other cousins were trickling into town, and it was so good to see everyone and enjoy being all together in one place!

Cole got to go with Grandpa Kirk in his truck to the dump.  For this boy, there was nothing better, and I'm pretty sure it was the high light of his entire trip!

On Friday, we took off early for Helper (my mom's hometown).  There is nothing like going to Helper!  For me, it is such a nostalgic place- full of concrete memories of people I love. I have such happy childhood memories of being there.  Even though my kids haven't been there very often, they also love Helper.  When we are around the Mascaros, it's like they just know that these people are my mom's family and we are all connected.  It also helps that the Mascaro's are absolutely hilarious and so fun to be around!  We hung out at Grandma Betty's house and went swimming at the Helper pool:

 Here are 7 of Betty's great grandchildren (babies in the strollers):

We all LOVED seeing darling Audacee:

And meeting baby Cael for the first time:

Another shot of the "greats":

I love my Aunt Jodi, Uncle Kirk, Heele and Dooder so much:

Being at Gram's house was comforting but also made me miss her even more.  It was fun to see so many treasures.  Cole and Regan got to ride on the old famous white horse:

Of course, the four wheeler came out:

Then we went to picnic at the park next door and we got caught in this amazing downpour!

After, some kitties were drowning in the puddles so Uncle Kirk set to work rescuing them.

Before we left, we had to take some pictures on the couch.  We always did that same pose whenever we were at Gram's.  Now there is a whole new generation in the pictures.

Our day in Helper was probably one of my favorite days from our whole entire trip.  There is just something about going back to your roots.  Next time, we definitely need to stay longer in Helper!
On Saturday morning, we met some dear friends for breakfast at the park.  We met the Hamilton family when we moved to Iowa 10 years ago!  We have stayed in touch as we have both moved around...and we were thrilled to learn that our time in Utah would overlap, since they currently live in South America!

When we were first friends in Iowa, there were only 3 children...now there are 9, plus cousin Savannah was with us!!

We love this great family and I am so thankful for Laura's friendship- I miss her and can't wait to see them all again!