Utah trip day 5

On Friday we didn't have a ton planned because most of the cousins were flying home that day. 

In the morning I took the girls over to my friend Robyn's house to let them play with her two girls. The kids had a lot of fun playing together and I got to catch up with Robyn on all the latest.  Congrats to Robyn and Dave on the baby news. 

Later that day we went to Toads which is a family fun center. It has mini golfing, go carts, a rock wall, laser tag and an arcade. We got the pass that allowed you to mini golf and to choose one other activity. 

Here is most everyone getting ready to golf.

Mom getting down and dirty one the first hole.

Shaylee and Areya     

Lacy and I stuffing our faces on fries, it's what we do best you know.

Even Aniela gave it a try.

So what if the club is bigger then she is.....

Sam helping Britton

After golfing, half of us took a spin on the go carts and the other half played a round of laser tag. (I love this picture of my dad, it shows that he is still just a kid at heart.)  Areya rode with Grandma, Deklan rode with Ida, Britton rode with Sam, Dawn and Dad were on their own. The rest of us; Matt, Amy, Tj, Shaylee, Lacy and I played laser tag.  It was the first time for me and I really liked it. The only draw back was that they had two other groups join ours and the area was just to small for that many people. 

Tj hit the batting cages before we left.

Areya and Deklan showing off the prize they won at the arcade.

Thanks Brandi for coming and bringing the boys to hang out with us even though you were not feeling the best. Love ya.

Utah trip day 4

On Thursday my Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Mike rented 4 jet skis for everyone to ride. We had half of the family staying in the Ogden area and the other half was in the Prove / Lehi area and because the half staying in Provo rented the jet skis we all met at Utah Lake. We had a few slight bumps in our plans but every thing worked out and we all had a great time. Thanks Kimmy and Mike!

Here are Mike, Kimmy, and Ryan getting ready to go out. Lacy and I are were being pulled on a tube ready for the ride of our lives and Mike gave us just that.  All I remember is Lacy flying over my head after I hit the water.

 

Matt and Amy took Areya for a little ride in the no wake zone. She loved it and wanted to go faster!

Here are my little dare devils. They both thought that the jet skis were the best things ever. Aniela was more then ready to go for a ride but Mama ( I ) put a stop to that real fast. 

This is the tube Lacy and I went out on. The girls thought it would be fun to try it too so we walked out as far as we could with them.

Here is my dad helping me pry my monster off the jet ski, they both screamed and cried but it was time for the big kids to play.

 

 Uncle Mike playing with the girls.

Grandma Great giving to jet ski a go. I have no clue why they let her on that thing alone. If you have seen her drive then you'll know what I mean.

After a while Aniela started throwing up. She was so tired and did not feel well so I laid down with her for a bit. She did not sleep long because she started to throw up again. Poor little thing! Too much sun, water, and not enough to drink. So after she threw up the fourth time and refused to drink I called it quits for her and I, but since we did not have a car my mom and dad drove us home. On the way home she continued to throw up so we ended up in the Emergency room worried that she would become dehydrated. The doctors said that they thought is might be heat stroke and told us to have her drink clear fluids and sent us home. (Well we wouldn't have gone to the hospital if I could get her to drink, so a lot of good they were.) By the time we left the hospital she was eating ice chips so that was a good sign. What a great way to end a day a sun burn that really hurt and a trip to the E.R.  Yippie!

 

The Wedding (day 3)

Chase & Jennifer Wickline

June 25, 2008

Congratulations to my cousin Chase and his wife Jen on their wedding. Thank you for letting us be a part of your special day.

Here is bride and groom and their parents.

Jen and Chase with his parents. (my Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Mike)

Chase, Mike, Ryan, Lacy, Kimmy & DJ

Wedding are a great way to bring the family together. This is a picture of all the great grand babies that my grandma gets to see. (She has a few more but never gets to see them.) Areya is the oldest then Britton then Aniela then Airiana and finally Everett. Oh yeah, baby Wickline who is still in mommy's tummy.

After the ceremony we had dinner and dancing, cake and toasts to the happy couple. You know all the good stuff that happens at a wedding. Areya caught the bouquet and was so excited. Good thing she does not understand what that means.

Everyone had a great time and we wish Chase & Jen all the best in the years to come.

Utah trip day 2

On Tuesday we all met at Thanksgiving Point to have the day time actives. The girls walked through the gardens and the boys went bowling near by. We drove from Ogden and was a little early so I treated everyone to ice cream. After we finished the ice cream we had a little more time (they call to say that they were running late) so we walked around and found a really beautiful landscaped area behind the cafe. It was nice to see all the flowers and the waterfall.

Finally the other group of girls we were meeting arrived and we went to met them at the Gardens. They had a huge man made waterfall that was breathtaking. (Someone told me that it is one of the biggest in the U.S.) Here we all are in front of it.


It was fun spending time together, enjoying the sun, flowers and all the other things there are to see. There is one spot called the Secret Garden and it had a fountain in the center of it. The girls love the water and could not resist putting their feet in.



Here I am with my cousin Lacy, we haven't seen each other in almost a year so this was a great time to catch up on everything.


Areya sure does love her Grandma Great and was taking good care of her by driving her around on the scooter because all that walking was just to much.



After the Gardens we met the boys at a park and had dinner. It was some really yummy food! Thanks to Kimmy and all those who helped cook and prepare it!

Aniela going down the slide.

Me showing off my baby and all she can do to Lacy.

(Aniela can say and/or sign about 10 words.)

Trip to Utah

On Monday we got up at 4:30 a.m., drove to the airport, got on a train which took us to the terminal, and then flew to Utah. This was the girls first time on both the train and airplane and they both loved it.

Here we are waiting to board the plane.

Areya got the window seat and Aniela thought that she should get a turn looking out so she was sitting on Areya's lap for part of the fight.

Here she is reading the safety instructions just before we took off.

As we were coming into Utah they were look out the window to see if they could see Tj & Shaylee who were picking us up at the airport. Areya said at one point that she could see them, but Aniela didn't agree.

Because I flew alone with both the girls, I had Aniela in a front pack and had all her stuff from her diaper bag in a backpack, I also had to carry Areya's booster seat because they only let you check one bag now. Good thing for me the Salt Lake Airport is not very big.

We are so happy to be here and to get to see everyone. That evening we had a BB-Q at my parent's house with all my brothers and their families, Ida and Grandma Great who is in from Tennessee. We all had a great time and it was nice to see everyone again. It should be a great week.

Areya's first hair cut

Areya has never had her hair cut, but on Thursday she decided that she wanted one. She found the scissors and went to work. She only cut a little but the part she cut was really short.







She tried to hide it from me by throwing the cut hair in to the garbage can, but when I went into the bathroom I notices the scissors on the sink and little bits of hair on the floor. When I asked her if she cut her hair she told me no, but under further inspection I noticed the spot. As you can see in the picture below, it was not that bad and I probably could have just blended it in with her hair, but I wanted her to learn some thing from this.

If you look by her chin you will see how short she cut it.

I was going to take her in to a Solon and get it fixed but I have no clue where any are, so I called my neighbor that is in my ward and she said to bring her over and she would see what she could do. She has 9 kids and cuts all their hair so she has a little bit of experience with it.





Here she is getting her first real hair cut. You can see by the hair in Lori's hand how long her hair was before, and about how short it is now.



Why did we cut it so short you ask? Well I wanted Areya to learn that if you cut your own hair then it will need to be fixed and you might not like the way it turns out. Good thing for us she looks really cute with it short and it will be much easier to take care of.

Family time

Monday
Now that Damian has some time off work to spend with us we enjoyed a little time together as a family. On Monday we got a few things done like go to the bank , post office and store, but while we were out Damian wanted to stop and get some lunch. We happened to pass a White Castle and because Damian saw it in a movie he wanted to eat there. I didn't think it was that great, I will probably never eat there again.

Tuesday
On Tuesday Damian wanted to go and eat at a place called Smoque BBQ. They are said to have some of the best BB-Q in Chicago so we gave it a try. I had the ribs and Damian had the brisket. He thought it was really good, I thought it was ok. He is happy to say that he has been there and tried it.

When we were finished we drove into down town Chicago looking for something to do. We decided to drive around and check thing out, we ended up driving along a road that was next to the lake. It took us through some really nice neighborhoods with huge houses right on the beach. Boy I sure wish we had the money to buy on of them. Oh well, what do ya do?


Just before coming home we stopped at a beach area / park and let the kids play in the water and on the toys. At first both girls were really scared of the water and did not want to go any where near it, but after a few minutes they were happy to but their feet in, pick up stones, and play in the sand.


We didn't plan to go swimming so we did not have any thing to swim in. We just let the kids play for a while and then came home. It was a really nice drive and was a great way to see the area. Now we have an idea of some nice areas to look for a house in.

I'm an Auntie

Damian's brother Adrian and his wife had there baby today. They had a girl and named her Julia. They induced her a few weeks early due to her heart beat being irregular.
This is Damian's first niece/nephew born on his side of the family. They are so excited to welcome her into their family.

Here is Adrian the proud Tata with his little girl. Congrats to both of you on the sweet little bundle of joy! May she have great, healthy and a wonderful life. I know she will be loved and we are very excited to meet her in August when we come to visit.