back from vacation!

we just got back from our 3 week vacation. after over 35 hrs in the car, a flight to ut, visiting about 6 different places it feels good to be back! we even got a nice warm hug from az when we got out of our car. ahhhh. i'm gonna try to sum up our trips in a nutshell, but we have been gone for a few. we had a day in the oc to play before we went to ut, so we went to the beach in hb and it was the perfect day! carter played with his buddy jeremy and bren and i got to chat w/ some fam n friends that joined us.



we went to ut for a week and we had a good time. bren's mom is a boxer breader and had 8 puppies for carter to play with. they were a little too much in his grill, so he was a bit stand offish, but he warmed up to them thru the week and the puppy count widdled down to 1 while we were there. i'm gonna put the pics on a slide show to make it shorter. we went to a cabin in island park that bren has been going to for 27 years, so it was fun to share it w/ our kids. i've been there once, but it was fun to go again. it is soooo freakin beautiful there. we went to yellow stone and saw the geyser's and took a "1 mile walk" that took an hour and was pretty rigourus considering we had our double stroller and hiked a good amount up a rocky non paved hill, but it was really fun and there was a refreshing stream at the end.

after island park we decided to take a mini trip down "memory lane" of rexburg, id on our way back to ut! those who know me know i have MUCH love for rexy! i'd like to go back and see more places i love there soon! they are almost done w/ the rexburg temple and it is beautiful. i'd love to do a session there especially w/ my r.c. roomies! hint hint! bren loved it there too and that's actually where we met, and had our first kiss over 9 years ago! we had lunch at a yummy sandwich place called mill hollow and cruised the town for a bit. it was so fun!





after that we went to "bear world" it's a few minutes outside of rexy and you can go to a little petting zoo and there are some mini rides for kids too. we wanted carter to feed the baby bear cubs, but he had to be 4, so i guess he's got to wait a couple. then you can drive thru the park and see bears chillin. it was pretty cool. out of 39 bears we prob saw over 20.





we got to see some of my fam up in ut on our last day there. we got to go to the rio and visit w/ some of my aunts and my uncle mike. it was fun to see some of my cute cousins too!


happy bday! we came back to the oc on bren's bday aug 10th (and laura and granner's). we had a little bday celebration at my dad's and had a yummy bbq! always fun to have good company and good food!




then we were off to pajaro dunes in no cal. i've gone there several times since i was 8 or so and it was fun to show it to my hubby and our kids. it's a vacation that we do w/ my dad's side of the fam (we don't get to see them enough), so there was good convo, yummy food (can't get enough apple cider martinelli's), lot's of card games (i learned a new game rook and i love it!). savanna wasn't sleeping there so great so i was up till she woke up for her 2am feeding and then back up a few hours later, so i think i'm still tired from that! but it was a great time. karen, kam, and chloe joined in on the fun in the middle of the week and it was fun to have them there too. carter especially LOVED having chloe there. i think each morning it was "where's chloe" or "where's carter". it was pretty cute! thanks to shannon too for being such a little helper w/ the kids too! i hope we can go again next year! here are a few pics of that trip.







on the day we left we got lucky enough to come outside and find a major flat tire, but at least it didn't happen on the road right? it made for a super long day, but our kids were pretty good troopers. i think we were over it more than them. we only had another day or so to play and it felt like our vacation had gone by too quickly. but we made the most of it. we went to hb and savanna had her last dr. appt w/ my fav (and i guess only ped we've used), i traded hair w/ my friend mindy and we got to visit w/ our pals the lucas fam. carter and chase are such cute buddies, so it was good to see they remembered each other. bren watched all 4 kids so me and sherri could go get a pedi too! it was so nice and relaxing! and of course i got dots AGAIN! i just love um. the lucas fam moved to a cute little house and it was fun to kick it there. some friends from our old ward came and visited, so it was fun to see some others too! i think carter had his very own popsicle there and now he's obsessed w/ them! he seriously has a one track mind. anyway, that pretty much sums up our trip! we had a great time and now back to real life and bren trying to get a job and for us to get into our az groove! wish us luck!