Summer Catch Up!!

Wow, its been a while since I have updated and I have been dreaded updating all the happenings since my last post but it needs to be done so bare with me. This is going to be a super long post with tons of pictures that I put on a slide show. I will start off where I left off; July.

So after the 4th of July and all its fun celebrations Joel and Sena came to visit for a week. We always look forward to these visits because it is not often that they both are able to visit at the same time and we are so happy when they can come together. The week consisted of hanging out and eating most of the time. About the same time that Joel and Sena came to visit Jay's Tio Alberto and Tia Alma and their family moved to Greeley and were living with Jay's parents until last week. Having so much famly together was awesome. One day a few of us headed to the Sweatsville Zoo in Fort Collins as a free and interesting thing to do. I used to go there as a child and hadn't been since. Everyone liked it but I sensed that it might not have been worth the 30 minute drive to get there.

We also headed up to Estes Park on a Saturday. We camped out by Lake Estes for the day and just ate and relaxed. Aiden and Abram, Jay's cousin that is Aiden's age, brought their bikes and rode around with the assistance of Joel. Joel was a good sport considering he didn't have a bike and he ran wherever they kids rode and ran quite fast to even keep up with them. Thanks Joel we love you!! Aiden had a bit of a skid-out on some dirt but toughed it out even when Grandpa Roberto squirted lime juice on his wounds to help kill the germs. Aiden really cried when Roberto did squirted the lime but later confessed that it wasn't so bad and would do it again if he got hurt.

Later Jay, Joel, Sena, and Adrian, Abrams older brother, headed to the Stanley Hotel for the ghost tour while the rest of us napped and hung out while Aiden and Abram rode around in circles over and over. It was such a great day and so nice to just relax and get to know more of Jay's family.

About a week later, Aiden and I headed to Utah for a long awaited trip to visit my best friend Alicia and her family. We bought tickets a couple of months before and we excited not to drive. Well little did I know that I would end up delayed for nearly half the time it would take me to drive to Salt Lake. We were supposed to leave at 7 but didn't even take off until 10 and so you can imagine how annoyed I was but grateful that Aiden was such a trooper and really was amazing while we waited in the airport. He ran up and down the moving walkway with our carry-on bag with wheels that made a really loud funny noise that he thought was cool but certainly got the attention of everyone in the concourse.

Anyhow, we finally arrived at Alicia's and hung out. Aiden loved playing everyday most of the day in the backyard with his buddy Carter who is the same age and Berklie who is 2. I have to say they get along pretty well and only slightly get into trouble when they're together. Their favorite past time being torturing Alicia's kitty Phinneaus.

My hope when I went to visit Alicia was to help her out since she just had her 3rd baby. Let me tell you I loved helping with the baby, Oaklie and not letting Alicia change a diaper while I was awake. I am so glad that I was able to visit her and her family. I always come back feeling refreshed and happy.

While there I was able to go the the Oquirhh Mountain Temple open house with some of my family who happened to be in Utah at the same time. It was great because Aiden has been begging to go into the temple and open houses are his only opportunity until he is older. It was wonderful and beautiful and I am so glad I was able to do it with family. Auntie Sena was able to come with us too! Afterward, we went out to eat and met up with some of my cousins that live in Utah. Fun Fun Fun! I wish we had more time together but at least I was able to see them.

So my trip ended and I headed back to the airport in hopes that my return flight would be better than my arriving one. Well it was better but I was still delayed an hour or so and have decided to NEVER take an afternoon or evening flight again!!!!!

Once I got home Jay headed out a few days later with the Spanish Branch to Martin's Cove. He had a great time and he and Adrian took tons of pictures. Jay really wanted me to go but I just wanted to stay home and be home since I had just gotten home. I will admit though, I kind of wish I would have gone after seeing all the pictures and hearing about how much fun they had. Next time.

Okay what next...oh yeah so Jay had a week off in August and he decided he wanted to go to Utah to visit Joel and Sena and all his buddies. I too wanted to visit some of my friends. (Please note that I apologize to all the people I did not see while I was in Utah and hope that you will understand that there is always too little time to see and appease everyone. I love you all.) Okay so we stationed ourselves in Salt Lake at Joel and Sena's and saw my nanny friend Liberti and her family. I hadn't seen Liberti in some 6 or 7 years so it was great to see her and get to know her family. It was also shocking to hear some of the stories Liberti remembered about me as a nanny. Lets just say I was a bit young and immature. Thanks for the reminder Libs. We then saw the Rasmussen's who fed us some great breakfast and supplied wonderful conversation. I love chatting with Holly and Connie. We also saw Jay's mission buddy Beta or Danny as he is commonly known and his wonderful wife and daughter. We ate cow tongue tacos and it was actually pretty darn good. However, I did have more of the American fare, lasagna that Elisha made since she wasn't going to eat cow tongue. Next we went down to Pleasant Grove to visit a bunch of my cousins and my Aunt and Uncle. We had a blast. We went Seven Peaks Water Park and spent a majority of the day there, some 6 or 7 hours. Aiden was in heaven and wouldn't you know it made a friend there right away and played with him for hours. I am so grateful that he is so accepting. Well there was something for everyone here and although I don't like rides that excite and make my heart go to my throat my cousin Jeff and his wife convinced me to go on a bunch of rides and I did end up liking it and enjoying myself. Jay had a blast hanging with my cousins and getting to know my family. I was happy to be with them. I love my family. After the water park we headed back to my Aunt's house and talked. I was lucky enough to have Jeff massage my feet and help me relieve my Plantar Fasciites. He also showed Jay how to massage my legs and feet. I was in heaven. Thanks Jeff!!!

The next day we headed to Logan to see Matt (Jay's mission buddy) and his wife Amanda and their little one Kate. We went fishing which admittedly I have never done before. Aiden loved it and so did Kate. Amanda is a pro and showed up all of us. Way to go Amanda! Matt and Amanda then generously took us out to eat at wonderful restaurant in Logan, Cafe Sabor. It was fabulous. Unfortunately Matt had to head to work so are time was short but we had a great time.

While in Logan we were fortunate to see our friends from Greeley, Kelly and Stacy and their cute girl Emerie. We had a blast despite Kelly's blown out back. We were able to go to the Logan Zoo. I know I couldn't believe they had one either. It was so cute and I could have briskly walked through the whole thing in 5 minutes but we made it a 30 minute thing. They had many varying birds species and one that Aiden called a "Rainbow Cock" That's right. Its formal name is Golden pheasant but I think he just got confused with its bright colors and the fact that he was also seeing many Peacocks! He is so cute! I love that he is so creative. We had a great time with the Jorgensens and are so grateful to have them as friends.

Thankfully we were able to stay the night at my Cousin Rachels house while visiting Logan. I felt bad that we kind of floated through and weren't able to stay long but I am always grateful for her hospitality and love for my family. I am especially happy that I got to know her hubby Chad a bit better. He is hilarious and fun and wonderfully hospitable. He told us about a kind of meteor dust shower that was going on that week in August so we all went out and watched it. It was amazing. What a way to spend time together. Chad you are SOO cool and SOO smart. Thank you. Unfortunately, my sweet cousin was sick and unable to really hang-out with us but I am so glad that she was generous enough to still let us come. Thank you Rach!

On our way back to Salt Lake we got a call that Sena's friend's sister past away and was needed at home in Greeley so our trip was going to be cut short a day so we could get Sena back. I was sad for Sena and sad for me b/c I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it to Alicia's house to say hello but of course Jay made it possible for which I am so grateful. Alicia and I are so close and even though we had just seen each other it was nice to see each other again so soon.

Well as if this post wasn't long enough I have plenty more to write but figure this will suffice for now. We had a great summer and are sad it has to end but I am looking forward to the cooler weather.