Utah Visit July 2017 Part 1

A picture truly says a thousand words. 

Grandma surprised the kids with m&ms with their NAMES on them. They were so excited. 

Their poor faces and chins were still in recovery from all of the sun. We lathered them with sunscreen every day, multiple times, but all of that dry air and heat. It took a few days to recover.

We went up Provo canyon to enjoy the amazing summer weather in Utah. Ben fell asleep of course. He takes short naps because he wakes up so early or stays up late to get things done. He couldn't sleep until the car was completely clean the night before. 

Grandma, Troy, Ben and Miles.

Liam, and Katelyn hiding. She his because she wanted everyone to take their own picture.

Utah grass is worth taking a nap on.

Daddy, wake up and play with me.

Mom, put the phone down and let me play with it.

10 years later! It feels like we were here not too long ago, just as two. I can't believe how blessed we have been with our kids.

Katelyn playing candy land with Grandma. This may have been a twice a day occurrence.

Troy and Liam dream about playing the Wii at Grandma's because she has different games then us.

Ben was only there a couple of days, so we squeezed in as many visits as possible. Grandpa and Grandma Allsop was a MUST. We treasure the examples that these two are to us. Examples of love, faith, and optimism. 

 Tim was turning 4 while we were there. We got to go to his birthday party, so Ben got to see everyone in just one place! Perfect!

These boys are going to bond more and more. 

 "Knuckles"

 Cousin time at Tyler and Annie's!! 

Hayden, Halli, Troy, Liam, and Katelyn

There is a whole lotta personality between these 5 children, and I love watching them interact, figure things out, and play for hours in the back yard!

Water balloon throwing in Grandma's back yard.  Great idea Grandma! The chairs were targets. 

I can picture Liam yelling out of excitement as I look at this picture.

Super fun Grandma!

Macy's run. Groceries and ice cream.

Ben and I bought them cougar hats while we visited BYU. Love our BYU!!

My mom, Sarah, Tim, the kids and I went up to temple square. It's been a long time since I've actually gone into the visitor's center. A lot has changed. And I didn't even realize there were two!

Ugh, my kids were so irreverent and done by this time. I'm sure someday this will be a peaceful place for us to ponder.

Family History Center to the rescue. Lots of games and coloring while the parents looked around with iPads. We switched off with the kids. I can't wait to take Ben back there. It was an experience seeing your family tree and relations to famous people, or even people in the room!

Tim and Miles. Pretty sure they're related  ;)

Troy and Liam made watch bands with legos. Katelyn was obsessed with the leftover plastic sticks from the balloon bunches. LOL It's been a few months, and she still carries them around. I think she treats them like wands.

4th of July at Lake Mead

SPOILED with family, fun and food. The memories made here are priceless. I'm missing a lot of pictures from Ben's phone, so this is a reminder to myself to get them when he's home. 

Miles Curtis with Grandpa Curtis ;) This relationship is going to be a special one.

Grandpa was always ready to play with the kids. There is a cruise button, and so Troy got to "drive" it while they cruised in. 

Grandpa with Troy

Katelyn and Daddy

Grandpa and Grandma's house boat is not just a little nice. A lot nice. We could hang out up top for hours. As long as we jumped in every so often. HOT. But the lake makes it just right. 

Troy, Liam, and Miles

Lots of skiing of course. That's me.

Me again. 

I took a lot of video, but Ben has more pictures of everyone skiing. Dad went bare footing of course. It's incredible that he still bare foots.

Ben got up even though it had been 4 years. What a champ. 

The food was made by Beverly, and so it was really good! I feel like I enjoyed it more than everyone else because I didn't have to plan or cook as usual. It was nice to have a break while watching everyone enjoy Bev's amazing cooking.

Ben with Miles, Katelyn, Liam, and Troy

Brittany's boyfriend- Aaron, Brittany and Bev. 

Bev had the idea to buy this giant pad. Brilliant. Between the pad and the slide, the kids wanted to hang out here most of the time. The boys' vests were not the greatest, and so they got really bad rashes after a few days. We put lotion on them but it would just KILL them. It felt like we were torturing them. It was awful. We won't make that mistake again.

Fire with smores was fun. So hot, but the kids didn't care. There were Smores!

Ben has pictures of the paddle boards. Those were really cool. The boys loved them and we went out on a couple of excursions. 

Miles did not love his vest. But the water was the temperature of bath water, so he tolerated it. 

Miles was my buddy on the boat for most of the trips. Ben was involved in teaching most of the time. He would hang on to the boom next to the kids and help them get up. THEN he would DRAG holding on while they were going. They even had this cool board that Katelyn used. She could just stand there while Ben held it and she would be "skiing."

Brittany and I. She is the best. Patient with my parenting skills, laughing at my jokes, and always fun to be with! She is SO good with the kids. 

I could take pictures of these two all day. Grandparent time truly means the world to me and to the kids. I'm so grateful for these memories. Troy, Liam and Katelyn pretend play with these memories. They have built house boats and jet skis out of legos. They made sure to have lots of drinks and food in their creations, because that was a highlight of their trip. They have lego characters representing all of the family members. Family is joy!