UTAHHHHHHH!!!

Ohhhhhhh Utah. How we have missed thee! More than missing Utah though – we miss our PEOPLE!!! Nothing makes our hearts happier than seeing cousins! The kids get too big too fast especially when they are little. Ari & Reggie looked so different than the last time we saw them. So sad but SO HAPPY to end our missing streak! Our Utah trip was filled with all kinds of fun and food and family!

We went for a sweet dirty RZR ride with the whole crew! The view from the top of Willard Bay was absolutely stunning! Pictures do not do it justice. Then we drove down to Randolph for lunch and treats! Bailey rode with Papa and somehow fell ASLEEP on the bumpy dirty ride. No idea how that is even possible! On a scale of 1 to fun this ride was freaking awesome!!! Clean up time was pretty funny. Reggie was a good little helper drying the seats off :)

The girls helped grandma make peach crisp from the peaches we picked at Eckert’s before leaving Illinois!

The kids got a kick out of riding Andy’s little kid 4-wheeler. Bailey squealed like crazy the whole time!

Grandma treated us to a couple movies and poppypopcorn. Inside Out & Minions. Inside Out was such a unique and hilarious movie! Minions was a riot the first 15 minutes… then the adults took a nap LOL! The kids had a blast though!

Papa took the kiddos fishing. Well, if I am being honest it was NOT fishing, it was catching. A couple tiny stock ponds where you pay eleventybillion dollars for each one you catch. The kids were in heaven though. Ari was TERRIFIED of the fish though so Rich made sure to scare the crap out of her by chasing her with the fish of course. After we were done catching the girls flirted their way in to the fish cleaning building to watch the teenage kid clean the fishies. They were amazed. Even papa and Rich were amazed at how fast this kid fileted those suckers! My favorite picture was papa giving the kids the pre-catching lecture about how to not be a butt hole! Second favorite, Ari knocking Stef over to get away from Rich’s fish.

After catching we cooked those succulent elevntybilliondollar filets up at Stef’s and then met up with our other favorite Bowmans at the park! Mike, Sharon, Garrett, Quin, Chloe, Mack & baby Jovie!

Ohhhh how I miss Utah Sunsets!!!

What is a Utah trip without a little GSR? Not a very fun one!

We hit up a sweet indoor pool in Layton that had a slide and lazy river and outdoor splash pad. Just love watching all the crazy cousins play together! Bug and Rich took a little nap in the sunshine.

Next up? Shaved Ice and a sleepover of course!!!

Saying goodbye sucks but we softened the blow with some Aggie Ice Cream!!! Thank you for an amazing week Jacks! We love you to pieces!

Happy 4th!!!

We had a great 4th of July! We had a pancake breakfast at church and then the kiddos all decorated bikes and had a mini parade in the parking lot. The kids had so much fun! Later that day we headed out to Mascoutah to find a good spot for a sweet fireworks show! It was a perfect night!

A couple days after the 4th Braxton's baseball team had playoff games. His team had a rough season so we weren't expecting a win but they shocked the heck out of us and kicked the Yankee's butts! The Yanks were tied for first and we were one of the lowest teams. We served them their bums on a silver platter and Braxton was on cloud nine! Unfortunately the next game another #1 team beat us and the season was over. Braxton was devastated, to say the least. He LIVES for baseball and the thought of waiting nearly a whole year to play again absolutely crushed my poor boy. He had a great season and learned so much. We are so proud of you, B! Can't wait till spring!

I love hearing Kenzie scream her head off for Braxton in this video!
Click here to see Braxton at Bat

A couple more fun early July happenings... B lost another his first tooth! Poor kid was the only one in his class who had all his baby teeth still and most kids have lost two or three! He was SO excited! We also went peach and blackberry picking to bring Papa his favorite treat when we went to UTAH the next day! But that is a massive post for another day :)