Las Vegas & A First Flight...

We took a little family vacation and went to visit Cory's parents in Las Vegas. It hasn't been very long that they have been gone but we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and go say hello!

It was the first time flying for all four of the kids (Brig has been in a small private plane before) and we were quite a spectacle! We got all kinds of attention and comments in the airport. Brig was a little nervous for the take off but they all did great and really enjoyed the flights.

As fun as the quick flight was- getting to Las Vegas and seeing Grandma and Grandpa was much, much better! It felt like it had been much longer since we had seen them and it was quite a happy reunion!

We kept the itinerary pretty low-key and spent a lot of time at the near-by park on the splash pad because it was quite warm!

 

One night, Cory's parents kicked Cory & I out of the house and we went for a little jog and ran some "sprints"  at the park. It was fun...even if I haven't sprinted since Jr. High and I am pretty sure that my running wouldn't even qualify as sprinting. However- Cory was pretty quick!

The next day we drove up to Red Rock Canyon and saw our first cactus and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the red rocks...I loved them and want to explore them a little more when it isn't quite so hot next time. There was a little visitor's center that we walked around and Grandpa got Ty a cool little hat so that his bald head didn't match the color of the rocks by the end of the day.

We miss Grandma and Grandpa...but I think their absence is the most obvious on Sundays when we really miss sitting by them at church so it was lots of fun to get to spend the Sabbath with them.

McCall with Grandma & Grandpa Walker...

We were lucky enough to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Walker in McCall. It was pretty low key and pretty great. We love McCall! The weather was a little cold and rainy which actually made it a really ethereal experience. A few of the high lights were the awesome cabin with a hot tub (the kids could have lived in that thing!), walks with grandma and grandpa, fishing at Brown's Pond (where Cory fished when he was a little boy...and it wasn't just a little chilly while fishing- it was freezing!! But our kids can be die-hard when it comes to fishing and even though they couldn't feel their fingers wanted to stay because they were catching so many fish!!) and hiking and climbing along the north shore and then exploring Boulder Lake which was covered in snow!

It was really nice to spend some time with just our little family and Cory's parents before they leave on their mission.

Our McCall Mini Get-Away...

This summer we were lucky enough to go on a little mini getaway to one of our favorite places...McCall. 

It was wonderful and included (but was not limited to)...

Bike riding on trails through Ponderosa Park...

Swimming in our hotel pool and hot tub...

A brief, windy stop at North Shore beach...

Mexican food for dinner...

Giant kiddy cones from Ice Cream Alley...

Beautiful McCall scenery...

Lots of cuddle and dad time...(that was the highlight for sure!!)...

Bedtime snacks...

More swimming...

Waking up with ample ambition and deciding to do too much in one day...

"Swinging by" Kelly's Whitewater Park for another bike ride and then taking our BAKraft through the sweet little rapids....

And then. THEN. We were having so much fun that we just had to finish off our day with a hike to Blue Lake. Jase insisted on only holding Ellie's hand (which made the hike extra tricky.) and then when we were at the lake a huge wind storm hit and we had to high tail it out of there! 

And then home.

And it was so fun and we loved being together! It was a little bit of magic. 

Utah Trip {Part 1}...

We recently made a trip down to Utah.  We don't travel very often- Cory drives a ton for work so the last thing he wants to do is road trip! But we decided to make the journey down to the Beehive state and see some of our family.  I feel like we really packed a lot into our short trip so I broke it up into 3 parts.  There are just a lot of pictures too...

So I'll let them do most of the talking...

 

 

Two of our 5 sisters (technically we have 8 between the 2 of us!) live down in Utah and so the majority of our time was spent with them. 

 

Watching Taylor rock the socks off everyone playing flag football...

 

 

PS...Cory may not love Utah (just check our some of his facial expressions.) But it was beUTAHful weather while we were down there. And those mountains...

 

 

We visited a little pumpkin patch and spent lots of time lounging in the corn getting little kernals everywhere.  And I mean everywhere. I felt like I was finding those things for days!

 

 

Our cute crew...

 

 

My hair had gotten really long. Which usually means that I get the itch to chop it off...so on a little bit of a whim, we chopped it off. And when I say we, I mean Krista.  It was pretty late and we were feeling wild;)

 

I do my best to try and reach "favorite status" with our nieces and nephews. It doesn't always happen...but when one of them wants to be my "pink pony" and cuddle all the time (and this boy doesn't sit still!) I will take it and do a little happy dance the entire time!!!

 

We had a great time seeing our sisters and just hanging out! A big thanks to Jordan and Krista for letting us crash on their floor and for Taylor for driving all over to see us even with her busy schedule!