family,friends,football & fun

This little boy loves 4 wheelers.  He is so darn cute on them too.  He maneuvers them everywhere.

These cute girls had a lemonade stand out in front of Courtney's house.  Seriously who wouldn't want to buy lemonade from these girls.

So cute!  They had their little brothers go door to door recruiting people.  They ended up making $12.00.  Pretty good little business ladies.

This is my good friend Gemmah.  I met her a few months after we moved to Australia.  Our kids are the same age and they love each other.  Earlier this year she met a guy named Ryan on LDS Singles, he lived in Utah.  Long story short, she married him and now lives in Utah.  It was so crazy to see her in Utah, on my turf.  We miss having her and the kids here in Australia but we are so happy for her and excited to see her next time we are in Utah.

It was fun to meet Ryan.  Cute couple.

We couldn't get enough of the swimming while in Utah.  

woohoo...cannon ball

I love football games.  I love the atmosphere, I love the feel, the excitement and the company.  We decided to go to an Orem High School football game.  It was a fun trip down memory lane.  My two cute nieces, Brinnan & Aubree go to Orem High and they were nice enough to hang out with their old aunt for a minute. hahaha!  

Orem lost miserably but it was still so fun.

I remember lots of fun nights spent on those bleacher seats.  The kids loved it too.  Go OHS!!

Another trip to the cabin. It was pouring rain for a little bit but we still had a good time.

A group of friends came up for the night.  

{Val looking fierce}

{heading to the lake.  The lake is a short walk from the Finch cabin.}

The water was nasty and stinky but the kids loved it.  They smelled like fish for the rest of the night. yum!

Rex was the king of the huge log.

I love these girls.  They have been such great friends over the years.  It doesn't matter how long it is between visits, we still have the best time together.  We are missing Shanna in the pic.  She and her husband and son Clark moved back to Canada around the time we moved to Idaho.  We miss their faces.  Every month or so the 5 of us would put our kids to bed, get snacks and meet at someones house for a late night pedicure and talk time.  

The cabin  has no electricity so when the sun goes down it is dark. You can put a generator on if you need light.  Val was prepared with her trusty head lamp.

{Morgan. Mauldin, Finch and O'Barr familes}

I tried fitting a few of those ginormous new marshmallows in my mouth.  It was a fun night, nobody wanted to go home.  There is just something so great about being in the mountains with a fire burning in the fire pit and being surrounded by good friends.

We spent a Sunday night at my brother Steve and sis in-law Jen's house for dinner.  My niece Erin, who is going to school at BYU, came too. I love being with family.  I miss it.

The next day was a marathon day.  I headed up to Salt Lake so I tried to see friends that live up that way.  First stop was to my MTC companion and friend Amelia's house.  We hadn't seen each other in years, at least 5 because I had never met any of her kids.  She and her husband recently moved to Utah from Pennsylvania. 

{All of our kids eating a creamey}

These two cuties are only weeks apart.

{Clementine & Jack}

She had her cute baby a few weeks ago {another little cute girl}.

We are still the same.  We had such a good time together in the MTC.  She went to Rome and I went to Milan so we didn't see each other after the  MTC.  She taught me a lot and I am grateful for her.  

After I said goodbye to Sorella Tingey, we drove to Sugarhouse to visit my dear high school friend Cecily.  

{Nathan & Lucy}

The kids bowling with Capri Sun juice.  Cecily is one of the nicest people I have ever met!

After we said bye to Cecily we met my cousin Jenni at The Gateway.  It was short and sweet but so good to see her and her darling girl Logan.  She is my closest cousin.  We have had some fun, classic times over the years.  Love her!

We ended the evening at Val & Kevin's house for a pizza night.

The girls were pretty serious about their band.  Cute!

We had to get together one last time and hang out.  We played games and ate dessert.  

{Kyle, Amanda, Jared, me, Kevin, Val, Scott & Hillary}

Seriously these girls are wanting to be grown-up way to fast. They got in their swimsuits, swiped their mom's sunglasses and straightened their own hair. Seriously make them stop growing up!

{Another marathon day}

 First, Grandma Finch took us to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  Rex with his friend T-Rex.

I know it's fake but it was still a little scary. :)

Dusting for bones...

Ice cream time with Grandma!

Next I met my friend Angie at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  We became good friends in college.  We were both in the sorority at the Institute.  I love her.  She is so great and so funny.  It was fun to meet 2 of her four kids.  Our babies are only a few months apart.  Our friend Emily met us for the first part of lunch, it was so good to see her too.

I cruised from lunch, straight to see my nephew Brian who was visiting from North Carolina.  I hadn't seen him in years.  He is the son of my sister Debbie who passed away.  He and I were good little buddies when he was little My sister and her husband lived with my parents while I was in high school/college.  My sister was sick so I spent a lot time with Brian.  He felt like my little brother.  I will always have a special place for him in my heart.

That evening we took a beautiful drive up Provo Canyon.  I love that canyon!  We met my childhood friend Erin and her hubs Kevin at the Dairy Keen in Heber.

We spent some time at the park before it got dark.

Erin is also a great friend.  I love her, she has a heart of gold.

After we said goodbye to Erin & Kevin we drove back down the Canyon and met up with my niece Courtney at the BYU creamery.  My nephew McKay had a ward bomb fire he was in charge of so he couldn't make it.  It's weird to see my nephew and nieces in their element at BYU doing their thing!

Anywho we pulled up and the Mauldin's and O'Barr's were at the creamery.  Random!

We shared a half gallon of BYU creamery ice cream..so good!

I wish my sister {Courtney's mom} was in the picture.  Jo is 12 years older than me, I am 12 years older than Courtney and Courtney is 12 years older than Alivia.  Crazy huh?

It was a perfect way to end our crazy busy day.

A few more weeks from our trip left to blog....stay tuned!