The Utah Trip (so far!)

 We started our drive on Friday morning. Our first stop was Las Vegas.

We headed to the South Point hotel. Inside the South Point there is a Steak and Shake restaurant. We loved Steak and Shake when we lived in Tennessee.

I don't say this very often, but the burgers at Steak and Shake rival the burgers at In and Out!

Zackary was pretty excited about the whole thing.

All of the kids got these little paper cars to put together.

Anything car related thrills Zack to pieces.

 I wanted all of the little people to put on the little steak and shake hats, but only Zack would participate :(

 He was also the only child who wanted to eat :(

 In any case....Ty and I really enjoyed our lunch!

Soon we were back on the road.

We stopped in St. George to visit Ty's grandparents. Ty did a little roofing and we all got to enjoy some home made rolls. We stayed the night and on Saturday morning we got back on the road.

We stopped in Beaver to visit the Cache Valley cheese factory. It is our favorite little pit-stop! We sampled different kinds of cheeses. I liked the muenster, Max and Mia liked the smoked gouda, and Zack and Ty preferred the sharp cheddar.

After our cheese break we drove straight through to Payson. The kids were glad to be done with the drive. Ty ended up going to see the new Batman movie with his dad and some of his brothers so the kids and I stayed home with Ty's mom and I tried to get everyone to go to bed. This was harder than usual because it stays light out until almost 10:00 here! I was so tired. Everyone finally went to bed and we all woke up Sunday feeling better.

Jamison drove down from Provo to go to church with us. It happened to be Ty's cousin, Will's, mission farewell so we got to see all sorts of family!

After church I made some granola and the kids played on the swingset outside.

Monday was our Provo day. I wanted to go to BYU first. I'm starting my little cougars young :)

We went to the Bookstore so that we could buy shirts. Ty told me he was sure I could buy them online, but I told him it was more fun to buy them on campus at BYU. Sometimes I forget that he was never a cougar! Oh well...we love him anyway!

After leaving the Wilke we went to another part of Provo to do a little shopping. Every time we come to Provo things have changed. There are new things and better things! There was a new splash pad at the Riverwoods and we just happened to have all of the kids swimsuits in the back of the car so we were able to do a quick change and let everyone play. Sadly we did not hava any towels, but it was a hot day so we just had the kids stand in the sun for a few minutes to warm up.

I checked into William-Sonoma. I bought things :)

We took the kids to Blickenstaff's (a really awesome toy store!) Everyone played and picked out a few little things. Next we visited The Chocolate in Orem. We shared a slice of "the cherub" chocolate cake and an italian soda.

After cake we went to visit some old friends, one of Ty's mission companions and his wife. I love a quick catch up!

Next we went to lunch at Slab Pizza in Provo. It was amazing! I had the pulled pork pizza and Ty had the buffalo wing pizza. I shared mine with the kids. There was plenty!

We were having FHE with Ty's brother and sister in law so we drove back to Payson and I whipped up a batch of the Knock You Naked Brownies for our treat. The kids had a great evening playing with there cousins. Everyone was exhausted and went to bed without a fight!

Today is Tuesday and Pioneer Day! We are headed up the canyon for lunch and a hike.

Happy Pioneer Day!

(maybe I will take some pictures soon!)

More Oldies

 Ty bought this bike while we were living in our little rental house in Provo. He loved it. I loved it. We had so much fun on it.

We had to sell it before we headed out to anesthesia school.

It took me a while to figure out what I was doing in this picture. It was taken in the backyard of our Provo house. I was about 6 months pregnant with Max and I was showing off my pregnant belly. This is about how I look normally now.....Oh well.

A Little Blast From the Past

 My parents are moving and my mom is finding all sorts of long lost photos.

She brought these over today.

 Holy Cow!

Who let us get married?

We look about 12 years old:)

 This was a great day.

Call Me Maybe

We are leaving for Utah tomorrow morning!

It will be a week of....Utah!

Wish me luck and listen to this song.

( I really like it!)

Have a great week!

Packing

We leave on Friday for Utah!

Today I am packing for the kids.

 I used gallon sized ziplock bags and labeled each one with a name and a brief outfit description .

The boys are packed in the blue zipper tops and the girls are packed in the pink zipper tops. 

If we can survive the drive it will be a great trip!

Tuesday Things

 I really want to buy these happy little house shoes.

They are Roxy brand Hot Cocoa slippers and I love them :)

We made these Mexican Chocolate Cookies this morning.

We left out the spices that really made the cookies, "mexican", and had regular chocolate cookies instead. They turned out super awesome.

I slept in today.

It was super fun until everyone else woke up and ruined it.

The kids created a play-doh bakery.

They made pizza. Max made pizza without crust and Mia made pizza with crust, because her people like it that way :)

Zack made a cow.

Zoey is sad today and I can't figure out why. She is getting lots of extra cuddles and snuggles.

Max has decided he is going to learn to skateboard. He is doing pretty well so far!

Happy Tuesday!

Ice Cream

 We have been eating lots of ice cream! Zack likes vanilla, Max and Mia like cookies and cream, Ty and I prefer chocolate, and Zoey will take whatever she can get. ( even if it's just a cone! )

Broccoli Cheese

Tonight for dinner, I made the Pioneer Woman's Broccoli Cheese soup.

It was much cooler today than it has been, not really cool enough for soup, but I had some nice broccoli that needed to be used so I made some anyway.

This had to be one of our most popular dinners ever. The kids sat down and happily ate every bite. Ty's only request was that next time I add bacon :)

Find the recipe HERE.

Friday the 13th, Balloons, and randomness....

1. Lunch is my least favorite meal of the day. I really just want to eat some strawberries and move on with it. I love making dinner, but I lack creativity mid-day.

2. After informing Mia that her friend was coming over to play she ran to her room and began to clean and put toys away. She was scrambling to get things put in place and I asked if she was putting things away so that her friend wouldn't play with her toys. She said no, she just wanted her friend to come to a nice clean room. I'm so proud :)

3. We are having the grossest weather. Humidity is never fun.

4. I want today to be super entertaining for everyone without putting forth much effort.....

Balloons are super entertaining :)

5. Happy Friday!

Wednesday Things

1. It is HOT! Triple digit temps all week. 

2. We took the kids swimming today to cool off. Zackary is loving the water more and more each time.

3. Ty and I had a quick lunch date at Cafe Rio. I drowned myself in ice cold horchata. It was awesome.

4. I went through all of the kids clothes today and sorted everything into too small, save for a smaller person, give to D.I., and keep piles. I am trying to figure out what we will be needing to get for school next month. (I can't believe school starts next month. Summer sure is flying by!)

5. Strawberries and watermelon have become our summer staples. We stopped by our favorite fruit stand in Yucaipa to stock up.

6. Max has been watching Johnny Test non-stop. He loves the show and wants us to call him Johnny.

Have a great day!