Utah Trip

Back in August, my friend Trisha Brown and I decided to carpool up to UT together to see our families.  Somehow we survived the trip both ways, driving 12 hrs straight, and even having two kids sharing a seatbelt!  I don't know how no one was killed. :)  But it was super fun and worth the miles and time!  There was a McBride reunion that me and the kids were attending, but ended up also seeing some of the Bates family, and a few friends as well.  The fun part was that the McBrides didn't know we were coming, so we knocked on the door.  They were so surprised, and thankfully excited to have us there! :)

These are two of my roommates from my freshman year at BYU, Holly and Kristi.  That was such a fun year, and it was great seeing them grown into beautiful women with their darling children.  I LOVED these few hours we had together.  I hope it was fun for them too!  (We did not color coordinate our shirts ahead of time, it just ended up that way...funny!).

One of our many stops was to see my brother Kendal and his wife Sharlee and kids.  I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of them with me, but I did get a few at their home.  This is the most awesome wig I've ever seen.  TOTALLY cracked me up when Landon found it and put it on.  So of course I had to have all the kids wear it, it was too dang funny.  I think cousin Jonah used this to dress up as Nacho Libre for Halloween last year.  Now we know what my kids would look like with his awesome 'do.

Landon, Jonah, and Marlee, being silly!  I wish we lived closer, Landon and Jonah had such a good time together!

We happened to visit on cousin Emmett's birthday, so we got to be a part of his party.  We love Emmett (or Murmurt as Marlee once dubbed him). :)  Kendal was the master of the ceremonies.  It was so great to spend time with these guys....as we use to live near them for 3 years.  We had such good times together then, and really miss them a LOT!

Here the kids are at Steph's house.  The tramp is always a good source of entertainment.  The kids particularly like the games "hyper-extend my legs," "break your neck" and "fall off the tramp backwards."  Ok, maybe not, but that's always what I envision when all 12 cousins are on the tramp at the same time. :)

Diggin' away in the sandbox.

McBride cousins (Nathan, Laura, Ben, and Logan) playing Logan's favorite sport.  I would LOVE to have this backyard!

 McBride game time.  The only one missing in all this family fun was Bryce. :(  He had to work and couldn't come on this trip.  Everyone sure missed him!!

Masen and Weston (just a few months apart), seeing who's gonna win the game "is the frigde door gonna stay opened or closed."

Tawna's house has some pretty sweet kid entertainment as well.  This is a little playhouse the kids spent tons of time in, sweeping the floors, ironing, and washing dishes.  Awesome little place to play!

All the McBride cousins (minus Tawna's kids) the day we took off to head back home.  I love Masen in this picture....such a lighthearted child! :)  It was sad to say goodbye, and we had such a fun time seeing so many people.  I'm sad I didn't get more pictures of the grownups!  But when you're taking care of 4 kids by yourself, you don't always have the time, energy, or memory to grab your camera!

It was a great trip, but like always, it was good to get home.  We all missed Daddy!!!