Full Circle

We drove back to Las Vegas to spend a few days before we flew home. Len and I got to go on a date while we were there. We went to the coolest place in town- the Las Vegas Temple!



Afterwards we grabbed lunch at Baja Fresh. I had to get my fix of delicious fish tacos and fresh guacamole and salsa negra.

We topped it off with frozen custard from Mr. D's (for delicious!)

The kids got a date too, to see Toy Story 3. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you bring some tissue!

I got to visit with my dear friends- Leslie,

Becky,

and Christy.

The little guys had fun "swimming" in the bubble bath.

Yes, we STILL have 2 in diapers (ugh!)

The kids always have fun playing with the toys at Gramma and Grampa's,

and going for rides all over town.

And of course, we LOVE to swim!

And I LOVE this pic of the 2 #fours!

The 10 of us (Coleman had to work) went out to dinner at our favorite Taiwanese restaurant,

Chili's!

For our last night in town the Lee's and the Barlow's met up with us at The District,

The kids had a BLAST dancing to the band "Jump, Jive, and Wail." I think Len did too.

While we were packing Gramma and Grampa took the kids out to Bonnie Springs and Coldstone, and Jack tried to stow-away with us. It's always hard to say goodbye!

We flew out of Vegas on the red-eye, so even though we arrived in Detroit at 6:30 in the morning, it felt like 3:30 to our bodies. We had almost a 4 hour lay-over, so the kids curled up in these chairs and they all fell asleep.

I made a graffiti rock to entertain myself.

We flew on to Syracuse and then drove back to Ottawa where we were greeted by this darling sign on our front door from our neighbors (I have no idea why it's sideways.) We sure miss our families and friends, but it's nice to be home too.

Week 8- The Reil's

All 23 of us Reil's camped at the Convict Lake campgrounds near Mammoth Lakes, California.


The lake was beautiful, but I have to admit I was a little sad at first when I saw we were going to be camping in the dirt (literally) on the side of a sage-brush mountain. Can you see our 2 tents there? We ended up having great fun though!


Teague was prepared with his sunscreen and hat.

While Noe loved the cool hairdo the tent gave her.

There was a little creek nearby that the kids and dads swam and fished in. All the moms hung out in a warmer local.

The bathing beauties.

Gavin had the best time getting dirty from head to toe each day.

These 4 are ready to do some fishing up at Emerald Lake.

Hiking up to the lake we passed lots of beautiful waterfalls and wildflowers.

I had Teague strapped on my back, while Len carried a sleeping Gavin on his back, but we made it to the top! The kids couldn't wait to go exploring.

Who wouldn't want to climb up this tree bridge?

Suzi brought all kinds of fun crafts for the kids to do. Here are the girls tying fabric strips on flip-flops. They also painted wooden animals, decoupaged wooden flowers, and Sydney made bracelets for all the kids too!

We went to Convict Lake several times to fish, swim, and even wash our hair- ha ha!

I love that my camera's zoom was able to capture these 3 beautiful smiles. Now I can't remember the joke they were telling- oh darn!

Our kids really are troopers and sure make life fun!

Sweet Caroline is the newest member of the fam and she is just precious!

We hiked out to Hot Creek to take a little dip.

After we got our toes in, we were warned that a Park Ranger was coming and it was a $300 fine to swim in the hot springs. Bummer! So the kids posed for a picture instead.

Steve and Suzi fed us well- Chicken Cheese, Pulled Pork, and of course a Wienie Roast (I enjoyed my first pig-in-a-blanket- thanks Brett!) We also had S'mores everyday.

Ashton and Gavin used the snakes they painted to play telephone- so cute!

I love to watch our family grow and share memories together. I hope we can do it again next year!

Week 7- The Pittl's

First of all, I have to mention that I made us stop at Chevron in Fillmore, because I remembered they used to carry one of my favorite candy bars from childhood- Abba Zaba's. Success! They still carry them, so we stocked up. Vanilla taffy and peanut butter filling- chewy goodness!


This was a special trip to Idaho as it was Teagie-boy's first time meeting Grandma & Grandpa Green-eyes.


Even though it had been 2 years, it didn't take long for the cousins to get reconnected. They had so much fun playing on the slip & slide and eating otter pops.

Gavin was so happy to be a "big" kid now and get his own rootbeer float!

Grandpa has pictures with all of his grandbabies going for a horseyback ride.

Kaleb wanted to try being the horsey too.

The kids had fun feeding popcorn to the geese at Julia Davis park. Of course, they had to eat some of the popcorn too.

Afterwards we went to the rose garden for a pic nic.

Gavin helped Grandpa mow the grass.

All the kids loved Uncle Karl & Aunt Mary's backyard- jumping on the tramp, flying on the swingset, splashing in the pool, and...

...roasting marshmallows over the bonfire for S'mores.

We took all 17 of the cousins to a fun sprinkler park. Madisin is 2 weeks shy of being a year older than Gavin- she is just a tiny little thing!

The rock climbers made it to the top.

3 of the 5 brothers.

Uncle Karl, Aunt Mary, and their 3 generations.

Daddy-daughter relationships are sweet!

My Aunt Mary was my "second mom" while I was growing up and spent my summers in Idaho. I am so impressed by her love and generosity and amazed at her raising her great-granddaughter.

Uncle Tony & Aunt Margo came to town with their 10 grandkids. They are also a couple of my heroes!

Only 10 of the 20 of us. We sure miss everyone and can't wait for the next time we're all together again!

Lovely ladies and cute boys!

Uncle Adam has 6 kids now- tee hee! We got to visit with him before he headed off to Oregon to visit Auntie LaChele.

Until we meet again, we send our love and prayers to everyone!