When Family Comes to Visit - Day 2

We thought it would fun to head on over to Colossal Cave Mountain Park for some good family fun. All 17 of us headed into the cave for a tour.  We learned all about the Cave's history, crazy legends, and geology like stalactites, stalamites, helictites, and a bunch of other -ites I can't remember how to say.  The kiddos had a great time as did the grown-ups.  When we exited the cave we realized the pouring rain would keep us from exploring the rest of the park so we headed back to the homestead (our home and the neighbors' home).

Since the rain didn't really let up much during the day, after lunch we loaded up the crowded and headed on over to the Children's Museum.  Good times were enjoyed by all the little people!

Have I mentioned that we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when family comes to visit!  Well, we really do.

the 3 buddies: Tucker, Jared, Daniel at the cave entrance

Aimee, Sara, Uncle Stan in the cave

Interesting little story about the neighbors' home.  Our wonderful neighbors who we very much liked recently moved.  Their home is mostly empty and hasn't sold.  When we realized family was coming to visit, we shyly approached the neighbors and asked if we might 'borrow' their mostly empty home to help host family.  They said of course!!!  They really are so very nice and we will miss them.  Thus is the story of how we were able to accommodate all 17 of us.

When Family Comes to Visit - Day 1

When family comes to town, we really know how to show them a good time!!  What do we do?  We take them to a boy scout troop BBQ?!  Seriously, this food was absolutely fantastic!!!  The dutch oven cobblers were made by Cookie Winfield himself.  YUMMY!!  The meat was slow cooked in a pit for days.  The boy scouts were our waiters and they were great.  It was a wonderful evening of fun, hayrides, 'ranch exploring', good food, lovely entertainment and great company.

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when family comes to town!!!

Jared, Daniel, and Tucker

Samantha, Mckell, Melece, and her kiddos

Cami and her kiddos (Eve, Samantha, Gwen)

Our FAVORITE Aunt Chris & Uncle Stan

Seriously, I should never be put in charge of picture taking.  Bryan is a much better "memory capture-er"  Oh well, at least we have wonderful memories in our mind's eye.

FYI: the boy scout troop was doing the fundraiser for the upcoming trip to Philmont.  How cool is that!

Mini-road trip

What are the odds that a lovely gal from the Gila Valley (our neck of the woods) goes up to school in UT,  meets a great guy, falls in love, they get married in the Gila Valley and we know the great guy!?!  The great guy is our cousin Ryan!!  The lovely gal is Michelle.  We don't usually have the opportunity to attend many cousins' weddings because of time and distance but we were thrilled to be able to be there for Ryan and Michelle's!!

We got zero pictures of the bride and groom but fortunately our FAVORITE Aunt Chris snapped this little pic of our family at the reception.  I seriously think I should never be put in charge of our camera and picture taking, I always forget to take pics!!

Did I mention the reception decorations were so fun and gorgeous?!  Oh, how I wished I'd taken pictures of them.

Camp out?

Sara really wanted to camp out in the back yard.  She made quite the "tent".  The night was just a little too chilly to camp out, but she sure had fun pretending until bedtime. 

Sara's tent

General Conference

I love, love, love General Conference weekends!!  

They are so fun and spiritually uplifting!!

The kiddos smiling and happy during the 3rd session!

I love that Daniel, Jared, AND Sara will sit, listen, play conference games through all 4 sessions.  I love how they let their creative juices flow and make the weekend fun for all of us.  They truly are amazing children.


*General Conference weekend happens twice a year.  It's a two day weekend filled with the words of the leaders of the LDS church.  To learn more visit http://lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng

April Fools' Day

Cupcakes for dinner?  

Not really but it sure was a fun way to celebrate April Fools Day!

The cupcake was really a mini-meatloaf.  Recipe found here

Sara was so excited!!  She really did believe the cupcakes were real.

The boys were good sports but being the foodies they are, they spotted the difference right away.

Happy April Fools' Day!!!