Summer 2012

I am a year and a half behind. I have an overwhelming task to catch up but I am going to do my best...
Last Summer began almost immediately with a trip across the country from Pennsylvania to Utah. It's quite the journey. The kids did well. They love to travel...the excitement helps them be well behaved. It was an especially long trip because we have to drive two hours to the airport in Pittsburgh. The airline lost one of our car seats which always adds to the excitement.

 We did so many fun things. I went to my first ever rodeo...what a treat!!! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Hecker!! We had strawberry's and cream and I loved how everyone was dressed so fancy. A whole new world for us!

 Talon loved it...John had so much to explain to him. He was obsessed with cowboys during this time.

 The kids love spending time with their cousins. We wish we loved closer to all of them!

 We made the trek to Logan to see John's grandpa. We couldn't resist. We had to rent a van for the two hour drive and ended up with a 15 passenger van that was mostly empty.  He is such an amazing man and we just listened to him tell us story after story. He is a great example to us all and we love him so much. It was fun to see a few of John's sisters who lived there too! We had lunch at the park and let the kids play for a few hours.

 We decided to have Hailey's baptism while we were there because we had so many family members visiting all at once for our family reunions. She was so lucky to have so many people who love her there.

 She wanted to wear my baptism dress, which my Omi made for me. Styles sure have changed but she looked adorable.

 We sure do love these people. The room was filled by the time everyone arrived.

 Some happy kids!

SO fun to see my friends that I haven't seen in forever. Natalie drove from Grantsville to be there. I didn't get a picture of the Burton's but what a wonderful gift to have them there as well.

 John has extremely talented sisters...these were the most delicious cupcakes. Wendy did an amazing job and they were perfect for our celebration after the baptism. Overall, it was a beautiful day filled with memories and love. Now that it has been a year and a half later, I have a different perspective on what Hailey's baptism meant to her. She has taken it very seriously and wants to always make righteous decisions. What an amazing girl she is.

 Check out this sight. This is Kevin and Corey, two of my brothers. Twelve of us caught the Norovirus while we were underneath the same roof for our family reunion. It wasn't pretty people. My parents were just finishing the bug when I got there. I caught it, then Isabella and Lucy. Corey and Kevin got sick at the very end of my sickness. That's just kind of how it went...in a rotation. This is the worst bug that I have ever seen. I won't go into details but let's just say that one of my family members had to sleep in the bathtub for a night. AWFUL!!!!

 I ran my very first race (the first day I felt better and had not eaten in 3 days!!) and it was awesome. it was the Freedom Run in Provo (10k...along the parade route on July 4th!) Really, really fun. It started my love of racing for sure!

 The parade was really fun. We had the perfect spot in the shade.

 I got to spend a ton of time with these lovely parents of mine.

 My kids had not been to temple square so of course we had to go there. The new mall is amazing and we met up with lots of friends.

 Oh sweet cousins. When we go to Utah, we have so many people to spend time with. Isabella loves these girls so much and they rarely get to be together. Can I reiterate that we want to go to Utah. NOW.

 A little Wii. Serious business!!!

These babes are so little in this picture!!! One day, these two will be best of friends.