Utah!!!

We are home from Utah and had an amazing trip. So much fun to get to see so many people. We drove up on Friday afternoon and the kids did great in the car despite the long trip. On Saturday morning before the game we got together with Allen's former college roommates and their families for lunch. There were 7 guys who lived together before their missions and then for a couple years afterward. They have all kept in touch and the wives have gotten to know each other quite well. So, 6 of the 7 families were able to come for the weekend (traveling from Washington, Atlanta, New York City, Arizona and California). We had a little while to walk around campus before the game started. I always love going to Provo and BYU, I think it still feels a little bit like home to me. On our way to the stadium, we ran into one of "my" young women from the Hartford ward with her brand new husband. It was great to see her and I suddenly felt SO old. She seems so happy and mature!

Here we are at the game:

It was blazing hot but we had SO much fun. The kids absolutely loved being a part of the action. Of course, it helps that it was a great game. Towards the end of the game we realized that Jenni and Dave Andrist's parents were sitting just a couple rows ahead of us. It was really fun to catch up with them for awhile (but none of my pics with them turned out)! After the game we met up with Steve and Meg and my little brother Steve to have dinner at our most favorite Provo restaurant, El Azteca. So fun!

On Sunday we attended church with Al's brother Steve and his wife Megan. That afternoon we got together with the roommates again for lunch/pictures/play time. Here's a picture of the most of the crew (missing 2 families):

And here are the kids - what is most amazing about this picture is that there are 4 kids missing another 3 babies that are on the way. The oldest child of the entire group is only 5! Unbelievable!

The guys (minus 2):The very significant others:

We are really grateful to have such great friends and we can't wait for the next reunion. (As a side note, we used to all live on the East Coast so reunions were a lot more frequent back then. But now we have A LOT more kids and it complicates things a bit. We're already planning an adults only vacation if we can ever get a break with all the babies - not likely any time soon :) )

Sunday night we had dinner at Steve & Meg with Joel & Ami.

On Monday, Joel and Ami came over for a big, yummy breakfast and then we all headed to Gardner Village for the morning. I have to say, you Utah girls have got it made with all the awesome shopping in Utah. I got a ton of stuff for my house while I was there and would kill for great shopping like that here. The kids had fun feeding the ducks and getting treats at the candy shop while the girls shopped. After lunch we took Al to the airport so he could come home to work. The kids spent the afternoon playing in the hose and Megan captured these brilliant pictures:

Monday evening, Steve and Joel graciously took the challenge to watch all the kids so Megan, Ami and I could have a girls night out. It was SO much fun getting to hang out together for a few hours. I am lucky to have such great Sisters-in-law. We went to Johnny Carino's for dinner (AMAZING food) and visited for hours. The three pregnant Frosts (Ami is due at the end of Sept and Meg is due 3 weeks before I am):

Big thanks to the guys for wrangling the troops so we could go!

Tuesday morning Meg watched my kids so I could hit Tai Pan Trading Company by myself. I love that store - so many awesome things. I scoped out my purchases for later in the week (they have no return policy so you HAVE to be sure what you want to buy). Afterwards, we headed down to Provo to spend the day with Mindy & Charlie. It was so great to see Mindy, she is one of my closest friends and I wish we got to see each other more often. I love seeing her beautiful new house and seeing how Charlie has grown since we last saw him last December. I am an idiot and took no pictures. Thanks for having us for the entire day Mind!

Tuesday night we got to have dinner with my darling friend Lizzy. My kids absolutely adore her (what child wouldn't, she is amazing with kids) so they had an especially great time. Lizzy made us a YUMMY dinner and then we got to see her CUTE house. Thanks Lizzy! (Are those couches not to die for?!?)

Wednesday morning I was able to see some friends from Seattle who have recently moved to Utah. We met up with Elisa and Jeri at Elisa's new house. My kids were THRILLED to see their old friends and had so much fun playing together for a couple hours. I loved seeing Jeri's new baby! And Elisa and I are due with baby #3 the same week!!

Wednesday night Meg and I took the kids to a fabulous park near her house. It was the coolest park I've ever seen and the kids had so much fun: It was SO fun to get to spend so much time with Meg this week. We get along really well and had a great time spending time together. Sometimes it's hard to get alot of one on one time together at our big family reunions so this week was a real treat! Thanks again for everything Meg and Steve!

On Thursday I got to spend time with my best friend from High School, Camille. We met up for lunch and then played at her house for a couple hours. It's always so much fun to see each other, it doesn't happen nearly often enough!!

On Friday my parents came from Colorado. We checked out of the "Frost hotel" and hung out with my parents all day. My mom and I went and did some more shopping for stuff for my house while my dad entertained my kids (thanks dad!!). I really needed my moms impeccable taste to help me choose things. Here's my mom with the kids at Gardner village (yep, back to G.V. My mom helped me pick out some fabric at their amazing quilting store Pine Needle Quilt Shop for some stuff for our new baby!!)

Friday night we went to the school my sister Teresa teaches at for a dinner and balloon launch. It was so fun to see my sister in her element. She is so good at what she does and it was a real privilege to see her in action. All the kids got a balloon and a laminated card with their name and the address of the school. The idea is to let the balloons go and then see where the cards are found. My kids thought it was fabulous. With their balloons (this was balloon #2 for Makenna):After the launch:

It was a really cool experience. After the dinner/launch we picked up Al from the airport. My kids were SO HAPPY to see their daddy. We drove up to Heber for my mom's family reunion that night.

For the family reunion we stayed at Heber Valley Camp. It was really cool to be there because one of my uncles was the project manager for the building project. It is an LDS owned camp where lots of Girls camp groups come during the summer. It is open to families on the weekends and throughout the year. There are very comfortable cabins and showers so it's not really roughing it but a beautiful location and tons of fun. Saturday morning we had a big breakfast with the few family members that were there. We hiked around the camp for the morning:

Most of my cousins came up later in the afternoon for the big family meal. It was SO fun to see so many of my cousins, some of whom I haven't seen in years. Carter was in hog heaven with all the dirt and little boys to play with. I honestly don't think I've ever seen my kids as dirty as they were at the end of Saturday. They had so much fun though. Here's my immediate family at the dinner (and I look extraordinarily huge here, I promise I don't look that pregnant in real life)

Extended family. Quite a few people had left by the time we took this picture. My nephew pushing the little kids around.

Sunday morning we made the very long drive back to Phoenix and arrived safe and sound. We packed so much into this trip but we had the BEST time. Thank you everyone who hosted us and/or made this trip possible.

(And I think this just might be the longest post I've ever posted)