Thankful Thursday

Phew!  A month long vacation really ought to be followed up by some kind of hyper sleep for a few days.   We are home and thankful to be so.  This was the first time we went on vacation this long - having Andy come home in between to work some so I could stay and visit a bit longer in CO.  It was nice to get to stay longer with friends and family but we missed our Andy.  The only thing that could have made coming home sweeter would be to not have our AC unit die on us and have to sleep in 80 plus degree air inside.  It is nice though to be back in our own beds and just our family again.  Check out the blog posts below to see the fun adventures we got ourselves into.
1) Cabin with Friends
2)Grandma and Grandpa Mackrory's house
3)Water Fun with Cousins
4)Cabin with Family

Cabin with Friends

When we first arrived in Colorado we met up with some old friends from Utah to go to my parents cabin. It was really fun to get to visit with them and spend a few days catching up and letting the kids play together. It was the perfect weekend of relaxation and good times. The kids loved playing on the zipline at the cabin and the adults had fun giving rides on the go-karts and motorbikes. The best part was when the kids went to bed the big kids got to stay up and hang out sans children.

I think we will have to make this a tradition.  Look what good buddies Corilynn and Addie were!

Grandma and Grandpa Mackrory's house

What a great time we had at Andy’s parent’s house. We could only spend a few days before Andy had to fly back to OH for work but we had lots of fun playing a while. We spent a lot of time goofing off playing their Wii fitness and competing against each other doing ridiculous games. We also went to the slot car racing place where the kids and I include Andy in this statement, had a wonderful time racing slot cars against Grandpa Mackrory. We also had a bbq and went on walks and to farmer’s markets. Three days never went so quickly. Lyman and his grandpa have such a special relationship and he loved to wear his only Hawaiian shirt so he could match Grandpa who wears all Hawaiian shirts. He also was sad and crying when we had to go and so we decided to stop in for a Saturday visit later in the trip for ice cream and more Wii and slot cars.

Water Fun with Cousins

Back with my side of the family – we visited Colorado Springs to see my two sisters who live there. The kids had loads of fun with their cousins and played on an inflatable water slide and the girls had fun getting their hair done. Thanks Becky – I love my new haircut and color! I even had time to catch up with an old friend from HS who lives in Colorado Springs now.

The kids also had fun during this time going to swimming with my friend Kristie and her husband at the swimming pool.  They loved being toted around by Chris and getting more attention then ever before in their life.  It was a great time for me to get to spend a little time with one of my oldest friends and enjoy the excitement of her first pregnancy with her.  I helped throw her a baby shower while I was in CO and it was lots of fun.  I just wish I could live closer to her to have more fun with this.

Ruby was a little shell shocked at first when we arrived in CO with all the people who loved her and wanted to hold her. She was a little shy at first and would only tolerate her parents for awhile. She did mellow out later and let anyone hold her unless she was tired or hungry. Then Mom was the only tolerable solution to that. But the really fun part was that when she saw either Lyman or Corilynn she knew they were part of her family and her eyes lit up and she would giggle and squirm to talk to them and be near them. It was fun for me to see how much she loves being near her family.

Cabin with Family

Towards the end of the vacation we went to my parents cabin again with the rest of my family that was in town or local. We were there to visit together but to also construct the two story addition to the cabin that we were putting up. The kids loved getting to play with their cousins and run wild like feral children. While there I had so much fun getting to know and talking with my nieces and nephews. I was only 8 when they were born and so in so many ways many of them were like my little brothers and sisters. It was such a wonderful experience to get to talk to them as they are becoming adults and to be friends and joke around. They are such good kids and my kids love them so much. They all took turns holding and taking care of Ruby for me and giving Lyman rides on the motorbike. I have really good nieces and nephews and I’m glad to call them friends.

At one point while we were there my nieces and I did almost all the nephew’s hair in tiny ponytails all over their head. It was hilarious and lots of fun. Lyman wouldn’t let us get near him because he didn’t want “girl hair.” It was funny to see him and his boy cousins his age run away as we jokingly chased them to try to get them to get their hair done. I love that age.

There is a natural water fall area about 20 minutes from our cabin and the cousins and my kids had a blast playing in the frigid water and splashing and jumping into the deep ends. It was fun for me to see my kids get a chance to spend time with their Aunts and Uncles and cousins.

The last part of the cabin trip we did a fun little family home evening where we did a “hold to the rod” course. This is where we were blindfolded and led to a rope course where we had to make our way through it and back to our family and parents. It was to symbolize the life we have here on earth and the obstacles and trials we face in our course back to our Heavenly Father. My kids were asleep for this but I got to be the photo taker and it was such a moving experience to see my family work their way back to my parents who were waiting at the end of the course for them. It was really a wonderful evening where we got to feel the joy of having made the “right choices” along the path that led us to be able to live with “God” again.

Just before we left Colorado we had a Pizza Cook-off with my family at my parents house.  It was a lot of fun to joke around with each other and smack talk about every one's pizza.   We had an outside judge who came in to judge the winner.  My brother in law won and although his pizza was good I have to say mine was better and the judge was wrong! jk  :)  It was a fun evening after which we went to the airport to pick up Andy and drove up to Andy's parents for one last night.  We got to see Andy's brother Sean and sister in law Lisa for one short morning before continuing our drive to Kansas City where we stayed at our good friends house.  The next day after that we drove to my sister's house in Illinois and visited for a day or so and then finally we arrived back in Ohio - exhausted and elated to see our house again.