Part 3-Pictures and lots of walking

So the every-two-year Abbott Reunion took place in Park City this year. We stayed in a 3 story house right near the Olympic Park. Those stairs made me really grateful for our one story house. Seriously, if I had to live with those stairs I think I would probably drop this baby a few months early.

And the saga continued with the kids as we moved from one reunion to the next. Luke would scream and throw himself around if Dan ever left his line of sight. Ava was officially rude to each member of the family. And this is my official apology to all who came across her crusty path: I am sorry.

There were a few things that were soothing to the kids. A daily walk was one of them.


The neighborhood boasted lots of shade and flowers for picking (dandelions, mostly).



To Ava's delight, Grandma even figured out how to make flower buttons!



And it afforded us all some happy time. It really reminded me how much I would love to live in a more "natural" setting. There is something calming and refreshing about being outside. Especially when it's not 100 degrees and humid.

And on our first day there, while the rest of the family took off to the temple open house, Leah's fam and ours stayed home so our kids could nap.

Before they did though, I took some pictures for them. A few of the family and then some of just Leah.



And as we were doing the latter, we heard little Ian let out a scream! Chris brought him over to show us the damage. The poor little guy took a tumble down the mulch covered hill.


And it was his own mama who requested the pictures!


The last story for this post is really one of "what might have been". On one of our last days, the crew decided to take a hike up Stewart Falls. I am was automatically out because as I mentioned previously, I was already feeling like the ligaments and tendons holding the lower half of my body together went on a separate vacation than me. Luke was out, obviously, which also meant Dan was out, mostly because he felt too bad to leave me with Luke.

But Ava was not necessarily out. I questioned her willingness to go once she found out neither Dan or I would be going, but surprise us she did! She was very excited! I didn't pack the right shoes for hiking but her purple sparkle shoes with some borrowed socks would just have to do.

Meanwhile, Dan, Mimi, Luke, and I had our own "hike" around Bridal Veil Falls just a few minutes away.


I really wanted to stay close in case Ava couldn't make it. I didn't want her to tire out and then ruin the hike for everyone else. So I promised that we would be 15 minutes and phone call away in case she couldn't do it. As they were leaving I kept asking her, "What do you do when your legs get tired?"

"Keep walking!"

So we meandered through the park. Luke was so cute when he came to this little clearing along the river. He let go of Dan and Mimi's hands, walked himself over to this spot and plopped down to watch.



After a little more walking we sat down in the shade with some trail mix and I dialed up Mom just to check in. She informed me that Ava was still just as enthusiastic as she was at the beginning, but that her darn purple shoe was rubbing her heel and making a blister. She was slowing them down because she was trying to walk with her heel out of her shoe. Uncle Chris got her a band aid but it wasn't doing the job. At that point they decided it would be best for Ava to turn back accompanied by Grandpa (Thank you, Grandpa! Though I think he was secretly happy for the excuse!)



So we gathered ourselves and made it out of the park and met the hikers at the trail head a few minutes later.



Ava was still in good spirits.



I was really proud of her. And I promised we would take her to see a waterfall since she didn't get to see this one.



Apparently, on the way up a lady passing the group saw Ava's shoes and said, "Well, Stewart Falls has never seen the likes of those shoes!"

And sadly enough they never will!

Part 2- Pioneers and Butterflys

Pioneer Day was never much of a holiday for me growing up. But we were in Utah for Pioneer Day this year and there were quite the festivities.

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Don's neighborhood in Midway held a huge BBQ celebration. And instead of being smart and getting in line for food first, we got in line for the face painting clown. Unfortunately, by the time we finished our turn, the line to the food was SUPER long. So we opted instead to hop in the car and go through the Taco Bell drive thru.

On our way to the car I had Madame Butterfly pose for a picture.


That clown was pretty talented!

Now here's where I have to do it. And I will have to continue to do it throughout the rest of this series of posts.

While I don't really enjoy reading about people complain, I also don't like reading people's blogs where everything is always perfect. Mostly because I think they are lying. Because nothing is ever ALWAYS perfect. I just like a nice balance of reality. And I guess that's what I'm striving for in my record keeping.

So, this trip was really hard. The kids were out of their element. And they got tired of it very quickly. It was a lot of work for Dan and I. But mostly Dan because he picked up the slack.

But on the bright side, it was less than 2 minutes into our ride to Taco Bell until Madame Butterfly looked like this:


That was a much needed rest right there.

She wore that makeup for the rest of the weekend and insisted on being called Super Butterfly.

Later, Auntie Wendy showed Luke what I would guess to be one of the highlights of his trip.

He adores playing with matchbox cars. He had a whole bucket nearly to himself. And then Wendy brought out the sheet pan.

She set it up on the bucket near the wood floor, and showed him how it was done!


With every car he would yell, "WOW!" with such excitement!

Our time with the Colton's seemed all too quick. We enjoyed meeting Dan's sister's fiancee, getting to hang out with all the rest of the family, and being charmed by one of the worlds best dogs.

And it's no secret that Ava loves her Grandma Linda.



Prior to our trip to Utah this year, Ava told me the following,

"Grandma Linda lubs me the best. That's why I lub her so much!"

Part 1-Fish and Feathers

We're back from our adventure and while I am tired enough to sleep for 17 days, I figure I better get to going on these or I will never, ever catch up. Problem is, that I took over 400 photos which causes me serious angst in trying to narrow things down and cram things in. So in what is sure to be a series, here are some highlights.

First of all the odds of the every-two- years-Abbott-Family reunion coinciding with the annual Colton family reunion, in time and place were astronomically high, so the fact that they did and we were able to attend both was a real treat.

In our too-quick weekend with the Colton side, we did a little fishing.


As you may recall, I only catch sharks so this pond was a little too small for me. It was, however, the perfect place for a little girl like Ava to try her hand. Dan's uncle was kind enough to slide a worm on her hook and get her all set up.


She enjoyed it for a few minutes before she abandoned her pole for more pressing issues.

I'll give you three guesses to see if you can tell what she is doing.


Can you tell yet?


Now?


What's that? You guess she is collecting duck feathers and stuffing them down the front of her dress?



You're right! How did you know?!

Meanwhile, as Ava continued to stuff, the rest of the group continued fishing in vain,


they just weren't bitin' that day,


Grandpa Don caught a few Zzz's,




and Luke went home with a bad case of the terrible two's.

Poop and Circumstance

I don't think much of anything looks good at 3 AM, especially diarrhea smeared and caked all over your two year old's sheets, bedding, and body.



We leave tomorrow for our family reunions, so we are leaving in a few hours for a trip to the doctor.

Hopefully, she'll have something to help us!


And a fair warning to all my relatives, be weary of Luke's kisses and bring some hand sanitizer!

I took some pictures...

... of a beautiful new baby last week. They were just for fun but I think they turned out so cute and I told, Leah (the proud momma) that if I wasn't already pregnant, her little darling would have made me want to be.

Here are some of my favorites:











Isn't she a doll?!

We've been through this before

Some happy news got Ava and I talking about marriage today. She has made it clear in the past that she plans to marry Dan. But this afternoon as we chatted over marshmallows and chocolate chips, our conversation went like this:

Ava: Mom, someday when I'm big like you, can I get married?

Me: Of course!

Ava: But I can't marry dad?

Me: Well, no because he's already married to me


She paused for a moment to think and then came back with this compromise,


"Well, how bout Grandpa?"

Summer Strawberries and Grass Soup

I came upon Luke the other day, sitting at the table, helping himself to some red, ripe strawberries.



He seemed to be enjoying every




single



bite.


Or at least he seemed to be enjoying one single bite of each strawberry.





Last week was crazy fun. The quantity (or lack thereof) of pictures is proof of that.

My Val came back for a visit! She and the kids stayed here with us, while Jordan was at a conference. He joined the party a few days later.

Lots of kids and toys and noise and lots of fun!

I had to keep reminding myself that this was just a visit, because really it felt a lot like old days.

We hung out in our jammies a lot and the kids watched movies and played.

The gang, minus Clara

The sleeping arrangements were haphazard, but we all did pretty good. But I was sleeping in my own bed so I might not have an accurate opinion.

Luke and Lainey, destined for each other

And when the weekend came, we went out for a double date!

We snuck (sneaked?) out the back door, as not to disturb the cutie sleeping in the office, and as we did, we discovered some leftovers of that mornings activities--Grass Soup.



Delicious! I am ready for another serving of that soup any time, so I hope another visit is just around the corner!