Two days after coming back from our Mesquite vacation at my parent’s house my mom came up to Utah. This time she brought along some awesome people: Dianne, Alli and her three kiddos Ian, Ainsley and Zack. My cousins were throwing a surprise party for their parent’s 60th birthdays and we all got invitations to come up to Ogden and join in the celebration. Mark was still in China so missed out (again).
All our guests arrived on July 17 and we just hung around catching up on life since we last saw each other a month ago back in California. Alli and I stayed up entirely too late talking about everything under the sun. It couldn’t be helped. We just had so much to talk about. I love spending time with my cousins and I love that my kids get along so well with all my cousin’s kids.
The next morning my girls got to play with Alli’s kids for a while before we headed up to Ogden to help set up for the surprise party. My cousins Kim and Jill put together the whole shindig and it turned out great. I think LeeAnn and Brian suspected something but they were good sports about it all.
Dianne and my mom.
We even made LeeAnn cry when she noticed her two sisters-in-law made the effort to come. Love these beautiful ladies. Dianne, LeeAnn and my mom.
Brian and LeeAnn are amazing musicians and they have their own band. Brian performed a song he wrote about their lives together. It was awesome.
We decided to stay in a hotel in Ogden for the night so we could spend more time the next day with the Russell clan. The kids wanted to see the fish pond out behind the hotel. It was a beautiful open green space that I’m sure is used for parties and wedding receptions.
Gotta love this cheese ball.
We found an abandoned blue frame sitting by the side of the bridge. Alli found a great use for it.
The hotel lobby had a cool chair made out of old skis. Piper loved it.
After checking out of the hotel we headed up to Brian and LeeAnn’s house where Kim, Jill and all their kids were staying. We ended up making plans to go to the local swimming pool which was a great idea. With 13 kids between us four moms we had some serious energy levels. Swimming was the perfect thing to let them all expend every last drop of that energy. Of course I didn’t take pictures. We hardly every get together with my cousins and their kids and I completely forget to snap a few pictures.
One of the best parts about this pool trip was that Piper went the entire time with no life jacket. She even wanted to try the high diving board. She walked right up the ladder, strolled to the end and jumped. No hesitation what so ever. I stood next to the pool’s edge to make sure she surfaced and swam ok towards the edge. She handled it perfectly with no problems. She is a great swimmer already and she only turned six! The other girls never felt that confident in the water this young.
After a long afternoon at the pool my kids were beat so we headed back home. Dianne, Alli and her kids stayed the rest of the day in Ogden to hang out with the Russells.
The next morning was our last day with our house guests. Lady Di (as we call my aunt Dianne) is always prepared to keep grandkids entertained. She brought along pearler beads which kept the six kids busy for hours.
Zack found out just how cuddly our neighbor’s cat can be.
Ainsley, Calista, Zach, Ian and Piper. Not sure where Téa was for this picture.
We decided to introduce everyone to Zupa’s for lunch. It was a big hit. Unfortunately, it was our last meal/event of the day before everyone left to go back home. But, I remembered to take a few pictures!
You always need a ‘funny face’ picture.
It was a short visit from my cousin, her kids, my aunt and my mom but I’m so glad they came. It helped us pass the time while Mark was still in China.
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