Sunday June 26

Bright and early we headed up to Park City for my cousin, Mackenzie's homecoming. She just got home from serving in the Kiev, Ukraine mission. Afterward was a super nice brunch at her parent's home. My Grandpa Marshall was also there. He is back and forth between Utah, California, and Georgia this summer. Luckily our path and his crossed because I haven't seen him for a couple years.

Our family with Mackenzie

Grandpa Marshall and Elaine with our family

Then we had to hurry back down the hill to John's parents ward for their farewell. They are going to Frankfurt, Germany on their mission. We were the second people in the chapel. It was weird being so on time to church, it's very out of character for me. ;-) They had friends and family over for a variety of cakes after. We're sure going to miss them the next year and a half. We took these pictures the next day.

Monday June 27

On Monday morning my sisters-in-law, Kate, Mel, and I went to a Zumba class at Holladay-Lions. It was my first time and I was more than a little weary of the idea but I had SO MUCH FUN!! If anyone can talk me into going outside my comfort zone, it's these two.

The night before we moved to Kansas City, my Dad threw us a going away party. He made a big batch of Paella and we invited all our friends and my side of the family. It was such a big hit that my friends all requested that we do it again. My Dad and Pippa were kind enough to let us crash their place again for the party. Thanks you guys!

The Campbells: Allen, Greyson, and my BFF Melissa

Max

Alisa and John

Greg and Mat

Alicia and Crew

Maddie plays with the dinosaurs on the patio...

while the boys (Kona and Coen here) bury the dinosaurs in the dirt, then dig them out. All the boys just loved my Dad's big dirt pile.

Sage has the most beautiful eyes! Don't you think she could be a model?

Ian

Canyon

Showing me his dinosaur

3 of the Moellmer girls: Leah, Jane, and Kelly

Aunt Lorie and my Mom

(Most of) My BFFs from Utah
Alisa, Alicia, Me, Sage, Robyn, Holly, Melissa
Joan, Crew, Makai, Luke (not pictured), Max, Greyson
Out of the 9 friends I invited, only me and 1 other did NOT have a baby in the last year. Crazy!

Me & Mom

Melissa (on top), Robyn, Sage & Makai, Holly

Dad and Pippa make a cute couple!

Our family with Dad and Pippa

Pippa found this cute horse costume for Coen. The kid is in love with it!

John wanted a turn with the horse costume too. Wouldn't you?

Me, Mom, and the boys

Tuesday, June 28

One of Marshall's favorite places is Jungle Jim's so he and Grammy have been planning this trip there since February. This was Coen's first time. We started him out on the carousel, thinking it was his speed. Even with me right next to him, holding him on the horse, he was terrified and cried the whole time. Next I took him on the giant spinning ride (pictures 2-4 show it) that goes really fast, then stops and goes backwards. He was scared during the ride, but after it was over I think he realized it was fun. My point in taking him on it was that after riding it, the other rides would be nothing in comparison. It worked! He had a blast and wasn't scared the rest of the time. In fact, he loved it and didn't want to get off of the rides when they ended.

Heather and Angie met us there, too.

Coen had a few bumper car rides all to himself. The first time he couldn't figure out what to do, so he just held the steering wheel to the right and spun in circles the whole time.

Oaklie and Indie

Asher and Marshall

Here it goes backwards! Wheeee!

Honk! Honk!

Oaklie and Coen became little buddies on this trip

Coen would have ridden this ride forever, but they will only let you do it twice so you don't get sick. You should have seen the crusty he gave the attendant when he told Coen to get out.

Jungle Safari

Marshall, Indie, and Asher

He loooves basketball, I think he'll be our athlete.

Coen stayed on this for 4 rides!

After Jungle Jim's we went to Deseret Book and Seagull Book where I could seriously spend hours (and dollars). I miss going in and just wandering around reading the covers of books. With the boys in tow, though, it wasn't quite so leisurely and I didn't have near enough time to look at all I wanted to. I did pick up some great stuff though! Especially at Seagull's clearance table!! My favorite purchase was this Popcorn Bopping CD. You should all just go out and buy it. You'll love it! It's a collection of some children's songs put to upbeat music. It's about time they put church music to some fun music!



My friends that I used to do bookclub with had a girls night while I was there Tuesday night. A lot of new members have started coming since I left and I don't know any of them, so it was kind of a blessing when just me, Sage, and Melissa were the only ones that showed up at Holly's. We were able to talk like old times without the new people feeling left out. It was a blast! I love you girls!!!

Wednesday June 29

We met up with our friends John went to high school with and their wives and kids for a picnic lunch at Liberty Park on Wednesday. Three of us were pregnant with our first babies at the same time and it's always fun to see how the gatherings have gone from 4 couples to going on 13 kids and 4 couples! The kids ran around and played while the moms picked up from where we left off. I love that about good friends.

That afternoon, our plans to go to Murray pool got rained out, so we went to the indoor pool at Holladay-Lions instead. There we met up with my sister-in-law, Melanie, and her boys, and my friends, Heather, and Angie. Grammy came to watch the boys swim for a little while, and we also saw my cousin Zach, who my boys adore, who is a lifeguard there.

That night Heather picked me up and we went shopping at Old Navy with our Groupons, then to dinner downtown at Stoneground, which has the yummiest food ever. I was so sad I had never heard about it before and now live 1000 miles away because I seriously wanted to try everything on the menu. Then because Heather is OBSESSED with working out (I seriously wonder why she's friends with me, we're so different), we walked around Liberty Park (1.5 miles) before heading home. We talked until 1am at my mom's house.

Thursday, June 30

Brandon came to town late Wednesday night and the boys were so excited to see him upon awakening Thursday morning. Brandon and I dropped our cars off at Dee's for some work, then piled in Mom's car ......tightly to head to Draper for various activities. Brandon and I dropped Mom and the boys off at the Living Planet aquarium in Sandy for a couple hours. I took him to get his hair cut at our stylist's salon in Draper, then he and I headed to IKEA for lunch (mmmm! meatballs and lingonberry sauce) and shopping. I needed more kid cups/plates/bowls because I'm missing some colors in the set (HI ANNIE!!!).

That night we had a family dinner at Mom's before piling back in the car to go shopping. She wanted to buy my kids some summer church clothes and Brandon needed a black leather belt. We searched Fashion Place Mall and Target before my kids' lack of sleep caught up with them and we had to head home to bed.

Friday, July 1

One of our favorite summer activities when we lived in SLC, was to go to Murray pool with my friends, Heather and Angie, and their sons, Asher and Indie, who are Marshall's age. It was on our must-do list for our visit. This time Melissa came too and Coen had fun playing with her son, Canyon.

Marshall and Asher took turns pretending to baptize each other. I snuck up behind Asher to listen in and I heard him say "by the authority of the priesthood, I baptize you..." It was so funny.

The boys were all trying to get Oaklie to shake her booty. Here's Marshall shaking his.

In the afternoon Dad called and needed to get Cooper and Riley out of the house so they joined us at the pool, too. When we were all exhausted and ready to go, Dad offered to cook us his delicious Risotto for dinner.

Saturday, July 2

My mom claimed Saturday to do her last Grammy stuff with the boys. They went to Wheeler Farm and the Sandy Mall to play in the dinosaur play place. Both of which are some of Marshall's favorite pastimes with her.

While they were out and about I gathered some baby equipment from my old room (aka storage) at my mom's house. We didn't need it when we moved, and I hoped that we would have a van to bring it back with us by now, but we don't. So I took it to Kid to Kid and sold it. I got rid of a double stroller, an Exersaucer, and a Jumperoo. John brought back more critical stuff like baby girl clothes (here's hoping...someday) and Marshall's old 4T-5T for Coen, along with the high chair and baby car seat.

Then I met up with Aunt Lorie and Erikka to see Monte Carlo, which was such a cute movie!

After the movie, Mom took me and Brandon to dinner at a chinese restaurant downtown while Marshall and Coen played/cried while Grandpa Kirk watched them. Sorry, Dad.

Brandon and I rented The Next 3 Days and watched it with Mom that night. Marshall got to have a sleepover at Grandpa Kirk's, something he's been asking for since he was little.

Sunday, July 3

Sunday morning we drove up to Heber for my cousin's baby's blessing. Afterward we went to the luncheon at her in-laws. My boys and their second cousins had fun running through the industrial farm size sprinklers...in their church clothes. Boys will be boys ((sigh)).

Riley Marshall
Marshall: (noun) one who cares for horses

Brandon with our cousins, Cody and Camden
What is it with boys and blue church shirts?

After the luncheon we went back down to Salt Lake with Riley to see Grandma Mary (my former step-mom's mom). We visited with her for about an hour.

Then I went to John's parents weekly Sunday dinner where we said goodbye to them and all the family for the last time. As I was hugging my nieces that I used to watch, Eve (age 6) came to give me one more hug and told me she loves me. It was so sweet and I could see in her face that our time together a couple years ago meant a lot to her. Laine, Eve, and James will always have a special place in my heart from our mornings together. Love you guys!

Next (this night kept on going) I went to my Aunt Lorie's (my mom's sister) for some Cafe Rio style burritos. They were to die for!!! There we joined up with my mom, Brandon, and of course Lorie's family. We played a couple rounds of Apples to Apples. I think Uncle Kendall was a little miffed that I kept winning. ;-)

The games didn't end there!! Brandon and I dropped my mom and the kids off at her house then headed down to Dad and Pippa's for a game night. We started out on their patio watching Cooper and my Dad play checkers. Pippa had my dad lay the tiles so there would be a checkers board, how funny is that? So they inaugurated it with plastic cups for pieces. When the mosquitoes started coming out, we headed inside to play Cranium, sans game board. Much funner that way! We had a million laughs. I always feel like a teenager again when I'm with my siblings, and I act that way too. They bring out a fun side in me and I think it's because they're still young and immature unburdened by adult responsibilities.

The right-side-up cup is the kinged checker piece.

Contemplating their next moves.

Watching the game.

Cooper shows us his killer broom balancing skills

At some point during Cranium we started passing our glasses around to see who had the worst vision. My Dad, Cooper, Brandon, and I could all see perfectly out of each other's lenses. How crazy is it that we all have the same prescription? We think Riley shares our vision, but she prefers walking around blind didn't have her glasses with her.

My Fa4ite Holiday Ever

Ah the Fourth of July!! I love this holiday. It's such a great time to reconnect with all my cousins, aunts, and uncles. Getting together and going to the Oakley Rodeo has been a family tradition since my Dad was a little boy.

I talk about this every year but I seriously love my family. My cousins are like long-lost siblings. We spent up to 2-3 weeks with them every summer either at Aspen Grove or my Uncle's cabin in Island Park. The Oakley Rodeo usually fell somewhere in the middle. My best memories of growing up happened with my cousins at these places.

I strongly believe in family traditions. The Rodeo is the only tradition that still exists on the Marshall side, so I cling strongly to it. I can't imagine not being there for it and I cry each year when they bring out the flags and sing the anthem.

This year was unique because my mom came with us. She has not been to the rodeo since she and my dad divorced when I was 3. She is still close with my Grandma and still comes to missionary farewells and homecomings. She has been invited to the rodeo several times, but this is the first year she accepted the invite. Mostly because Marshall asked her to. It was fun to have you there, Mom!

This year we had a party at Alecia's house in Midway before heading up to Oakley. The adults mingled, the kids played, and everyone had a great time!

Nothing to kick off the Fourth like a picture of Cooper! Although I think he missed the memo on the red, whit, or blue attire. (Only kidding, Coop!)

The second generation of Marshall granchildren. It's so fun to see them all together. We all agree that we want them to grow up with as great of relationships that we had. Aspen Grove 2012, anyone?

Grandma Rose and my Mom

((gasp)) Dad!

Little Peter

Riley and Mackenzie

Jetta Jane plays the harmonica

Uncle Peter, Cody, Christian, a friend, and Camden share some good times.

I loved hearing all about the Ukranian people from Mackenzie

I'm in a picture!! (Some of you will be shocked)

First Cousins, Henry and Jack

Dad and Grandma Rose

Coen loved playing with Aunt Alecia's collection of Little People. Here he is crashing the two vehicles over and over.

Hollah!

Aldi (grocery store here) has a cozy coupe right now, I may have to get it after seeing how much Coen loves them!!

Coen was able to get reacquainted with my brother. He kept referring to him as "My" Uncle Brandon. As in: "Where my Uncle Brandon go?" or "That my Uncle Brandon," as he pointed to tell people. We love you, Uncle B!!!

Aunt Robin and my Mom

We all stood around listening to my talented cousin, Cody, who writes all his own music and lyrics.

These boys wrestled each other for a long time. It was so funny to watch them.
Henry vs. Jack and Coen vs. Marshall

Jack and Marshall duel while Coen and AJ cheer them on


Marshall and Henry have a go at each other


Aunt Robin, Dad, Mackenzie

AJ (must stand for active jumper)

Second Cousins: Jackson and Marshall

Grammy and her boys

Mom's Family:
Me, Mom, Brandon
Marshall, Coen
Dad's Family:
Dad, Coen, Me, Brandon
Cooper, Marshall, Riley