Busy, busy, fun, fun, fun

We have been so busy that I haven't had time to blog! Now I have to play catch-up on the last week, but you'll have to miss out on all the vivid details because that would be a novel of a post if I included them all. So, here's the Reader's Digest version of what we've been up to. First, we bought a van! We decided to get that Dodge Grand Caravan that I had talked about before.

Whitney named it "Honda." Don't ask me why.

Andrew took the day off of work last Friday and Brandon also had it off, so we went down to Charlotte as a family and had a great time. We went to a huge fun mall for the day and then to another Bobcats basketball game at night. It was "Family Fun Night" where you can get 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 drinks, and 4 T-shirts for $60. Pretty good deal, huh?

Andrew said we could go deer hunting as soon as
the game was over! :)

We had a really fun time at the game. On the drive home, we heard the van making kind of a funny sound. It was really loud when you were idling. It was bothersome. Also, there was quite a bit of wind noise when you driving on the freeway. And the back was supposed to be able to automatically open and it didn't. Having all of those three problems, we decided to TAKE IT BACK. Yep. Carmax has a 5 day return policy, and we took them up on it. No charges, no problems. So we're back at square one. Actually, we're at square zero because we just donated Andrew's car to charity, so now we can't even try to charge his battery and use it. Oh, well. Hopefully we'll find our lucky van soon!!!

Over conference weekend, my aunt and uncle came to visit from northern Utah. What a treat! They actually came out to visit their son who was living in VA, but he moved home after they bought their tickets, so we got to see them instead. :)

Aunt Julene and Uncle Harry

We had a great time watching conference and visiting with them. They left Monday morning. Andrew did, too. He had another business trip, to CA this time. And Monday afternoon my Mom flew in! We're really feeling like the popular family right now. :)

We decided at the last minute to drive down to Georgia to visit my brother, Paul. It was really good to see him, but was WAY too short of a visit.

We went to a park where the boys played
baseball and the girls played on the playground.

And then out to dinner at a yummy BBQ place.

We only stayed one night in GA, then started driving home. We stopped in Asheville, NC. We wanted to drive by the Biltmore, a huge mansion that you can tour. But they don't even let you drive by the outside of it unless you have a $38 ticket. I still hope to pay that much and tour it one of these days, but not with the kids.

These were the flowers outside of the entrance.
Can't imagine how beautiful it must be INSIDE the gates.

We also stopped at a place called the FUN DEPOT where we played arcade games, Whit rode little kiddie rides, and Brandon played laser tag.

He even talked his Gigi into playing with him.

We're back in town now. I'm still trying to catch my breath. Andrew gets home tonight and my mom is staying a few more days, so we should have more fun ahead.

On a side note, Andrew got to go to a LAKERS game last night and sit in a box seat with the retiring VP of HR for Avery. How cool is that????