Utah trip--part 1

I think this is the longest I've ever gone without blogging since I started two years ago. No, my computer didn't crash. I haven't entered the witness protection program. I can't even blame it on Caroline occupying all my time. So why the delay? We've been way too busy having FUN! That's a good excuse, right?

We took an extended vacation to Utah and have LOVED seeing so many of our family members and celebrating a couple of big events, too. I have too many pics, so decided I better break this up into a couple of posts. First stop: Andrew's side of the fam. All of Andrew's siblings were in town (along with all thirteen cousins--with one more on the way!) We had lots of good times. Here are some of the highlights.

Caroline's blessing
Since we were going to be out west with so many relatives around, we decided to go ahead and do Caroline's blessing.

My mom got this beautiful dress for her.
I loved it.

It was really nice to not have to worry about the
stress of getting ready for church and getting there
on time, etc. We held the blessing at Andrew's parents' home.

Four generations

Look at all these great men who got to participate.
You are loved, little girl!

Grandma Rose got to meet her namesake,
Caroline Rose

Our niece, Vivian, was blessed earlier the same day.
She was pretty laid back about the whole thing, too. :)

Fourth of July
We had a pretty low-key 4th. Wait--is that possible with 13 kids and 10 adults? We all hung out at Andrew's parents house and had a great time--snow cones, new games involving wooden sticks(can't remember that weird name), and of course fireworks. Whitney was very hesitant about those, but we still enjoyed them.

Tony and Andrew played the most hard-fought game of
badminton EVER! Several shuttlecocks were harmed
in the filming of this game.

Caroline and Vivian hung out together while
their daddies played pool. These cousins are only
two weeks apart. We see lots of fun visits for them
in the future.

Wee! I lined up most of the older cousins for this fun
picture. It took several tries. Only minor injuries were sustained.

Check out these buff boys.
Don't mess with them!

Patriotic family photo

Picnic up the canyon
We took a gorgeous drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a picnic. We celebrated Brandon's birthday (slightly belated) while we were up there.

He is such a cutie, especially when he's
the center of attention. What a big seven year old!
I can't believe next year at this time we'll
be planning his baptism!

North Carolina is beautiful, but I do miss the mountains.
You don't see anything like these out there.

One of the fun things about having so many cousins
is that there is always someone to hang out with.
Reagan and B had fun racing through obstacle
courses and timing each other.

Random pics
Ready. Set. Jump!

We went swimming one morning and I loved this pic
of the older cousins jumping in. Cowabunga!

Cutie Caroline at six weeks old.

This girl is easily my most high-maintenance child. Poor thing. I think she has some digestive issues and/or colic. There are times when she just cries so hard like she's in a lot of pain and nothing that I do will soothe her. Thankfully, those moments are getting to be less frequent as she gets older. In her pain-free moments, she is a very smiley, happy girl. The other great thing about her: she is a good sleeper. She hardly ever cries at night. When she does wake up hungry, I just hear her grunting and gurgling in her crib. And after I feed her she goes right back to sleep 90% of the time. That's a HUGE blessing. Plus, the last two nights she has only woken up ONCE. That is awesome. I hope it's the start of a long-lasting trend.

Stay tuned for more pics and updates. Hopefully the next one won't take two weeks.