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Saturday, July 5, 2008

Our Big Summer Vacation

This week we have been in Utah surrounded by family. I have barely had a moment to relax, let alone think much about the computer. The 4th of July festivities are over now and things are settling down. For my sake, I want to jot down the highlights of the past seven days...

Friday- Tyler and I loaded up and headed out. We set a record getting here.. 11.5 hours with only one stop in Paige. The kids were great and we were all happy that Jake was not in the car with us (he caught a flight with grandma a few days earlier!)


Saturday- We had the 'Mugleston Family Reunion' kick-off at a park. Lots of good food and fun getting reacquainted with my dad's side. I felt very happy that we were able to get such a good turn out with people coming in from Denver and California.


Sunday- We had the second day of the reunion at a beautiful home in Park City. My aunt Shonnie had a family name questionnaire prepared with questions like "where does the name Mugleston originate?" and "what was grandma's nick-name in high school?". It was great. Then she had us all draw a name of a family member and share a favorite memory or story about that person. It was wonderful the way it brought a sweet feeling into the room. We took a big group picture afterward and ended the reunion without a hitch (thankfully!).
The red-head cousins!
The toe-head cousins!That night I returned home to the Hillstead's for a girls night, dinner and games while the boys went up to the mountains.

Monday- I went on a morning run with Heidi and Ali... and laughed at how times have changed! Headed up to the mountains for the second annual Hillstead/Mugleston campout. Foil dinners, smores, a little bit of cool rain ... and a LONG night sleeping with Jacob in the front seat of my car (3:30 on). At times I felt like camping must be a form of torture for mothers and children, but when the sun came up all was well. Another fun memory.

Tuesday- A necessary regroup morning. Everyone napped as much as possible that day and Nana took the cousins to ice-cream. Some went off to Lagoon, an amusement park, that night, but we didn't. Ty and I got the kds down early and had a nice quiet dinner over at Todd and Natalie's. It was a treat to have them to ourselves, which happens rarely.

Wednesday- Shauna took all the girls to breakfast and a pedicure, her treat. We love every chance we get to dash away together and missed Katie!!
We had a good time relaxing and chatting while the boys at home hung out with the kids. Came home and sent them off for a game of golf when we got back. Everyone was happy then. We went swimming that afternoon and I we couldn't get over how my little Jakey is swimming. He is crazy in the water, and even tries to dive! I wish I could get a video on here...

Thursday- We packed up from Shauna's house and headed down to my mom's which is about a half hour away. Geared up for the second family reunion planned for my mom's side this time- 'The Goesch Family Reunion'. We held the kick-off at the same park as last week. This time there were T-shirts, different faces and wiffle ball.

Friday- 4th of July 5K Freedom Run at 7am. A big group of the family ran... it was a beautiful Utah morning and I am happy we did it. Finished up with a sprint to the finish with Tyler, my uncle, and cousin... I about passed out in the shoot. :)
We all went back to grandma's for her famous Swedish pancakes breakfast and then off again to Seven Peaks water park. Spent the day there, few crowds surprisingly, and the kids thought they'd died and gone to heaven. Lots of fun slides and things to do. Came home for naps and later enjoyed a 'Hometown USA' street fireworks party... Luke was happy lighting them, Ashley was happy tasting all the snacks and Jacob was a little nervous and clingy.

The show was great until the police came about the neighbor's illegal fireworks that had been purchased in Wyoming. Shucks... sometimes simple is better.

Today- Today we are relaxing and going to have the last day of our reunion. Grandma is taking everyone to lunch at Brick Oven and tonight we are having the family talent show. Tyler and I have a little lip-sync up our sleeves which is all we ever do. I am looking forward to it, he's not so much.
People start heading home Sunday and the fun will come to an end. Only a month before school starts again in Arizona. It's been a good summer.
Update: This is us in the big show singing and dancing to Sergio Mendez. We are the biggest dorks in the family but good for some laughs.

6 comments:

Zach and Katie Hillstead said...

so i don't know if i am overly emotional or what right now...but i got teary eyed reading all of this! we miss you guys so much, and are so sad when we miss fun weeks like this. but i am glad you guys had so much fun, looks like the trip was a success. i have been checking everyone's blog like religiously to see pics of the campout, etc. thanks for putting them out. love you!

Jill said...

What a fun week you have had!!! Utah over the 4th of July is so much fun. See you when you get home.

jhoopes said...

FUN VACATION!! I can't believe you guys start school in a month--we've just finished our 3rd week of being out of school!

Kyle said...

That looks like a fun week! Good for you running the race!

Darcee said...

Good for you for still running! I can't believe you got Tyler to do a lipsync. I hope Grandma Goesch is doing well. We had a lot of great times at her house. Remember hauling our little buns up to her house on our runs? That was a good workout. You look great as usual! I'm still working on coming down this fall. It's looking like September. I'll keep you posted.

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