The Witbeck Family Reunion

In July, we packed our bags, spent thousands getting our air conditioning fixed in the van (fortunately we got it working the night before we left), and piled into the van for our trek through northern Arizona, all of Utah, and on to Sun Valley, ID all in the name of family.

Our first leg of the trip was to Cedar City, UT to visit Erik's grandma and see a bunch of other family we hadn't seen in years.  Every time we visit it seems to be right around the time they do the Renaissance fair.  The people dress up in medieval clothing and some really get into their characters.  Not gonna lie...it's a little weird but still fun. :)

Some fun activities were enjoyed.

Preston tried his hand at wall climbing.

And he got put in the stocks.

We spent some time with the Leavitt side and got to meet some new people.  Well, since I've only met some of the people there they all seemed pretty new to me.

The kids didn't stay dry long with the canal running through the park.  

After Cedar City, we drove up to Spanish Fork to see my brother and his family for a couple days.  We arrived right when my sister-in-law was going through a very upsetting time with her family and I was worried that maybe we should stay somewhere else.  But she reassured me that it was fine and they made us feel so welcome in their busy home.  We hiked Escalante's Cross, met almost all of the neighborhood kids (there were soooo many!), and stayed up much later than Jason or Lisa might have liked.

Some cute kids playing at the park.

Our hike started here....

and ended here.  It was hot, muggy, and felt like it took forever.  But the kids kept going and did an awesome job.

Starting the hike.  I think everyone started out pretty happy.

Almost there!

We finally made it and it's windy.  Really, really windy.  And a thunderstorm threatening so we ate lunch as fast as possible and got out of there.  Thanks for having us Bell family!  Arizona is calling your name. ;)

Now we headed off to Idaho.  Where Erik and I met.  Where we spent the first 5 years of marriage.  And I had absolutely no urge to live there ever again.  It was really nice since we were there in summer but all I remember is snow.  I'm too spoiled now so I can't do it.  But it was great to be there again.

Okay so there art too many pictures to write something about each one so I'm just going to put all the pictures out there.  We spent our time in Sun Valley swimming, shopping, ice skating, hanging out, hiking, riding on boats/paddle boats, playing games, etc.  Our kids got to know their cousins from Georgia and Idaho and had a blast!!!

And then...it was over.  We piled back in our van and drove 18 hours in 2 days to make it back home. We had such a great time!  We all loved seeing everyone and I'm hoping it won't be years and years before we see everyone again!

Here's the video Erik and I made of our trip.  

Dear Bryce,

Do you know how awesome you are?  I have a feeling you probably do and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you continue to know your sheer awesomeness.

You love Scooby-Doo.  We get it.  And I love that you love it.  We even made this cake for you.  See how your dad worked so hard to get Scooby just right?  Cool, right?  So could you possibly simmer down with the Scooby talk?  The whole "Waggy where are woo?" thing is just getting old.  Think about it and let me know.

I love this picture because it shows some things about you. 1) You are the last one eating 90% of the time. 2) You are pretty picky about your food. And 3)  You cannot concentrate when cake is in the room.

Seriously Bryce, you're joy for life is the best.  And you're love of Lego's is fascinating as well.  I'm so glad you're imaginative, inventive, and artistic with your Lego's and artwork.

Happy Birthday my sweet six year old!  You are fun, energetic, smart, hilarious, inquisitive, happy, sharing, kind, and always one of the brightest parts of my day.  We love you!

Back To School, Back To School

I have enjoyed this summer.  We had family visits, swim lessons, family vacations x2, hair cuts, backyard blow up pool,  neighborhood pools, sprinklers, and some more things that probably relate to getting wet in some shape or form.

But alas, the time has come for our summer vacation to end.  Today was the first day of school for my boys who now grace the first and second grade with their presence.  And it couldn't have come at a better time.  As much as I LOVE my boys, they were getting very bored and I was getting very annoyed.  And Makayla was getting very.......well, let's just say Makayla cries. A lot.

So it was time to buy the supplies, meet the teacher, and head off to school where old friends are found and new friends will be made.  And other kids will be there that we hope forget about us.

Anyway, as the perfect mother that I am I took excellent pictures with my uber special camera that takes uber special pictures.

Or I totally forgot about my camera and snapped a couple pictures with my phone that makes everything have a blue tinge to it.

You decide what happened.

They were happy and excited to be starting school again.  Here's to a new year!  Good luck my handsome little men!

How Do We Deal With A Boring Summer? Part II

Family visits!

After several attempts (and fails) to get the Lewis family to our home, a window opened, the heavens smiled down on everyone's schedule and they came!  I can't even begin to say how excited the kids were to have their cousins come to visit and I was equally excited to see my sister and her family.

The lawn sprinklers make a nice alternative to a pool or real sprinklers.

 These two little girls had a blast being "sisters": disappearing for hours playing with princesses, twirling, dress-up, etc.  Doing all things girl without the boys.

Why wouldn't you need a fire when it's 95 degrees?  I mean, really.  Okay it was insane to make this fire and just added to the already insanely nasty heat but it was needed to make s'mores.  I still don't understand why the kids were so close to it.  It's not like they were cold or anything.

 The rest of the gang.

I also got plenty of shots of this cute little guy.  He is adorable and took the cutest pictures.  I think he should be a baby model.  Something to think about Amy.  :)

 It seemed like the majority of the time the kids were gathered around the computer.  

And here's the first attempt at a cousins picture.  Not too bad but let's try again...

 Okay, not what I had in mind so let's try once more....

I should've stopped while I was ahead.

I didn't get pictures of the pool day that we had or Samuel's b-day party or my Sunday dinner that turned into a disaster but those were some big highlights of the visit.  It was soooooo much fun having everyone here and believe me there were several tears when my kids woke up in the morning and everyone was gone.  Thank you for coming Amy and Chuck!  We're so grateful you took the time and made the sacrifice (14-16 hour drive!) to come see us.    Next time will be our turn to drive but maybe not in the summer. :)  We love you guys!

How Do We Deal With A Boring Summer?

Turtle style!

Time to kick some shell!

*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for those not down with the lingo.

Photo Booth

We recently purchased our first Mac. Yay!   I love this thing even though I feel like I'm cheating on my PC.  And it's frustrating that I have to learn a whole new operating system but photo booth has created hours and hours of fun for the kids. I don't even care that I can hardly navigate my new baby.  Here's a few of our beautiful pictures today.

The kids are having a blast with this fun little tool. And with our a/c out in the van (eeek!) we're on house arrest with this blistering heat.  I think summer has been saved.  And I had to put in at least one normal picture to show my mom, and anyone else who might be interested, my new haircut.   I got over six inches cut off my head. Yowza!  I'm still getting used to it.

Happy Summer Everyone!

Memorial Day

I keep running behind on all my posts lately...I'm becoming lame again.  :)

I have this thing though.  OCD,  weirdness, call it what you want but I HAVE to post at least twice a month.  June is fast approaching it's end so the OCD/weirdness is in overdrive.  Okay, this is kinda freaks me out because hello...summer just started didn't it?

So waaaaay back in May, our country celebrated Memorial day.  The Witbeck family celebrated a shopping extravaganza, laziness, pizza and kites day.  I highly recommend it.

We had made plans for picnics and more Memorial day-esque activites but our return from our weekend getaway to Sedona the day before was my excuse to call good 'ole Papa John's and pig out on delicious pizza.

Here's the little-big miss just chillin in the Jasmine shades.

Who knew that these little kites took so much concentration. But these two got right into the task and came out triumphant over the parrot kite.

I just like this picture. :)

Preston was having a blast running with the kites.  I have to tell you that the only way these kites would get off the ground and stay off the ground was lots and lots of running.  There was zero wind this day.

I feel like this was an excellent shopping, kite running, pizza eating, lazy day...or Memorial day.  Either one works.

Sedona

Phoenix....hot.

Sedona...not.

No brainer.

Shopping, swimming, and hiking a mountain trail were all accomplished.  We didn't make it to the top of our mountain due to extreme wind and scared children but oh well.  Our weekend getaway was successful.

The End.

The Boys Are Done!

After a year of bumps on the head, vomiting in class on the desk, being pushed off playground equipment and breaking an arm, letters home about head lice (dodged that bullet), and, seriously, the sickness that would never leave our house...we are done!  But before we could get away from our lovely elementary school we had to have end of the year celebrations.  So we celebrated and sang and had a ball until the very end.

Here's Preston with his class during their 1st grade performance.

And here he is showing me his desk in class.  He was very fortunate to sit next to his best friend Markus(not pictured).

It took Bryce a bit to notice where I was during his performance but when he did,  that boy wouldn't stop waving.  And he wants me to let everyone know that his friend Julian is in a costume (the dog) and nobody should make fun of him.  You've been warned.

Bryce loved his teacher Ms. M.  He is very sad that she's not following him to first grade but he's come to accept that he's just getting too big for her.

Congratulations on a successful and interesting year in school my two handsome boys!

32

Erik turned 32 this year.  It's amazing how that number just keeps rising.  Funny how that works.  We spent the day getting free food for lunch,  getting free food for dinner (score!), hanging out with family and friends, and spoiling this man that we love.  And also eating a super easy way-to-much-chocolate-it-can't-even-remotely-be-good-for-you chocolate cake...with chocolate glaze.  The strawberries made it healthy and that's what we all keep telling ourselves.

   

 Happy Birthday Erik!