Family Trip ~ Part ONE

Our little family was able to have a ROAD TRIP (it felt like we went on a trip around the world) 

We did a "Little Circle" around California-Nevada-Utah-Idaho. Our first destination was VEGAS BABY!!

Vegas is a PERFECT stop for our family~

 It is half way to Salt Lake City which was our first Utah destination.

 The first hotel we stayed in was a very nice hotel off the strip.

(The kids LOVED all the different places we were able to stay on the trip!!)

 Unfortunately we did not spend much time in Vegas; just an quick over~nighter to cut the trip in half.
We woke up; got some McDonald's and hit the road. 

Our second stop was in South Jordan. We stayed 3 days at my Uncle Kelton and Aunt Annel. Kelton is one of my dad's younger siblings. They have four wonderful kids that made the stay OH SO NICE!! The first day we were there; they set up this AMAZING water slide!! They invited all the Andersen Family to come out so we were able to visit with a TON of my family.

This water slide is always a HIT! It was a little gloomy outside at times; but that was not going to stop all the family from enjoying it! We had an Andersen Family Reunion in 2005, and this was a highlight of that reunion so I asked if we might be able to enjoy it again!!

At first the kids were a little scared; but after going down a few times they were sold on it!!

We had a wonderful potluck lunch; and just enjoyed the rest of the day with all the family that came!!

The next day was Sunday. After church Annel gave us a little tour of the area. They have a beautiful man made lake with ducks and geese. Of course we had to stop and enjoy that as well. 

We relaxed that day as well. The cousins pulled out some toys for Hailey and Landon to enjoy.
And Hailey took FULL advantage of cousin Whitney painting her toe nails!
 She is so girly about some things; she has always LOVED getting her nails painted!!

That night we went to Matt's Aunt and Uncles house to visit with some "Bird Family" Aunt Maylynn and Uncle Bryan made a great dinner for us. We played games; laughed; and had a great time visiting. My favorite part of the visit was the dessert... Aunt Maylynn made a Cookie Dough Brownie ~ it was SO good. On our way to their house Matt noticed that we had passed the cemetery that his Grandfather Houghton was laid to rest. We made sure to visit his grave site; we tried to get a picture but it was raining and windy and both our cameras on the phone could not get a good photo. (as you can tell  by the two pictures at the bottom right)

When we got back to the Andersen's everyone was downstairs just hanging out. Aunt Annel was grooming Lucy their dog. Poor Lucy had no idea what was coming... Hailey followed her around the whole time we were there; she just LOVED when Annel put her clothes on her. Lucy finally gave into Hailey and allowed her to hold her. Hailey was in doggy heaven!!

And while Hailey loved on Lucy; Landon was making us all laugh. He is in the "I can do it by myself" stage. So as you can tell he is dressing himself after going potty. Often his pants are on backwards and when I try to correct him he says I am wrong... what do you think? Silly Boy!! Time for BED!

On Monday we had a few visits planned. First we went to do a site visit at my Uncle Dalan's company. He is another of my dad's younger siblings. He and my cousin's husband Eric Hopkins work at Temkin International. It is a packaging manufacture; and Matt just had to see it! Eric gave us a tour and it was REALLY neat checking it out. Now I know where Target Brand packages are made! 

After our site visit we headed to Springville for lunch with our dear friends The Alba's. We meet the Alba family when we moved into our new ward in Clovis about three years ago. Micha was a coach on the Fresno State Football team so Matt automatically clicked with him. Wendy and I hit it off just because she is so easy going and fun to hang out with. She was Hailey's Ballet teacher last summer. We enjoyed seeing them; and catching up on what was new with them. Fun gossip + great food = a good time! Thank you Alba's for the GREAT time!

That night for F.H.E. we hit the park across the street from the Andersen's house for some fun. Matt was shooting off tennis balls with the launchers, Uncle Kelton pulled out an air rocket propeller that the kids loved. But I think the BEST was the Leaf Blower converted into a bounce house ball shooter. As you can see in the top right picture the kids loved loading the blower with balls. There was a group of kids just down the hill catching the balls being shot. It was a great fun night!
The next morning we packed up headed for Preston Idaho to visit my grandparents. The Andersen Family sure showed us a GREAT time on our visit! THANKS ANNEL and KELTON! We love you and appreciate your hospitality SO Much!!