Utah

Alright, here goes.

Without further ado, here is our trip in pictures (random order).

Arches National Park-it was like a different planet.

Really cool.

I still don't know how this rock is staying up.

I love this picture.

It's from the roof of the conference center.

See, the temple grounds do hold a special power.

The boys are *gasp*...getting along!

Conference center roof.

Ash and Liv successfully put their hands in each of the reflection pools.

Temple steps.

A few of the cousins.

We miss you guys!!!!

The kids LOVED all the time they got to spend with their cousins.

Such cute kids.

More cousin fun...

"This is the place" park.

It was a really fun day despite the rain!

Pioneer school room.

This would have definitely been a rough class!

Bear lake cousin merry-go-round ride.

We escaped with only a few minor injuries.

This is one of my favorite pictures.

It's of our oldest niece, Christine.

She's a trooper for hangin' out with ALL the little kids!

Bear Lake's famous "Old Ephriam" pizza.

It was HUGE!!

Good times.

Two peas in a pod.

Oops, arches again.

We had an exciting emergency room stop on the drive home.

Turns out Dudi and Micah had staph infections (Thank you Classic fun center, it was fun...at the time).

Good memories in New Mexico.

Real Salt Lake Soccer game.

Soooo fun and awesome seats!

We also got to see David Cook (american idol) perform afterwards, but we weren't impressed!

Real Salt Lake game.

Outside our first home, Micah's first home too.

BYU Wymount apartments.

BYU campus.

Bear Lake fun.

One of the family kickball games.

Love this little girl.

Bear Lake 2010.

Livy and Lily.

Grandma Marcia with Matthew, Liv, and Lily.

We had an awesome trip.

Lots of fun, and great memories!

We miss all our family out in Utah, and can't wait to do it again.

A long time ago in a city far, far away...

While we were on our vacation we celebrated our anniversary.

It's hard to believe that we have been married for 10 years.

It was neat to be able to be back at the Salt Lake Temple since that's where we were married.

He TOTALLY spoiled me, but being with him was the best part.

He makes my life fun, and I couldn't imagine being without him.

I love you, Dudi.

Can't get enough of...

TEAM USA!!!!!!!

We are huge soccer fans around here, so we can't get enough of the world cup! We DVR the games during the day and yell, cheer, and cry as we watch them each night. Depression will hit in mid July when the world cup is over, but until then, you'll find us cheering for our team! SO AWESOME!!!

But we had WAY too much of this guy! If you saw the game,

he cheated the USA out of another win which could have held

us back from advancing if we hadn't won last night's nail-biter.

FIFA had enough of him too, cause he got kicked out of the

rest of the world cup after our game.

ARRRRG!

But let's end on a positive note...

I'm all about the USA, BUT if for some horrible reason

they are eliminated, I'll be rooting for...

HIM! Um, I mean, I'll be cheering for Portugal, yeah, Portugal. No, of course Cristiano Ronaldo's looks have nothing to do with that!

GO USA!!!! (It's just a game, right?!!?)

-just a side note, I have worked on trying to fix this layout for the past 45 min. and can't get it. ME + Computer= No hope.

Sorry, but you get the point!

Happy Birthday!

Has it already been 5 years?

This little guy adds so much fun and silliness to our lives. We are so glad he is part of our family.

5 Things I LOVE about Asher:

1. That he always wipes off kisses. AND that he wipes off his lips after he kisses you! Such personality!

2. The silly faces he makes and his contagious laugh.

3. How he takes care of his little sister, and admires his big brother.

4. His snuggles.

5. His energy and imagination.

Happy Birthday to our big 5 year old.

We sure love you, Asher!

Heading out west

So we did the unthinkable and drove the 30+ hours out and back from Utah. I cannot say enough about how good the kids were on the drive. We made the drive part of the fun and stopped a lot along the way. Here are some of the events of our drive out.

Our first stop was to visit grandma and grandpa in TN. Then we head to our old stompin' grounds. We visited the Vanderbilt campus in Nashville, where we lived for a couple years while Dudi got his Master's degree. We absolutely love Nashville!

Outside of one of the chapel's on campus.

We only had Micah at the time we lived in Nashville, but this was one of our FAVORITE places. It is a replica of the parthenon and has beautiful grounds with ponds and ducks and playgrounds. We had to stop by here... and we still love it.

The grounds of Vanderbilt are gorgeous. I had to snap some shots of the HUGE magnolias.

We thought this was funny. We met the guy who lives here. As you can imagine, that was about all there was to do in Buford.

This is the most random thing. We were stopped at a gas station in the middle of Wyoming when I hear someone call my name. Who in Wyoming knows me?

It just so happens that the car that pulled in behind us at the gas station was our really good friends from when we lived in Maryland!

What are the chances?!

They were vacationing also, and just driving through.

It was so great to see them, I just felt bad we didn't really have time to visit!

Nebraska. What more can I say?

Flaming Gorge.

Olivia was asleep in the car while we were here. It really was beautiful view. We live in an awesome country with such diverse landscapes.

Next up...our time in Utah.

In the last month I've seen a lot of...

and...

and LOTS of this...

and this...

and best of all...

this!

After 3 weeks away, we are finally home!

We drove to Utah and visited family and then drove back. It was a lot of fun and the kids were so good. They didn't complain during the 60+ hours of car riding at all! I guess this means we can do it again....someday.

More vacation picks to come!