Cousin Riley Home from Sweden!

Our nephew, Riley, just got home from his 2 year LDS mission to Sweden. I can't believe how time flies! We were all so excited to have him come home so we met him at the airport. It was his first time meeting Jayne (who is named after his dad, Jay, who passed away) and Easton was barely talking when he left. Elle has always had a special bond with Riley. He has always called her "Elmo" because she loved Elmo as a toddler. Welcome home Riley!

Jessie, Nate, Melissa and Rachelle were so excited to see Riley and looked so cute holding up these signs. Jesse and Nate got to meet their new brother for the first time, as Matt and Marcie got married while Riley was on his mission.

Riley with our family

Riley and "Elmo"

Riley with his cute family

Jayne and her baby doll

Jayne has just recently found a love of dolls. She loves to give her baby lots of hugs and kisses. I love seeing my baby play "mama." It is the cutest thing!

Trying to put the baby's binky in

Big kisses!

More kisses...

Goblin Valley and BUGS!

We went camping with our good friends, the Hansens, to Goblin Valley and had so much fun! It is definitely a lot of work to get all the gear packed up and get there but so worth it! We love enjoying the outdoors and there is something fun about sleeping in a tent all together. We did a hike in one of the slot canyons, had fun riding around on the 4-wheelers, got to explore in the Valley of the Goblins and just enjoyed being with friends. Elle and Easton loved being with Ellie and Cooper and wandered around our campsite exploring everything. Easton was so excited to look for potato bugs and ants and dig in the dirt too!

The only downside was the BUGS!!! They were these little tiny bugs that would buzz in our ears and get all over us. We kept using bug spray but it didn't work. We figured they were annoying but weren't biting us, so we just dealt with it and spent as little time as possible at our actual campsite when they were at their peak, in the morning. They didn't seem to be in the Valley of Goblins or our hike. I think it was all the sagebrush in our campsite. It was pretty funny seeing all of us slap at our faces though. The poor kids had bug guts squashed on their faces. We ended up leaving a little bit early because of them. And on the way home, we all realized that they were biting us and we were covered in bug bites. Oh well! It makes for a funny memory!

Elle and Ellie posing in front of our campsite

The kids got so dirty but had a blast!

Jayne didn't want to go to sleep and kept standing in her crib smiling at us. Then she would smash her face against it and make the kids giggle. I think she liked being all together for bed. She is so cute!

Our family on the hike

Hansens

Little hikers--Elle, Ellie, Easton and Cooper

Jayne loved being in the backpack. The canyon was so pretty and got so narrow in parts.

Don and Cory

The kids absolutely loved riding in the ranger!

Don took the kids for a ride in the ranger and even though they were buckled and went slow, Don had his arm holding on to Jayne's leg the whole time. Cute Izzie (who is 4 months older) saw that and kept putting her arm on Jayne's other leg to keep her safe. It was really sweet! Jayne looked so cute holding on to Don's arm. She loves her Daddy!

Angie, Izzie and Cory

We all wanted to go for a ride at the same time so Don hooked Jayne's car seat up to the 4-wheeler. He loves a good challenge!

Valley of the Goblins

Easton loved climbing up on all the rocks so Don and I took turns taking him up them. Elle liked seeing them all but didn't want to climb on top of them.

Don and Easton on top of one we think looks like a camel

It was SO hot by the time we did our hike and came to Valley of the Goblins. The kids were exhausted and just wanted shade!

We packed up camp at night and promised the kids we would go back to see the goblins on our way back to Salt Lake when it was cooler. It was 9:30 pm and dark and so fun! The kids all had lightsticks and we had flashlights. It was really neat walking through at night! What a fun weekend!

Post Mexico BBQ

We got together with Fletchers and Foxes for a post Mexico BBQ when we got home. After being with them for a week, we missed our friends, so it was fun to see them again. The kids had fun playing and Easton and Drake got to wear their matching Spiderman masks with capes that we got them in Mexico. It was a great night!

Easton, Elle, Ava and Drake having dinner

Ila, Mia and Jayne are all about the same age. They are all such cute little baby girls! I tried to get a picture of all of them but they are all busy, busy!

Jayne loved Elle's princess camping chair

Drake and Easton both love their new Spiderman masks and capes. So funny!

Beating up Don

Jayne loves when she gets a sucker!

Mexico

We got to go on a really fun trip to the Mexican Riviera with our close friends, the Foxes and the Fletchers, a few weeks ago. We left our kids with our families and missed them so much but it was a nice break for us to get away. We had such a great time! It was so nice to just relax on the beach, swim in the pool and not be on any sort of schedule. We all stuffed ourselves on chicken quesadillas, the best nachos, and delicious pinadas. The joke was that Don was always hungry and he sat in the same chair from 10am to 5pm one day.

We took a couple of days and went to see some of the amazing Mayan ruins that are in the area and snorkeled in a fun little beach village in Akumal. We went scuba diving with Fletchers and saw a lot of cool fish, which was great because we haven't been since our Honeymoon. We went into Playa Del Carmen a few times to check out 5th Avenue and do a little shopping and had the some of the best Mexican food ever! The best part though was just being together and with our friends! Now it all seems like a dream...

Pier at our hotel

"El Don, Senor Fletcher y Bill"
(otherwise known as Don, Alan and Bill)

Hanging out in the tide pool

Beach Volleyball

All of us girls went on a bike tour of the hotel property. The guys didn't want to leave their lounge chairs.

CHICHEN ITZA

This Chichen Itza pyramid is now one of the 7 wonders of the world. Chichen Itza is an amazing city!

The ball court is where all the Mayans would gather to watch a match between two teams. They had to get the ball through the stone basket but could only hit it with their ankles, knees, torso, elbow or head. They couldn't use their feet or their hands. The acoustics were amazing. If you clap while at one end of the court, you can hear it very clearly bouncing off the opposite wall. The walls all lean in at a 17 degree angle so that everyone can hear. Amazing!

This is a depiction of what happens after the match. It was an honor to die so the losing team captain beheads the winning team captain. There are seven snakes or spurts of blood coming from the winning team captain's body where the head was chopped off, symbolic of the 7 members of the team.

Our group in front of the jaguar temple

We got to swim in this cenote after Chichen Itza. It was so cool!


PLAYA DEL CARMEN

Catching a bus to go into Playa Del Carmen to check out the beach and 5th avenue.

5th Avenue

The Jaguar warrior

TULUM

Main temple of Tulum

We got to have an LDS tour guide in Tulum. It was so neat to see how it all related to the Book of Mormon.


Don in front of the Healing Temple, with blessing hands on the wall

The ruins of Tulum overlook the most amazing beach I have ever seen, with white sand and the clearest blue water. We had so much fun swimming after seeing the ruins.

AKUMAL

Akumal Beach where we snorkeled

We had dinner at this fun restaurant in Akumal, on the beach, "La Buena Vida" and thought these swing chairs were fun

Akumal

We had fun but we were SO excited to get back to our kids! They were so cute sitting on the steps when we pulled up and we got the biggest hugs! Elle loved the shell and little box we brought back for her and Easton keeps telling everyone that his jaguar statue used to be hot lava but it cooled so now it is black. We missed our kids so much but I am so glad they had fun with their cousins at Aunt Tami's and with Grandpa and both Grandmas.

I think baby Jayne was a little upset with us for leaving her though. She wouldn't smile at me until the next day. I felt so bad. She stayed with Tami the whole time and I know she got a lot of love and attention from her cousins though. It was good to be home!