First, I drove -all alone- to Las Vegas with the children. I was a little nervous doing it all by myself, but I also really wanted to visit my sisters who live in Las Vegas, so that won out. Google maps said it would take 9 1/2 hours and I actually made it is just 10 hours 15 minutes. Not too bad, I'd say!!!
We stayed at my sister's house for a whole week. My sister, Katrina, has 4 children- some older and some around the same ages as mine. It was fun to have so much time together. We hadn't seen each other for 2 years! The kids had a lot of fun playing together and of course, my kids loved playing with so many new and different toys! My sister, Wendy, also lives in Vegas. We were able to spend a few evenings with her and her husband, which was a blast. My kids officially LOVE John and Wendy!
Here is Ryen, Katrina's youngest with Grant and Emma in Katrina's backyard. They had so much fun on that playground!
Here is Emma manhandling Grant (oh-excuse me, that is her way of helping him!) Andie is on the slide with Arianna in the background.
Once again- manhandling. Poor little guy. I also have to say that if I lived in Las Vegas, I would totally have astroturf in my backyard! Look how awesome that is!
Here is Joe, Katrina's oldest son, watching little Grant.
Ethan on the slide. Isn't he a cutie!After our wonderful week in Vegas, Katrina got in the car with us and we drove to Salt Lake for my niece's wedding. All of my siblings were there for the event- which is pretty darn special!! We hadn't been altogether for 6 1/2 years; my wedding was the last time. I wish we had had more time to actually spend together, but alas, such is life. My mom did put on a nice after-the-wedding-dinner so we could all be together at a relaxed event. The kids and I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law, Jason and Rachel. I wish there had been more time to spend with all these people that we love!
The Bride, Brittney
My brother, Karl, holding Grant (he was starving for a Daddy figure in his life by this point!) and Ryan, my nephew in the foreground. 
My sister, Wendy, and Emma
Mikelle, my niece; Katrina, my sister; Natasha, my niece; and my mom at the Dinner my mom put on.
The kids playing with their cousin, Natasha.
My big brothers and me
My brother, Glen making my children happy as can be with super stroller rides.
The crazy driver with the other 2 kids.
My kids attacking their uncle Karl.
They were having so much fun crawling all over him!!After the wedding, I stayed in Salt Lake at my mom's for a couple of days and was able to see a some dear friends who live in the Salt Lake area and spend a little bit more time with Rachel and her daughter, Grace.
Here we are at the Living Aquarium in Sandy with my sister-in-law, Rachel and her daughter, Grace.
Arianna riding a frog at the Aquarium.
Picnic lunch with Rachel after the Aquarium outing.
Visiting Holly and her two little munchkins (Amorie also came over with her little guy) Holly let Emma play with her guitar. Such fun to spend the day together! Thanks for having us over, Holly, and for the fun cookie project!Finally, after being away from him for almost 2 weeks, Kenneth flew in to join us! Oh, we sure missed him!!! That is the longest we had ever been away from him. We then drove up to Logan to spend a few days with Kenneth's sister, Karen and her family. Everything was great until a couple of days into our visit we ALL got the stomach bug. It was horrible!!! Arianna got it the worst, poor little thing. She couldn't keep anything down for 48 hours. We even had to stay an extra day so we were healthy enough to drive back home. Consequently, we drove all the way from Logan, Utah to our home in Milpitas, California on my birthday. 14 hours. Fun. Actually, because the kids were still kind of weak- getting over being sick- they did not have their normal energy, so didn't mind sitting in the car all day watching movies and the trip was quite nice.
Cookout in the Logan Canyon- it was freezing!!!
Daddy and the girls in the Logan Canyon- I love this picture!
Grant playing with Joslyn, his cousin
Tyler reading Grant a book (also a cousin)
This is how the girls spent a lot of the time at Karen's house. So sad.
We saw this scene on the drive home. Herding cattle in the wilderness. Very cool.
Reno, Nevada Temple. We stopped here on the way home as a break. It was nice to just walk around the grounds.
Arianna in front of the temple.It was good to be home again after being gone for so long. It really is true what Dorothy discovered- There's no place like home. . .
