Summer...Young style

It's been forever since I last posted! We have had a very busy, fun filled summer, and I'd hate for any of you to miss a minute of it! So grab a snack and pull up a comfortable chair while I fill you in on our summer...Young style! We celebrated Connor's birthday as a family with CCC, Connor Cup Cakes! We spent a couple of weeks at the pool with all four kids in swimming lessons! On the fourth of July we watched fireworks from the back of our van. Our friends the Johnsons, who now live in Texas came to visit. The kids had so much fun together, it was like they had never left. Alyson and I also had a great time visiting and catching up on each other's busy lives! About a week before we left to go to Utah my brother Logan flew out to visit us. Of course we played a little Guitar Hero while he was here! We also made multiple trips to Trader Joes, for peanut butter filled pretzels, and to Pinkberry, two of my favorite places! We made a trip to the Wild Animal Park where every one's favorite part was feeding the lorikeets. Logan conversing with a feathered friend.We then headed up to Utah. Me, four kids and Logan riding shotgun in our minivan. At one point during the 11 hour drive I think I heard him mumble something about buying a round trip ticket next time. I'm sure he loved every minute of it! One of the first things on our list to do in Utah was go swimming in Logan's friend Kristen's pool. The kids had so much fun that we ended going back a second time! Thanks Kristen! Connor will do whatever it takes to be able to relax! One morning my dad and I took my two girls and their cousin Amy(in their matching cousin shirts!) to Color Me Mine to paint ceramics. Amy came all the way from England for my brother Josh's wedding so we tried to cram in as nuch cousin time as we could with her! Us die hard Harry Potter fans went to a midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". The highlight of our trip to Utah was the wedding of my brother Josh and my newest sister-in-law Kristy. It was a great day and I have so many pictures, I've tried to narrow it down to some of my fav's but that was really hard! We are very excited to have Kristy in our family, even if she is a vegitarian! Matt picking out a toast from Grandads "Goodfellow's Toast Book." Grandpa and the kids ready to go! We had a couple of set backs in trying to get to the wedding including getting lost, a car out of gas, and the best man taking the grooms shirt! The whole family Me and my handsom and very funny brothers. Not a single good picture of me in the bunch, I'm laughing in every single one. Those boys are so funny together! "Brother hugs" "Make everyone else who is watching uncomfortable brother hugs" Madison guarding the gifts.Matt sticking his head in the cutting of the cake picture. It's a Holman family tradition. This is at the reception after a REALLY long day for the kiddos! After the wedding we had a little more down time to relax and enjoy our short time with Matt and Amy. One Sunday we headed up to BYU to visit Holman Hill (not it's real name, but it should be!) and Grandpa's office. Since it was a Sunday, in the middle of summer campus was desserted, so we let the kids play in the fountain in front of Grandpa's office. At first they just wanted to wade in it but it wasn't long before COnnor was full on swimming in it! It was a lot of fun being in Utah for July 24th, Pioneer Day. It's a real holiday there and so much fun! We went down to a park in Provo where they had a whole extraveganza going! Antique cars, a mini farmers market, DIY craft booths for the kids, games, live entertainment, and of course lots of good food! Connor doing an indian dance! Connor's favorite part, a real cannon with real cannon balls! Connor asking someone 2 million questions about the cannon. We had a little water party over at the Youngs. Gandpa got his big water slide out to play with but I think the kids played in the little pool more than on the slide! I think all their cousins that were there are in the pool except for Nixon who was in the sand box! Yes Shaefer is in there he's just hiding! Another fun thing we did with some of our Young cousins and one of my favorite things we did while in Utah was go to Seven Peaks water park. I haven't been there since I was in High School and it was so much fun! Connor and Madison spent every minute that Grandpa Tom would allow having Grandpa fights! We missed having Blakey Bones and Cader tot there to join in too!Speaking of hours on end, the big girls got to spend lots of quality time sleeping over, playing games, making cousin wipeout and lots of other fun things with their cousin McKinsey and other Young cousins, I just didn't get any pictures of it! The big girls got to attend the Oquirrh(pronounced oaker) Mountain Utah temple open house with the Young side of the family. All of us were supposed to go but that morning Madison came down with the stomach flu and then when Connor realized that wearing church clothes was involved her bowed out also. At some point we decided we needed to get home, but not too quickly. We stopped at Cove Fort, Utah an old pioneer fort and let the kids get out, go on a tour, and learn more about our church history. It was very intersting and we had the most patient, kind missionary tour guide. She answered every one of Connor's 3 million questions! We then went on to St. George and spent a couple of days there to attend my cousin Lizzie's wedding. Here's the cute newlyweds, Huck and Lizzie. The kiddos hanging out on the St. George temple grounds. Amanda had to stay out on the temple grounds and watch all three siblings on her own. If you know Amanda this was a BIG deal! Thank goodness for my cousin Amy and her cooler of water. Thanks Amy! You're awesome! While in St. George for the wedding we found this fun little park with a very cool water feature for the kids to play in. They had a blast and it was a great way to cool down! So that's our summer in a nutshell. We feel really lucky to have been able to spend so much time with family. It's been a great summer!