Bye Zhao

     Near the end of Zhao's stay we wanted to give him a Utah camping experience.  We didn't have the energy to actually go camping and given Zhao's lack of adventure we decided to do a little back-yard-campout.  We started with a campfire, hot-dogs, and s'mores and ended with a movie in the tent.  Not exactly roughing it but the boys and Zhao loved it. 

 

     The time to say goodbye came too quickly.  When people would ask how it went I'd tell them "I'd keep him if I could."  The dynamics were just right.  He got along great with my kids.  He was easy to please, respectful and helpful.  He and McKay had a special bond and it was particularly hard for him.  We had to take him to his bus at 5am which was good.  We got most of the goodbyes over with the night before and then I drove him the next morning.  I was surprised by how hard it was for me.  I said bye and gave him a hug and got in my car and cried.  What a great experience, I think we'll be doing it again. 

Happy Happy Birthday!!

     All of our children were born in two months of the year, so we have big birthday celebrations in the spring and then in the summer.  It was fun to have Zhao here to see how we celebrate!  For Keaton's b-day we spent the day at seven peaks and then went to see "Despicable Me 2."  I love it when my kids want to see the movies I do...It was a lot of fun.  Sure love this spunky, adventurous, great kid! 
     On the twins birthdays we had family over for a cupcake party.  They're four this year and I can't help but be so grateful we're here and not in the NICU.  Four is such a fun age and it's really easy to enjoy when they're your babies.  Avery is Keaton's rival when it comes to spunk.  She really is the best of both worlds loving her dresses and dolls along with wrestling her brothers and riding through the mud on her bike.  Brecken is the opposite, quiet sweet boy.  He's my best hugger and I take advantage of that often.  We're so blessed to have wonderful families who celebrate, support and love us!!  It was a great time.  Happy happy birthday Keaton, Brecken and Avery! 

Sushi



      One of our summer goals this year was to try sushi.  Corey and I had gone out with friends for sushi and so our kids thought they needed to try too.  It was a fun "lunch-date" and I have to say...they probably liked it more than Corey did!

Roses!!

 

     I grew up in a great neighborhood.  There were a lot of young families and we were close.  Our very closest neighbors were the Roses.  They lived right next door and at times we spent as much time there as we did at home.  They were our best friends.  I still feel like Wally and Valinda (the parents) are my second parents.  Jenn was my best friend in our neighborhood and it still doesn't matter how long it's been it always feels like coming home to hear her voice.  She and Julie, the littler sis, are my best resource for girl memories from when we were young. 

      Adam and Andrew had a love/hate relationship growing up but slowly the hate faded away and they were great friends.  In short, I love these people. 

     Back in the day Wally was famous for throwing together impromptu barbeques.  Since we've been adults we've talked and talked about getting our families together and this summer it happened.  It was awesome, for some reason it didn't even occur to me that our families have grown quite a bit since we were in Sandy.  Almost all of us are married and have kiddos.  It was an impressive group.  It was so fun to see everyone's families and have our kids play and talk like we were never apart.  Thanks for a great night Roses!! 


Zhang Shan-Bo and the "Alpine Slide"

     This summer we decided to have a Chinese exchange student come stay with us.  The stay was 2 weeks and we thought it'd be a great opportunity since Keaton and Tate are in Chinese immersion programs at school. 
     We picked Zhao up from the bus in Lehi.  He'd been flying a long time so we followed the instructions to take him home, feed him and let him go to bed.  It's strange having someone you've just met sleep in your house and I didn't sleep well that night.  We felt bad because he seemed so uncomfortable, it's called culture shock.  But kids are resilient and soon he was goofing off with the boys, playing and being silly. 
     Zhao had "school" about four times a week through the program he came with so he was pretty busy with that.  I did want to plan some fun activities for when he was around.  The first thing we did was hike to the natural waterslide in Alpine.  It was a hot day and a popular thing to do so there were a lot of people there.  Zhao refused to wear a swimsuit....apparently he doesn't like water which narrowed my list of fun-things-to-do considerably.  The rest of us had a great time and Zhao took pictures. 
     We had a big wonderful family group.  My older three did the slide and loved it.  Avery wanted to do it so my Mom and I took her up and I told her I'd go down with her.  When we got up there ( a little rock climb/scramble ) she told us she wanted to do it herself.  The water is about four feet deep at the end of the slide so I went first while Avery waited with Grandma.  Then Avery went down.  She was by far the littlest kid to do it and got a pretty good applause when she came out of the water.  Grandma went down next and loved it too!

       A good part of our group

 

Avery, Me and my Mom ready to hike up to the slide

 

S'more of our group (Zhao on the side :)) 

 My cute parents

 

My Mom and Breck

 

 

McKay, Conner, Ethan, Keaton and Tate, going down the slide. 

 



Summer Fire

        You know summer is here when they're constantly asking for a fire.  Well boys, here ya go! 

 

Montana

    
     This year the Larrabee Family Vacation was at Bull Lake, Montana.  And though we've had a bad luck streak with illness on these trips we were all excited for a new streak of awesomeness.  What a beautiful place! This is the view from our private dock...spoiled, I know.

The biggest hit of the trip was of course, the lake.  We had access to all sorts of kayaks, paddle boats, and sand toys, along with the ski boat.  The weather was wonderful and it was so fun to watch the kids play together and see all the different combinations of friends.  We had fierce diving competitions, awesome rides on the tube and sand castles galore!

 

 

On one of the days we got everyone (almost everyone)  out on bikes for a mountain bike ride.  It was a beautiful trail that used to be an old highway.  The big boys did awesome as usual and it was so fun to see Brecken and Avery do so well.  It was great.  Then we stopped for lunch at the trailhead to Kootenai Falls.  This was a good little hike to the biggest falls I've ever seen.  They were so pretty and awe-inspiring. 

 

 

 

 The Swinging Bridge was a little hike away so we couldn't pass that up.  It was great too.  This was the bridge and then the view of the beautiful Kootenai river from the bridge. 

 

 Another day we went to a BEAUTIFUL place called Ross Creek Cedars.  I first saw these on a run with Stan and Marci.  It's so green and lush and was fun to visit with everyone at a slower pace.  We got the best pictures there and though I'm not one for scenery pics without people in them I just couldn't help myself. 

                                            Ty taking pictures of the kids inside the tree.

                                                             Breck & I inside a cedar tree.

    
     Thanks family for a wonderful trip!!  It's always so good to be together to have some new adventures and make more memories!