The MAIN reason

As I mentioned before, the MAIN reason I flew back to Utah was to see my sister get sealed to her new husband in the temple. Here is their whole family......his/her's/and our's.

(actually this picture is missing 2 kids)

We had quite a gathering there. Here is everyone outside the temple. Obviously not everyone were able to go in for the ceremony but to come out to this huge group of supportive people was pretty neat.

(and might I add hearing "tall people in the back", NEVER gets old to me)

while there were pictures being taken I felt like I was having a childhood flashback......but it was happening that day. Here are two of my older brothers........just LOOK at their faces and the mischief on them. 

I know this look well from watching them and now seeing it in my boys.....it's the is-anyone-watching-because-I'm-about-to-do-something-that-I-could-very-well-get-in-trouble-for look.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand, I was right.......throwing snowballs off the hill to see if they could make it to the road below (you see it in the distance). And guess what, they BOTH made it.......thankfully no cars were driving on it then. ;)

Obviously that little game stopped as soon as dad saw it and gave them the usual "stop that" talk......like I'm sure he gave a gazillion times over his lifetime.

There is just too much joy in this picture......and it's not even ALL CAPTURED!!!!!

The three sisters......forever and always.

We went over to a church building where my sister fed us all. It was so fun.

These two girls absolutely broke my heart though......they are the same age as Iris. My Iris is actually in the middle of these two girls in age. I look at them and all their girly, treasure-hunting and dress-up (not to mention the non-stop talking) and I think, "AHHHHH! She is SO missing out on her cousins!"

Me and three (out of the 19) of my nieces. Aren't they so pretty?!?!? They're even PRETTIER on the inside if that's possible.

I DID eat.....yes, I did.....like a lot. (I kept looking for kids to adopt to dish up their plates for them....it felt so weird). My sister is just a lot better of a cook then I am.

 I was also able to slip in a few games of Lightning/Knock-Out as well.

I didn't exactly beat all my nephews, but getting 2nd place to a really good ball player was like winning for me. (pretty sure this picture is one of my many airballs though).They must call this game Lightning because of my lightning-fast skills...........or not.

I really really REALLY love my siblings!!!! Here is 5 of us.......we're missing 3 brothers.

Gosh, I grew up with the best family.

After that, I drove home with my sister through Huntington Canyon.....ya know, the same canyon that was so snowy on the way THERE that they had driven into a snowbank......THAT one. It was insane how much snow, wind, etc there was.

It was cool to see all the elk though after we got out of the canyon.

I had fun meeting my new brother-in-law's 6 kids for the first time.....and quickly learned that they are better card players then I am. In my defense, I had just learned the game "Trash" though, so that justifies all the losses, right? Never mind I kept losing to the 9 and 12 year old.

Speaking of losing, apparently Blackjack isn't my game either. I was the first one out.....I can't believe I lost all ten pennies!!! (that were my sister's anyway)

I made a HECK of a dealer though after that

The next day I had to leave........good-byes really really stink.

One of my "new" nieces.

 Here is Toni.......who I think is a mini-Aleeya.

 And of course, lots of love from my sis......but it just kept feeling like there was something coming between us when we would hug. I can't QUITE put my finger on it.....

 Then a few hour drive and I got to hug one of my favorite men......my father-in-law. And it's not just because I was jealous of his velour jumpsuit either (even though I was), I would've hugged him anyway. He was so cute having my bed all heated up with 2 electric blankets.

It was a quick "hi", now-go-to-bed and early morning to the airport (which my mother-in-law provided the most wonderful smoothie and best bread ever for), but it was still nice to see them. I didn't even get to see all my family/siblings there in Utah (on both sides of the family), and that really stinks.

However it was still such a wonderful wonderful trip.

One of my highlights was getting texts from Brooks back home about the kids. The one about thinking of selling Royce on Craigslist probably made me laugh the hardest. I would always tell people he runs the house better then I do anyway.....one reason being he doesn't get winded everytime going up the stairs like I do. ;) He had the lunches packed, field trips paid for, scriptures read, laundry done and kids doing chores like crazy. In fact, Saturday I talked to Emerson and asked how he was doing and he said, "Not so good......dad made me work like HALF THE DAY!" (he's my drama king....then again, I believe Brooks put them to work too) The next day I got a text saying, "We made it to church on time. Kellyn looks like a boy and Royce is wearing jeans, but we made it." Even though he IS superman/supermom/superdad..........well.........um..........doing girls' hair is just not his thing.

I had NO idea how boy-ish she looked until I had pictures to prove it..........

Yes, Brooks actually slicked Kellyn's hair back for church......of course it dried on the way there and parted in the middle with the look of I-just-hung-my-head-out-the-window-on-the-way-here!

I got a few texts from friends at church laughing at my girls' hair......and it made me feel SOMEWHAT needed. However I GUARANTEE they were probably more quiet and well-behaved with dad there then when it's just me!!!!!