July 4th

I think it goes without saying that my family gets into Independence Day, but no one understands all the 6 a.m. July 4th devotionals we had to wake up for all growing up!!!!

Thankfully as we've grown older my parents moved back the devotional closer to 8 a.m. I don't know if that was in consideration of our sleeping habits or consideration to our neighbors so they weren't awaked at 6 a.m. to the loudest cannon sound.

Once again, while dating, Brooks experienced one of these devotionals/flag-raisings. 

15 years later he's helping the scouts of the family with the preparing of the flag and raising it.

Here we are, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.....oh wait, nevermind, Kellyn was losing it most of the morning. I would LIKE to blame it on the time-change or new-environment but the point is, Kellyn could've pulled this melt-down anytime and it wouldn't be weird.

So here's what happens. The flag is raised, we sing the national anthem (while my dad plays the piano through the window. If you haven't heard my dad play the national anthem then you're missing out), opening prayer. Then dad gives a historical/spiritual thought (my favorite).

Then the two family veterans (brother and brother-in-law) gave some heart-felt thoughts on our country. Afterward another brother gave a speech on the Liberty Bell giving each of the kids a chance to ring the bell and say what we are thankful for because of our freedoms....

My brother's sweet grin is so cute.

I don't remember what everyone said now, but I DO remember that Bronson said he was grateful for sleep, and this is the smile he gives afterward.

Iris, not liking the attention hurry and rang it and then ran back to her seat as fast as she could...or maybe to get back by Vivian's side.

This year, Grampy let Bronson be the honorary cannon-lighter. 

#itsabigdeal

You wouldn't think it would be a loud noise, but honestly, it's ground-shaking and one of the best sounds in the world. This video doesn't do it justice.

An added bonus of coming at this time of year is Brooks could FINALLY make it to ONE of his cousin's 4th of July softball game and family party. His uncle puts it on and invites Brooks' family as well. They are such a fun group.

Here's RA, Emerson and Everly watching the family softball game. We didn't get any pictures of the actual game. Mostly because either Brooks or I was playing the the other one was dealing with overly-hot, exhausted and tired kids. Actually it was just Kellyn and Everly (her nap time) losing it.

Emerson and his cousin Luke. Emerson seriously loved these boys so much. Their smiles are so handsome. And apparently I didn't get out of the picture in time.

The softball group. Oh yea, Pat brought back Aleeya back to me. Clearly in this picture she's STILL not feeling 100%. (front left)

After the game we went back to Uncle Randall's house to chill, eat, play and have access to an A/C home to stick onery kids down for naps. Sounds like heaven to me.

But actually THIS is probably heaven to Brooks.....spending time with his brothers. 

Adriana and I loving on Olivia.....my oh-so sweet niece. Love her and her gorgeous eyes.

My mother-in-law had ONE aspiration that day and that was to get her WHOLE family in one picture. It has never happened except maybe at a wedding 4 years ago....which obviously doesn't have everyone in it now. It was GOING to happen until Aleeya so kindly shared her sickness with her 2-year-old cousin, so she had to stay home with her mom. 

So here is the whole Smith gang minus two. :(

(and to think it all started with his parents and four boys)

The cousin-cuteness was in full-force

Baby Bo giving Everly love-pats.

These five........

Uncle Randall pulled out his waterslide on his hill for some extra fun.

Brooks started out as the honorary sling-the-kids-down-the-slide guy.

Wow, a nap did WONDERS for this girl. She's so fun.

Everyone just sat around, ate and visited. Notice anything unusual in this picture?

Poor Aleeya just zonked out on the blanket, too worn out/feverish and sick to do a thing.

Here she is over by the slide on a blanket. She would just go from place to place with us and collapse. Poor thing. 

That's what stinks about being sick on vacation. We have NO PLACE to go and quarantine ourselves. So anyone coming to visit whoever's house we are staying at has a chance to catch it...and there's nothing we could do about it, nor could we apologize it away. 

OH, and her NOSE BLEEDS!!!!!

The change of altitude mixed with the dry air gave Aleeya nose bleeds after nose bleed the first 5 days. Kellyn got some and Royce got some too.....FOR NOTHING. So one time Aleeya was sleeping inside Uncle Randall's house she nose-bled all over the bed. Lovely. I'm sure they are glad they invited us.

And here's Iris.....and her newest latch-ee. 

She had JUST met Kate that day and never left her side.....Iris-style. There is really no other word to describe it, besides a suction-latch. 

We had a wonderful time up at the Smith party and so fun to see people I hadn't seen in years.

Then it was back to my parent's house for dinner, but mostly cousin time with "Frog" and ping-pong.

Quite honestly, one of the highlights of my trip was playing frog with two of my brothers. I remember as a girl being FLOWN around the trampoline as they launched me into the air. Of course they are 11-12 years older then me, but now our weight was a little more even. 

One of my most favorite picture of the whole trip. All our silhoettes depict us perfectly.

And to show that we aren't as light/nimble as we once were, I'm including this picture of my brother......CHECK OUT HOW LOW HE GOT TO THE GROUND!!!!! 

hahaha. 

The game of Frog never ends if you keep the rhythm going......but we had to end when my other brother "bottomed out" and actually DID hit the ground.

Timing is Everything

Before we flew out to Utah and while at the hotel we realized that we had left Aleeya's suitcase at home. She was DEVASTATED. The cry-face was permanent. 

To spare us all of looking at that face the whole trip I told her we would go shopping when we got to Utah. What BETTER person to go shopping with then Tia Adriana (who happened to be staying with Grandma at the same time)?!?!

(Adriana with Kellyn and her boy Logan)

We took Aleeya to the D.I. (like a Goodwill) because that's how we roll. She had the best time coming out of the dressing room showing off all her things and she ended up one happy....and I mean BEYOND happy girl. 

Well, until the next day when she started feeling sick. And by sick I mean the fever-ish, no appetite and sleep all day sickness. Which yes, I feel bad for kids who get this sickness, but as far as parenting-ease in taking CARE of sick kids rank.....this is ranked the highest. So if you're gonna get sick kids....THIS is the sickness.

Aleeya's sickness DID make it so she couldn't go with me, Iris, my sis and three of her girls to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers musical.

I'm laughing at the above picture because my kids aren't culturalized like I was growing up. Iris has only EVER been to one live play before and that was Cat in the Hat for a field trip. She came home and said, "Mom, I went to a movie with my class. But it wasn't a movie with flat people, they were like real people movie." #culturemommyfail

Iris had never met these cousins before but I had such high hopes for her and Vivian (6 months apart) to bond. Every time between scenes that it went black I could hear Iris, just talking and talking. Never once did I hear Vivian talk. She just sat there with a polite smile on her face. I was worried Iris may be a little over-bearing for Vivian (because after all, when Iris "latches" onto someone she never lets them out of her sight). Then during intermission I told them to get up and we'll go get some water, then Vivian looks at Iris, grabs her hand and says, "Okay, let's go Iris". 

PHEW!!!!! The bond happened. 

The next day after some golfing for Brooks, and kissing on Adriana's boys before we left, we headed up to my parent's house for the July 3rd Fireworks Show!

By "WE" I mean, all of us except Aleeya. She just couldn't move off that couch, so Grandma insisted she would keep her there for a while.

Brooks' friend owns a restaurant on 37th in Ogden called Criddles Cafe and it was INCREDIBLE.

He had these cinnamon sugar scones that were the size of Camden's face!!!! And dipped in their coconut sauce was pretty much heaven. I took this picture  because Emerson ordered something on the menu called "The Boss", ASSURING us he could finish those two huge plates of breakfast food.

It turns out, "The Boss" ended up being the Boss of Emerson. He MAYBE finished 40% of it.


We WERE planning on this trip to Utah, yes, but it HAD to be at this particular time of year in my mind. I was NOT going to miss another fireworks show with my family. You see for my dad's occupation, he owned a fireworks company. July 4th has ALWAYS been huge for us. His company does the July 3rd show in Logan, Utah so there really was NOTHING that could've stopped me from being there this year. I was coming at this time of year JUST FOR THIS!

It was so fun driving up to my festive parent's home.

We were the first ones there, so after giving some quick hugs the kids all the kids ran outside to play.
First stop? The zipline.

Royce probably rode it the most over our whole visit there.

I was actually shocked that

even Kellyn jumped right on it.....it was the cutest thing. (link)

Then the cousins started arriving. Only 5 of us siblings (and kids) were going to the fireworks. I had to quickly establish my "Frog" skills to my  nephews and TRY to teach my kids this game. Frog is a game we played for HOURS and HOURS growing up. You just might be kicked out of my family if you don't play "Frog".

Then my brother Patrick had to show Camden "who was boss", as he put it. Uncle Patrick is the most fun uncle and loves to beat all little boys up. Camden kept asking for it, so Patrick got his dog to get Camden, drag him through the flooding water and pin him accordingly. I think Camden knows the pecking order now. (and he loved every second)

After we ate, it was off to the fireworks show. 15 years ago I brought this guy to the fireworks I had just met 3 months earlier to meet my family.....

I left Kellyn and Everly home with a babysitter (the two hour time change was kicking all our trash), piled up my kids + cousins in the van and we were off.

We kinda took up a lot of rows. You can see me and my dad all the way at the end and then three rows down were all my family there. Later my cousins and their families came to take up a few more rows.

I just love how my sweet 15 year old nephew let Royce follow him around. #clearlyrelated

And good ol' Iris...... RIGHT. next. to. Vivian.

The anouncer said there was a dance competition and for 15 minutes straight a few of my  nieces and I (and my sis for a bit) tried our DARNEDEST to get on the big jumbo-tron thing with our crazy moves.

I even broke out the running man. As you see I was sitting right in front of Bronson and part of the point was embarrass him. #missionaccomplished

I love all these pictures of my nieces in front (thanks to my sister-in-law for basically taking every picture I have from up at my mom's. I only picked up my camera once or twice!)

Aaaaaaand no. We never made it on the big screen.

As much as I tried, I don't think anyone could've beaten one particular person's dance moves. This person had ZERO restraint. It was never-ending, quite impressive, and totally done by...... my son. Pretty sure his endless energy came from the endless supply of suckers Grams kept giving him.

I caught a quick clip of him dancing during the very end of a song.  (link)

I even got some time with my younger brother....who I speak to once in every few years. Love him.....and the constant photo-bomber.

Like seriously.....I probably had 6 or 7 pictures where Royce's head made it's way in the picture. 

As good as the bands, acrobatics, music and lazer show were, there was really NOTHING like the fireworks show. It filled up my entire innerds with that childhood-I'm-home feeling. Almost to tears...... what a magical night.

Utah-bound

MAAAAAAAYBE just maybe I'm ready to sit down and gather pictures from everywhere and document this load of amazing/crazy trip.

Our flight to Utah left on July 1st at 7 in the morning, so we had decided to drive down to Charlotte (2 hrs away) the night before our flight to spend the night. PLUS, I THOUGHT I was genius and I booked through a parksleepfly type thing where you stay a night at a hotel and you can park your car there for free. AND they have shuttle service to the airport. 

Okay.....it all SOUNDS good on paper, but it was kinda a nightmare.

First we pull up to the hotel and realize.....ummmm, this isn't a hotel we are used to staying it (meaning: can FIT my family, let alone in a CLEAN space). There were scary loiter-ers all outside and Brooks didn't even let me walk to the van by myself to get things out. (He sent Camden or Bronson with me, because they are so tough and can scare off any drug-dealing gansta I'm sure).

But before I show our room, I need to say that we asked for a NON-smoking room. When we opened the door, we didn't smell any cigarette smoke. No-siree! It was some foreign smoked smell or some drug I had no clue existed. Great. 

At LEAST the whole wall was mirrored to entertain Kellyn and Everly since my girls are vain and just want to stare at themselves. The phones didn't work which also made for great toys for the kids. We got there around bedtime though so it was a matter of 1) checking the bed for bedbugs 2) brushing teeth and turning on Animal Planet for a while. Then lights out.

Nastiest. room. ever.

ANYWAY, it turns out the "airport shuttle" only fits 8 people, which is a problem with a family of 10 and other people from the hotel that want to ride. Brooks and I decided to have me drive him and 5 of the kids to the airport while I left Bronson at the hotel with sleeping babies. Then I came back packed them up and the four of us rode the shuttle to the airport. Seriously, getting kids up at 5-ish was super hard. There's no way I could've done that without Bronson.

But we made it to the airport and I was THRILLED to say good-bye to that marajuana joint they call a hotel. I sat there hoping my van would still be there when we got back. But hey, it was free to park there, right?

So.Much.Stuff!

We packed all our things in carry-ons for the Utah trip. We just had to check the golf clubs and a bag for Brooks. I kept rubbing it in that I got ALL my clothes/junk for Utah in a carry-on when he couldn't. But then again, I also didn't pack golf shoes, church shoes his size, basketball shoes, tennis shoes, etc. 

I found this carry-on for Royce at Goodwill a few weeks before. Sure they say never to monogram your luggage for fear of child-abduction, but when it's not even your kids' NAME, it's actually genius. I thwarted all the creeper-dudes in the airport, I'm sure.

None of the kids ever remember flying on an airplane (Bronson was 3 when we went back last), so before we got on Brooks had the nice ol' "talk" of how to behave, what's expected of them and the "OR-ELSE" claus at the end. Emerson actually looks concerned........ good, it worked.

We took up three rows and I thought out the seating arrangement prior to getting on to set us up for success.

1) Everly could NOT see me or sit by me or she would want to get out

2) Royce needed to be contained and not allowed near an aisle

3) Since Brooks can get Royce to do anything, HE would be the man to enforce that.

All of those worked since Royce is trapped against the window (can't see him), Everly asleep in the carseat and Brooks just reading on his phone.

I sat with Aleeya, Iris and Kellyn on my lap doing play dough or coloring and it seemed to work the whole flight. (The three oldest boys just played on a kindle in a row by themselves but close enough where Brooks could grab their ear if needed.....it wasn't needed.)

The end got a little tricky when Kellyn and Everly switched seats, and Brooks' face describes all inner-parent-feelings on any flight with kids.

It actually was pretty easy though with people commenting that they didn't realize the kids were even on the flight. #miraclesnevercease

We got to the airport where my parents (Grams and Grampy) greeted us, even though Brooks' dad was picking us up to take us to their home. It was sweet my parents drove 1.5 hours just to be there. I love Aleeya's big ol' smile.

She brought bright colored balloons for the kids too! What kids don't like balloons?!?!?!

Then we let them off to watch them go in the sky....AND to see who's balloon wins (there must always be a winner, right?)

Kellyn's pink one won.

RA (Brooks' dad) showed up later with our van that we bought.
Yes, we bought one. It ended up being cheaper to BUY one then rent one for three weeks. So here's the Utah-Yeti (it has a nice ring to it).

Later that day Brooks stayed home with Kellyn and Everly while Pat ("Grandma") and I took the older 6 to Lagoon to meet up with some of their cousins.
My older three kids had been to an amusement park 3 years ago, but that's it. This was really kinda the first time for everyone and they had a BLAST. Such joy on their faces.

Aleeya, Royce and cousin Emma (who Iris wouldn't LEAVE her side) in the back left.

I rode these jeeps with Royce and Iris was sitting alone. I motioned to Pat to hop in with her. Here is Grandma asking Iris if she could ride with her.

Iris did NOT want Grandma to ride with her, as her body language showed so obviously. Well, suck-it-up-buttercup!

All the boys with their cousins. They really hit it off immediately (since they really have only met once before.....5 years ago.....). In fact my boys LOVE Luke and Lincoln and still talk about them.

I had to include this picture. He's too much. He didn't even have a nap on the plane. I can't believe he was still putting one foot in front of the other by the end of the day.

Let's just say, we ALL hit the beds pretty hard that night.