Where to begin? What a wonderful vacation we had! We spent a relaxing vacation with family and friends. We learned so much about life!
We started the trip on Friday and made it out to Walla Walla where we stayed with our best friends the Frasers. We then headed for Idaho the next day and got to see Grandma and Grandpa in Soda Springs. The kids warmed up to their great grandparents right away. Debrie especially loved talking to them about all sorts of things. Thank goodness for dinosaurs; because if it wasn't for that, Reena would have been shy for much longer. But she brought her dinosaurs on the trip and she talked to great grandma and grandpa about them. Soon after arriving uncle Scott's family from Wayan joined us and again, the dinosaurs saved the day! Reena was telling everyone the names of the dinosaurs and impressed them all. We were indeed grateful.
We were able to see Scott everyday since he worked in town. Aunt Christy came by with their youngest daughter, Cooper who we met when I was dating Dan. Cooper, Reena, and Debrie became best buds. Debrie went from one person to the other grabbing their hands and showing them all the toys as if she was in her own house.Easter!
Easter was beautiful; sunny and warm. Which was good because we spent the next 2 days in snowy weather. We had a wonderful meal with grandma and grandpa. We played Quibbler for many many hours and days. You could say we were addicted to that game. To the point of neglecting our children :) We had fun!
I love taking pictures of my kids! Can't you tell? That's why we got the camera so that every now and then my heart could be content. I've now paid off my camera through the different sessions I did for other people. Now it's time to earn a different lens.
Grandpa is so funny, so fun to tease, so the best grandpa ever!
Dan is one good looking man! Wow!
Grandma, she's so cute and fun and sweet. We love her!
Grandma even got the egg dye for the girls to dye their eggs! She also made a delicious cake with 2 cute little nests for decorations. The girls got chocolate and we talked to them about the resurrection. Every night we read and prayed together and every night hugs and kisses were traded. Debrie wakes up every morning asking if grandma is awake and where's grandpa? We just love great grandparents. They're the best!
It snowed on us for 2 days! Well at least we had sunshine for a while. Great while it lasted. It's Idaho in April.
A Wonderful Treat!
Dan's mom was able to coordinate her visit with her parents so that we could all see each other in the same trip. It was wonderful to have her come up to see the girls so they could be all refreshed for the Stevens reunion coming up in June. I wish we could have grandparents close by all the time. There's nothing more cute than seeing grandparents loving their grandkids. I could watch their Nama play with them all day. Mostly because they're so cute to watch, but also because that means it's "break" time for me.
My mom in law came bringing picture of Hawaii to share and brought me the cutest birthday card with the sweetest notes. Just one to share "Thuan, I smile whenever I think of you" from dad in law and "Thuan, you complete our family" from mom in law. I'll never forget that.
The Original Cousins
Last year when we came down to Utah we weren't able to get together with the cousins so this year I wanted to make sure that they were included in our visit to Utah. Nicole put everything together, including cooking a wonderful meal so that we could enjoy it. We drove to Lehi from Idaho and then went back up to Perry. Long drive, but worth it.
Our Wonderful HostsWe stayed with Dan's brother most of the time in Utah. They were so flexible, generous and fun to stay with. They took us out to eat at Maddox, we watched their kids' soccer games, and stayed up late to chat about life. We were so EXCITED when Lon called us and said that he got a job offer in Kennewick, WA in the Tri cities area, a town we go through every time we go visit our best friends The Frasers in Walla Walla or go down to Utah. I didn't believe Dan when he told me after getting off the phone with his brother. I thought it was still April fools. I jumped when he told me he was serious. When we moved up to Washington, there were no families of ours in the state. Closest was Dan's Uncle David and family in Portland, OR. Now we got cousin Dave and his family and then Lon and family. A cousin, a brother, now we need a parent...
Lon and GayLynn had a cat. That's all it took for Reena and Debrie to love going home to Uncle Lon's house. The cat stays outside in the garage, and guess where Debrie spent most of her time while at Lon's house? Yep, in the garage. It was almost impossible to get her inside to do other things with her cousins. She was out there saying "Awe, kitty cat. Cute. Oh gosh, so cute. Hungry? Thirsty Kitty cat. I help you. Oh my goodness. Kitty cat sleep. Shh shh" and all sorts of stuff. Lon and GayLynn's neighbors heard her calling for help in the garage and thought a kid got stuck out in the garage so they called Lon and GayLynn's house to make sure. That was how often she was out in the garage. She could live out there with the cat and be happy. It was so funny to watch her but then it was annoying at the end as we couldn't get her to come in without bribing. I think she had a great time and probably can't wait to hang out with the cousins (or kitty cat) once they move up here.
Micah had the most time with the girls because he's in half day kindergarten. Debrie kept calling him "Michael" and when we fixed her, she would turn around and fix us and would say "no, Michael".
We've driven through the Tri cities areas many times but this time we got very excited to see it in a little bit more detail. We drove to the temple in the area and the neighborhoods nearby and took some pictures for Lon and GayLynn to get them excited to move here. It's a beautiful place, almost a Utah town but with a little bit more green. Also has a lot of desert plants. 
The Museum of Ancient Life (AKA The Dinosaur Museum)
A visit to the Museum of Ancient Life was a must as our kids are getting more and more into dinosaurs. We had such a great time and walked out of the museum with souvenirs and dinosaur toys of the soft and hard varieties. It's so fascinating for us to watch our kids get excited about dinosaurs. Debrie calls all the big ones Dinosaurus Rex. Reena is amazing at remembering the different dinosaur names. One day while playing with dinosaurs, Reena surprised me that she remembered Pachycephalosaurus. I was so proud of her. She just told me that I need to make her a Spinosaurus dinosaur costume.
A lunch at the Cafe with dino nuggets and dino food to start the tour. Usually I wouldn't blog about things that are gross but I was deeply disappointed in my salad. The romaine lettuce was not washed thoroughly and still had dirt in the middle of the leaves. I got my money back but how sad because the chicken was great. At least the kids enjoyed their meal. Dan had a salad but just like the dinosaurs, couldn't tell there was dirt and ate the whole thing. I'm too particular about my food to not have noticed that.
ICE AGE?
This Erosion Table was so fun for the kids, and Dan. After we walked out of there, Reena asked if we could build one like that in our backyard. Hhmmm....
Reena has been wanting to go dig for fossils since her Dino Day at the Burke Museum with her daddy. She wished we had more time to dig for more fossils but we ran out of time after 3 hours there. This was by far the most interactive museum we've been, too. We could definitely revisit for several more hours! or days!
A visit to Temple Square with Aunt Thanh was needed for Debrie. Every where we drive Brie points to a tall building and says, "Temple, you see it? Temple!" So we thought that Temple Square would be a great place to teach her what a Temple is since it has the Temple, and some other tall building around there that Brie started out saying "Temple" but eventually stopped and only pointed to the Temple. I'm not sure she has it down yet :0
Brie loved seeing the statue of Christ. She kept pointing to him and saying "Jesus. Christ." Reena was fascinated by the pictures of space.
For months I trained barefoot. Dan found out about the barefoot movement and challenged me to try it. I loved it and couldn't go back to my padded shoes. They felt like heavy blocks on my feet. So when the race got close, we researched shoes that support barefoot running. The Vibram Five Fingers were recommended but I just couldn't get over the style being so awkward so these Merrel Pace Gloves were recommended and won my heart. They were $100, but so worth the money. They are comfortable and fit like a glove. I ran in them (without socks) for 7 miles in Idaho to break into them and only got a small blister which went away in 2 days. They were awesome during the race! Even in the snow, which melted soon after the race started. Thank goodness we weren't racing in Midvale where our hotel was because they had about 4 inches of snowfall compared to 1 inch at Thanksgiving Point. Wow what a difference!!
I did it! A half marathon accomplished. It felt really good, but most especially it was really fun to run with my sister. We had so much fun running and taking pictures that the people around us commented that we were having too much fun :). Next time I'll aim for just running fast to the finish line and not slowing down to take pictures.
Saturday was a special day not because it was a day we got ready for Sunday but it was a day of meeting up with my adopted grandparents, the Haslems, again. They're the cutest people on earth. They drove all the way from Roosevelt to treat us to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama. This place has become one of my favorite places to eat now because it has a special meaning to it. We don't go there unless the Haslems join us. The food was a phenomenal buffet style. We all stuffed ourselves silly and Dan surprised us all by having 2 plates full of salad. We were all ashamed of ourselves for having fried chicken and roasted pork. I don't know what happened but I sure like this Dan a lot more. Now I don't feel guilty going to the grocery store and buying a bunch of salad for myself because he'll eat it with me.
The kids, for the most part, were great on the whole ride. I only had to spend 1 part of the trip in the back. We thank you Frasers for hosting us 2 nights. We bought some souvenirs from their shop as a thank you. We thank you G'ma and G'Pa for being so awesome and for a wonderful 4 day stay. Thank you Nama for coming up about the same time so we could be together. We thank Lon and GayLynn for being so kind to us, and coming up to Washington makes them an automatic favorite. Glad I was able to give them my real estate opinions to get the house ready to sell. We hope the best for you. Thank you cousins for a wonderful warm delicious meal. Thank you Haslems. You guys are beyond this world. Angels were in our lives. Thank you to my sis who dragged me into the half marathon. Without her encouragement, I wouldn't have done it. Now I have a desire to run a marathon!We've learned about about happiness. It isn't what you're capable of getting, it's what you already have. We were humbled watching the simple life of the citizens in Soda Springs. They seemed relax and happy. Sometimes we get into a stress mode for so long without stopping to think "why?" Why are we trying to do all these things? Are we thinking this life is the only time we get to do things we love? What about taking it easy and taking the time to enjoy our family. We needed that break from our crowded city life. I feel 5 years younger. That puts me at 23? Wahoo! I need more of those stress free vacations. We are glad to be back to HOME, where excitement begins...
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