SLC & Alpine

Sunday, June 29- Tuesday, July 1

We were thrilled to spend the remainder of our UT vacation in SCL at Grandma Ann's and Grandpa Gary's.  Gary was away on business, so we were sad to miss him, but we had a lovely time, as always with Gma Ann.  We laughed at how our Grace Ann seemed to appreciate Gma Ann's floor to ceiling decor more than anyone.  They are 2 peas in a pod in many wonderful ways.  Gma. Ann has been living with her daughter, Julie who is excpecting triplets, and when she mentioned she hadn't had time to clean off her courtyard, we decided to spend Monday morning doing just that.  The kids and I scrubbed away while Wayne took the van in to get serviced.  Later that day we went to visit Julie, her triplets in the wombs, and her 4 amazing kids.  Our kids played together while I folded laundry, and Wayne and I played catch up with Julie, her IV nearby.  She's been so sick, but I was in awe at how great she looks.  In fact I think besides being pregnant with triplets, she's in better shape than I am!  I'm inspired to work a little harder to strengthen my limbs, and if my tummy wants to cooperate and tighten up a bit, that would be icing on the cake!  We're so happy for Julie and her family and can't wait to see their 3 darling baby girls.  They are coming to one amazing family!

Monday afternoon, our family cruised up to Alpine to BBQ with my UT family...sisters Sara & Julie, brother Jon, their spouses and most of the cousins.  Of course there had to be a ruckus, and that came through Uncle baseball....Uncles vs. nieces and nephews.  The latter weren't doing so hot, and the oldest nephew, Josh was getting a little urked.  When a pop fly came right for Samantha, and she dropped it, Josh stormed up to her and then walked away.  When we were curious if he was truly upset, Josh snapped, "They don't know how to freakin' play!"  It was hilarious!  We all cracked up while Josh cooled down.  He's a hoot.  The niece and nephew team quickly fizzled, so the aunts stepped in.  I don't know what happened to my batting skills, but after swinging a million times, and finally making contact I wasn't about to settle for a single.  Problem was my sis, Sara stopped at second.  Since I knew she could appreciate a good steal- her son, Josh is an avid base-stealer, I urged her (OK I gave her a good shove that caught her off guard and sent her flying) to steal.  She couldn't get up she was laughing so hard.  I made it home while Sara laid there at second laughing.  That was a good tummy laughter workout.  I need more of those!

We BBQed, the kids played on the water slide, ran through sprinklers, made s'mores, the big girls (moms included) made darling button clippies thanks to Julie's tutoring), and we all had fun reconnecting.  I suppose reunions in heaven are like this, where you simply pick up where you left off and the love you have for one another makes the time between visits insignificant.

Since Monday, Ange has had her baby!  We just missed baby Claire's birthday!!!!  I love that name.  Wesley and Mia are just a month apart and this was the first time they met...so fun!  Mia walked circles around Wes, but we managed to snap a few fun pics of the two.  Mia will have a ball being big sis to baby Claire.  Congrats to Jon and Ange!