CRAZINESS aka our week up north

It's been crazy around here, and i did a really bad job of taking pictures. July 28 derek and i flew to tucson, az. the 29th and 30th derek took the arizona bar. we find out in october if he passed. (i know he did great and i'm so glad it's all over!) on the 31st we packed up the family and drove to salt lake. that night we went to the Oquirrh Mt. Temple open house. it is BEAUTIFUL! i think it is my favorite temple (of the ones i've been in). it was awesome taking my girls in there and being able to answer their questions and stuff.we went with the Becks.
the night of the 31st i went up to allie's mom's house and spent the night. the next morning we (along with shauna and basically allie's whole family!!) got up early and ran 12 miles down cotton wood canyon. it was very steep and very painful!!! later that morning we all went to 7 peaks. it was us, the becks, the evers and the goates. we had a great time. spencer was awesome and traded work for tickets so we all got in free. it was a super fun, and exhausting weekend!!

above: alex, annie, samantha, ben (sorry everyone else... i never thought to get the camera out any other time...) i actually didn't see katelyn or annie most of the day. they are big enough now they wanted to go running around with their older cousins. it's kinda nice and kinda sad at the same time!!

above: sami and ben (i wish i had a video of sami playing in the wave pool. i've never seen a kid love the waves more than she did. it was awesome!)

below: alex and annie

(i see sisters marrying brothers in the distant future!!!)

on sunday the 2nd we hung out with derek grandma helen and just relaxed. on monday the 3rd we drove up to roosevelt to i could see my grandpa. i haven't seen him for 2 years, and 2 summers ago my grandma passed away. he's sick, so we only stayed for a day. it was great to see him though. he is a great man. derek and i are both so lucky to come from great families. i got to spend time with my cousins camille and mike, and davey and delsi. it was so fun to see them and get to know their kids a little better. on the 4th we drove back to salt lake and jeff and kristina came up from cedar. we met up at IV for dinner (our 3rd time! ha ha)

wednesday the 5th derek, jeff, and mitch went golfing. kristina and i took the kids over to allie's parents' house and we all swam. samantha LOVES LOVES LOVES swimming. i can't believe how much she loves it. that night i went out to lunch with one of my bestes friends, christina. i can't believe i didn't get a picture of us together...idiot! anyway, we were in the same ward in vegas when derek was a cop. then we moved away and they moved to sacremento. we NEVER get to see each other, but this week we just happened to both be visiting salt lake at the same time! it was awesome to see her and we laughed a lot that night!! (stupid secret ingredient in the slurpee)

thursday we all packed up to go to logan. before heading up there derek and i went to IKEA. we left our kitchen table in omaha (long story) but luckily the house we're renting has a huge island in the kitchen with a bar to sit up too. so we bought bar stools at IKEA. anyway, we went to logan and swam at the hotel that night. after derek and jeff left alexis and elea with kristina and i and took the other girls out to dinner. kristina and i hung out and watched the SYTYCD finale. which results i was very happy about!!

friday we got up and went to preston, idaho, for the oliverson reunion. the kids have a blast at the reunion. it was kinda lonely up there this year though because the becks and bundys couldn't make it (they have all the fun older cousins!!!). friday night kristina and i left to go back to provo. it was the first time we have had a "sleepover" without kids. we had a great time.

so that's been the craziness around here. today i'm shopping for things we need for the house and packing. tomorrow we're making the move to kingman. then on friday we're heading down to long beach, ca, for a weekend at the beach. then it'll be back to normal life. the girls will start school and we'll get into some kind of a routine!!

(who knows when i'll post again, so i have to say... tomorrow is our 9 year anniversary. 9 YEARS!!! i can't believe the things we've accomplished together. we have our ups and downs, but in the end we make an amazing team. we've been told we deserve each other!! i'm so glad. i'm also glad to know we get each other for eternity. oh, and like other anniversaries we'll be traveling and moving... it always seem to be the case!!!)