Back from our trip

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy around here. We've had a lot of fun and have been able to spend time with a lot of family. IT'S BEEN GREAT!

First my parents came up here to visit for about a week. It was so nice to have my mom help me out around the house and with the kiddos since I haven't been feeling good. I know Jared was grateful for the extra help too seeing as how he's been doing everything around here lately (love that man!). And my dad's silly sense of humor can always put a smile on my face even when he is talking about things that might very possibly make me vomit! =)

Addison was super excited because bama & bapa were here for her recital. I will try to get video of that up later. I am so proud of her, she did such a great job. She wasn't nervous at all to be dancing in front of hundreds of people. She is so cute! I'm so glad that she enjoys dancing so much.

Then, at the end of the week of my parents being here we left for Phoenix to see Jared's family. It was so nice to see everyone. We've seen Jared's parents a couple of times since we moved, but we hadn't seen his brother Joe & his family or his sister Julie & her family for a year. It's been really hard because for 3 years we lived about 5 minutes away from each other. Now whenever we see each other all the kids look so much older, it makes me so sad.

We had a really fun trip. We were very well taken care of...thank you so much to everyone. We stayed with grandma & grandpa who cooked & cleaned & spoiled the kids rotten. My sister in law Trecia brought over lots of yummy food that she made and entertained us with fun games (I thought they were fun anyway...hehe). My other sister in law Julie changed stinky diapers for me and went with me to get a wonderful pedicure. All of the cousins, even the older ones were so great with the kids. Addison and Urban were in heaven playing in grandma & grandpa's playground of a backyard with all of their fun, loving cousins.

I love these pictures, they're so cute. At one point I just saw Addison and Nathan cuddling on a chair laughing at a show they were watching.

Jared got to go golfing with his parents. Jared & I took the kids along with Brady and Garett bowling. Addison loved it. Urban liked it too but of course he didn't want any help. He kept trying to pick up the bowling balls and chuck them in all different directions. Luckily he was pretty content (at least for a little while) just sitting down with some snacks.

Sorry, the pictures of the boys are blurry. I didn't realize my camera wasn't on the right mode until later. oops

One day we took the kids to a water park. The weather was perfect, hot but not too hot. There was this really neat kiddy area that was a blast for the kids. Addison surprised us because she was being a little dare devil which is a bit out of character for her. She would go down the slides all by herself, then she started going backwards and on her tummy. It was so fun to watch her have so much fun. Urban was being a little bit of a stinker. We went right in the middle of his nap time so he was a bit of a grouch. Luckily we had made plans with grandma & grandpa to come pick the kids up after about 2 hours so then it was just Jared and me. We had so much fun just the two of us. We stayed for several more hours by ourselves just acting like big kids. We went doubles on all the "big kid" slides (some of which scared me to death) and almost every time when we would come out the bottom Jared would end up sitting on my head. Didn't matter how we distributed the weight (me or him in the back) it pretty much always ended up with me flipping out of the raft and him being on top of me. We haven't laughed so hard in I don't know how long. Must've been quite a sight!

Jared had his 29th birthday while we were down there too. So for the night of his birthday we had a little get away at a Scottsdale hotel while grandma & grandpa watched the kids. Jared and I have NEVER had a night away from the kids. It was hard for me to do at first, but it was much needed and we had a great time. We went out to dinner then went back to the hotel to go swimming for a little while. Then we went back to the room to watch a movie and just relaxed. It was so nice because Addison really wanted to make her daddy's birthday cake. So grandma helped her make it and it was all ready for him when we got back the next day. It was so cute because she was all excited that she got to crack the eggs into the cake. Whenever she helps me make things I don't let her do the eggs, I always do it myself. I must be a TERRIBLE mother. It was so funny to me that that's what made her day. Good thing we have grandmas. =)

I know we did more, I just can't think of it right now. All in all it was a great trip. It was so nice to just relax by the pool, or watch the kids play in the backyard and if we felt like doing something we just went and did it.

It was very hard to tell everyone goodbye because we just don't know when we'll be able to see everyone again. I know that whenever we do all the kids will be so different. For some reason when I said goodbye to Michael I just lost it. He's our oldest nephew (almost 16...can you believe it?). I think it's because he seemed the most changed to me. He is not a kid any more, he is a young man. I already have to look up to him and the next time I see him he'll be driving and dating. What is that all about? I love all of our nieces and nephews so much. They are all so special and amazing in their own ways. I was so blessed to be able to live so close to them for so many years and watch them grow up. I feel like at times I took it for granted and I'm now so sad that I'll miss so much in their childhood.

Well, I wish I took more pictures, but this is me we're talking about here. What do you expect? Thanks again to everyone for making our trip so wonderful. After spending more than 2 weeks straight with my parents and then Jared's, the kids are thoroughly spoiled and quite a handful. They haven't been told "no" for so long they're not sure how to handle it when I say it.

P.S. Urban has one word for all of the Estes clan to sum up our vacation..."NO!"

I'm pretty sure that's the only word Urban said the entire time we were down there. I don't think anybody believes me that he does actually say quite a bit more. =)

After leaving Phoenix we headed to Vegas for a get together with my family in honor of my brother getting married and having a baby. I'll post about that next.