...And Another Trip!

The best part of this summer is how often we get to leave the valley! Every time I say, "oh what a great LAST trip before the baby..." we end up going somewhere else :)

My Uncle Jim had a nasty liver cancer that just took over his body (very similar case of what my dad went through), and unfortunately he passed away on the 17th (my dad's birthday). This past week all the family got together in Sedona for the party. Yes, I said party.

My Uncle Jim was far too up-beat to let anyone have a funeral for him. It was fantastic! So many family and friends came, the weather was perfect, and we only had about 5 minutes of tears with a few toasts that were offered. My cousin Todd also prepared a wonderful photo DVD that played throughout the night.

The best part though was that this was the 1st time all of my cousins and I were together since Todd's wedding in 2000. My brother came home on leave this past week, so the timing was just perfect.

On Friday, my parents, Eddie, Kent, and I took a drive up to Oak Creek canyon and played in the water. After a lot of pleading, my mom let me get close enough to the water to put my feet in. I was so jealous watching everyone get all the way in and cool off. I'll admit though...it's nice when you are 26 and your mom is still telling you what to do :) I'm not sure if she was more concerned about me or the safety of her next granddaughter- haha!

Other than that we all just hung out at the resort, went swimming in the pools, ate a ton of junk food, and picked on each other. Can I also just say how nice it is to be pregnant around my brother. Usually I'm on edge whenever he's home...ready for him to torment me "Ranger" style. This time I could say whatever I wanted with no fear of it coming back to me 100-fold. It really was nice.

What a great LAST trip before Braelynn comes ;)

Getting Utah-rted

June was such a great month because we got out of the heat for a week. We felt that we needed the same break for July as well. Last week Kent, Amy, and I headed up to Draper, UT. Kent's sister just had her 3rd little boy, Cayden, so we thought this would be the perfect time to escape the heat!

A few weeks ago Kent and I taught Amy how to drive a stick-shift, and it really made the trip up and back a lot easier.

The first night there we had a BBQ in the backyard and visited with Kent's mom (she came out from Houston for the week as well). The next day we attempted to go out on the boat. We were all set- picnic packed, kids in their life vests, and beautiful weather...the only thing missing was a working boat. We never got out on the lake, but we had a wonderful picnic in the boat at a campground. That was enough for us though, because we were wiped out that afternoon!

The next day Kent's Aunt and Uncle came over as well as 2 of Kent's cousins. Tiffany, just had her 3rd little boy too. We definitely got our fill of newborns! It was a lot of fun seeing all of them and enjoying another BBQ.

Sunday was filled with movies, naps, and a delicious dinner. That night we played games and packed up to head out the next day. We had a nice trip back, but I can truthfully say this was my LAST roadtrip pregnant!

We had such a nice time and are so grateful to Lanae for being such a gracious host to all of us. We definitely made a lot of good memories while we were there.

Now we are back to the everyday duties here in Chandler. I had a doctor appointment today and everything looks good. I'll now start seeing him every 2 weeks as opposed to 4. I cannot believe there are only 8 weeks left. My mom had me 5 weeks early, so I'm really hoping that I get to have the full 8 weeks because we have NOTHING set up yet. Oops!