Utah: Part 8 (Our EPIC 4th of July!)

The 4th of July turned out to be a long but exciting day. We started by waking up super early to run a 10K... apparently too early for Jake!

The girls were in rare form from being exhausted, but once the stroller started rolling they chilled out!

Taber, Becca, Me, Jake, Munro, and Kevin ran the race with Brooklyn and Lily in tow. Here we are before the run.

The race followed the parade route so it was really awesome because the whole course was lined with cheering spectators!

Me and Jake ran/walked the whole thing because of injuries and finished in 1:13:00, which happens to be a PR for me! Jake could have gone faster, but he was nice and stayed with me the whole way while pushing the stroller :) I don't know everyone else's time, but they all pretty much killed it!

In the meantime, the rest of the family watched the hot air balloons rise while they saved us a spot on the parade route.

When we were done running, we headed over to our spot to join them for the parade. Brooklyn was very concerned about something in this picture, but for the most part she had a BLAST watching the parade... especially when princesses and ponies came prancing by.

In fact, all the munchkins had a blast at the parade, DESPITE the super hot temperatures.

But my favorite thing was watching Lily's reaction to everything. She thought the parade was the coolest thing that ever happened to her. Her favorite things were the bands, fire trucks, and horses.

Here she is again, being cute and gazing off into the distance :)

After the parade, Kevin and I grabbed the girls and headed over to Uncle Glen and Aunt Connie's house for a quick visit. We had tons of fun chatting with them, saying good bye to Lisa (who was heading off on her mission), and eating yummy Popsicles!

Next, we headed home to meet my aunt Diane and her family for a 4th of July BBQ at my parent's house!

We ate TONS of food, laughed our heads off, had a few political debates, and took advantage of the opportunity for an impromptu photo shoot.

And then the real fun began! My Aunt Diane has 3 handsome sons, and 2 handsome grandsons to keep her company... but she is a girly girl at heart and loves to buy pretty things. So every year she secretly shops around and builds up a stockpile of jewelery, purses, and makeup that she showers us and her beautiful daughter-in-law, Kelly with. She makes it super fun by having us play funny games for things and she always picks out the most beautiful jewelery. I came home with a beautiful necklace and bracelet, some new lipstick and fingernail polish, and the PERFECT purse for a mom on the go! THANK YOU AUNT DIANE!

And while the adults were playing, the kids were in the house next door organizing a talent show! It was so cute. They formally invited us over after hours of practice, showed us to our seats, gave us refreshments, and then started the show. It involved a lot of "ballet" from the little girls, some brake dancing from the boys, and a ton of good laughs from the adults!

The kids were so wiggly that it was hard to get a good picture of them. But they had a blast dancing for all of us! And we loved watching them! When they were done, all the aunties entertained the kids with some old camp songs we used to sing, auntie Liz danced a Tahitian number for ever one, and then Becca, Sarah, and Tau wrapped up the night with this:

Utah: Part 7 (Family Pictures)

Uda Family 2012 (Chris and Pae not pictured) Carl, Cindy, Rachel, Munro, Mason, Maile, Malia, Josh, Erin Joseph, David, Taber, Becca, Teya, Brinley, Camden, Kevin, Naomi, Brooklyn, Lily, Tau, Sarah, Noa, Micah, Jacob, Scarlet, Liz, Tony, and Gizmo.

Grandma and Grandpa Uda with their grandchildren... its hard to keep that many little ones happy all at once!

Grandchildren picture... It was a miracle that we got them all in... especially since Camden was trying really hard to run away!

Carl and Cindy with their children.

Uda Siblings in line, youngest to oldest, ages 23-35, all 2 years apart in age.

When my parents got married, someone grabbed my mom and said, "How can you marry that man?! Don't you know your kids will look like monkeys?!"

 I guess he was right!

 Old School Uda picture.

We were trying to look like our ancestors!

 Mom and Dad Uda

Kevin and Brooklyn, entertaining each other during down time.

 Digging for buried treasures...

Hanks Family take 2... Lily cried during the entire photo shoot, not just because we tipped her upside down :)

 Brooklyn loves getting her picture taken.

She requested that I do her hair in a star for family pictures. This is the best I could do!

Mommy and Brooklyn, right before we headed back home.

Utah: Part 6 (Kids Crafts)

On July 3rd we scheduled to have Uda family pictures taken... but since the photo shoot wasn't until the evening, I had to entertain the kiddos during the day! They swam a LOT, but between dips in the pool we did crafts. We started things out easy with some paper crafts. The girls made butterflies and owls, and the boys made rocket ships and 3D Captain America paper dolls! Uncle Tau even got in on the action and made himself a sweet rocket ship :)

Later in the day we made PVC pipe marshmallow guns and had an EPIC marshmallow fight! Unfortunately, I was too busy trying NOT to get shot to remember to take pictures!

In the evening (after pictures) we all made Tie Dye shirts/pillowcases, or whatever else people could find! It was funny because the activity was meant for the kids, but Uncle Munro and Grandpa Uda seemed to enjoy it the most! :)

Another project we worked on was an Uda Family Tree. My Dad painted the tree on some canvas and then each of us left a green thumbprint for the leaves. It actually turned out really cool!

And on a random note, we also witnessed the beginning of yet another summer fire in the mountains up the street from my mom's house. Luckily, it never moved our direction!


To be continued...

Utah: Part 5 (Eat, Run, Swim!)

On Sunday, July 1st, The Hanks and Ioane families were put in charge of doing dinner after church. We agreed to do a pizza bar and it turned out pretty great! Kevin made each family their own pizza dough crust and then a family representative would take it to the table where they could top it with whatever their family desired. Thanks to Sarah and Tau, those ingredients included just about any kind of meat or veggie you could possibly think of and all the pizzas were delicious!

The next morning Kevin and Munro woke up early and went running together up Battle Creek Canyon. The canyon is literally right up the street from my mom's house, so Kevin wanted to take advantage of it before he headed home to mountain-less-Chicago!

When they got home, we packed our bags and greased down our kids for a day at Seven Peaks Water Park. The park is humongous and always has a TON of people there during holiday weeks, so prepping my kids also included writing my phone number on their arms in case they managed to slip away (don't worry dad, I blurred the numbers in the picture so no creepy people start calling me).

When we got to the park the kids could hardly contain themselves! In a matter of minutes we were through the gates and pickling ourselves in chlorination and sunscreen residue!

We also enjoyed some pretty good grub between rounds in the lazy river and wave pool!

Kids and adults alike had a blast splashing around in the many pools and basking in the desert sunshine!

And miracle of miracles... neither of my children managed to slip away, saving me from the embarrassment of actually having someone call my cell phone having found them!

To be continued...

Utah: Part 4 (Baby Shower & Lake Day)

On June 29th, Sarah and I spent most of our time preparing for a baby shower that Sarah was throwing for her good friend Tami. Kevin joined us in the late evening (after his flight came in) and lent a hand by putting together this awesome diaper motorcycle! Tau helped too by carving a watermelon into a baby in a bassinet but I didn't get any pictures :(

The next morning we had the baby shower for Tami (who, as you can see, is now the mother of a BEAUTIFUL little girl) and it turned out GREAT!

In the meantime, the rest of the family had headed over to Dear Creek Reservoir to kick off our family reunion with a little boating (complements of Papa G and the Murdock family!)

Brooklyn went with Grandma and Grandpa to join in on the fun. Here she is with her cousin Malia (3)  getting ready for a fun ride.

She was able to get on a giant tube with Auntie Rachel for her first boating adventure EVER!

Unfortunately, the boat took off a little bit too slow...

And Rae and Brook flipped over, straight into the water! Thankfully, Rachel's mommy reflexes were operating at 100% and she grabbed Brooklyn as soon as they flipped and pushed her skyward so that her head was only under water for a few short seconds!

Surprisingly, the flipping incident didn't shake Brooklyn as much as I thought it would and it wasn't long before she was back on the tube with Uncle Tau for another great ride!

About an hour after the fun began, me and Sarah made it to the lake with Scarlet and Jake in tow. As soon as we arrived Brooklyn ran up to me and said, "Mom! You wouldn't believe it! They said that life jackets save your life from drowning in the water and they REALLY DO!" Scary words for a mom to hear upon arriving at a lake where her kids had been swimming without her! Hahahaha! I guess her flip in the tube left a lasting impression.

Anyway, it wasn't long before the adults headed out on the water, and despite my vehement objections, I was eventually peer pressured to get on the tube. I have nothing against getting wet, or going for a ride, but my only experiences on a tube prior to this trip involved me getting major whiplash, chipping my elbow bone, and even getting a blood clot (from my wisdom teeth being removed) knocked clean out of my mouth! But alas, Munro and his superior driving skills proved to be the perfect thing to get me to enjoy tubing once again :)

And then... the boys got on the tube... providing endless hours of entertainment for the rest of the day!

Munro did NOT drive as gently with the boys, so we were blessed to be able to watch Jake and Kevin biff it into the water over and over again. Tau never got dunked, but he did manage to punch Jake into the drink! (Just kidding, he is actually trying to save Jake in that last picture... hehehe!)

When the boys got tired from the tube, Munro hooked up the rope for a little wake boarding. He and Kevin were the only ones brave enough to try, but they both totally rocked it!

Once Munro and Kevin couldn't feel their forearms any more, we hooked the tube back up and towed our tired boys in for one last ride. Munro gave them a few good whips and spins (sending Jake under a few more times) and then we packed up our things and headed home.

We had so much fun that day at the lake and it was the perfect way to kick start our family reunion. Thanks again to Papa G and the Murdock family for letting us borrow their amazing boat, and thanks also to Munro for being such an awesome driver!


To be continued...