Family Vacations

With school finally out and retirement finally setting in, we left the first week of June for summer vacations. Our first stop was a three-week trip to Florida to visit my family. While there are countless memories that we should write of, we will only mention a few.

First of all, on Father's Day we were able to be with my parents, my maternal grandparents, and my brother Christopher and his wife, Jessica. I had made Christian a book for Father's Day with pictures of him and Alina. My dad and Grandpa also got their little brag books that day. The highlight of Father's Day, however, came when my dad opened the Father's Day gift from Christopher and Jess. It was a bib, embroidered with "I love Grandpa" and a card. After dad read the card we noticed excitement in his face and soon found out that --- Jessica and Christopher will be having a baby in January! (Alina's going to be a cousin!!!) We were all so excited and we can't wait to meet the first "Ingalls" grandchild.

With school finally out and retirement finally setting in, we left the first week of June for summer vacations. Our first stop was a three-week trip to Florida to visit my family. While there are countless memories that we should write of, we will only mention a few.




While in Florida we also discovered Alina's love of water. We spent time nearly everyday in the pool and she loved every minute. Mom and Dad also got a Wave Runner that we got to help break in by tubing - so fun! Their neighbor Frank and his wife Christine were so nice to us throughout the trip and made some of the lake experiences very memorable!!!




For part of our trip we ventured up to the panhandle to visit my grandparents. Recovering from a recent surgery, my grandma seemed to enjoy the company of her only great-grandchild, her only granddaughter, her only daughter, and her only grandson-in-law (and, I suppose, her only Leila dog!!) Grandma and I even broke out the craft stuff as I attempted to make fun wipe cases and some Fourth of July cards. It was probably our last trek up there as they are planning on relocating to be closer to my parents within the next year (hopefully).





Mom and I got in a few long walks and several talks - a must! It's so good to spend time with her - she genuinely cares for all of us and I hope she's rubbed off on me! Alina's so lucky to have her as a grandma!
Dad was busy - as usual - yet we got in some fun with him. Boy, does Alina love Grandpa! He helped her attempt to guzzle down a few sips of water and was always ready to cheer her up when she was the slightest bit upset. Christian and Dad even started car shopping for our "wish" of a new car - a new Highlander Limited... even Christian drools over it now!





A HUGE accomplishment, we traveled about two hours up to Gainesville so that Christian could take the Series 7 exam - one required before he can start up as a Financial Planner. Despite the six hour, grueling testing window, Christian emerged victorious! We are so proud of him and excited for the adventure of him starting at Heritage in August. Now on to exams two and three. (During the exam, Mom, Alina, Jessica, and I went to the University of Florida butterfly exhibit - it was amazing! Alina loved watching all of the butterflies as we tried to identify them. We are already planning to return.)





While we were in Florida, we also got to celebrate Alina's 1/2 birthday. On June 27, 2008 she was officially six months old. Time is flying and she's already sitting up and on the verge of crawling.



Time flew by too fast in Florida and before we knew it we were back aboard a direct flight to SLC. We spent less than 12 hours at home and then were on the road to Lake Powell for a fun filled four days with Christian's family.

Christian's mom planned an "Olympic" themed extravaganza complete with competitions for the older grandchildren and ethnic meals. We were in charge of the first day's food - ham and cheese english muffins, rice and beans, and chicken teriyaki. We also had fun giving a spiritual thought and extending a service challenge to the kids.

Obviously, we were the yellow family.

Thanks to Great-Grandma, Alina had the perfect 4th of July outfit!

Alina got to spend time with her 14 cousins! One of them, Jaxon, is only about a month younger than Alina - Robyn and I couldn't help having a little Photo Shoot.

Alina continued with her days of fun in the sun and water at Lake Powell. After we doused her in sunscreen, we'd all jump in the water and play for an hour or so a day. Alina struggled to sleep at night - but we had such a good time nonetheless.

We drove back to Provo for the 4th and got to spend it with Mom and Dad as well as Lauren and Jonathan. Mom and I ran in the 4th of July 5k and then we met up with Cynthia and Dave for Stadium of Fire. It was a blast! Alina loved all of it - except the earth-shaking fireworks (the others were great) and MILEY CYRUS (although we can't blame her --- none of us cared for that performance!) Dad left on Sunday but Mom stayed through Tuesday - enough time for some incredible food and fun times playing games and spending valuable time together!

Just the girls - Mom, Alina, Me, and Lauren

Mom, Alina, and Me

On Wednesday we went up to Sandy to visit Mike, Alyse, and Jack (now three months old). Mike is one of Christian's cousins. We ate lunch at a park and went for a VERY brief walk since Alina was exhausted and ready for a nap.

That night, we attended a celebration in honor of Christian's grandmother's 94th birthday. It was great to see her out and about - enjoying time with her family.

It has been a fabulous summer so far and we're excited for all that's coming up for our little family!