The Allens come to California

We were so excited to spend some time with Matt's parents at the beach in San Diego a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately our immune systems were not as excited. The day after the Allens got here, Crew and I woke up in the middle of the night with the flu! Yuck! Of course, about 12 hours later Graham starting throwing up. Seriously not fun! Fortunately, this brutal bug was pretty short lived and only took us each about a day and a half to feel back to normal. So, just slightly under the weather, we still packed up and headed over to Encintas. So glad we did, even though it was definitely a lot more work!

 We had a great first day on the beach

 Becky will hate me for posting this but I thought it was so cute and she looks fantastic!

 Graham was still recovering the first day so he took a nice nap on the beach

 Pure bliss on that boy's face

 It turns out the Christian and Kim were in town for a wedding that same week so they came over with Maren and her boys the next day for a little time on the beach.

 Mmmm, donuts on the beach

 Just as Maren and Christian were leaving, Michael and Sarah's family arrived. Yea!!! More cousins!

While we did have a fantastic day on the beach, about 4 pm Matt started feeling queasy. Yep, it was his turn and he spent the rest of the afternoon and night in the hotel room. So not fun. After a long night we had a lazy morning and headed back to Temecula that afternoon for Matt to rest and recuperate. I unpacked, did laundry and repacked because the next day Matt's parents were picking the boys and I up and driving us back with them to Arizona!

Some Fun with the Andrews

We met Wade and Whitney Andrews a couple months after we got married and moved into Harmony Square in Provo, Utah. Lucky for us, our paths keep crossing and we have gotten to stay good friends all these years! A month or so ago we met them for a fun day on the beach.

 Crew and Emmy are such good friends and are so cute together

 These two are good friends too... most of the time

 The boys and I met Whitney and her kids at Sea World a week later for another fun day. How lucky we are to have such good friends!

4th of July

Since we were still kind of recovering from Arkansas, we enjoyed a very nice and mellow 4th of July. That morning we made some yummy beignets and took them with us to the parade in Old Town. It was a delicious and fun way to start the day.

 One of Matt's patients was in the parade and he was excited to see us.

After a lazy afternoon and BBQ dinner we bundled up and sat on the back of Matt's car to watch Temecula's firework show. A great day to be together as a family and honor our country.

Finishing up Arkansas

Getting back to our Arkansas trip, once all my cousins were into town we all headed over to Gaston's on the White River for the rest of the weekend. This place is absolutely gorgeous and even though it was 110 degrees outside, we still had a great time all together.

 Friday we went back to the lake with the entire gang. Graham did much better this day

 And Crew was a wild man jumping off the roof of the pontoon and skiing up a storm

 We did have to take a few family photos that night as well.

Saturday we spent the day on the river canoeing

 All my cousins minus two who are serving in the military

 That night we stopped by my grand parents grave. These sweethearts left us quite a legacy and it was wonderful to take a moment to honor them.

 We ended the day with a spectacular fireworks show

 And then it was time for us to begin our trek home. I am so grateful we had the opportunity to go spend that week in that special place. Till we come again.....

My Seasoned Patient

12:05 pm I heard the crack. 5 minutes later the bleeding was under control. 2 hours later Graham was glued back together. Poor kid!

All of Graham's injuries have made him into one fantastic patient. His pain tolerance is unbelievable and he is amazingly cooperative for a two year old. While they were cleaning everything up I kept rubbing his arm and telling him what a good job he was doing. Graham loves praise and all the nurses and Dr.'s were laughing at the big grin across his face despite all the blood and work they had to do on his cute face. It actually looks pretty good now!

Let's hope we stay away from the E.R. for a while!