Long time, no see!

I haven’t posted for so long that I don’t even know where to begin!!! We went on vacation for 4 weeks. It ended up being a little long and we were all very homesick but it was a nice break from the heat.

We were in California for a week at the Lawrence Welk resort. Went to Lego Land…

I got a lot of excercise chasing my baby through the golf course before someone nailed us in the head with a golf ball, went swimming and toward the end of the week went to Disneyland…

Landon was trying to get in on the dance party. Hensley danced and was in heaven all day! She loved the princess castle.

Landon really didn’t know what was going on and was in a stroller pretty much the whole time! We’ll have to go back when he can appreciate it a little more…

Brandon drove to Escondido to spend a couple of days with us before our trip to Utah. We had a brilliant idea to go to the beach on the 4th of July! After trying to park for an hour and walking another half hour to get to the beach we had lunch and took the kids down to the beach…

We let them play for a little while and then left! We must be getting old but big crowds drive me nuts. It was Landon’s first time playing in the ocean…

We left the next day to drive back to Arizona, go to my nieces birthday party and get laundry and packing done for another long drive to Utah. 12 hours straight through with my mom, the 3 kids and me. FUN! If your wondering where Hunter was this whole time, he was in Hawaii, poor kid!!!

We were in Utah for a few days and then got back in the mini van and my dad drove us to Portland, Oregon for an Estes family reunion. It was a lot of fun. I hadn’t been to one since I was a senior in high school.

This is just my mom and dad’s kids and grandkids. Monte, Alice, Roy, Chris, Vonda and Jared were not able to attend.

I love this picture of my dad!!! He’s the oldest child.

When the family reunion was over we drove back to Utah and were there a couple of more weeks. We were able to go to Steel Days and visit with a lot of friends. My brother David, his son Carl and my sister Careen also came into town, it was great to see all of them, it had been a long time! I was also able to spend a lot of time with my nephew Jeremy and his family. He is just a couple of years younger than me and we have always been very close! We were able to get together with my mom’s side of the family too. Only Jared was missing out of my mom’s kids. We were able to visit with my aunt and 2 of my cousins. It was great to see everyone!

My kids absolutely loved my nephew Carl. I’m sure they drove him nuts but he was  sooooo good with them. They still talk about how fun he was. I wish I lived closer to my brothers and sisters.

Brandon flew into Salt Lake City on July 24th. I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy to see him. 4 weeks is way to long to be away from home! We celebrated July 24th at my nephew Jeremy’s house, actually watched fireworks, something you just can’t do in Arizona and started back the next day. We drove as far as Vegas, stayed at Circus Circus and finished the next day. I have never been so happy to see my house, dogs, cactus, palm trees and feel oven hot air on my skin in my entire life. 4 weeks was just too long!

Happy Birthday Hayden!!!

My first born is 8 years old today! It seems so crazy to me! Hayden is a sweet and loving child, he is so much like me that sometimes I feel bad for the poor kid! He is a dreamer, has a soft heart and is always in another world. I would love to join him there somedays. He will be baptized in August because we will be out of town for a month! YEAH! Get out of this heat!

Happy Birthday my sweet boy! You make me proud!!!