Our Get Away

Jonathan and I realized that we hadn't been away, just the two of us, since our honeymoon. So when my cousins little boy Aiden was going to be baptized, we decided to take this time to be together without our children. We went to.....Gillette, Wyoming. I know, not the most romantic place, but it was great. Jonathan's mom was kind enough to come and help out with the kids, and a friend of ours took care of our dog.

I didn't really know what to expect for the drive. I was hoping it wasn't going to be ugly and that it would keep me interested as I drove. Jonathan hadn't slept in 24 hours when we left and because of that he slept most of the drive. Luckily because of all of the rain, it was green and beautiful. It was only a 9 hour drive and I enjoyed driving while listening to music.

Our hotel was very nice and I loved being able to set the air conditioner as cold as I wanted it. Awesome!! I was able to spend some time with my best friend and cousin Rachel. That was priceless. Jonathan was able to get some studying done. Most importantly we got to relax and spend time together.

Aidens baptism was great. He asked me to say the closing prayer. After the baptism we has luch and the we all went swimming. Lot of my family were in town for the baptism. My Uncle paid for all of the women to go and get pedicures since Mothers Day was on Sunday. That felt wonderful and it was greatly appreciated.

Sunday we decided since we were so close it would be silly not to go to Mt. Rushmore. So all of the family piled into cars and packed a wonderful Mothers Day dinner into the car. It was only a 3 hour drive and I thought it was pretty fantastic.

My Mom's Birthday

Well for my Mom's birthday I was trying to think of something that she would enjoy. Since I couldn't afford to fly her family to her, I did the next best thing. Here are the grankids that live in Utah.



Because of the amazing technology, we were able to get this printed out for her on her birthday, and in California!

Nathan's Patriotic Play

Jonathan and I were able to go to the first grades little play. We have now seen this exact play 3 times. However every year it is fun to watch our kids enjoy themselves. Here are a few pics from the performance.

Baptism

Mary was baptized on February 5, 2011. Baptisms tend to be a bit stressful for me because we are trying to coordinate three families. We were so lucky that Mary had so many family members from all sides there to support her on this very special day. I unfortunately failed in the picture taking department. Here are the few I did take.

Birthdays

While in California we decided to celebrate Jacob and Mary's birthday. Jacobs birthday was on Dec 13 and Mary's was Dec 28. It was fun being in California for my kids birthday. Good for them to hear my Grandma yelling her hip hip hoorays!!

Christmas

So this year was our year to go to California. It is my favorite spending Christmas with my family. We got our tree right after Thanksgiving so we could have a few weeks with our decorations up, before we left. We went with my brother and his family to Gardener Village to look for elves. When we found all of the elves the kids all got free candy. In California the kids had a blast. Cousins to play with and all sorts of activities to do. We took the kids to the Oakland Temple where they were performing the Nutcracker. I will be honest, it was so long and hot. The kids all loved it and that is all that matters. Christmas morning started at 7 and it is so much fun opening presents and watching the kids faces. Such a magical time.

Halloween

So as we all know I am way behind in my blogging. I will post a few pictures of Halloween. Every year the kids get to dress up at school and they are in a parade with their classes. My kids weren't with us for the trick or treating, but we crashed my brother and sister in laws ward trunk r treat thingy. So we lived vicariously through them. Here are a few pics.

Verbal Vomit

So this post is going to have no pictures and it really is just going to be something that I need to talk about. Warning it has to do with my feelings towards my family here in Utah. I am so confused. I married into a family of many. Jonathan is the oldest of 9 or the 4th of 12 kids. Any way you look at it, that is a large family.

For some reason since I have been a part of the family, we have been excluded from many activities. I have tried to act like it doesn't hurt my feelings, but the truth is, it really hurts. I am living far away from my family and was excited about having a lot of new family close by. I am not sure if the reason behind us being excluded has anything to do with the relationship that his family had with his ex wife or if they just haven't accepted me.

So many times I check their blogs and see that they all have had a family gathering without us. The most recent was the Memorial Day BBQ. We were not invited, surprise!

I was raised in a large family, extended family included. Whenever we had a family gathering of any sort every family and person was invited. That didn't mean they could all make it, but we all knew we were loved and wanted.

I have struggled living in Utah. truthfully this state has chewed me up and spit me out. It is no secret that as soon as we can we are going to leave Utah. I think it makes it worse that I am lonely and have very little family support. I do have 2 brothers here and that is nice, but its just not the same.

I wish my new family could understand that we really do want to be part of the family. We have told them and they act like they understand. I really actually feel like they don't accept me at all and it makes me really sad.

Ok that is enough whining.

Reunion

In July we had the Westover reunion in Rexburg, Idaho. We have land there with a lodge and it truly is a child's paradise. I am pretty sure I didn't see my kids unless it was time to eat or we were getting ready for bed.

I loved the my kids were able to get to know their cousins and were able to have a blast doing it. This really is one of the highlights of this last year. I love being with family and couldn't think of a better way to spend our vacation.