It doesn't seem that we get out of town for any kind of a vacation these days, so when an opportunity comes up I am always thrilled! Grandma and Grandpa Wilkins had a few weeks off of their duties in their calling at the Newport Beach temple, so in February they headed for Utah. We were missing them a lot, so we headed that way too!
Between stops for meals, bathroom breaks, nursing the 3 month old, and various other needs that crop up when you're driving a long distance with a family of seven, it took us a loooooong time to get there. We prolonged things further by stopping at Aunt Melanie's in Lehi around 8:00 just because we wanted to see Ross's folks so much. Worth it, but we didn't get to my brother Jeff's house in Provo until kind of late. Yawn.
Friday we headed back to Melanie's and she was wonderful enough to cut my hair (I WAS SO DESPERATE!) and Ross's, Luke's, and Logan's. We ate lunch there and then saw them again later that night at Ross's brother Jeff's house, who also now lives in Provo. With Grandma and Grandpa in town, all the local Wilkins siblings and cousins got together. Stephen, Jeff, Melanie, and Ross and families all got together for dinner and some long needed catching up!
The oldest Wilkins grandchild with the (current) youngest. #1 and #23. Isn't Melinda darling? If you have any cute boys to set her up with let me know.....in about 18 months. Okay, so she
just went into the Missionary Training Center to serve her mission in New Mexico. But, see what a great girl she is?
This is Melinda's little sister Della. Ross's wonderful mom is in the background.
Many Wilkins cousins. Some of Stephen's boys--Michael, Hunter, and TJ, and another of Jeff's daughters, Emma with my kids. I guess I didn't get a picture with Jeff's daughter Lauren or Stephen's oldest, Cody and sadly, none with Melanie's two cuties, Blake and Sydney. Next time!
On Saturday we took the kids to see the movie "Tangled" because it was only in Helena for about 2.6 seconds. It was worth seeing in the theater. As we got towards the end of the movie, I looked over to see my Logan crying at what was happening to the hero. He told me that the movie made his tears leak out! He is so sweet and sensitive and I hope he always stays that way.
My brother Jeff's daughter Esther came with us and after the movie we walked over to a relatively new place there in the The Shops at Riverwoods called the Provo Beach Resort. It has all kinds of fun things big and small like indoor surfing, a rope course, bowling, etc. We stuck to the smaller stuff and went on the carousel and to a play area. The kids loved it.
Static Girl Becky!
Ross pulling a face for the camera. This was actually the tamer of the two pics he let me take of him...
Awesome face, Logan!
Esther and Samantha
That night Jeff (my brother) and Celina got a babysitter and the four of us went to a restaurant also in the Riverwoods called La Jolla Groves where Jeff treated us to a truly fabulous meal. How beautiful is this place?
We went to church with Jeff (Ross's brother) and Jane and their family along with Grandma and Grandpa Wilkins the next day. We ended up seeing a couple who had been in our BYU married ward from years before there! The Morkels are in Jeff's ward and now also have 5 kids. Peter is from South Africa and recognized Ross during priesthood while Wendy, whom I used to visit teach, and I recognized each other in Relief Society. It was a fun thing to see someone we knew from those young married days and it was kind of bizarre that it actually happened because I'd had a passing thought about how funny it would be if we did see someone we knew from then!
We spent the afternoon at Jeff's house again with Grandma and Grandpa and got to play with Della again. She's so cute.
Jeff has a little hairless terrier dog (I think that's the breed anyway!) named Norman that the kids are always excited to see. Samantha always used to call him Boris for some reason. Logan thought it would be fun to crawl inside Norman's house, as you can see above. Silly boy.
Just for fun I'm throwing on a video of Samantha and Logan playing with Norman at Jeff's house when they lived in Encinitas, California. I love the kids giggles on it, especially Logan's! He's about 2 1/2 here and Samantha is almost 5.
That evening we drove up to my cousin Michelle's house. She and I hadn't seen each other for about 2 1/2 years and that had only been for an hour at a gas station in Beaver, Utah. So we were very excited to spend a little time with her and her husband Gary and their 3 darling kids.
This is her Ryan with my little bug-eyed Timothy.
My Aunt Linda and Uncle Emo came over to see us because they lived close by. Love Emo. He used to call me Janna-banana, so in my childhood brilliance I called him Uncle Emo Apple. ;o) (Actually his name is Grant, but can you believe that I didn't know that until I was about 12?! Emo is his middle name which is his Dutch mother's maiden name.)
How hilariously cute is Ryan's grin?
Michelle's second daughter Leah loves princesses so she and Rebecca had a LOT of fun together.
Leah also loves babies and was loving on Timothy so much. Michelle said she still frequently asks when she can she that Timothy baby again!
It was a happy trip and now I just need someone to tell me when I can get out of Helena again!!!!
