Next stop...Texas!

After visiting family in OK, we headed to see family in TX.  We didn't tell the kids that Jaden, Hailey, and Mason would be there.  We overlapped for a few days with their visit.  We got there pretty late at night, after the kids were asleep.  When our kids went up to the bunk room, they noticed some kids already there.  They didn't notice who it was at first.  Nathan thought it might be Jaden, but wasn't sure.  We had fun with it for a little bit until he was sure who it was - it was great to see the look on their face when they realized it was their cousins.  

  Weston and Eli were a pretty good pair!

They had to see if the dog could swim... she could, but didn't want to stay in there!

Savannah looks so cute in pig tails - she has just enough hair in the back for 2 cute little tails.  But she doesn't like me putting them in.  They didn't stay in long, but it was cute while it lasted.

We had to go to the rodeo while we were there.  Nathan did the calf scramble, but I couldn't get any pictures of that.  Pretty fun to watch.  

All the boys took a special outing with Papa to get cowboy hats.  

We were grateful to see GG again - her cancer returned more aggressively, so we wanted to get as much time with her as possible.  Hopefully she will be able to fight this - she is hopeful that she will.  Regardless, I admire her fighting spirit.  She is enduring her trials well.

We had fun - as always!

Oklahoma fun

After we met friends in OKC, we headed to Alex's parents.  We had a fun stay - feeding the goats, shooting guns and playing with Papa John's toys, playing baseball in the rain, playing in the mud, board games, fishing, playing at the park, mini golf, riding a train, hiking, homemade ice cream, movies & popcorn, riding the tractor, and picnic at the pond (with grilled hamburgers), and fun with the neighbor's dog.  Just right!

 Owen got to take a special outing one day with Alex and uncle Jim.  Owen was so happy!

The kids loved the neighbor's dog, named Fly, who started coming around every evening.  

We went to just LOOK at the dogs at the pound in OK, since we hadn't had any luck finding a good dog in CA.  After many promises and begging from the boys, they finally talked me into taking this 3 month old border collie home with us.  (It's possible that this puppy is one of Fly's puppies - because Fly had puppies not too long ago.) 

Since we still had yet to visit my parents in TX, Fay and John kept the dog while we were in TX.  Alex brought the dog with him after his work in OK was done.  We named her Kiamichi - Kai (KI) for short.  Kai stayed at my parents for a day before we headed home.  (She traveled surprisingly well - no accidents).  

I still can't believe we have a dog now... but she is cute and active, just like 5 kids that I know! 

OKC Outing

We got to spend a few hours at the Oklahoma City Science Museum with friends from Oklahoma. It was so fun to see them again! 

Summer travels

We traveled to Oklahoma and Texas again this summer to visit family.  On the way to Oklahoma, we stopped in New Mexico for our monthly temple visit.  Alex and I went to this temple back in 2008, but this was the first time the kids visited the temple grounds.  

This picture below was from one of our hotel stays - a nicer hotel than most of the cheap motels.  Our reservation was for 2 double beds and a sofa bed.  When we got there and got up to the room, there was only a king sized bed.  We attempted to get the right room, but they didn't have any available that also had a sofa bed.  (Do they not understand the purpose of a reservation...?)  Anyway, we had to keep the room, but I felt bad about making all the boys sleep on a little sofa bed while Alex and I slept on the king sized bed.  So... all the boys got the nice cushy bed while Alex and I slept on the sofa bed.  Sigh...  At least they got a good night's rest.