Here, There and Everywhere

12 days, 28 hours in the car, 4 states, 19 cousins, 2 teeth and many priceless memories later... we are back to West Jordan and reality. Our little family took a fun trip to Seattle with many stops along the way. Hunter did great in the car! I am so proud of him. He spent most of the trip looking at books, sleeping, and watching Elmo's World (La, la, la, la. La, la, la, la. Elmo's World.....AAAHH). Craig and I will be having nightmares for a long time about Elmo, Dorothy and Mr.Noodle, but at least it kept our little guy entertained. Here are some pictures of our fun trip.

First Stop: Oakley, ID

Craig's parents both have roots to Oakley, Idaho. After a visit to good old Oakley, his sister, Stacie, and her family fell in love with it and decided to move there from Seattle. Every year Oakley throws quite the party to celebrate the 24th of July, and every year Stacie and other relatives we have there (too many to list all of them) graciously open their homes, yards, campers and everything else to the many who come to participate in all the festivities. Thank you so much Stacie for having us and entertaining us year after year. Oakley is such a blast. This year we took Hunter to his first Rodeo where he got very excited about all the animals and where he got to "Oh wow!" at his first fireworks. We also went to a parade, jet skied on the reservoir, had an Arrested Development marathon, and just enjoyed the company of family we don't get to see near enough.

Fun at the reservoir. Dave cliff diving, Steven and Bird jet skiing, catching crawdads, Hunter boating, Craig exploring. Fun, fun and more fun.

More Oakley fun: Basketball tournament, cousin time, Auntie Shelley, Thomas and Hens, and D.J. fulfilling his football team duties at the parade.

Oakley was a blast, but it was time to move on to our next destination...Barnard Family Reunion 2008!

Second Stop: Pasco, WA

The Barnard family is made up of 7 kids who all live in 7 different cities. They are spread out from Seattle to Philadelphia with Mom and Dad in St. George. So when you have that many people spread out that far it is a rarity when everyone is all together at the same time. The last time the Barnard clan was all gathered together was in Salt Lake City in 2004 for our wedding. So we have all been anxiously waiting for our grand reunion. Craig's sister Stephanie lives in Pasco and was so wonderful to open her home to this crazy brood. The Swanberg's have the ultimate party house with a pool, hot tub, dirt bikes, a huge yard, a rockwall, ping-pong, bedrooms for each family and even llamas! Good times were to be had here, and they were. We had lots of activities to keep us entertained. Bob and Lue Ann did a great family history workshop for everyone to help us all know more about our ancestors. I know most people cringe when they hear the word family history, but it was actually very interesting and fun to hear stories and piece together the past. We also had a family softball game, ping-pong tournament, llama rides, talent show, volleyball game, and not to mention hours of catching up and laughing. Craig, I'm sure everyone is missing your gay dude on weed.

We began each day in true family reunion form with a brief flag pole devotional to kick off breakfast. Thomas is a cow, which was our mascot. I believe the reason Emily said the cow was the mascot was because the american cow gave us milk and we should be glad of that. Well, I'm a huge fan of ice cream, so all hail the american cow! Anyone still confused about the cow, don't worry, just move on.

Too many pictures, basically we made a lot of really great memories.


Third stop: Seattle

In Seattle we kept the party going. First was a trip to the locks and the zoo with Michael. Hunter loved the fish at the locks. He does a great fish impression. At the zoo Hunter was pretty excited about the big gorilla lying next to the glass, until it moved. That sent my baby squealing and trying to climb me like a tree. He regained his composure quickly, but would not take his eyes off of that gorilla. We enjoyed seeing all the animals and making their sounds. At the end of the day Hunter got a stuffed gorilla to remember his zoo experience. He is a much bigger fan of this ape than the one behind the glass, he hugged it all the way home.




One day Craig and I took Hunter to his first trip to the beach. He loved the "giant sandbox" and got an even bigger thrill out of the waves as they rolled in to shore. We let him put his little feet in the water and he would squeal and kick every time a wave came in. Soooo cute!

We got to go to Seafair which was a whole new experience to me having grown up in the desert. Paree took Hunter, so that we could have a grown-up day. I loved the break from being mommy and I was thrilled that Hunter got to spend the day with his auntie and cousins. I learned that Seafair is a giant party out on the lake. Every type of boat imaginable gathers to watch the hydroplane races, take in the Blue Angels air show, and just soak up the sun an party. Until this experience I had never seen a hydroplane, a jet hover or grown men dressed like pirates not on halloween. We had so much fun. Michael was too good to us this trip.




On our way out of town we had to stop and see our pals Casey and Maggie and now Axel. Hunter and Axel hit it off as much as two babies can. We miss our buddies so much. It's not fair that so many people we love live so far away.

So now we are home and in need of another vacation to recover from our vacation. Oh, and don't let me forget our exciting news that happened while we were gone....Hunter learned to walk!



To all our friends and family that are so far away, we love you tons and wish we could see you more. Thanks for letting us invade your homes and know you are always welcomed in ours!