In Provo

on our way up to provo, we stopped in blanding and visited with auntie reba. :) it was so nice to talk and laugh and remember the good ol' days. we stayed for quite a while and ended up getting into provo around midnight that night, but it was well worth it. it's always nice to have a place to stay. uncle nathan had prepared our room and made us feel extra comfy. thank you! 

the next day we made our rounds and visited our old friends. we stopped by the groves and the kids ran around playing with each other like no time had passed between them. and i loved catching up with my dear friend, amanda. afterwards, we had dinner with auntie mars at cafe rio. yum! good food and good conversation is just what i needed. after we were done, we all went over to tina's place. isaiah had been begging me to see his "cousin" kaden. the kids all had a blast. 

and tina, mars, and i had a great laugh fest. 

the next morning we went out to our old backyard, to our old cherry tree, and picked a bowl full of cherries for breakfast.

 i was incredibly thrilled to see that there were plenty of cherries left and the neighborhood kids hadn't picked it clean. i also checked on my raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, and grape plants i had planted two years earlier....still growing, but unfortunately the fruit wasn't yet ripe. dang it. 

after breakfast, we met up with my parents who had come into town the night before. we had a quick lunch and had to rush back "home" to get dressed for my brother, darrell's, wedding. 

we made the ceremony in time. it was nice, held in one of the group rooms in the provo library...which i had never really explored before...other than where they keep all the books. :) it was so nice to just dress up and be there. no prepping for things, or running around for me...i remember how tiring my own wedding had been! and it was especially lovely to be reunited with my homegirls. :)

afterwards, our family went out to "sushi ya," an all-you-can-eat sushi place. i was in heaven! of course, i steered away from the raw stuff and only gorged myself on california rolls, but it was very satisfying. when dinner was over, the kids and i went back to the provo house and dressed down to get ready for the reception. we picked up uncle nathan and headed out. we couldn't stay very long since it was later in the evening. so after my kids had about 15 cupcakes and the wedding party was still standing in their receiving line, i figured it was time to go....especially since there would be no wedding cake served. just kidding, but it was getting pretty late, and my kids were getting restless. ;) that night our friends who had just come back from china came over to visit. makayah and their little boy momo were so happy to see each other, it was the sweetest thing! 

we had a great visit with them and our usual bedtime went right out the window. 

candi and mars came by later that night after the kids had all been put to bed, and we stayed up until 3am talking and laughing....i had to leave the next morning, so we got in all the time we could. it was an exhausting but super fun trip. and of course, it was so nice to come back home to sam. and strangely, as much fun as we had back in arizona and utah, madison really started feeling like HOME. 

Back in AZ

thankfully, our plane ride was smooth and without incident. we arrived in abq around 9 or 10am. my parents met us at the airport and the kids were so excited and thrilled to see them! they took us out for breakfast...we were starving! and then we had a nice drive to window rock. my dad even stopped and treated us out to dairy queen once we got into gallup. i was craving a cherry dipped cone. mmmmm....

there is always so many different things to do at umpa and nana's house. here are some of their favorite things to do:

they love helping nana in the garden. we got to pick some fresh spinach and strawberries for salads. too bad it wasn't raspberry season.

fishing with umpa! isaiah loved it. makayah wasn't so sure about the whole thing. after about an hour. she was done. ;) we didn't catch anything, but we still came home to a mouth-watering salmon meal....courtesy of sam's king salmon catch last year in alaska. thanks babe. it was super yummy. 

on our last few days, we went swimming. we love swimming in umpa's pool, especially with the uncles and aunties. 

after several days of feasting on mutton ribs, frybread, salmon, fresh spinach and strawberries, we had to make our way up to provo. we packed, and luckily before we left, i snuck in a much needed visit with one of my best friends/cousin, candi. :) we had so much fun with umpa and nana. it was a great visit. a little too short and rushed, but then again, it always is. 

month of june

the weather has been quite nice lately. the gentle rains came in and cooled things off considerably, while the kids danced and enjoyed the beautiful rainbow. 

we've had a couple primary activities this month. one, a pizza party for our individual primary class because they are just so dang cool, and super good kids. the second activity was a general primary activity and water fight. we didn't have time to make it to the water fight part, but we did catch the watermelon and playground festivities. it looks like isaiah had fun. :)

so, we were actually supposed to head straight over to the airport after the primary activity and fly out to abq, HOWEVER, our flight was delayed and that caused a bunch of connection complications. so, we ended up all attending a farewell for our friends from the ward who are moving this month. i'm glad we go to stay. the food was delicious and it was great fun to hang out with them. 

the pinata!

makayah's turn! 

after the party, we went home, relaxed a bit, and i was actually very grateful for the extra evening i got to spend with sam. the next morning we drove out to milwaukee to catch our rescheduled flight at 3am...we were supposed to fly out of madison. oh well. we barely made our flight at 6am. and we were off. 

exploring madison

we live in a beautiful part of the country! when sam comes home for the weekend, we like to go exploring. this past weekend we just happened to go exploring near the lake just outside of campus. 

Sam and Green Bay...

for the summer, we were extremely lucky to get a paid internship for the summer....in green bay. it wasn't the most ideal, BUT, if it wasn't in madison, green bay is the second best place. green bay is about 2 hours away, and that is where sam's great aunts all live (on the oneida rez). so, the great thing about an internship in green bay...no paying double rent. the downside...being without sam for the weekdays. but it really isn't too bad. it's only for ten weeks, june and july. the kids and i have scheduled baseball and ballet, plus lots of other fun activities to pass the time before our "fun fridays" come around...and daddy is home! for the weekend at least. but really, i can't complain.

here is our daddy sam....right after his reckless long boarding escapade down a steep hill. he had turned to look at me, like a child knowing he's about to engage in mischief, right before heading down the hill. as our eyes met...i prayed - hard! and luckily, he only climbed back up the dangerous hill with some scrapes and bruises. so here he is, showing off his battle wounds...my fearless indian man. ;)

for the summer, he is staying with our cousin, sheila and great aunt rita. they've been kind enough to open their doors to him. :) so while there, he gets to help out with gardening, cleaning, heavy lifting, and things of that sort.

he's having lots of fun reconnecting with the oneida family and making new friends to ball with. i guess they all get together with their families and have bbq's while the men play ball and the women watch and cluck on the sidelines, and the kids all play together. ;) it sounds like great fun.