tadaa! it's us...

this had to be the most enjoyable and fastest road trip back west, ever. with 4 young children, that is quite the feat. the older two rode with grandpa strater, and sam and i had the babies. sam and i listened to audio books of the abraham lincoln/vampire hunter variety, while the kids listened to grandpa's stories. both were quite entertaining, i'm sure.

these kids were road warriors.

       

                       

mimzy: wind-blown in wyoming.

little mo, always sleeping...

after a day and a half on the road, we had finally entered the valley. no one knew we were coming.

with the exception of a few spilled beans in canada, our secret was safe and we were dying to see the look of surprise on everyone's faces.

when we pulled up to the provo house, we figured the best way to make our presence known was to put the baby on the doorstep and ring the bell.

nathan answered, we heard silence for a good minute. then:

"you've got to be kidding me!!"

we jumped out from behind the wall to see nathan's face full of shock. myha saw us, screamed and ran to give us hugs. noble stood there frozen.

apparently, not 5 seconds before we arrived, myha had said, "i wish sam and monika were here."

we sat visiting, waiting for redmond, beth, and shakeh to come. when the door opened, jaws dropped, and shakeh came rushing into the house bulldozing over beth to give us all hugs. it was so much fun being reunited. it's time like these that make me want to move back to utah.

we had a couple of days before the wedding to just have fun.

sam went fishing with his brothers.

the "no" patrol. these two 18 month olds were quite the mischievous pair.

little cubbie checking out the newest cousin.

hanging out with uncle ammon.

uncle sam with the girlies.

it's so good to be back.