We headed up to Utah the day after Max finished Kindergarten (Good grief, where did the year go?!) and quickly after headed down to one of our favorite spots, Newport, CA. We had so much fun!! We stayed at the beautiful Costa Mesa Marriott Villas right between Newport and Laguna. We definitely had some cooler weather but the kids loved playing in the hot tub and I loved that we didn't have hot enough sun to hit the beach. 3 kids solo at the beach? No bueno. But we did venture down to see the surfers in the morning and the dolphins playing along with them. A few trip highlights would definitely be cupcakes at Fashion Square, playing tetherball with Max and London (Max had William in STITCHES when he'd duck from the tetherball...Will was laughing so hard he kept getting hiccups!), getting to hang out with Uncle Liz and Aunt Joshy, seeing so many California cousins (you take the 55 to the 43 and hit PCH to whar?), and of course, getting indulged by Gramma, who not only paid for the trip but also got us a rockin' mini-van to drive to Cali in. The kids were overwhelmed with the coolness of it all, as you can imagine. Hard climbing into my mom's BMW when we got back. Wait, not so much. . . ANYWAYS, thank you Gramma, for the wonderful trip and memories! It definitely was an Endless Summer trip of awesomeness!!

When we got back we had a lot of Mathie time which the kids loved! We always love seeing Maggie and are so impressed with how awesome she's doing! Max and London wish they could play at her house all day every day, that's for sure! She was so nice to share her fort, toys, and backyard with us:) Uncle Whit and Aunt Lindsey were so sweet to entertain the kids constantly and make us all laugh uncontrollably...again, sorry about the poopy diaper Uncle Whit. That was meant for Aunt Lindsey;) Of all the things we did, Max tells everyone that will listen about how cool it was going out on the boat and how he got to go tubing. He and London sure were brave to jump into that ice cold water...yikes Utah lake water is a heck of a lot colder than I remember! But we loved spending time out at Grammie and Papa Mark's, the kids are always given endless attention and they love every minute of it. Thanks, Aunt Arica and Uncle Taylor, for running around like crazy with them and putting up with all of London's naughty name calling! And thanks, Grammie and Papa Mark, for hosting us, especially when London was sick and I was in breakdown mode. You guys were so helpful, thanks for having us!

And a little Lewis time....Gramma always makes sure there is plenty to do around her house so we are never bored! The kids loved the newly renovated basement, complete with an awesome playroom and 2 of the fattest cats you've ever seen! We also got to visit some great parks and spend lots of time outdoors planting flowers and playing with cousins. A great memory for me is hitting Woodland park with Jeff and Brooke's family and letting the kids go crazy while we cook dinner over a bonfire. Besides not hitting Costco and Whole Foods, I didn't get a chance to go up to Brigham to see my Grandpa's grave. Guess I'll have to get up there next time. We were just too busy, isn't that how it always goes? But we loved every second and of course were so sad to go. The last outing we had with my mom was to Temple Square and the new City Creek mall (uh-mazing!). I was so grateful to be able to fit that in because I want my kids to know how important the temple is in our lives and how even though we are far from family, this gospel is what makes us together forever. Somehow that makes getting on the plane a little bit easier.

I know I always say I don't want to "end up back in Utah" but it's hard imagining my life without all of these great people for my kids to grow up around. We definitely are homesick for our Utah family but are really glad to be back with Morgan. Right now we're where we're supposed to be:)