We really wanted to make it out to visit my brother, sister-in-law (Jamie and Judy) and cousins this year. We just love their family and my kids are desperate to have cousin time. But logistically and financially it was really hard. So, we came up with an idea of sending just the older three out (with a promise to the younger two that their day would come —assuming the older kids don’t ruin it for them by being terrible guests!!)

What a blast they had!!!

It started out great, dropping them off for their early morning flight. They were all pretty confident and a bit annoyed at all my little reminders. I guess I didn’t remind them enough because several hours later, Rob got a call that they had missed their connecting flight. Not due to the airline fault  – but because they left the gate to go get DRINKS and then never heard the announcements for boarding. Seriously. Argh. Luckily some nice ticket agent took pity on them and re-booked them (luckily there was another flight on the same day with seats) for no charge….

Anyhow, they arrived safely and were treated like Kings and a Queen!!! I know from staying with Jamie and Judy that they treat you like gold – seriously they have the host etiquette mastered and magnified!

Judy was kind enough to send us pictures throughout the long weekend and I was seriously jealous of everything they were doing – but more jealous of the bonding that was happening. So glad my kids had this opportunity! So appreciative of Jamie and Judy loving and embracing my children. Hope to return the favour soon!?!??

Here’s the shots she sent me.

First up: University touring – UVU and BYU. My kids loved the schools!!

^^^ My simply gorgeous niece tour guide!! How did she grow up so fast?!?!?

 

^^^Small world! They bumped into a missionary friend who served in our area when Gabe got baptized (and helped arrange his baptism!)

They went to the Provo Temple too:

That night they went to a high school football game (Judy didn’t go, so no pics, but she spent tons of time debriefing me on their day!)

The next day, they did some Walmart shopping which Zandra was dying to do!

Then got to see soccer star Ellen play! She scored (and apparently has scored 9 goals in 4 games – very impressive – maybe there is a soccer gene in the Davidson side?!?!)

^^^Hmmm… we really need a shot of superstar Ellen playing!!

Then they took them into SLC to see temple square!

^^^Abby wasn’t able to go with them:( And look how tall Tanner is  (and Drew is getting!!!) Even my cutie Ellen!!

Last time Zach was in temple square, he looked like this:

And his cousin Abby at that time looked like this:

(we went one other time to visit them when Zach was 6 but didn’t make it to temple square)

Glad to see Zach and Abby are still bonding:

As are the other cousins:

So glad they got to spend some time with our dear friends Roland and Chandra and their cutie Kade (who was just under 2 months when we met him). We love these guys!!!:

We were pretty excited for them to come home, but they told us unanimously that they wanted to stay… and that the trip was just too short (which, I agree, but we worked with what we had!)

I am so grateful to Jamie, Judy and their kids for showing them such an amazing time, sharing with them, giving so generously, loving so unconditionally (and sending me step by step pics – even though they didn’t include any pics of themselves!!! Too busy looking out for others!) When I married Rob and introduced my 3 step kids into our extended family, Jamie and Judy did not miss a beat. There was no awkward “your kids, vs his kids” or even any kind of adjustment! It was simply welcoming more into the fold with open arms and I just love them so much for that. I also love that my kids have these awesome cousins who they wish they could see all the time! Now on to planning next summer!

We picked them all up at the airport late last night – happy to see they made their connecting flight – and they were filled with stories and excitement! Nice to have them home.