Happy Birthday America!

I love the 4th of July and the do it up pretty big in Provo. We went up to see Carlos' sister, Gaby, and her new baby Amelie. The kids loved the parade and going to Stadium of Fire. Too bad they weren't a few years older to enjoy seeing Hannah Montana. Although if you ask Nicholas what he liked the best he will tell you it was playing with my sister Melissa's dog at the park.

Eliza liked the fireworks, they were just a little too loud for her. What she didn't like was the four F-16 fighter jets that flew over us and literally shook the stadium.

The next day we got to hang out with the MacFarlane clan for a little bit. Crazy how kids change so much in just a few months.

Eliza was so excited to hold her new baby cousin.

This was the morning of the blessing.

Beautiful baby Amelie.

We got to see Gaby and Luis' new house they are going to move into in just a few weeks.

Summer Fun

A few weeks ago we went to Show Low so Carlos' mom could see AZ is not just desert. The kids had a great time trying to fish at Fool's Hollow Lake.


The next day we went to Sedona and walked around Main St.

My sister, Melissa, wanted a pet for the summer and bought some tiny baby turtles. The kids have loved playing with them. Well, Eliza can't play with them anymore because she was holding one a little too tight in her hand. Yikes! Sorry Melissa!

Carlos, Nico, his mom, and I went to a D-backs game.

Hope you are all having fun this summer!

Maui

Nicholas and I went with my family last week to MAUI! Carlos felt like he couldn't leave his new business so soon, so he stayed home with Eliza and his mom. We missed them so much!
Here are a few of the highlights:
The view from our room:

At church,

Outside the Aloha mixed plate restaurant- the best pulled pork ever!

Scoops ice cream- all the island favorites: macadamia nut Carmel, coconut, pineapple just to name a few!

On the way to Hana we stopped to hike to this waterfall.

Sunset from our room.

Nicholas holding a macaw.

This is one of the few BLACK sand beaches

One day we drove up to Haleakala to see the volcanic crater and an amazing view of the island. Then we drove down to about 6,000 feet and they dropped us of to bike the rest of the way down. I thought the bike ride would be on a separate bike trail, but we were going to be on the ROAD with CARS where there was a VERY small bike lane and sometimes none at all! I was very nervous seeing how the last time I really rode a bike I was probably about 10 years old. I made it through the very steep part of the mountain that was all swichbacks and after about 40 minutes decided I was not having fun at all. Just then the van that dropped us off at the top came by and I waved them down and let them know I would rather have a ride back in the van. Call me a wimp but I couldn't do it! This is Danny and Stephanie at the top of the mountain.

Nico loved the playground right there at the hotel- very convenient!

Our last night there we had a great BBQ and even roasted some pineapple- I highly recommend it!

Our last day we swam, shopped and ate at Bubba Gump's.

Being in Hawaii was amazing, but some of my favorite times were just hanging out with the fam. One night we had a whip cream pie contest. The winner to find the candy in the plate of whip cream first got to pie their partner in the face. It was hilarious. Then the girls designed the boys hair with whip cream. Eventually it just turned into a huge whip cream fight. This video is from our family dance. All you need is an ipod with some dance songs, and ihome, and a light switch for the club effect. During one rock song Nicholas was even body surfing. Thanks Mom and Dad for the great trip!

Suprise!

Carlos' sister, Gaby, surprised Carlos' mom and came down to visit Memorial weekend. Arlene had no idea Gaby was coming and she was in complete shock for about half and hour. Gaby came down with her husband, Luis, and son, Erick. The only bad thing was that we only were able to spend a few hours together before Nicholas and I left for Hawaii with my family. It was great to see them though!

Arlene with 3 out of 4 grand kids.

Everyone together!

Gaby and Arlene

Wedding!

Last Friday Brodie was married to Lindsay Freeman, his high school sweatheart, in the Mesa Temple. We are so excited for them and so happy to add Lindsay to our family.

Bienvenida Arlene! A few days before the wedding Carlos' mom arrived from Venezuela! We are so happy she is finally here and have been loving the great company, help, and wonderful cooking! The kids have had so much fun getting better acquainted with their abuela.

Me and the kids at the temple

Sisters picture- now there are 5 of us!

Brodie and Lindsay with their favorite niece and nephew.

This is the "am I still smiling" or "are we done with pictures yet?!" picture.

Congratulation Melissa and Brian!

It was so fun to walk around BYU, except for the fact that is was freezing! The kids loved visiting the Bean Museum that had every kind of stuffed animal you could think of. It was like a miniature zoo but without all the walking and heat, and the animals were dead. Oddly enough we kept finding ourselves saying. "Look! Just like at Grandpa's house."

Besides seeing his best friend Johnny and hanging out with family, Nicholas LOVED playing with Roslynn, Melissa's dog. He had been holding on to this one stick he found weeks ago and telling me everyday before we came that he wanted to take that stick to Utah to play fetch with Roslynn.

Here is everybody after the graduation. That night at dinner I commented how it was 4 years ago that Melissa told us they were moving to Utah because she wanted to finish her degree. They planned for Brian to graduate at the same time with his MBA. She told me also she hoped to be pregnant by the time she graduated. Fast forward four years and they made it! Two degrees, a great job, and a baby on the way. Congratulations guys- we love you!

Friends Forever!

Last weekend we went to Utah to my sister and brother-in-law's graduations from BYU. (GO COUGARS!!!) We wanted to come up early to make sure we could spend time with the Macfarlane's! Nico was so excited all week to see his best friend Johnny.

We hung out with Anna and the kids for a while at her cute house in Lehi, then thought it would be fun to go to Thanksgiving Point and go the the farm there. It was cold outside, but we thought with our light coats we would be ok. It started to snow a little on our way there, then by time time we arrived it looked like a BLIZZARD! It was so cold outside we didn't even want to get out of the car! We decided it would be better to do something inside. Luis (Gaby's husband) is a general manager at Carl's Jr and we went there the kids could play and Luis treated us to a great lunch. Thanks again Luis!

The kids loved the play area and were sad to say goodbye so soon.

This one below is just after Johnny planted a big fat one on Eliza, hence the big smile from her.

We love you guys! Come and visit soon!