Joe finished his last day of his 3rd yr of Dental School on July 1st. On Saturday July 2nd Joe and I sat and cuddled on the couch and I thought about how my parents were about to head up to our family cabin. I hadn't been there for about 2 yrs and I was feeling pretty homesick. That's when i realized that I was homesick for the first time in the 3 yrs we've lived in Iowa, and it just so happened that Joe had about 2 weeks off of school. Why not? So at about noon on Saturday we decided to drive to UT and we left 3 hours later. Its was crazy and sporadic, but this was our last chance to go before Joe graduates next summer. We arrived after a L O N G drive and met up with my parents, brother, nephew, and aunt and uncle at the cabin. Most of my family still didn't know we were in UT. 
This is our family cabin. She's old, small, and falling to pieces, but I have so many memories here. There is just something peaceful and exciting at the same time about being up here. We had a great time for the day and a half we spent there. We left so that we could take the boys to see fireworks for the 4th of July. Sorry, no pics, but the boys loved it! Next we headed to Price and spent a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Whitehead and a few of the cousins. My boys fell in love with their cousin Kitani and they still ask where "Pitani" is. We then drove up to Logan for the weekend where the rest of the Whitehead clan was. It never ceases to amaze me how Joe's family goes above and beyond to make us at home when we visit. It was so fun to talk, eat, play games, and we even took the opportunity to get some family pics taken in our reunion shirts (even though the reunion wasn't til the end of the month). We loved spending time with everyone, but i wish we could have had a little more time together. 
On Monday we were back in Salt Lake for a Petersen FHE with my siblings, 3 aunts, one uncle, one cousin, and grandparents. Here is a pic of The Six Pack. Mason & Jaden are the oldest twins wearing black. Austin & Carter are the middle set in white, and then mine in the grey. Between the oldest and youngest there is only one year that separates them. 
The FHE was a hit. My parents set up a giant water slide that the kids (and kids at heart) all enjoyed. 
There was also a kiddie pool that was eventually filled with warm water and ALL the cousins got in together! We had volleyball for the adults and lots of food and great company. 
On Monday we were back in Salt Lake for a Petersen FHE with my siblings, 3 aunts, one uncle, one cousin, and grandparents. Here is a pic of The Six Pack. Mason & Jaden are the oldest twins wearing black. Austin & Carter are the middle set in white, and then mine in the grey. Between the oldest and youngest there is only one year that separates them. The FHE was a hit. My parents set up a giant water slide that the kids (and kids at heart) all enjoyed. There was also a kiddie pool that was eventually filled with warm water and ALL the cousins got in together! We had volleyball for the adults and lots of food and great company. The whole trip was so great for us. It was the first time that my kids were really old enough to run off and play with all their cousins-and there were a LOT of cousins between the Whiteheads and Petersens. I was really able to sit back, put my feet up, and watch my boys have the time of their lives getting reacquainted with family. I loved it. I really wish that we'd have had more time to spend with them all. Looking back at these pictures makes it almost ok that we missed BOTH family reunions. Joe's side had a Harry Potter themed reunion-complete with costumes! I mean, come on! that's right up my alley and we missed it. My side of the family had a Petersen Family Reunion at the cabin with tons of my extended family. there was a zip line, 50 ft slip and slide, softball game, skeet shooting competition, line dancing, zumba class, horseshoes, charades with my dad which i haven't done since i was about 12, tons of food, cousins i haven't seen in years-the list goes on and on. sigh. at least i got to see them all beforehand. and it really was great seeing everyone. We only have one year left in Iowa and we can move back west. We've really loved our time here, but i'm getting really ready to be close enough that we never have to miss any reunions again. One year goes by in a blink. Most days I'm really afraid to leave here, but today I'm ready.
Turns out it really was them. and mud. and baseball. As I mentioned before, there are 2 things my kids love: mayhem and baseball.
