Late July Family Get Togethers

Summer for us is a time of vacation and visiting, and we sure did a lot of it this past July.  We are so blessed to have that opportunity!

 On our way home from California, we stopped off in Las Vegas and then brought Bekah and Isaac up to American Fork to visit their Utah cousins and stay with their Christensen grandparents.  It was awesome have them along for a car ride.  Isaac especially made the time go by quickly for Lily and Amara by making up car games to play with the girls. 

I should mention here, that on our way out of California, we stopped by a joint called "In-N-Out Burger."  It is a much talked about burger franchise that all my California friends rave about.  Utah now has a few locations, but I'm told by my Californian friends that it's just not as good as the California ones.  So, we stopped at one in Murietta, California. 

 

Was the burger really that good?

 

Actually, yes.  It was.  I'd definitely go to that place again.  Now I guess we need to try a Utah location and see if it really falls below the California one.

So, when we got back to Utah, there were a few more family get-togethers in Utah Valley before we traveled back to our home in Ballard.  One get together was up Provo Canyon at the South Fork park.  We had a lot of fun up there playing with cousins.

 The weather was overcast and a storm did eventually weep upon our party, but it didn't stop anyone from having a good time.

 We played a version of tag called "Missionary Tag."  Steve got some good pictures of everyone running.

 Another occasion, we hung out at Grandma Christensen's house. 

 My nephew, Devon, also had a birthday to celebrate!  It was lego-themed and we had a hot dog BBQ at my dad's house.

He has his eyes on those lego figurines!

 

 My sister was very preggo, and hot, and tired, but she did an awesome job getting Devon's party all ready.

 Good thing we had our swimwear! 

 Happy Birthday Devon!

 Hang in there April!

 We sang to the birthday boy, he blew out his candles.

 And immediately after, he snatched a lego figurine from his cake.  Love it!

 When we were back at Steve's parent's house, the girls busied themselves by creating fairy homes and villages in the front yard with natural things they found.

 Oh yeah!  And since Amara's birthday was so near, Grandma Christensen threw a party for her.  Happy birthday to you, Amara!

And that's the rest of July for you.  I am now only 5 months behind in blogging.  But when you're having so much fun, time just seems to escape from me.  Do you think I can catch this blog up by the end of the year?  We shall see...