Visiting our Cousins

This year for spring break we decided to visit our cousins and see some of the sights around them. We started off visiting my brother and his family in Virginia.  Road Trip!

The drive to Virginia was rainy. This was s bit disconcerting for Chad because he decided to bring his bike on our trip and he doesn't like to get it wet. The bikes made it through just fine though! I enjoyed the scenery. We got to drive through some beautiful areas. Right now everything is starting to bloom. There was one really pretty purple tree that dotted the highway aloNg our trip. I loved it!

It has been a couple of years since we have seen our cousins, but it didn't seem to matter. All the kids had a blast together. We started off going to a karate graduation for Chad and Landon. It was fun to watch them show off their newly learned moves. They both just started karate In February and today they were both graduating to the Yellow belt.

When we first arrived at the graduation we were given some raffle tickets for a drawing later. I folded them up and put them in my pocket. In the middle of the program they drew a raffle ticket and guess what . . . one of ours was a winner! I gave the raffle ticket to Kaden and he walked up to the front. He was funny to watch. He walked down the bleachers slowly with his head down. He wasn't sad, just a little embarrassed.

They spinned the wheel and it landed on a 30 day trail membership for karate. The Karate Master asked Kaden if he lived nearby and he said no. When the Karate Master found out Kaden lived out of state he spun the wheel again. Ironically, the spinner landed on the trail membership three more times. Finally, the Karate Master told Kaden to get a free sweatshirt! It was pretty funny.

The gradution was a little long, but the kids passed the time by playing with each other in the bleachers!

And playing with baby Annalese!

After the graduation, we celebrated by going out for frozen yogurt. The kids were beside themselves. They got to pick their own flavor and their own toppings and all before lunch!

After we got back the kids had fun playing with each other. Kaden, Trevor and Landon played Pokemon (both inside and outside). Devon, Austin and Keely played outside with sand and other toys and Tanner and Sydney played inside.

It rained all morning, but by the afternoon the sun had come out and things were drying out. This made Chad very antsy to go on a bike ride. He grabbed Trevor and they went on a fun bike ride around town. This area is pretty hilly, but my guys are troopers and they made it back up some pretty steep hills without even stopping for a break!

Once Chad and Trevor got back we all piled into the car and drove to one of our cousin's favorite parks, the castle park (as they call it). It is a lot like a park we live by at home. The kids all loved it. They had fun running after each other playing tag or hide and go seek.

We were only able to play for a little while because the rain was at our doorstep again. So, when the clouds got really dark we got back in the car and went to Salerno's for dinner. It is a popular restaurant with the locals. They serve sandwiches, soup, salad and pizza. All the kids shared a couple of pizzas. Pizza is always a hit!

A young man from our home ward is going to school at SVU (where my brother works). We decided to stop in and surprise him. The plan was for the boys to go up to his dorm room and jump on him, but he wasn't in his room. His door was open and Chad saw that his room was messy, so he called the boys in and told them that if they ever kept their room like that they would be get busted and he wouldn't pay for their education! Soon after that they found our friend down the hall. He was pretty surprised when he saw Devon walking down the hall! We invited him over to Chad's house for ice cream. We had a nice visit with him. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture with him.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. They don't have church until 1pm, so we all slept in a little and then the kids spent the morning playing games, writing letters and painting with each other.

Church was nice. I was a little worried that Devon and Austin would have a bad time going to primary, but they both went with their cousins to class, so it turned out well. After church we had a nice dinner together. It happened to be fast Sunday, so everyone was ready to eat! Michelle was so nice to prepare so many nice meals while we were there.

On this trip we also got to meet our new niece/cousin, Annalese. She is a beautiful baby and is really mild mannered. We enjoyed holding her and getting to know her a little bit. When I first saw her I got a little teary eyed. Seeing her made me think about having a girl, it somehow seemed more real to me. I also enjoyed watching Chad with her and our other little nieces. He is going to be great with our little girl!  Tanner also enjoyed holding Annalese - he's going to be a great big brother.

I enjoyed watching my brother teaching his new daughter how to say "O", it's a family tradition! She's a natural.

We enjoyed seeing Chad and Michelle and their kids. It was a really short visit, but I'm glad we were able to go. We don't get to see our cousins often enough, so it was fun to be together again. The kids all had a blast together and Chad and I enjoyed catching up with Chad and Michelle. Hopefully it won't be a long time until we get together again!