Summer Days in Utah

All of us Rock kids and families managed to get together in Utah at the same time. The Provo condo was a mad-house but it was fun to see everyone! Jen and Rusty surprised us by showing up late one night. There were a few happy tears shed, as we all keep anticipating the Fidlers' eventual move to West Virginia. Some days it's in a couple months and other times, like now, we are hopeful for one more year with them close.

With this many kids, there is bound to be a few crying, fighting children. Emily worked her teacher-magic and fluttered her way into the kitchen (literally), and like the pied-piper, her call to the little ones had them trailing quietly behind her and seated on the floor for hand games. She's so awesome like that.

We went to a park one day and enjoyed Utah's summer weather, a welcome break from Vegas!

Aunt Jen had as much fun as anyone! 

I once thought this was a cute picture of both my kids getting love and attention. . . until Pawnee made a joke about Zombies existing, and I could never look at it the same again. Zombie-Feast!

 

Sweet, sleeping Ella

 

Love when I get moments like this with Aiyana.

Wanting a kid-friendly place for all of us to celebrate a belated birthday for Pat, we bombarded Chik-Fil-A, unfortunately on the same day that they were giving away free food for costumes. Craziness!

If you look at the end of the table, little Brax bawled during "Happy Birthday" as all he could see was this ginormous cake out of his reach, and no one serving it!

We tried, at my mom's request, to get a picture of everyone. Epic FAIL. As Rusty pointed out, Aiyana's face in this photo says how we were all feeling.

 

Back at the condo on another day, the kids enjoyed some fun in the backyard, and some very melting fudge bars!

The main reason we all gathered at this time in Utah was for my Grandma Smedley's birthday party she throws every year for all the grand kids. I think it is such a sweet legacy for her to remember every single person in her hugely growing family. She is the most thoughtful Grandma who always reminds us of the importance of the gospel and keeping family together. I don't have any pictures, unfortunately. As nutty as it gets trying to say hello to all of our cousins, aunts and uncles and the gazillion children of all ages running around, I do appreciate the five-ten minutes I get here and there to catch up with some of them!

We squeezed in a visit with Jake and Carrie, Lila and Calvin one day. I really just need to make more trips to Utah so I can see them longer (So if you're reading this, be prepared. I want more time with you guys!) We're excited that they're building their home in Lehi, eventually with plenty of space for us to crash for a long visit!