Extended Vay-cay

The day after Christmas we finished packing up our home and cleaned like crazy. Amy came and took the kids to her house which was great. I'm sure it would have taken much longer with them "helping." Plus, they got to play with their cousins. We picked them up at dinner time and headed to Portland for a 2 week stay with our extended family. It was so nice to have a big chuck of time with everyone. The boys were loving that they kept getting more Christmas presents when we would see someone new. 

We kept very busy. One night we went bowling with nearly the whole fam. It was super fun and James beat us all (however, he did have the advantage of bumpers.)

Another place we went was Out of This World Pizza. It is a restaurant with a huge play area. Lots of slides, bouncy houses, little cars, and cool paintings all over. The kids loved it. Here's some pictures from that day:

Pretty near every time we had to leave somewhere, the kids would cry. 

They were loving this vacation.

My birthday was in the middle of our trip, so Jon and I had a night out. Earlier in the week we had gone for massages which was blissful. Our night out included, dinner at P. F. Changs, a movie (War Horse) which was great, convincing Jon that a trip to Winco would be a good idea (I was so right), and lots of hand holding. It was nice again for the kids to spend some good time with their cousins. 

We took the boys for a ride on the Wes train (a local commuter train). They had been asking for a couple days and it was something I really wanted to do with them. While we were waiting to go Matthew said to me "Thank you for taking us to here." He's so dang cute!

Our oldest nephew got baptized during this trip, too. That morning, Jon and I got to go to the temple with my grandpa, Jon's grandma, and Bethany. I really wanted to go before heading east and it was nice to be with so many people I love. The baptism was in the afternoon and Jon made a pineapple boat for our gathering afterward. I thought it turned out really well.

Yum!

Sweet Avery and Mackayla 

These are the next ones in line for baptism. I'm sure it will be their turn sooner than I expect.

All the kids gathered around to look at a map during Steve's talk on baptism.

It was so nice to be there the share James' special day. We are so proud of him. Sean made a book mark for him showing how he went under the water and came back out. He sure loves his cousin and I'm grateful for the good example James is setting.

Jon left for Pennsylvania and I took the boys back to Bremerton to see our friends again before leaving. We had such a good time. We had a lunch and ate good food and giggled and just had fun. I should have taken more pictures, but here's what I have:

Oh I love these two cuties!!

I hadn't spent time with Amy's family yet, so we went to stay with her for several days. Dad and my grandparents came up too so we took advantage of the pool in their hotel. The kids had so much fun.

My camera kept fogging up by the hot tub, but Matthew's still cute.

Seriously!!

We love our family and friends so so much and it was hard to leave them, but it's only temporary. I'll do my best to keep you all updated so you don't forget how awesome we all are.