Kristina's Crew Comes to Utah!

Shortly after Christmas, Emma went back to Rhode Island and my sister arrived with her entourage in tow—four of her kids, including Manuel, Isaiah, and Jesus who bring a bit of mayhem with them wherever they go. And right behind her came one of her friends, who brought her teenage triplets, increasing the number of people in our home by 200%.    Within an hour, my house had transformed from a peaceful post-holiday sanctuary into something resembling a combination of a Dave & Buster's and a convenience store after a tornado. Actually it wasn't that bad.  It really was loud...and messy...and a bit chaotic, but I have a good bond with all of Kristina's kids and genuinely enjoy having them around!   

LESSONS IN FOOD: 
  I raised five kids and know a lot about feeding them, however I can never seem to get it quite right with the boys.   I had stocked up on a bunch of their favorite foods before arriving, but I keep learning the hard way with them that there's a lot more to it than just picking the right kind of food for them.   Last time they were here I learned that chicken nuggets cooked in the air fryer were inedible and that soggy microwaved ones were the only way to go.  This time I learned  that different brands of mac & cheese can vary in taste and apparently I picked the wrong one.  I haven't eaten mac & cheese in approximately 40 years or so,  so I was unaware of these nuances, but apparently it's a thing.    Also, much to their happiness, I did manage to remember to get some of their favorite snack in the whole universe before they arrived--Blue Heat Takis.  However they thought I was quite mean for portioning them out into serving sizes for them, as they wanted the whole bag at once!  Ah, well!  I'll try again next time!  

 

THE SNOW THAT WASN'T 
Kristina and her family (and their friends) live in California and came to Utah very excited to see some snow.   Unfortunately for her and the record breaking low snowpack in the mountains this year, snow has been hard to come by this winter.  It's been unusually warm (something I appreciate) and very dry with only a couple little skiffs of snow here and there.  The boys were very disappointed by this and so Kristina went driving to higher altitudes in search of some.  She found the jackpot up at Suncrest and the boys happily played in it!   Sadly the triplets had never been to Utah or seen snow and it was all melted by the time they arrived.  They were quite disappointed.  

A TRIP TO LUMINARIA
One of my favorite parts about people coming to visit us, is that it gets us out of the house to see more of what Utah has to offer.  We went to Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point a  couple years ago and loved it, so Kristina and company coming to town was a perfect excuse to go again!  It was as amazing as we'd remembered and I think everyone enjoyed it!  

A TRIP TO ANTELOPE ISLAND

Another trek we took was to Antelope Island.   To my knowledge, I'd never been there before and I was completely enchanted by this wild and beautiful oasis so close to civilization.   

We saw this great horned owl...

and these beauties, an American kestrel and a starling...

Heather drove and my Mom also  came along for the adventure...

as did Adam and Isaiah.   Kristina and her crew came up an hour or two after us.  

We also saw bison (real ones) and this incredible bird, which was probably our highlight of the whole trip:  

It's a burrowing owl and they're pretty hard to spot, unless you know where to look.  My sister, Heather, has gotten quite into bird watching and bird photography lately and she had the inside scoop.  I totally want to go back  in the spring and see if we can find him again.  

VISITING OUR WARD
My niece, Madeline, and the triplets hope to come to BYU in the next year or two, so they all came to our YSA ward on Sunday to see what it was like.  They weren't very excited that we meet at 9am and had a half-hour drive to get there, but they made it with smiles on their faces.   I actually have no idea what they thought, but it was an excellent fast and testimony meeting and we were happy to share our wonderful ward with them for a week! 

Kristina was happy to see Alicia there too!  Alicia was Kristina's friend first and her husband is now serving as Glen's 1st counselor, so we are all friends now!   

HAPPY DENALI
Denali is 100% a diva.   She loves being the center of attention and there's nothing like more people being in the house to give it to her.  Happily, the boys adore her and she gets lots and lots of attention when they're around.  I daresay she goes into a bit of withdrawal when they leave...

 A FEW MORE RANDOM PICS
I'll finish off with a few more random pics from their stay here.  There's also a few more in this post about the Buttercup Neighborhood game.  

Madeline, Kristina, and me...

Jesus has grown up A LOT over the last several months, which meant a bit more sass, a lot more stubbornness, and a whole lot of silliness. He just got baptized this past weekend and I was super sad that I couldn't be there to join him.  

My sister, Kristina, is probably the only true extrovert of the family and she seriously has the best friends!    I've become friends with a few of her friends since moving here and we went to this gathering one night knowing no one but Kristina's crew, but came out with more friends!  We've even hung out with one of the couples again since then.  

I love when K's family comes to town and somehow even miss the noise and the mess when they leave.  

Happy February to you!  

The Marina

A long string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, the Outer Banks are well known for  their sand dunes and hundreds of miles of gorgeous beaches.  The scenery is literally breathtaking and it's easy to see why it's such a popular tourist destination.   It was our first trip there and despite the mishaps and bad weather along the way, I daresay that it's become my favorite of all the Atlantic beaches we've ever been to. Not that I have anything against the Delaware and Virginia beaches that we usually go to, but with the clearer water, lighter beach traffic, and awesome city names like Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, and Nags Head we are sold! 
 
Our last day in North Carolina, our friends took us to Oregon Inlet Marina, where we'd hoped to see the fishing boats arriving with their day's catch.  Unfortunately, the water had been too rough that day for the boats to go out, so we didn't actually get to see much in the way of fish.  We did, however, get to enjoy a walk on the marina, looking at the boats, laughing at some of their names, and enjoying the sights while we spent the last couple of hours with our friends before parting ways.

There may not have been much fishing going on, but we did get to see a couple of boats coming and going from the marina.  Glen mentioned that they were very similar to the fishing boats that he and Spencer went out on during their trip to Florida in June. 

Age proved to be no obstacle to Ellie and Gianna's friendship during the trip.  They may be two years apart in age, but they laughed and played and had a great time together. 

Albeit with a healthy dose of silliness... 


The marina wasn't sandy like the beaches, but Adam did find this very cool shell covered with barnacles.  We guessed that it was either an oyster or clam and opted to  throw it back in the water before leaving instead of adding it to their collection. 

We took advantage of having our friends there and had them take a family picture for us.  Unfortunately in order to get the best view of the boats in the background meant that we were staring right into the sun and true to form my eyes were closed in every single picture. 

Here is one final group shot with everyone (except the Moms and one of their kids who randomly decided not join the picture)....

After leaving the marina, we made one more stop at a beach before officially parting ways.  It was in Pea Island State Park and it was a much less crowded, more rustic beach than the others we'd been to.  It was stunningly beautiful and we loved the dunes and  empty expanses of sand.  

There were far more seashells there than the other beaches and each one of the kids ended up with a big handful to take home with them. 

It was too pretty there not to pose for pictures, so Cami had me take her a new Facebook profile pic. 

After that we said, "Goodbye," then stopped for a little treat at Sweet Frog (our first time)....

YUM!

and then drove up to Williamsburg for Part 2 of our vacation.