This year has been quite a slow year for trips, compared to last year. As our summer drew near the end, Sam & I decided to attempt some kind of trip with the family. We initially wanted to visit our friends, who just moved to VA, but they still were in temp. housing and trying to get as settled as possible. So, instead we chose good old California. The kids have been bugging us on when they would get to see my brother and his family, so we thought it would be a great get away. We were very pleasantly surprised. Alex did amazing on the drive. Even in a very squashed van and almost an entire day wasted in Gallup, NM. fixing bad tires, all the kids did Fantastic. We took 3 days going so we could stop at the Grand Canyon on the way. Only Sam had seen it before. It was incredible! I was really sad to see how terrified Brianna was though. We found that she has a very legitimate fear of heights. She wanted nothing to do with looking out at how large the canyon was. While we were in AZ., we also visited the Grand Canyon Deer Farm. We actually went there before going to see the Grand Canyon because Nate really wanted to see some deer. After we went to the Grand Canyon, we realized that we did not need to visit a deer farm to see them. We were able to see lots of pretty incredible deer and elk inside the park. The kids were thrilled!

Next, it was on to CA. Everyone was so excited to see Uncle Eric, Aunt Niki, Tim, Jacob, and Savannah. We went to the Santa Ana Zoo, Disneyland, the beach, the LA Zoo, to Poppy & Mimi's several times, and just had a blast. Nate and Brianna went with the boy to Jujitsu a few times and Nate went with Tim to a swimming safety course for Boy Scouts. There was not a dull moment and the trip of 2 1/2 weeks went by way too--- fast! We cannot wait to see everyone again hopefully soon!

Sweet Savannah

"Drivin' " at the Santa Ana Zoo