I went home...sort of.

This week I was lucky enough to jump on a plane and go home to see everyone we left behind in Idaho and Utah. John stayed home with the kids for 5 full day's. He did a great job, almost too good, the kids are ready to boot me on my first full day back. I was curious to see which place would feel more like home to me, Utah where John and I live for 7 years together or Iowa, where I left my sweet husband and kids. As soon as I landed in Salt Lake I couldn't wipe the huge smile off my face, I just kept thinking "I'm home, I'm home." I had such an incredible time visiting all of my family on both sides. I forgot what it was like to be with all my sightly or more then slightly weird brothers and sister, I forgot that there was a whole family of people as totally weird and crazy as I am and it felt so nice to just let go and be myself. I had so much fun visiting with all of my family on John's side too, they are so easy to be around and fun and welcoming. It was sad to leave, we won't go home again until this summer and it seems like a long time. I got on the plane and came home. As soon as I saw my van pulling into the airport with my husband and children in it I couldn't wipe the huge smile off my face. As we drove through our neighborhood on the way home I kept thinking to myself, "I'm home, I'm home."

New people to meet.

I got to meet some new additions when I was home that I have been dying to meet. Weldon and Julie's daughter Jade.

My sister Alyssum's daughter Nia.

of course Eli and Isaac. I also got to meet Abby, Craig and Kim's new baby, unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of her but she is beautiful.

Meet the Smith's

Emily and her two sweet twin boys Eli and Isaac.

I got such a sweet baby fix while I was there...now I don't need to have one of my own, at least not any time soon.

This is Emily's family now...I know, what a cute family but if you had just been there and seen the amount of work that those six little blond boys create this picture would terrify you the way it does me.

Meet the Rowland's

My sweet Ma and Pa.
My beautiful sister-in-laws (and I do not exclude any of my sister-in-law's from the beautiful comment on both sides of the family, you are all beautiful!) Doni, my brother Tyler's wife and Ari, my brother Andy's wife.


My beautiful sisters Cassie, Emily and Alyssum.

My idiot brothers Tyler and Andy. This is my attempt at getting a good picture with a couple of goof balls (Attempt one)

(attempt two)

(attempt three) my mouth is open because I'm telling them both to shut up and smile for the camera.

My brother Jared and his wife Lindsay.

This is Lindsay keeping up on thier crazy diet.

This is Jared cheating at their crazy diet and getting caught on camera, that's serious evidence Jar.

Meet the Straley's

This is I'm guessing about half of John's immediate family...try to keep up.

Brian, Justin and Luke, John's brother and his two boys.
Melody and Heather. John's sister and niece.

Michelle and Chris. John's niece and her husband.

Matt, John's nephew, Kim (Craig's wife and their daughter Taylee)

Craig and Kasen. John's nephew and his son.

Curtis and Rachel their daughter.

Shauna and Curtis, John's sister and her husband.

Jared, Alisha and Tyson. John's brother and his wife, they have two kids.

John's sister Julie and her son Jordan.

Cam and Lindsay (if they look ridiculously happy together its because they are.) John's nephew and his wife.

Amy and Kira. John's brother's wife and one of their children.

McKenna didn't have school today so I sent her down stairs to clean the family room, after a few hours this is what it looks like. You have to look closely to see that this is a fort for a princess.

And here is my princess. It never ceases to amaze me how well my children play with their toys when it is time to put them away. Sometimes I send them down to clean in hopes that they will just go play for a while and stay off the TV.

I just thought I would take a picture of my feet because they are unusually cute. I don't know why, I'm just blessed. I admit my toe nails need to be painted though.

We should call this picture "Ugly in the snow!" but if I waited until I was beautiful to take a picture we all know you may never see my face again...so...here I am!

We got about a 1 1/2 feet of snow last night so we took the kids outside to play while John and I took turns shoveling our mile long drive way. The kids had a lot of fun in the snow while John and I argued about when to buy a snow blower. John says now I say next year...well see who wins...I'm guessing me.

I'ts a boy!... and a boy!

Emily finally had her twins on Monday. I haven't seen them yet but I'm sure they look just like all their brothers who look just like their daddy. Emily has some of the most beautiful boys you will ever see. I used all my artistic skill to draw a picture of what they look like because whenever possible I like to put a picture with my posts. Also I wanted everyone to know how well I draw. I think she named them Eli and Isaac, I love both of those names and helped pick out one of them. The babies were 3 1/2 weeks early and weighed just under 6 pounds and just over 6 pounds and get to go home from the hospital with their mommy, what a blessing. Almost equally as exciting I get to fly back to Idaho and see them!

Play time.

My kids are having so much fun with all their new toys...ok, so maybe it looks like Toys R Us threw up in my family room but it's a small price to pay for hours of entertained children.

Katie, Katie, Katie.

I'm just going to admit that I am not a dog lover. I want to love Katie but it's coming slow and so is the potty training. I guess it's only been a couple of weeks but cleaning up after a puppy has made it seem like longer. John and I are doing our best but we have never had a dog of our own and I feel like we just had our first child all over again and I am not doing anything right; however, I have found encouragement that someday she won't be a chore but a blessing. I went to my neighbors house for a play date and while I was there we talked about the dog their family just lost and how much they loved it. It was truly touching the tender way that she talked about their dog. Tonight we went and saw "Bolt", it was really cute and again emphasized to me that dogs can be lovable. So I am going to try to forget about the way she smells, the things she licks and the cleanliness of my carpet and give her a chance...and if it doesn't work out there is always Craig's list.