M.I.A. for far too long!

I have to apologize to all you out there who live and die by my blog. I have been vacationing and have not had the time (or taken the time) to blog. We got home from Utah last Saturday (after two weeks) and have had a busy week, what with Gabe's b-day and b-day party. Busy, busy, busy. But....a lot of fun (When I say fun, I mean stressful...... but fun now that it's over).

Our trip was great. Rob drove down with the kids and I on June 20th and stayed for my friend Katie's wedding on the 24th, which was also my b-day. She looked....well, for lack of a FAR BETTER word.....FABULOUS which gave me a new resolve to never eat again and work out like crazy (as if I could stop eating.....believe me, I have tried.....anorexia doesn't work for me. The longest I have made it is 5 hours. I don't think that going to make a significant dent in my pant size). Anyway..........moving on......... Rob flew home one the 25th and was scheduled to rejoin us on July 3rd. Finding himself with A LOT of time off of work.....Rob ended up flying back on the 1st instead and we were able to enjoy all that much more of him. We then drove back on the 5th and made it in less than 12 hours with three kids. I know.......how? Don't ask me. I'm not complaining though. Well....enough of my blabbering.....look at some pictures.

We did get to visit a few friends while we were in Utah. Not nearly enough though. True to form....the kids got sick as soon as we arrived and it took a good week to get over it. Oh well, next time all y'all we missed(to name a few....Celeste, Lacy and Karli).

Cael, Isaac and their cousin Meggie. Cael and Meggie have so much fun together and get into so much trouble together. If only they could get past the hitting, pinching, slapping and crying.

Cooling down in the summer heat. Utah is FAR warmer than Spokane in the summer. We had a bit of an adjustment when we first got there. But alas, we survived.

Rob and I just chillen'. Don't we look like were chillen'? Sometimes we forget the meaning of the word. This picture was taken just after we practiced our ice skating lifts....questions? You will have to contact me later. Anyway..........

Who's son is this? If it is not obvious to you then you must not know Rob well? Here is an example.

Rob, when we were dating and driving past some random mountain range that obviously I didn't know enough about even though I had lived near it my whole life:

"Melanie, what is the elevation of that mountain range?"

Melanie, wondering why the heck it mattered to him: "Rob, I have no idea."

Rob: "I will have to find out."

TWO WEEKS LATER, driving past the same mountain range

Rob: "The elevation is __________." (I cant remember now because I don't retain information that doesn't have ANY meaning in my every day life).

Melanie: WOW!

Now you may have a better understanding of Gabe and why he is fascinated with maps. Moving on..........

The Hogle Zoo. We love the zoo. We did have a bit of a rough start......but only those who were there are privileged to that information and sworn never to reveal it. Let's just say that Rob and I were under a lot of stress at the moment......and.......were are still together. The end.

Independence day fun!!!

Rob and the kids at the balloon launch. No, I was not there. I was running the 5K. The kids got to see the balloons they love and I, not only got in a short workout on a holiday but I got a really cool t-shirt as well. Wa hoo...........hello, family circus.

Misha, Isaac and Meggie playing BUDDHA-MAN with Grandma Harding. What fun.

Tug-o-war fun. Thanks Stacy and Chad for all the thought you put into your get togethers. There is never a dull moment. (I am barely visible; you can see my back, white shirt and black pants and Rob is in th green shirt and backwards hat)

At last........the finale.......fireworks............ and a long drive home in the morning.

Thanks for hanging in there. I know it was a LOOOOOONG post but we did a lot of fun stuff. It was so good to see my family and spend a lot of time with them. I miss you and love you. Do you want to all migrate to Spokane? It's nice here.