Back to Reality

 It took me so long to get all our Hawaii pictures blogged that I've gotten behind posting about life since then.  So this is pretty much our May in a nutshell!

We stayed in the Valley the weekend before we left and the weekend after. Then we came home for a week, then found out my Grandma passed away so we headed back to the Valley.  I don't really have any pictures from the funeral but it was so good to see my extended family!  It had been way too long!  This was about the only picture I got of all our time in the Valley, at Mike's Grandma's house.

Grant takes after me and is a VERY snuggly sleeper.  Poor Mike!

 The boys were entranced looking at something outside one day.  My mom and I went to see what they were looking at and counted ten deer in the backyard!  We love the country life!

Next up was Mike's birthday.  As usual, all the pictures are from my iPod because the camera was lost or dead.

I planned a surprise party for him and it turned out pretty well!  We had so much fun with everyone who came!  We had a BBQ and then went to the church and played dodgeball.

Here are our awesome babysitters!

Some of the girls.

All the kids love Savannah and Robbie!

Ask Mike about the present these two crazies gave him.  Those who were there will note the sweater wrapped around his legs :)

Velda had to leave early so we opened his presents later with her.  Thanks to everyone who participated!  I think it was a smashing success!

 Next came Mother's Day.  Brian and Mel came and we had a little get-together and celebrated my birthday.  AND, we got to Skype with Elder Goodman!

The Firemen updated Dallin on what he's missed.

Pretty girls!

 On my birthday, we had breakfast at Trail Rider's.  I told Mike I must be getting old because I can't remember any past birthday's events if we don't have pictures of them.  And even the ones we do have pictures of, I can't remember what year it is.  So I made him take a pic of Grant and I so if I don't remember anything else, I'll remember this!  Here's 27! (WHAT??  See, OLD!)

The next weekend, we had some friends in town for a wedding so we decided to have another get-together.  We're so lucky to have such good and fun friends!  

I just realized after seeing this picture that Remi was the only girl in the bunch.  It'll only make her tougher! :) We finally got the light going under the trampoline.  We were kinda disappointed in it...it looks a lot cooler on the box.  The boys had a BLAST though and little Braxten ran up to me when I was taking these pictures and exclaimed, "This is the funnest thing EVER!"  That right there justified the trampoline purchase in my mind!

Group picture...which has convinced me that our camera is pretty much WORTHLESS and I NEED to learn how to use Mike's!  I found a tutorial online while I was waiting for the pictures to load and I can now successfully turn it on, zoom and turn the flash on and off.  Baby steps...

 

Oh my...serious stuff.

The evening of the reception was super windy but I managed to take a few pictures.  These are our friends Seth and Erin.  We're SO glad they came to stay!  We had so much fun with them!  Come back and see us soon!!

This picture was taken when they weren't expecting it but I feel like it captures them pretty well so I decided to post it anyway!  They're so fun!

 Other than that, we've just been hanging out and trying to make the days of nice weather worthwhile.

Have I mentioned how awesome these two are??

Or how lucky I am??

Grant loves to be a helper and Remi loves to eat.  Win, win!

 We finally started to tackle the backyard project...it was fun at first. For like a second.  And I'm not even expected to help!  First on the list though was moving this woodpile off of the backyard.  Several plans fell through and it ended up being just Mike and I (later joined by Tanner and Ryan). After about an hour, we accepted defeat as we'd only successfully moved one load (about 1/20th of the pile!)

The next day, we didn't expect much to happen and I was starting to doubt that it would ever get done when my dad came over, motivated and ready to work!

Mike called Brother Grapp to ask if we could borrow his truck and being the good guy he is, he brought his truck, his trailer AND his Memorial Day Weekend company! 

Working hard!  Loading up.

 What I thought would take days ended up taking less than a few hours! I really thought I might cry!

Unloading.  It's impossible to show the magnitude of this woodpile! (It's our Ward's btw...Ours is pretty sad-looking at the moment!)

Late that night, we started the Arrested Development 4th Season Marathon.  Grant was just happy to get to have Uncle Ry around!  I have to say I was too!  It's been what seems like YEARS since I've gotten to just sit down and talk and hang-out with Ry!  I love him like my own! (Brother that is.  I'm not THAT old!)

I told Jen we get all our cool stuff from them...it's true!  This toy is still a favorite of Grant's and Remi will play with it for as long as we'll let her.  Seriously, if you look around our house, anything cool you see, we probably got it from the Nicoll's!

I let Grant choose what he wanted to watch the other day and this is what he chose. It's a Led Zeppelin concert video. 

Should I be concerned?

 My mom and I have been going to yard sales most weekends and I found a Spiderman stuffed animal.  Poor Grant!  I always show him the toys I get him right when I get home, but then he's not allowed to play with them until after they've been washed.  He brought his stool in and was waiting by the washer when I went to check on him.

And now the yard!  What a project!  Gregg Erhart's been so good to us as we've been trying to get this house in order and has let us use his backhoe.  Grant and Chase think he's the coolest because he owns a backhoe!  (Mike and I think he's the coolest for other reasons such as running water, water pressure, a shower AND sink that work, UNfrozen water lines, etc.  Not to mention his promptness when we call with emergencies and patience when I change my mind about fixtures fifteen times!)   Basically, he's a good guy and we HIGHLY recommend him!

Grant loves to work hard and help out...especially if he's got a mask or superhero getup on...Maybe it makes the job easier to feel a little super?  

Maybe I should convince Mike to try it!

And this is what we ladies usually do...sit outside and watch-in our pajamas.  I will say that hanging out in your pajamas all day has not proven to make me motivated or make jobs easier...I need to work on that one!

 

 Grant and I usually make a green smoothie every morning.  He has it down now and knows what he likes in his smoothies.  Our favorite is a recipe from Jen:

1C grapes
1C spinach
1 lime wedge
a pinch of Peach Mango Crystal Light

Seriously, Grant would eat nothing but that if I'd let him!

I took this last picture not long after we got home from Hawaii.  It's not beach front or shaded by palm trees but I think it's pretty near perfect and I decided that although Hawaii felt like paradise, it's GOOD to be HOME!! 

It's Over...

That was what Mike kept saying all day the day we left Hawaii.

In true Wiltbank fashion, Mike still wanted to pack the day with activities, clear up until we were to board the plane.  Jen and Nate had been telling us about a hike that we had stopped at earlier but hadn't had the time to do.  Mike wanted to try to squeeze it in before heading to the airport.

Knowing how out of shape I am, how little time there was to do the hike, how impatient Mike can be and the fact that I'd already seen at least some of the scenery, I suggested Mike have Jen do the hike with him. (She's in shape so she can randomly decide to sprint a hike like that!) 

I wanted Mike to post the pictures because he knew what everything was and what was cool about it and what not, but he hasn't had time so here's my version:

See, I wouldn't have been running!

 They said they pretty much ran the whole way and stopped here and there to take pictures.  I can only imagine how people were looking at them who were taking a good few hours to do the hike and take it all in, but it's totally Mike!

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Jen said parts of Jurrasic Park were filmed here...it looks like it anyway.

 Is that a person doing Yoga?  Maybe they're taking a picture?

They met up with us at the top (yes, they RAN uphill...If I were doing the hike, I think I would've preferred to be dropped off at the top! :))

Our last family pic in Hawaii :(

Saying goodbye.  Grant loves "Aunt Jenny"!  It was sad to see him give her the last hug!

They're buddies!

We can't say "thank-you" enough to the Nicolls!  Seriously, how do you thank someone for something like this? (Seriously, I'm looking for ideas!  Let me know!)

Not only did they give us a free place to stay, fed us, drove us around everywhere (despite having only one car and four kids in school, who also are involved with several extracurricular activities), acted as tour guides, etc, they also babysat and were SO good and welcoming to our little family!  Not to mention, they just plain put up with us which I know can be rough at times! Really, thanks guys!  Our first family vacation was an epic success and wouldn't have been at all without Jen, Nate, Shelbi, Harlee, Trexton and Dax!

So the subject of this post has dual meaning because I'm FINALLY done posting about Hawaii!  What an experience!