Why does it have to end?????

We have now lived in Florida for almost 9 years (well Matt has been here 11 years and so have I if you are counting my mission) and you would think it would get easier to leave Utah after our vacation and say goodbye but it gets HARDER! Saturday night my brother Scott and his family were heading back to St. George. We had to drive back to Las Vegas and so we told him we would stop by on Sunday...then the perfect plan arose....Luke and Emma could go to St. George with them on Saturday night and we would take 2 of their kids with us on Sunday after we went to my sister's ward! Perfect, Matt and I didn't have to listen to the two fighters in the car the whole way to St. George! :) I loved riding with Scott's kids Kaelie and Devin to St. George. They were so cute with each other and just peacefully played games in the back and played with Gavin the whole time. Gavin LOVED playing with Kaelie's hair and so most of the trip she had to lean over his seat so he could reach it. I asked Kaelie and Devin what the key is to getting along so I could train Emma and Luke and Devin said "just have fun games" :). We had a great time visiting, playing games and eating dinner with Scott's family and then we were on the road to Vegas to catch our 11:00 p.m. flight...yes we are insane and had the red eye flight! YIKES!

Here's Emma doing the last minute dressing up at Grandma's house

Luke and Gavin were playing mini golf on Grandma's front lawn.

This is the Annie costume that I wore when I was a little girl! :) Complete with the same wig I wore! :)

Scott's son Dallen hamming it up! :)

Goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa...Grandma didn't let us take photographs because of all the tears that were being shed.

Scott and Becky taking off with my kids!!!!! :)

I was so impressed with Danny and Devin cleaning up after dinner without any whining! :)

Thanks Gillespie clan for letting us hang with you!

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! We were so excited to make it to the annual 4th of July party at my aunt Lori's house. I missed the barbecue, the volleyball, the swimming, the gift exchange, and especially the homemade ice cream! Almost all of us were there (we missed you Kim and Morgan, Savannah and Maggie!)

You have to see my adorable newphews and their sychronized swimming routine :) I think the inner tubes add to the drama :)

Part 3 - The Idaho/Rose Family Tour

Tuesday morning we set out for our "Rose Tour". First we drove from Salt Lake to Blackfoot, Idaho. Matt's dad had to be out of town so we spent some time with his mom. After a great lunch we headed to Idaho Falls to see Matt's sister Cindy and her new twins! They were ADORABLE! Emma even gave up a Popsicle and watermelon so she could continue holding them. The cousins had so much fun playing together. Emma loved playing Polly Pockets and house with Jordyn and Luke loved jumping on the trampoline and going down their slide with Morgan and Reagan. AND it was so fun to meet 2 of Matt's cousins that I have never met before, Erica and Mara. Their kids were so cute and fun. And it is always fun to see Matt's Grandma Johnson, she is such a sweet lady and is always so upbeat and fun to be around. What a fun day!

Luke thought it was so cool to be in his dad's old room and he wanted to sleep in it. Pretty brave for him because the rest of us were downstairs and he slept all by himself upstairs (he even had the door closed which he usually hates!) The first night he ended up downstairs with us at about 3:00 a.m. but the next night he braved it out and slept in Matt's old room the whole night :)

Every time we got to Matt's parents house the kids look forward to some of the things they always do when we are there:

Luke loves to sit on Grandpa's saddle

I'm sure it will become a favorite of Gavin's too

Emma loves the dress ups!

Cindy and D.J.'s house:

Luke, Morgan and Reagan

Cindy and her cute baby Kamryn (yes Cindy doesn't look like she just gave birth to twins!!!! She is so tiny already!)

Matt has Porter and I have Kamryn


Emma couldn't get enough!

I thought this was the cutest picture the way Jordyn is holding onto Luke! :)

Polly Pocket heaven! :)

Tea party!

The kids all enjoyed the watermelon...gotta love watermelon on a summer day! Let's see if I can name everyone: Reagan, Cindy, Kaleb, Tanner (Mara's son), Erica with her 3 girls Brinley, Danley and Avery, Gavin at the top, Tia (Mara's little girl), Luke and then at the bottom is Morgan, Emma, and Jordyn.

Grandma Johnson!!!!

This picture has the same except we added Mara (she's next to Grandma Johnson)

The next day we headed to Rupert to be with Matt's sister Lori and her family. But before we went we had to go and say hi to Matt's dad's horse Baxter. Usually we ride him when we come to visit but Matt's dad wasn't in town and so this time we just had to swing by and tell him we missed him and loved him :) This last year in Kindergarten Luke's class was working on the pet unit. The teacher asked the kids to bring a picture of their pet if they had one. Luke brought a picture of Baxter and told the class that it was his horse and that his Grandpa was taking care of it for him :) Then we were off to Lori and Brad's house. We swam all day and ate a fun barbecue lunch that looked like it was put on by Martha Stewart herself! :) Then it was a treat because we got to go to the local theater and hear Lori sing in the pre-show before their play started. She has a gorgeous voice! Luke had fun with his cousin Todd and Emma had a blast with Kate. Gavin and Jack even did some bonding :)

Thursday we headed to Park Valley! It is always fun to go to the ranch where Matt's Grandparents, his uncle's family and his cousin's family all live. It is gorgeous out there and they always take time out of their VERY busy schedule for us so we can sit and visit. We had a fun barbecue and the kids got to play in the fun playhouse behind Brent and Janet's house and jump on the trampoline and they even got to ride Bob (the horse) and ride on the 4 wheeler with Grandpa Rose and Matt's cousin Amy. Ok so Luke is the only one that was brave enough to ride Bob. Right as we were about to put Gavin on the horse, the horse snorted or whatever horses do and Gavin FREAKED out! So there was no way we were getting him on the horse this trip. Emma is always leery of the horse and still hasn't tried riding....someday maybe. :)

One of my favorite things we do while in Park Valley is just pull up some chairs in the shade and sit in a circle and talk! I love it!

I don't think so dad!!!!!

After Park Valley we headed to Logan that evening to be with Matt's sister Julie and her family. Talk about a fun! And Matt's aunt Christie and her family stopped by so we could see them. We had a great time at Julie's house. They have the most beautiful home and they have done such fun things with it! As we were arriving they were just putting sand in this huge sandbox that Stanton had built! It was awesome with a canopy on top so the kids don't get too hot! Beside it was a cute, cute, playhouse that Stanton had put together. So between those two things and the trampoline the kids were well entertained. Matt was entertained by their huge 90 something inch t.v. screen downstairs!

The next morning we headed back to Salt Lake for my families 4th of July party. But then on Saturday the "Rose tour" continued...luckily Matt's dad got back from out of town and so we got to spend time with him before we left on Sunday. We went to Matt's aunt Nancy's house and spent the day there. It worked out so well because then Matt's other aunt Sheri came with her family and so we got to see them too! Nancy really knows how to entertain...the kids had a blast with their little putting golf course they have, their swing set, their basketball hoops, and then they set up a little blow up pool for the kids and they even covered it with a little canopy. The shade on the back deck was wonderful and so we got to sit and visit with everyone. What a fun day! And then Matt's parents spoiled the kids and took them to Target and let them pick out a toy. I warned Greg that Luke is just like his dad was when he was little when it took him an hour just to pick out a candy bar :) Actually Luke and Emma were fast at picking out their toys, it was Gavin that couldn't decide! We would hand him a toy and he would look it over and then put it back on the shelf! Finally he liked a little cell phone we handed him :) THANKS Grandma and Grandpa!!!

It was so fun to see all you Roses!!!!