Sunny Valley tennis trip.....

I feel so spoiled lately with fun, cheap vacations. 

So, upon returning from Cancun, I left the next morning at 3 a.m. for Sun Valley. My cute friends and I hopped in the car and arrived just in time for our Nike tennis clinic weekend. 

We had an absolute ball. What a fun group of gals? 

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing women.

These ladies are the best of the best.

This picture was taken right after my gal-pals spent 2 hours, at the pool, taking out my braids.

Crazy huh? I have a full-on Afro. It was pretty sweet!

We took this picture the last day of camp. 

The pros gave us a Nike T-shirt as our

parting gift.

Julie....Gwyn...Michelle...Amber...Nancy...Tiff

This is the greatest group of women ever!!!

We had a total blast. Our friend Nancy was kind enough to let us crash at her cabin. Like I said, "cheap trip". 

Our tennis gals have been together for the past 4 years and I hope we'll be together for many years to come......

Trip to the Yucatan Penninsula......

As much as I love going on summer vacations and exploring our beautiful world, there's nothing better than the good ole' USA. The smells, the food, the cleanliness factor and the fact that I felt a constant urge to know where my kids were at all times.

 Anyway, we had an amazing trip to Mexico and we bonded with our Pia cousins. 

Our grandma Vovo paid for the entire vacation. 50 cousins and relatives, airfare and all-inclusive resort, FREE!!! 

I don't know how we'll ever repay her, but she is a saint and one of the most generous ladies I've ever met. 

Here are a few pictures from our adventure!

This picture was taken at the Salt Lake airport. We were waiting to check our luggage and Hazel was tuckered out. Or acting like a little princess!

The bus ride to the Flamenco Occidental was about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Luckily the A.C. was on full blast. By this time, Hazel was well into a deep slumber...Yeah!

Upon arrival, we were so excited to see the ocean, we couldn't wait and jumped right in....

The family picture at Playa Del Carmen

My girls had so much fun at the beach. They spent hours in the sand.....

Handsome Spence at Xcaret

Daddy and Hazel

Joseph struttin' his stuff.....

Marie and I went swimming with the dolphins at Xcaret. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip. My cousin has the pictures, but I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Pretty girl....... want a braid? The people of Playa were so intrigued by these blond hair, blue eyed girls. We got stopped wherever we went. Locals would literally walk up to them and pet their faces. It was CRAZY!!

Another highlight for me was eating fresh Mango and tacos on the streets of playa....... it was sooooooo good!

Cute cousins

Marie and her daddy

My girls and I.....

I love this picture of my oldest and youngest together, goofing around!

My girls.....

Marie and her cousin Daisy. These two girls were inseparable. 

We love our California cousins.

Can't wait to see them again......

Spence and his cousin Frank. Also inseparable.....

My kids got along surprisingly well. It was a great vacation!

My little princess loves posing for the camera.

 I love this picture..... look at her pinkie!

The kids loved painting pottery. It was gorgeous and a fun little break from the beach

Vovo really knows how to treat us right. She also gave us gift bags full of shirts and jewelry. 

She's amazing!

Vovo with a few of her great-grandchildren

More cousins with Vovo..... aren't they beautiful?

C.C. my girls and I....

I decided to live in the moment and get my hair braided as well. 

It hurt so darn bad and I'm positive I'll never do it again, but I'm glad I had that experience!

Danny, Ju-ju and baby LeRoy in Playa

I love this little pumpkin. He is the happiest baby ever!

Joseph, Vinny and Max in Playa. They went fishing in the ocean and had a great time!

Shopping in Playa with my kiddos

What can I say? She's a natural

We are happy and sad to leave Mexico. We had such a great time. This was our kids first plain ride and I'm glad we got to experience it as a family. 

Trip to Eden....

The kids and I decided to take a quick trip to Eden while Joe is hiking Mt. Rainier. 

We had such a fun week hiking, eating yummy, yummy food, playing games, swimming, running and lounging.......

I asked Hazel to pose for the camera and this is what she came up with. 

Hazel loved opening the gate for visitors.

Tiff and I were walking one afternoon and spotted the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen. 

I honestly haven't seen ANYTHING this beautiful. 

Spence was the only boy, but I'm pretty sure he didn't notice

Marie just finished playing tennis before this picture. She was so hot and sweaty. 

Such a good sport.....

I love taking pictures of Hazel because she really gets in to character.

 It's pretty hilarious!

Can you believe these flowers?

 I think they are wedding worthy!

I felt like we were in a dream.......

Spence and Romney enjoying the pool.....

I'm thinking EDIBLE......

Hazel and the twinner's have become such good little buddies. 

They had so much fun together....

Thanks for a wonderful week Tiff. 

Can't wait to do it again soon......

Well, we're home for a couple of days and then off on our next adventure. 

Hope you're having a wonderful SUMMER VACATION!!!

Quick summer update.....

I thought I'd post a quick update of our uneventful summer thus far. Due to the crazy weather conditions, our summer hasn't quite started. Although, I think this week should be great. Yea! I thought I'd show you some funny pictures I've taken in the past week.

First, I thought this was so funny. I watched a lady drive right over the curb and high center herself. I'm sure every husband out there was shaking his head. 

I had to take a few pictures of the poor lady.

She's completely STUCK!

 Ouch.....

Hmmm....... Does anyone see a problem with this picture? 

She's such a little lady.......honestly!

Hanging out with the Mecham's on the one sunny day last week!

I found some funny pictures of my kids on my camera today. 

They love taking pictures of each other. 

Check it out!

Spence

Marie

Hazel

One great thing happened this week.......

We got to babysit our little Nephew LeRoy!!!!!

He is the cutest baby EVER!

Marie is going to be the BEST mom. She was so good with him. 

Just look how she's looking at him with so much love!

Cutest lil chubby cheeks!

Joseph wanted all of LeRoy's attention. 

Look at that face!

Well, we are off on a few adventures for the next few weeks. I'll be back to post in the middle of July. Hopefully I'll have some really fun pictures!

Chow for now......