I took a quick trip down to Las Vegas this week to see my family!  Because of various conflicts, Kevin, Savannah, Sarah, and Megan stayed in Springville and did their own thing (more on that later).  Mariah, Cheyenne, Calianne, Bethany, Benjamin, and I had a great trip!

You see, my little sister, Diane, just had a baby!  She is also moving in three weeks all the way to Mississippi while her husband, Jason, gets his PhD.  They might be gone for four years.  So, I needed to go see her.  Her baby is absolutely adorable.  We all loved holding him!

This is my sister, Diane.  Isn't she pretty?

Ezra Dean Owen . . . surrounded by pink frills!  *giggle*

Pink frills explained!  Bethany loved holding him, too!

While we were there, my sister, Amy, and her family came and visited with us, too!  In fact, Cali, Chey, and Beth slept at Amy's house both nights so they could be with their much-loved cousins.  They had so much fun!  Grandma even provided Chey and Cali with a birthday party complete with cake and presents.  It was great fun.

Grandma made them these adorable messenger bags for school!

On Thursday, after visiting together for most of the day at my mom and dad's house, Diane and Jason had a family gathering to bless their new baby.  So, after pizza at Amy's, we went over to the church and got to be there for that special event!  It was really neat (and there were even brownies afterwards!)

My apologies to the people I cut out of this picture, but it was the best one I got of Ezra, Diane, Jason, and big brother, Liam!

Me, Diane, Amy, and Ezra.

So, that night, Diane had to get her little ones to bed, so Amy and I took our kids over to the pool at the Fiesta to swim!  My mom and dad got me a room there since Diane and Jason are moved out of their house and Diane will stay with mom until she can fly out to be with J at Ol' Miss.  We had fun swimming.  I had fun staying in a hotel with just Mariah and Ben!  Amy had seven children to put to bed, and I only had two!! I am giggling again, but I probably shouldn't.  It was awesome she gave all that together time for our kids and she was such a great sport about it!

Friday morning, Mom made us a great breakfast and we visited and held the baby some more.  Jason left soon after to make the three day drive to Mississippi.  That is a long drive.  The rest of us (Amy's family and mine) left around lunch time.  It was a great trip and I'm so glad that I went and so glad that I got to see Diane and Ezra.  I'm so glad I got to see everybody that I did!  What a loving family we have!

Grandpa and Grandma and all the cousins who were there!

Meanwhile, back at the farm . . . Savannah, Sarah, and Megan said that it was way too quiet with us all gone!  They were very happy to see us come back!  It even lasted for like six hours!  They cleaned the house while we were gone and reported with amazement that after they cleaned it, it stayed clean!  Miracles of miracles.

Savannah worked, Megan practiced violin, and Sarah played tennis.  Sarah had her first tennis match while we were gone.  She is playing doubles with Allyson this year.  They played second JV doubles at this match and won 8 to 2.  Pretty sweet! 

Sarah and Megan also had a par-tay while we were gone.  They invited some girlfriends over, watched a movie and played some games.  Their dad and I are so proud of them!

All in all, it was a pretty fun week.  We are happy to be together again, though.