little laughs, little adventures: Family bonding time

The girls

It had been a long time since we had all been together in the same city so the cousins needed to get acquainted with one another; it was a blast to watch them together. It didn't take too long before the kids started following each other around. Khamie, Mitch and Valeria's daughter, is so adorable and hilarious. Khamie is a Mama's girl but I got a couple of hugs from her and some holding hands time too, which is a big deal so I'm good. Valeria and I got to do my mom's tradition of shopping at Kohls whenever we get together. We mostly just went shopping for our little ladies but we got to treat ourselves to some fun accessories. Unfortunately Madeline has already done quite a number on my sunglasses, that actually fit my face (found by Vale). Oh well that's what I get for letting her play with it. I'll have to find some sturdier ones. This get together was also Weston's first time meeting Khamie. So we were really excited that they finally got to meet.

Happiness!

Evidence that she held my hand ^_^

        I always seem to forget how epic it can be when you get the Dela Cruzes together. I love my brothers and I seriously wish we all lived in one compound: have Sunday dinners together, game nights, and who know what crazy ideas we come up with. But one thing you can definitely count on when we get together is some tennis bonding time. We only had a few days together, not nearly long enough, but we definitely made the most of it. We then got to make a fun trip up to good ol' Burley, Idaho. It's a small town that is home to Weston's wonderful parents. I have been truly blessed with incredible in-laws. And the little chilluns just adore them.
       Oliver had the time of his life tearing up Grandpa's garden. Weston and I were trying to be helpful by pulling out the weeds and of course the kids want to join in. Oliver just keeps digging and digging so we join in and then all of a sudden we hit something hard. We dig it out and it's a cinder block. This ultimately piques all our curiosity so the whole time we were there, without fail Oliver would get up and venture back out to the garden to try to solve the mystery of the cinder blocks. We all pitched in. Abby, Summer and Brent's daughter was there to help us. She's three and the cousins hit it off right of the bat. They all had the same goal of just digging and digging. Pretty soon the whole was deep enough that if the kids got in it they would disappear. It was quite an adventure for the kids. We never did solve the mystery. Grandpa did leave a couple of coins for Oliver to find. It was very sweet. We ate good food with Grandma's bountiful baskets that she gets and some awesome cookies that were DELICIOUS! There were so many fun things we did together like Stephen taking me along with him on his 5 mile, which I survived ( its the farthest I've run, ever!), going to see Stephen doing his umpiring over in Pocatello, camping the backyard, and rummaging through Weston's old keepsakes. It's amazing what you can find. So many wonderful memories with both families. Love. Them. Truly wish we were all closer.

Oh Weston, I love you!

But for now, since we are all in three different time zones, google plus, skype, or facetime will just have to do. Thank heavens for people who came up with these great modes of communication because it keeps me from getting too homesick. The kids can still see and talk with their grandparents and I get to talk to my brothers. It keeps us close even though we are far away. As cheesy as that sounds Weston and I keep family a very high priority. We love them, we need them, and like any relationship it takes work. Our family is important to us and I'm grateful that our Savior has made it possible for us to be together forever.

Oliver's epic superhero stance. He just stands like that naturally when he's got a superhero shirt on.

I forgot to mention the bunny, Bex. This is Stephen and Deneka's bunny the kids were absolutely over the moon when they saw it. Especially Madeline. She loves bunnies.