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Vacation Time.. Utah or Bust

We've been missin' our family a bit lately. My dad was generous enough to buy us tickets to fly to Utah. We decided to make the most of our time out there due to the expensive flights and took 2 weeks to spend with our family.

We spend the first week with Papa Taft and Lori. Berkeley has been looking forward to seeing Papa Taft's Harleys for months. He was pretty stoked about them until they started; the loud sounds totally freaked him out.

Berkeley loved building a relationship with Papa Taft. It helped that Papa has all the cool gadgets like an iPhone and an iPad and a Man Cave.

This was by far the highlight of the trip for Christian, hanging out in my Dad's Man Cave.

Papa and Lori bought Berke this piano. Is this kid spoiled......YES!
(By the end of the two weeks Berke was asking for what his prize was everyday, not a good sign)
Grandparents+Grandchild= Difficulty for Parents

You know I devoured me some Cafe Rio!

While with my dad we also had a good time swimming at my Aunt JaNean's pool, but I have no pictures sadly.

We loved being with family cause it meant we finally had a babysitter for the boy. Christian and I got to have pedicure (THANKS LORI!) and attend a Salt Lake Real soccer game (THANKS DAD!) while Berke spend time with Papa and Lori. It was great to have some 1:1 time with Christian.
Berkeley grew close to his Papa and Lori (although he wasn't too fond of Lori in curlers).
We had so much fun with the Taft Family, thanks for everything!

Friends

We are blessed with some great friends in Utah. I miss seeing them on a regular basis, but it was fun to catch up with some of them while we were in Utah.

Laci, Lilli and Kim
Some of my good pals from our time in the University Village. These girls are funny and fun.

Some of my closest childhood pals,
Kara, Laci, Stefani, and Marci

My adorable college roommate, Natalie.

Christian and his hommies. Not sure why they struggle so much to take a decent picture, but hey I did the best I could.

One night I was able to get together with my childhood gang and all of our moms. All these ladies had a huge role in my childhood. I was lucky to grow up in such an incredible neighborhood with so many girls my age close by whose mother's all looked out for us.
It was so much fun to catch up and laugh like we used to.

From Left:
Back: Kara, Laci, Marci, Stef, and Alisha
Front: Carolyn, Karen, Cathy, Sue, and Marsha

It's Independence Day!

I love the 4th of July, it is on the top of the list as far as great days go.
I started the day off with a nice 10K with my friend Marci. Stef and Sue ran the 5K. I developed a bad cold the day before and slept about 3 hours tops the night before; I wasn't sure running in these conditions plus the huge altitude change would really work out. However Marci pushed me and basically told me to "suck it up" and I was able to finish the race. Marci and I got 5th and 6th place in our age group, not too shabby.

I ran so I could then partake of this for the rest of the day.
We had a big BBQ at my dad and Lori's house that day. Lot of my family from the Taft family came as well as three of Christian's sister and their families. It was great to be able to spend the day with 2 of my favorite things, family and food.

We got a 5 generation picture while there. My Great Gram Utella is doing so well! Good looking family if I do say so myself.

We had some fun running around and games at the park with all the cousins. We did races rolling down the hill, running, skipping, etc.

I love these women.
Lori is my Dad's better half, she is so generous and sweet all the time.
My Aunt Nean is always easy going and fun. She is my best shopping partner, we both love to find a good deal.
My Gram, is always caring and up for whatever. She has overcome so much this year thanks to her wonderful attitude and determination.

We filled up the kiddie pool. The cousins dominated at first and Berke observed them; when they left for the hot tub Berke made his move. He loved splashing Gram Taft and playing in the cold water.

Berkeley and his Great Grandpa Taft. Love this picture.

Can you believe this is only half of Christian's family? This is us with his 3 oldest sisters and their families. We are missing his parents, 2 younger brothers and his younger sister.
A pretty cute crew if you ask me.
(Isn't my Dad's backyard beautiful?)

The view from my Dad's house. I just miss these mountains; I am always amazed by their beauty when I go back to Utah.

Later that night we lit of fireworks, saw huge fireworks from the hot tub and just relaxed.

Our Monkey at the Zoo

We took a little trip to the Hogle Zoo with Papa Taft, Lori, Gram Taft, Nean and Gage.
Berke was more interested in climbing on stuff than the animals. He was terrified of the dinosaur figures they have at the zoo.

The best parts of the zoo for Berke were the carousel, the train and being able to run around like a monkey.

Here he is with his little cousin Gage. Gage was such a good little cousin always concerned where Berke was and what he was doing.

Fun on the train with Daddy, Aunt Nean and Gage.

Happy Valley and a Mini Horse

We drove up to Provo, Utah one day to spend some time with Two of Christian's sisters and their kids. When we pulled up, wouldn't you know what is walking down the street, but a mimi horse. Random?! I called the creature a pony at first but was quickly corrected that it was NOT a pony but a mimi horse (of course). You just never know what you'll find in Happy Valley.

We went on a little hike by the Provo Temple; many of the kids (mainly my own) was a little too tired for any time of walking. We made it a little ways but not too far. We had fun seeing all our nieces and nephews that are growing up so fast. Berke enjoyed spending time with his cousins.

Trax, Toys and a Drunk Guy

We took the Trax from Sandy to Downtown Salt Lake City. We thought Berke would enjoy the train, but he pretty much napped the whole way. I appreciated the T a lot more after riding the Trax, as the Trax was SOOOO slow, luckily we had the good company of Papa Taft and Lori.
We had a great time walking around Gateway, shopping, running through the fountains, eating and attending the Children's Museum.

The Children's Museum was adorable but very crowded. I saw quite a bit of free range parenting. Parents were sitting on the sidelines reading books while their kids just damaged the place.
Lori took Berkey shopping.

One of Berke's favorite things was the huge xylophone he got to play with his Papa Taft.

Warning: Cute picture below!

Berke LOVES his Papa Taft!

Oh yea, we encountered a drunk guy on the Trax ride home. He was one of those really loud drunks. Well Mr. Drunken Pants really took a liking to Berkeley and Berke thought he was pretty funny to. He gave us some good advice, "Just give him lots of love, don't tell him he is a piece of SH*#! like my dad does." Sounds good! I was proud of Berke for saying no when Mr. Drunken tried to offer him candy. Just say no to strangers (we didn't even teach him that yet)!

Sorrels Family Reunion 2011

Our second week of vacation was spend with my Mom and Dad, my two brothers and their families. It was the first ever Sorrels Family Reunion. My parents were awesome enough to rent a cabin in Island Park, ID for a week so we could enjoy a week in Yellowstone.

We spend quite a few days and nights at the clubhouse pool. They had a shallow kiddie pool which was wonderful for the little kids. Berkeley really became comfortable with the water and loved swimming.

Christian and I took a little drive around Henry's Lake which was absolutely breathtaking.

During our drive we encountered this random donkey. I thought it was a bit random.

I got to hang with my brothers and picked up on my Gangsta side with some tips from my littlest bro.

We enjoyed a fun talent show our first night which included singing, rapping, dancing, drumming, and a special guest appearance by Lady Gaga.

These four goons were seriously engaged in their jacks tournament; it got pretty serious some nights. I thought Christian could win the game since he was the most sober one playing, but he just couldn't pull it off.

On our way home we stopped in Bear World to see some cute bears (I was sad we never saw a bear in Yellowstone).

They had a little petty zoo at Bear World and Berke go to pet a dear and a goat.

It was a lot of fun to get together as a family and hang out. A lot of Foosball way played, food ate, souvenirs bought, cousin time had, and fun was had by all.

A huge thanks to Mom and Dad for providing us such a wonderful vacation!

Mesa Falls, ID

Our first day in Island Park, ID we ventured out to the Mesa Falls Trail to see the Upper and Lower Mesa Falls. They were really beautiful and had a nice easy hike for the kids.

I love this picture, as Berkeley was sitting there asking Uncle Dusty about all of his tattoos. He identified one as a star but didn't know what the rest were. Too funny.

Some of my family at the Upper Mesa Falls.

This is my cute Mama. Love her.

Who has matching hats? Two good looking mountain men.