Gilbert Family Gathering

 Not long after we returned from St George Chan's Gilbert side got together over at his sister Annie's house because his aunt and uncle were in town. They decided to make the best of it and snap some pictures! This one on top is Chan with his sisters and cousins! I know it seems crazy but his Mom and her sisters had some time in between them!

 This is one of our kids and Dakota with their second cousins!

 This is the whole crew of younger cousins together! Chloe wasn't too happy about it!

 It's a fun group of kids! And most have seen each other every year at Christmas time.

 This is Chan's aunt Jennie, her husband Bruce and their kids Danni (with her boyfriend Tyler) and their twin boys Jake and Justin.

 This is Chan's aunt Jill and her husband Joe and their two sweet girls Ashley and Nicole.

 This is Chan's uncle Todd with his wife Connie and their children/grandchildren.

 This is Chan's sister Brooke with her husband Mark and their kids Myles and Sophie!

This is Chan's other sister Annie with her husband Gerardo, Dakota and their baby Chloe.

It was fun to see everyone and spend some time catching up!

Impromptu St George Trip

 On July 4th weekend we decided to take an impromptu trip down to St George. My BFF Tammy had planned to come up for Carter's graduation but had a NASTY fight with a kidney stone, followed by some other complications, which means she was pretty bummed and down in the dumps. No one wants to spend their summer vacation sick!

 We surprised her and just showed up at her house! She was ALL smiles and even shed a few happy tears. We immediately kidnapped her and went to get pedicures! She hadn't been out of the house much at all and we wanted to cheer her up!

We went to a fabulous place and visited as we got our feet beautified :) It was perfect! She kept saying, "I can't believe your here" and "I'm so glad you came" so we knew we had made the right decision! And no, we didn't plan to all wear black sandals, but it made for a great photo op!

Will has had his permit for a few months and brought it with him thinking he could get some practice in! Tammy, being the drivers ed teacher, decided to let him drive her new Jeep! I was shocked she offered but he was SO excited to drive it! So off they went! When they got back Tammy was laughing and couldn't wait to share a story... While they were out she was teaching him how to parallel park, which he did pretty well. Then she told him to check over his shoulder to pull out and he just kept looking until... boom... hit his head right on the window! She was laughing so hard it hurt! So that second picture is of the smudge it left on her window! She swears she's not going to wash it off because it will always make her smile!

 One place we HAVE to go to in St George is Swig! It's my favorite spot! It's the first place I had a Dirty Dr Pepper and it still tastes the best!!

A quick selfie of us taking our Swigs! :)

Another must is eating at Pasta Factory! It's still funny to go back there and see that not much has changed since Chan helped open the place back in the mid 90's! The menu is even pretty much the same! But it's yummy every time! :)

 On the 4th we all hung out at Tammy's along with some friends and family and set off some fireworks!

 Will was enjoying lighting them along with Tammy's Nephew Hutch.

 Chan was obviously more into his game on his ipad than the fireworks! But that's okay!

 The weather was perfect too- not too hot- and sitting out watching was fun! Brianne was freaking out seeing all the bats flying around! She didn't realize that's what they were! There is quite a few of those in St George!

I am so lucky to have this gal in my life! I just love her!

I'm also grateful to Chan for coming up with the idea to go down. We had been throwing around the idea of visiting St George sometime this summer, but when some other plans fell through over the 4th, he said LET'S GO! And I'm so glad he did- I really think it was inspired! Because not only did we surprise Tammy, we were also able to stay at my aunt Kay's house. She broke her back a few months ago. She was on her way out of town when we arrived but we stayed at her place and we were able to fix some things and clean for her! Just what SHE needed too! It really was a service trip!

 One of the days we drove around and went to see this new addition to the Dixie College campus! It's neat looking and is even more majestic at night! It lights up!

 Our last night there we spent at Kay's house out on her patio making silly videos and laughing so hard it hurt Tammy's stitches!

 I am pretty sure we were bugging her neighbors at one point! But we can't help how loud our laughter is when we are having fun!

 This selfie made us laugh super hard because of the strange vein that appeared on my forehead! Tammy named him Vinnie- which seems appropriate! And in ALL the years I've known Tammy this is the MOST white I have EVER seen her! Especially this time of year! So it was a classic picture!

I am SOOOO glad we went down! We had a BLAST and needed the laughs as much as she did! St George is our second home for sure! We just love it there! Hopefully someday we'll have our own place to escape to down in Dixie! :)

No more braces!

 This first picture was taken at his LAST follow up appointment after 2 weeks of having to wear VERY annoying bands the tighten things up. I had HOUNDED him that entire time to "wear your bands" so he could get them off before our OKC trip and guess what?.....

Thanks to MOM he WAS able to get them off! I guess hounding your kids is good for something! But in all seriousness they turned out beautifully and he is one handsome devil! Nice job Will... and watch out girls!

Football Prez

 Once summer began so did football- in full swing! They had practices every day and when I say "they" I mean Carter and Will. Carter as one of the Sophomore coaches and Will as a Sophomore player! They were doing what's called "Explosion Camp" and they lift weights, run plays and have meetings. They are not in pads yet, but are trying to see who they have and where they can put people. Will played linebacker last year, but during explosion camp this year was placed on the offensive & defensive line! Funny because that's where his brother is coaching!

 Carter is truly meant to be a coach- he LOVES it and is does a great job with the boys. He also fits right in to the coaching staff. He is volunteering, but is truly loving every minute!

 At the end of the padded camp- where they had scrimmages, practiced full out etc- they had a pool party at the Draper pool. It was the cap to a VERY busy week for me as Football Booster President. Aside from planning practice times and running the team I do everything else! It's A LOT to take on, but watching all these boys together at the pool and hearing they "thank yous" and calling me "Mama Criz" makes it all worth it!

 Thankfully I have asked a TON of Moms to help me with my many jobs! I have 11 committee chairs, with more volunteers under them! That's crazy! But without them I truly could not do this!!

 Brianne always comes along for the ride as well! She knows A TON of these guys because they've played with both older brothers! She fits right in and LOVES football as much as me! I'm positive she'll be a team manager when she gets into high school! (Team Managers = water girls)

 This was a great activity to end the first part of football this summer. The mandatory practices start next week and I am excited to see how things go!

 I still have a lot of my list of "to do's" but was able to get a lot done this past week. I won't have an actual "break" until after the banquet in December, so wish me luck that I can endure!

 I am so glad that my boys are so dedicated to something they love and I am also grateful that I get to be such a big part of it! I am blessed, a bit crazy and frazzled at times, but definitely BLESSED!

Here's to a great summer break and to some kick butt football this fall! GO HAWKS!!!

Talent Show!

 Since Brianne was very young I have been trying to get her to sing in front of people. She branched out and sang at church and got a lot of positive feedback. She started taking voice lessons and that also helped, but I kept encouraging her to do more. She decided to do that audition for Canyons idol, which was huge, but trying out for the talent show was bigger! It was bigger because she'd be performing in front of her PEERS! That's what she was the most afraid of!

After trying out and making the talent show, she only had about 3 practices before it was time for performance. She had practiced at home as well as with her voice teacher and was truly MORE than ready! She had 2 performances that day and I got to see the first one. She went up there with confidence and did amazing! Everyone around me was raving about what she did- even teachers! Then she had performance #2- this time her Gamma, Grandma, Aunt and voice teacher were in the audience and she had a minor "oops" with a few words in the beginning (which you could barely notice-and most didn't) and then amped it up and gave an even more amazing show! The crowd was roaring and applauding and it was just awesome! I was in tears hearing the encouragement she was getting- I could hear it from my desk at the school! I had tears rolling down my cheeks! She is such a HUGE talent and I can't wait to see where she goes with it! Way to go Brianne for conquering a fear and showing off your pipes!

*I do know her next performance will most likely be at Carter's farewell :)

Seminary Graduation

 I can't believe I almost forgot to add this! Carter graduated from Seminary the Sunday before his school graduation. Two of those years he attended early morning seminary!

 He did that because with football he needed the extra activity for power lifting AND I wanted him to do that just in case he needed to make up a class he'd have more flexibility with his schedule.

 However, his Freshman & Senior year he did released time which is such a blessing! He's had some AMAZING seminary teachers- especially his Senior year. He had Sister Newbold and she really made an impact on his life. His leaders in our Ward did as well- like Bishop Fitt- pictured above.

 Over his last few years of seminary his testimony grew a ton! He would stand up often and bear his testimony or share tender mercies. They asked a girl and boy from our Stake to speak at graduation and Carter was one of them. I was so proud of the job he did!

 He is MORE THAN ready to go out and serve a mission! And a LOT of that is due to what he learned in seminary!

I am so grateful that he enjoyed it and thrilled to see him graduate!

Oklahoma Summer 2014

 Literally a day after Carter opened his mission call we were off to Oklahoma City to see my family! It's a trip that had been in the making for MONTHS!

 The cousins had been away from each other for quite some time so it took a bit to "warm up"!

 The older cousins jumped right in (no pun intended) and started playing around!

Cute Payton had made this sign that welcomed us into the house! I just thought it was adorable!!

 The weather was warm but not too hot so playing outside and sitting on the porch visiting was something we did A LOT! we would sit and chat while the kids played around us. It was EXACTLY what I wanted to do!

 It was so fun to see all the kids interact and I really enjoyed being able to spend time and talk with family! :)

 Especially my sisters! I just miss them terribly! I wish I was closer so we could hang out often! But thanks to technology at least we can call, text, Facebook etc to keep in touch!

 I had visited here last Fall after they got settled in but this was Chan's first visit and he LOVED it! It really is beautiful there!

 Brianne and Sammy sang us a song and Alex played the piano! It was awesome! 

 One of the days we went into the city to check it out and we got some fun pictures with all the cousins!

 This may be the last time they are all together for quite some time since Carter is going on his mission, followed by Brigham (most likely) next year!

 We HAD to get a silly picture too!

 The headquarters of Sonic is there, so when we visited in the city we all got a drink. This is a VERY William's thing to do! We always have a drink! Hee hee

 One day we went to a lovely lake and went swimming. The water was nice and the kids played with balls and did water fights. My most memorable event there was that Will walked into the lake with his cell phone in his pocket! *sigh* And it was basically a brand new touch screen Galaxy!! Oh well, even after a rice bath it was goners!

 I enjoyed basking in the sun and getting my tan on!

 Watching the kids play and Chan making fun of me were highlights too! I couldn't swim because I was getting over an ear infection- but he does like to tease!

 One of the nights we went to Toby Keith's bar & grill. It was a HUGE group but they handled us really well! And the food was AMAZING!!!

 One of our last days we went to a bowling alley and let the kids bowl. It was so funny to watch! Carter was doing HORRIBLE and little Tank was kicking butt! Too funny!

 Having so much distance at times bums me out because these guys are all so close!

 They have the same sense of humor.... obviously!

 The only hard part of the trip was that Steve had just transferred to a new job, so he wasn't able to take time off work. He was with us in the evenings, but I would have LOVED to have him around more!

 This is the BEST group of kids! They are all adorable and really love each other!

 One thing about this trip that posed its challenges was the time spent in the truck! We drove as much as 9 hours in a day for 2 days- there and back! I took a couple other car selfies, but I thought this one with my parents after our photo shoot was classic! Especially since we're all dressed alike! We went for ice cream after and got some crazy looks from people! Oklahomans are NOT used to 17 people dressed alike! HAHAHA!

 After our lake trip we went to this place called Pops- it has thousands of different kinds of bottled pop! Some I haven't seen since I was a young kid! And some I had never seen before! It was awesome!

 It was REALLY hard to decide what to try out!

 After checking it all out we all grabbed our favorites! And they were all yummy!

Check out all the sodas in the windows! Isn't it cool looking! It was the best trip! I wish I could go out all the time and spend that kind of time with family! It was FUN! When we got home we had visited 5 states the kids hadn't seen before! The drive home was "interesting" since our truck was having an issue, but thankfully we made it home safe! Here's to a great trip and (hopefully) many more to come!