Horsin' Around...

Waaaaaay back in September, on our trip to Utah, we made sure to spend an afternoon with the horses. This is one of our kids favorite things to do.  We had grandpa Matt saddle up  his horse, Tough, and take turns with the kids riding around the stable. 

Cowboy Dieter

Cowgirl Finn

 

 

 

 

Later that week we drove down to American Fork where we checked in on Miles to Run, the colt of Mitch's first horse Sheeza.  Mitch was in heaven, and is looking forward to the day when he can let out that cowboy inside!

One Direction Concert....

For Christmas, my parents gave the oldest five grand-daughters tickets to the One Direction Concert.  Since they were going, their moms got to go too, and since they didn't want me to be left out, I was lucky enough to get a ticket too.  Wooohooo!  Seven months later, the big day arrived. We all met up in Sugarhouse for dinner at Flatbread, and then blasted One Direction songs all the way to the concert.  It was a fun night, although I couldn't hear normal for days.  Seriously.  

These girlies were rockin' all night long, and even snagged Harry's sweaty towel to end the night.  Don't worry, they cut it up into even strips so they could all take a little Harry home with them.  Us moms were rockin' too and probably embarrassed ourselves, which is nothing new.  So glad I was able to tag a long with these fun gals. 

Side note: My last concert was Miley Cyrus....I really need to start buying my own concert tickets!

Newsies in the City...

 

My parents came for a quick visit back in mid-April.  It is always so much fun having them here, and this time around was no different.  I hardly took any pictures, except for our day in the city, but we enjoyed beautiful weather, relaxing morning walks, gut laughing while watching Dancing with Stars, yummy dinners out, and a date night with just them and us. 

 

My dad is not a huge fan of the Big City, but, he offered to watch the little kids while my mom, Finnley and me headed in to catch a show.  It was such a fun afternoon/evening and I won't soon forget it. 

 

After shopping around Herald Square, it was time to head up to our theatre.  We decided to take a pedi-cab up to Times Square and had fun as we weaved in and out of traffic.  Finnley was great company and thoroughly enjoyed her time with the "big girls".  

 

After a quick sloppy joe from Schnippers, we headed to the Nederlander theatre for Newsies!  I was so excited, and Finnley was thrilled.  We sat on row two and my little lady was in awe the entire time.  She loved it.  Little known fact: Finnley is a hoarder - for real!  At one point during the show, they threw out fake newspapers.  Finnley collected about 12, and still has them. (I'll throw them out eventually....as I do with all her "special treasures"). 

 

I was sad to see my parents leave, knowing it was going to be months before I saw them again.  They were such a delight and I loved having them around - as did my kids.  Thanks to my mom for helping motivate me to get my yard in shape, and for spending many hours planting, weeding, etc.

Love you both to the MOON and BACK!

Blue Bird Day...

efore our trip to Hawaii, we got to spend a week in Utah skiing with our families, playing with our friends, and eating at all our favorite restaurants.  I can't tell you how fulfilling it was watching our kids learn to love something that brings you so much joy.  Being on the slopes as a family is definitely my new favorite past-time.

Our first ski day was up to Alta with most of my family.  We put Dieter in a morning lesson with his cousin Hoyt, and had fun skiing all over the mountain with Miss Finn.  She got her groove back pretty fast, and was soon racing down the mountain with her cousins.

At the summit.

Besides the weather being unbelievable, the company was pretty great too.  Everything from chatting up the lift, lunch in the lodge, and speeding down the slopes was full of fun.  Man, I miss my fam.  More from our week in Utah to come.

Huh-Vie-Ee

It was one of those trips we'd been looking forward to for over a year!  My dad usually gives us an idea of where we are going, some dates, and then says "if you're planning on getting pregnant, either do it now, or you might want to wait!"  I learned the hard way when I had to miss last year's adult only trip to Costa Rica when my little precious one, Remi, came right when they were kayaking the coasts of Central America.  I'm not complaining.  

So, off to Maui we went with all 26 members of the Sansom Family.  You can only imagine the ruckus we caused on our flight.  I heard at least three people say "Man, I need a drink!" after sitting behind our crew for 6 hours.  It was worth it.  Here's a little snip-it of our week-long trip to paradise.

After church on Sunday, we decided to explore the island.  Many of the little ones hadn't been to Haleakala, so we decided to drive to the top of the volcano.  It was freezing up there, so we quickly took in the beautiful vistas and headed back down to the warmth.

Next we headed to the Iao Valley and hiked up to see the Iao Needle.  While its a short little hike, its was perfect for stretching our legs and letting the kids get their energy out.  Plus, you feel like you're in the middle of a rain forest, so you can imagine that imaginations were running wild.

Beach time was on top of our "Favorite Moments" list for the trip.  Whether it was soaking in the ocean, snorkeling, building sandcastles or sandsharks the beach never left us disappointed.  One thing I love about the beach is that it appeals to every age.  From Grandpa Matt to Remi Ruth, everyone enjoyed soaking up the sun (some a little too much) and burning up some energy.

We spent an amazing day on the water - cruising, snorkeling, and whale watching.  The whales didn't make us wait long in between shows, and got up close and personal to our boat showing off a new baby calf.  It was like being in the middle of a National Geographic film, and all the kids were going nuts over feeling the spray from the blowhole.  

We stopped for lunch in a bay and all the kids took their turn looking for turtles and Humuhumunukunukuapua'a's.  Even Remi took a soak in the sea and loved kicking her little feet in the salt water.  Dieter took his first turn snorkeling, and, while we wasn't sold, he did see a few fish which was pretty exciting for him.

Surfing lessons mid-week made for a lot of great memories.  Finnley wanted to learn how to surf, so we signed her up with some of the older cousins.  I was a little worried how she would do when she fell off, but she just kicked right back to her board and crawled back on.  She was up on almost every wave, making the "shocka" sign with both hands.  She was an expert in no time, even telling her cousins how to do the proper "shocka" stance.

Pretty sure he didn't mean to hop boards. ;)

When we weren't on the beach, we were in the pool.  This also meant sipping on chocolate smoothies and virgin Lava Flows.  This meant sliding down the slide and sitting in the hot tub.  This meant kids talking to themselves in the kiddie pool thinking nobody was watching.  This meant good times!

Another FAVORITE memory was our afternoon in the Banyan Tree forest.  If you haven't already watched the video in the next post, do yourself a favor and do so.  You may just see four vines break causing Mitch do do a back-plant causing my brother to do is infamous honk-laugh.  So funny.  Maybe you had to be there??  The kids climbed on every vine they could find, and even the adults got in on the fun.

All 26 of us!

Other highlights - learning the hula and making leis.

We decided to celebrate Remi's first birthday a week early while we were still together with our family.  Whats better than Hula Pie to dig into on your first??

One of our last nights, we went to the Luau.  While I've never liked luau food, I always love the entertainment.  For some reason i feel like I've stepped back to the 70's when they had good, wholesome (girls in coconut bikini's?) entertainment.  Plus the fire-dancer was awesome!

An amazing trip all thanks to these two!  I couldn't have asked for a better mom & dad.

I was sad to give up my morning workouts with my mom and sisters.  I have many, many wonderful memories from walks and runs with my mom and sisters - lots of laughs.  This was actually a really funny morning.  Sara and i were trying to take a running pictures to send to her close friends.  We tried timer a bunch but they wouldn't turn out.  Finally, we asked a lady walking the beach to take one of us - we felt like total idiots and I couldn't stop laughing or look at the lady in the eyes.

Take me back!

So, that was our trip in a nutshell.  Until next time....as long as I'm not pregnant. ;) (which I'm not!)

Thank you to my sister for giving me over half of these gorgeous photos!