A Really Big Move--Part II--Our Western Family

  We really enjoyed connecting with our "Western Family" for our last "pre-PA" visits.  Our first family visits happened in California, our first stop in the cross-country journey.  We stayed at Jazz's parents' house in Sacramento, and we got to travel south just a little bit to hang out with Jazz's sister Julie and Brian and kids for one afternoon.  We loved seeing their home and eating out with them at a favorite family-friendly restaurant.

Thank heavens for Skype so that these fun cousins can keep visiting regularly : )!

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After California, we were off to Utah for stop #2.  We got to stay with Jazz's brother Steve and Lisa and their 3 kids.  They have a beautiful back yard that was perfect for a pizza picnic...and trampoline fun, and even camping under the stars and in a home-made tent!  Thanks, Steve, for helping Shark practice his scouting skills!

It was really fun to reunite as well at Steve's house with Jazz's cousin Stacey and her beautiful 6 kids. 

Our stay in Salt Lake was packed with one fun activity after another. We really enjoyed this little hike to the waterfall.  Our kids complained the whole way up (which took probably all of 15 minutes), but when we got there they frolicked and played, their hearts spilling over with joy.  There's something magical about waterfalls, don't you think?

Brothers : ).  Isn't it funny how they can both be the "big" brother and the "little" brother, at the same time?

This past year Shark has fallen in love with babies and toddlers.  His cousin Ada returned this affection and even wanted only him when she got injured in a big fall.  It's really fun to see how he has grown to connect with the little ones.

Despite our late arrival to Salt Lake, we were still able to visit with Ellis and Angela & her family our first night, and meet Ellis' beautiful girlfriend Helen.  She's really neat! 

We felt really lucky that even though we had to miss out on a cousins reunion on our late arrival night, were able to reschedule and save time for a visit on Friday, at Derek and Sherilyn's office.  Derek's wife was able to bring all of their kids over, and Melanie was able to bring all of her kids up too, so we had a full board room full of cousins!  It was a fabulous visit and I thought the setting in the office made it extra special for some reason.  It had been way too long since I had seen these wonderful cousins, and we had some fun laughing together, even though for just a brief time.  This was one of my favorite hours in Salt Lake : ).

We were able to reschedule our visit with Bryan and Kirsten's family and get a second visit with Angela's fun family on Friday, as well. 

We didn't think it was very fun to hang out with them, though.  NOT!!!

Lucky us--Grandma Benson happened to be traveling west across the country at the same time we were heading east, so we were able to meet for a quick stop along the way and share hugs and smiles with her, and a couple of Jazz's other Benson family relatives. 

We spent a few nights in hotels along the road, but our favorite night's stay was in Nebraska, with Jazz' mom's first cousins.  I have never known anyone from Nebraska before, and now not only do I know a handful of really nice Nebraskans, but I get to be related to them!  Cool!  Thanks for the wonderful stay!  It was so nice to meet you all.

I love this picture.  Grandma Lovell is the queen of Nursery Rhymes.  And Nursery Rhyme time is laughing time!  It's so much fun to see her recite the poems with the kids over and over until they know all of the words with her.  This was in our hotel in Harrisburg, PA.  We're almost there!

Just 4 days after our arrival to PA, we got to celebrate Tootie's 4th birthday.  Those 3 people on the right made our trip so much easier! They helped us in countless ways.  They got to stick around for awhile after we arrived--not just to help us unpack the truck and get settled a little in our new home--but also to see a few sights before going home. 

This is it!  Our new home.  I'll show you more pictures of the inside in an upcoming post.  As you can see, Byron (Jazz's dad) was the first to head back home to CA, but before Cynthia and Chad left, we were blessed by a visit from John and Amy, coming all the way from Oklahoma.  It was super fun to have them here!  We are thrilled to know that they have not-so-secret intentions to move back to the East as soon as they get a chance : ).

We were lucky and blessed to get so many fun visits with family members and friends before leaving the west for good, or for a long while at least (and I'm sorry I didn't get photos with everyone--especially our friends in Springville!).   Anytime anyone wants to come play tourist in our neck of the woods, please come see us or stay with us!  There is so much to do and see around here, you know you want to come!   If you can't come over, perhaps we'll get to see you during one of our visits next summer when Jazz graduates, or in the future.  Meanwhile, PLEASE stay in touch!  (Leaving a comment on our blog here would be a great place to start--let us know you dropped in!).  Loves to you all!